Pretension of Vinaya (humbleness, politeness) does not bestow the
real fruit of education. Does the picture of moon painted on a canvas
radiate moonlight?
This is the general meaning of the above Sookti. It appears plain
and simple. It is highlighting the importance of Vinaya. There are
three key words in this Sookti – Vinaya, Abhinaya and Vidya.
Unless we understand the real meaning of these three key words, we
will not be able to comprehend the real meaning of the Sookti.
In both Vinaya and Abhinaya, we can see the component of "naya".
It shows that there is some relation between these two terms. Even
this has to be borne in mind while analyzing the Sookti.
Everyone generally knows what Vinaya is. Vinaya is obedience. What
is obedience? Implicitly following the instructions of elders - not
out of fear, but out of one"s good quality and, out of reverence
and love for the elders. This is the essence of the meaning of the
word Vinaya.
What constitutes good quality in this context?
Before this, let us see how the dictionaries define the word Vinaya.
The meaning found in the dictionaries is something like this –
Vinaya is the training imparted by the elders with respect to behavior.
The word Vinaya can be split as Vi + Naya – which means to specially
impart good behavior. It also means a special technique by which good
behavior is imparted.
There are some more meanings in the lexicons. However, all these meanings
are simply different shades of the meaning given above. Obedience
is also one such meaning.
It has been said that Vinaya is the training regarding good behavior
that is imparted by elders. To whom do elders impart such training?
Only to those who respect the elders. It is a fact that although elders
have the same affection for all children, if the children do not have
respectful love for elders, the elders will find it difficult to impart
training to them.
If we love somebody, we tend to listen to his or her words with faith.
If we have respect for them, we will also try to bring in to practice
what they tell us even though it might be difficult to do so. The
tendency of practicing what is taught to us – whether we like
it or not – is called obedience (Vidheyata). However, what the
elders are trying to impart is Vinaya. Thus, we can understand why
the word Vinaya is generally equated to obedience.
It is also clear from the above discussion that the good qualities
behind Vinaya are love and respect. Love and pretension are always
opposite to one another. Where there is love, there will be no pretension.
Where there is pretension, there will be no love. The word Abhinaya
in the above Sookti stands for pretension. "Abhi + Naya"
stands for displaying an emotion which is not present inside.
To bring out something which is deeply hidden (in this context –
the good behavior) is Vinaya and to display which is not present inside
is Abhinaya. The two can not co-exist.
Another important word in the above Sookti is Vidya. The word Vidya
is generally thought to mean studying. Merely studying does not constitute
Vidya. That which imparts knowledge is Vidya. What kind of knowledge?
The answer to this question depends on the context. For a medical
student, knowledge of medical sciences is Vidya. For a student of
music, knowledge of music and music related topics is Vidya. For a
person who is engaged in Upasana (intense worship), the knowledge
about the deity is Vidya.
Every Vidya has its own fruit. The fruit of medical knowledge is achievement
of health. For music, it is listening pleasure. The fruit of spiritual
knowledge is unalloyed bliss. For the student to acquire knowledge,
it is not enough for him to memorize a treatise word by word. Every
branch of knowledge has its own special potential and hidden aspects.
There will be some secrets too. They can be understood only when a
Guru teaches them. For the Guru to teach, the disciple should possess
and display Vinaya. Otherwise, reading of scriptures will become thoroughly
useless. In other words, they will be deprived of the real fruit of
Vidya because they do have no access to the deeper secrets and hidden
aspects unless they behave with Vinaya.
There is another viewpoint too. It is even more important. There are
different types of Vidya. Each one will be having his or her favourite
subject. As a person goes on studying that subject in depth, his mind
will become more and more mature. He will then become capable of understanding
certain things, which do not pertain to his favourite subject.
When a person reaches this stage, he will be able to find out ways
that are socially beneficial. He will then become capable of explaining
the greatness of such paths in the light of his own knowledge. He
will not stop there. He will lead by example by treading the path
that he advocates to others. Therefore, such a person becomes immensely
useful to the society.
When Vidya reaches this state, it will be called as Sadvidya (noble
Vidya). Sat means good; Sat means truth; Sat means Tattva. Therefore,
that which bestows goodness, reality and shows us the ParaTattva is
Sadvidya. Any Vidya can be turned in to Sadvidya because, every Vidya
will have hidden within itself, the paths leading to Sadvidya. This
is because, the root of all Vidyas of the world is the same Sadvidya.
All Vidyas have originated from the same Sadvidya. But as they branched
out, they grew distant from one another and reached a stage where
they appeared to be different from one another. The linking path became
hazy and ill defined.
In this situation, when a disciple approaches the Guru for education,
the Guru will train his disciple in good bahaviour in addition to
imparting education. Why do they do so? What does good behavior have
to do with acquiring proficiency in a science subject? Outwardly,
there is no relation between knowledge and good behavior. Still, the
Guru will be more inclined to disclose secrets of a particular science
only to those disciples who are good mannered. Why?
This is because, only when a person has good behavior, he will be
able to see the paths which can convert ordinary Vidya in to Sadvidya.
In the absence of good behavior, those paths are simply not revealed
at all! As long as a person does not tread such a path, his education
will not yield real fruits.
Therefore, it must be said that among the factors which help ordinary
Vidya to become Sadvidya, good behavior is of paramount importance.
How to learn good behavior? It is only from our elders that we can
learn good behavior. For us to be able to learn, we must possess love
and respect for our elders.
Sometimes you might succeed in pretending love and respect and make
your Guru teach you Vidya. The Guru might also become influenced by
your pretension and disclose some of the secrets. By this, you might
earn success and riches by virtue of your knowledge. But, because
you have faked respect and love, and because bad Samskara (tendency)
is hidden inside you, it is bound to manifest one day. Also, pretension
will come in way of intellectual development even though you are well-versed
in your subject. Therefore, you will be deprived of the opportunity
of converting your Vidya in to Sadvidya. You will then be of no use
to the society. The Sookti is trying to make this point clear by saying
"if you pretend Vinaya, it will not yield the fruit called Sadvidya".
Such an education is as good as a gem on the hood of a cobra.
The above Sookti makes point clear with the help of a beautiful example.
The painting of moon on a canvas will not be capable of emitting light
however beautiful it might be. Not only that, in the darkness of the
night even the painting can not be seen. Similarly, if an "educated"
person fails to develop himself in to a socially useful being, he
will tend to become selfish and mean. He will tend to use the same
faked Vinaya (which he used while learning) to loot the society. In
other words, he will be a social liability. The Sookti has therefore
compared such Vidya to the gem on the hood of a cobra.
The Sookti is ringing the bell of caution to draw the attention of
teachers, parents and students of today"s world. It is stressing
the importance of Vinaya and places it ahead of education, employment
and prosperity.
May you all hear this bell and awake!
Jaya Guru Datta.
Sri Swamiji