Wisdom of Vedas-1

Posted by Rishi Ravindra on Saturday July 15, @07:08AM

The benevolent knowledge is timeless (beyond time) immortal and living in a mortal body.

Iyam Kalyandyazara Martyasyamrita Grehem Yasme Kritashaye Sa Yaschkar Jajar Tyah

Translation: The benevolent knowledge is timeless (beyond time) immortal and living in a mortal body. It is lying in the mortal body sleeping in ignorance and which is decaying with time .

Commentary: In this shloka (couplet) the rishi has defined True Knowledge. It is kajayi (beyond the limits of time), kalyankari (benovalent) and is above aging (zara) hence this true knowledge is immortal(amrit). It is independent of form.

However the knowledge is formless and absolute. It requires some form for its manifestation. Some form, which is mortal, is necessary to know and appreciate this reality, the absolute knowledge. This mortal form is sleeping in perpetual ignorance..

Explanation: To understand and appreciate the wisdom of vedas and upanishads, it is essential for us to know what is knowledge? how is it realized? what is the process by which we can acquire knowledge? we know our mind works like a computer. We become aware of our enviroment through our sensory organs. Each sensory organ reacts with parameters of enviroment (gun,prakriti) and sends the reactions to the mind (mastishk) to be stored there as data (experience)..

Our body has five sensory organs (indriyas) as we all know, whatever we sense is stored in the memory as basic data this is not knowledge, but simply a bit of data as it can be different for different persons and differ with time too with respect to the same person. A colour blind person will see the world as unicolour or colourless, while an insensitive ear will never be able to appreciate the finer notes of music. This data i.e. reaction of senses with enviroment does not represent reality. It is not knowledge, not even information.

This accumulation of data over the years is stored in the memory to form the data banm. This data is required to be sorted, classified and categorized to be of some use (information) this conversion of data into information is achieved by faculty of mind termed (dhi). This info is also not knowledge i.e. the classified data. To convert the set of information into knowledge, it must be analyzed and synthesized. This analyzed and synthesized information only can be termed as knowledge. The faculty of mind which performs this transformation process is called Viveka, in vedas.. viveka is the analyzing power of brain..