Hari OM
'Text-days' are for delving into the
words and theory of Advaita Vedanta.
Yesterday we saw that Pure Knowledge is what makes us who we are and
it is in becoming fully Aware ourselves, reconnecting the 'Universal
Electricity', that we can free ourselves of the bondage of our individual
lives. It is the Knowledge of knowing, not the bits and pieces of information,
that is referred to with the capital 'k'. The next verse explores this.
àmata
c àma[< c àmey< àimitstwa,
ySy
ÉasavÉasNte man< }anay tSy ikm!.32.
Pramaataa cha pramaanam cha prameyam pramitistathaa,
Yasya bhaasaavabhaasante maanam jnaanaaya tasya kim ||32||
By whose effulgence, the knower and
the means of knowledge and the object of knowledge and (finally) the knowledge
of an object, are all illumined; for knowing That (Knowledge), what need is
there of a means of knowledge?
Remembering that this text is about saadhana - practising and making
practical the teachings of Vedanta - this concept is one which is revisited
again and again in the prakarana grantha (preparatory texts). It is a basic
tenet of all philosophy and must be fully grasped. Even with experience, it can
be easy to forget that everything revolves around apparently simple things.
We can only refer to 'knowledge' because we have become aware that
there can be a state of ignorance. If we are in ignorance, we have no
understanding or awareness of something.
First, there has to be the one who can experience learning - gain
knowledge. We call this the 'knower' (pramaataa). The knower will have a level
of awareness of individuality and make a claim of "I"ness.
Then there must be something to be known - this we call the 'object'
(prameya), which may be a physical item, but can be pure information also.
Knowledge can only take place when ignorance is removed. This
process of replacing ignorance with knowledge is referred to as the 'means of
knowledge' (pramaana). That is to say, a route from the object to the knower.
This can be through perception (pratyaksha), inference (anumaana), or
spoken/written word (shabda). For example, holding of a book or reading from a
screen are pratyaksha, the observance via the eye is anumaana, and that which is
observed/read are shabda.
Applying the means is referred to as 'knowing' (pramiti). The
experience of gaining knowledge. It takes the form of thought modification as a
result of pramaataa, prameya and pramaana coming together and 'turning on the
light' of knowledge.
That which observes this - enables this to happen at all - is Pure
Consciousness as reflected in the individual (chidabhaasa). The physical body may be present, the object may be
present, but the knowing can only take place with the power of consciousness -
'life'.
That which observes, however, how to know that? Is there a 'means'?
Let us think about this - does the sun require a lamp to see itself? Do we see
the sun better for shining a torch at it? No! The sun is self-effulgent. How
much more so, then, is Pure Consciousness. It is self-shining and self-knowing.
There is no greater illumination than that Universal Self-Awareness and, in the
light it sheds, all else is known. It is one and one alone.
