________________
The Mundakopanișadai distinguishes between the Parā and Aparā Vidyās and seems to decide in favour of the former as constituting the ethical Summum Bonum, by the realisation of which all else becomes known. The Parā-Vidyā which is the same as the higher knowledge consists in knowing the Brahman which is invisible, unseizable, without connections, without hue, without eye or ear, without hands, or feet, eternal, pervading, impalpable, imperishable, and the womb of creatures.22 This does not amount to the intellectual, but to the intuitional apprehension of Brahman. The Aparā Vidyā which may be equated with the lower knowledge comprises within its fold the Rg-Veda, the YajurVeda, the Sāma-Veda and the Atharva-Veda, also chanting, ritual, grammar, etymological interpretation, prosody and astronomy.23 The above recognition of Parā-Vidyā as the highest good may be corroborated by the conversation between Nārada and Sanatkumāra as given in the Chāndogya Upanișad. 24 Nārada in spite of his vast study comprehending the Vedas, history, mythology, mathematics, logic, ethics, fine arts etc., complains to his spiritual teacher Sanatkumāra that he is invaded by grief on account of not having the knowledge of the self. Thus we learn that the intuitive knowledge of the self alone is capable of making us able to cross the ocean of sorrow and no amount of mere intellectual equipment. Hence the Parā - Vidyā is the crowning experience, the sublime good. Thus the Aparā-Vidyā or the Vyavahāra-naya is true to the extent to which it leads a man intellectually on the path, but it is not all.
There is witnessed another meaning ascribed to Niscaya and Vyavahāra. The former indicates that the self as unbound
Spiritual Awakening (Samyagdarśana) and Other Essays
99
.
Jain Education International
For Personal & Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
