Para and Apara Vidya's

Swami Atmananda Saraswati

In Mundaka Upanishad, a student named Shaunaka goes to an enlightened sage, Angirasa, and asks a very pertinent & profound question. He asks, 'O glorious one! Please tell me as to knowing what we shall come to know everything.' It was a question about the wish to be enlightened, it was about a deep-rooted & fundamental wish for omniscience. All wise people pursue knowledge, we invest so much in education, publications, news channels and what not, there are research labs and a continuous ongoing process of higher studies. All this is an indication of the fundamental wish to be knowledgeable.

When some sincere aspirants devotes his or her life in the pursuit of knowledge, of not only the beautiful world around, but also about oneself, then there appears to be a fundamental problem. In the beginning we may start with a broad canvas, but as we proceed, our focus keeps becoming smaller & smaller. Super specialists are experts in a very miniscule part of the whole, and unfortunately all those who have truly worked to even to get that knowledge become very humble. This is because their pursuit of knowledge instead of revealing the ultimate truth of that object, just reveals to them that there are still unfathomed depths & dimensions of the object of their specialization which they are yet to fully know. Every pursuit of knowledge does reveal some aspects of life, but more than that it reveals our ignorance. The world may say that so & so person is very knowledgeable, but that so called learned person humbly knows as to how little he or she knows, and how much there is still left to know. No wonder great people like Newton said that all what they have known till now is comparable to just few pebbles on a sea shore. So there is indeed a fundamental problem, if we do dont pursue knowledge we anyway shall live in ignorance, and even if we pursue knowledge we still live in ignorance, the only difference is that in the latter case we have come to realize our ignorance. Every such person shall have profound respect for the question of Shaunaka, as to how can a man ever be omniscient. How can we know the truth of everything around. How can we live an enlightened life. 

Angirasa was happy to hear the beautiful question, and started his discourse by classifying the entire spectrum of things to be known into two categories. The Para and the Apara Vidya. Objective of any such classification and categorization is to basically segregate things requiring a different approach. As the Apara Vidya 'objects', and Para Vidya 'object' requires an entirely different approach, so the teacher starts from here. Even though the word meaning of Para and Apara are, Higher & Lower, yet it is noteworthy that the Upanishad says that both of them are worth knowing. The specific name should not imply and demeaning of the so called Lower Knowledge. The objective of the specific words is to indicate that the Para Vidya alone shall fulfill the wish of the student of getting omniscience. Thus it is a relative term with reference to the wish of student in mind. Apara Vidya by itself is not competent to bless us with the desired fulfillment, while Para Vidya alone shall help us attain the desired fulfillment. The reason why Shaunaka inspite of his best efforts could not get the desired fruit of omniscience was that he was unknowingly pursuing Apara Vidya but with the wish to get the fruits of Para Vidya, and thus the frustration.

Apara Vidya encompasses the entire spectrum of 'objects', that is, anything that can be objectified by our senses or mind. Anything that can be 'seen' is an object of Apara Vidya. Under this category comes all our worldly knowledge's. Science, arts, commerce, management, technical knowledge's etc. Interestingly the teacher even classifies the knowledge of the Vedas and Vedanga's in this category, because they are also a part of the limited & changing world in front of us. Apara Vidya is worth knowing because of various reasons. One, specialization in any one field of objective world, helps us to serve our society & world better, two, pursuit of knowledge disciplines our mind & intellect, so that we become capable of thinking deeply & properly, and last but not the least, this pursuit of Apara Vidya helps us to realize the ephemerality of the objective world, and thus helps us to get qualities of vairagya etc, and also motivates us to look out for something more permanent in this ever changing world. The objective of this categorization is to indicate to us that however much we may know the world outside, but by this pursuit alone we shall never move towards omniscience. Apara Vidya shall help us to make a living, have a dignified & respectable life, have a thoughtful intelligent mind, but never ever hope that you shall move towards omniscience. This is not the way for the fulfillment of such an aspiration.

The second category of knowledge is the so called Para Vidya, or Higher Knowledge. The teacher says that by Para Vidya is meant 'that knowledge' by which the imperishable is known. So there does exists a definite methodology and tradition to know that which is permanent & imperishable. Here not only the very 'object' of knowledge is very different, but even the approach & methodology is very different too. Here even though the words are used but no words directly define the imperishable. Words are used very dexterously with paradoxes to point the imperishable indirectly through implications. It has been rightly said that 'God defined is God defiled'. The moment we use any word, it in fact limits the object as so & so, and whatever is limited can never be the permanent. Moreover, everything which can be seen is changing, thus the imperishable can never be an object of our knowledge, it is in fact the very subject, the essence of the very knower. So the knower has to know his own self, his own essence, which can never be seen by our senses, because this fellow alone is peeping outside through his window like senses. However, there is a very clear & definite way of knowing this subjective essence. The teacher uses various pointers, like Adrekshyam (not-seen), etc.

When we go into these pointers in the right way then we do come to realize that divine & imperishable subjective essence. The words like Adrekshyam in fact negates all that which is seen. One needs to keep negating till no objects whatsoever remain in our mind. A mind which is very well awake yet is not objectifying any object, shall know the truth of the very knower easily. However, the catch lies in the word negation. Negation of an object is not merely 'not-being-conscious-of' that object, like we drop the thoughts of all objects when we get tired & want to sleep, or when we are engrossed in some object of our love & interest. Negation is not just 'not-seeing' any objects, it is basically realizing the ephemerality of an object so very clearly that getting or losing that object doesn't bring about any difference in us. Even if the object is in front it doesn't register in our mind. To realize the hollowness of a particular object is to realize the ephemerality (Mithyatvam) of that object. Every object has a role to play in the world, after all god himself has created all the objects, yet, when it comes to awakening to something permanent, then all the objects of the world, no matter how useful they are, are of no use. A sincere aspirant of truth is not only capable to intellectually understand the uselessness of all objects, but is capable of treating the objects accordingly. When no objects, achievements, experiences etc fascinate us, and even if we get them or lose them it makes no difference to us, then alone we have 'negated' them. However, please note that negation is possible only by an highly inspired, intelligent & alert mind, not by a dull & an uninspired one. When all 'objects' are negated, then there is nothing to know outside, and the very duality of 'knower-known' gets redundant and thus falls off, and what remains is the very essence of the knower, the actor who was playing the role of a knower, which is incidentally self-effulgent or self-revealing. So all what we need to learn is the art of negation. The teacher says that know that alone as the imperishable. So even though the words are used yet they are not used, even though the truth is realized, yet is not known in the worldly sense, wherein there is a knower standing apart from an object and knowing it. I never know the imperishable an an object, but realize it as our very self. A Self from which all the thoughts & even this vast world springs forth.