Sri Ramakrishna Math : The Vedanta Kesari, August 2003

Early in the morning, immediately after waking up from a peaceful and refreshing sleep, John remains in a pleasant mood not knowing much about the immediate surroundings. Or Ram might have experienced a nice dream at night, which, maybe, he did not want to break. Or Jack might have dreamt that he became a king, but had to suffer a night-marish misfortune. Thank God, these were all dreams!

Though a dream happens in us it does not affect us, so affirm the scriptures. But the farmer in the story told by Sri Ramakrishna had had a treacherous experience; there is something peculiar about it which does not go well with our familiar experiences. The farmer dreamt a covetous dream in which he became a king and had seven beautiful children. What a boon for the poor man! Yet in the morning after waking up from the dream he lost all--the kingdom with all beautiful children.

Well, the story did not end there. The farmer faced a disastrous reality: his only son had died. In front of the inconsolably wailing wife and family the disoriented farmer perhaps could not determine or discriminate, between the two calamities which one could really distress him. So unlike all others in the family he remained unaffected. Let us dare to imagine what would happen if we are to lose our "waking state" itself in the same way! It seems, to understand such a far-fetched idea we have to discuss a big issue at length.

What is this discrimination or determination referred to above? In Sanskrit it is called Viveka. In Vedantic tradition, viveka is a nostalgic word with a huge difference. The Sanskrit literature of a hoary tradition is soaked with this one expression through and through. It is one of the most atypical qualities humans have the luxury to have been born with; it is ingrained in their being. Whether one is an ordinary person, a privileged one, a spiritualist or a sportsperson, it is the use of this only trait, which shows one"s speciality. The Taittiriya Âranyaka says that it is this "knowledge" that makes the difference between the humans and all others in the animal kingdom.

Shankara discusses the amplitude of this word in a very elaborate manner in his masterpiece the Vivekachudâmani or the crest-jewel of discrimination. Viveka is discrimination, viveka-chudâ is the crest of discrimination, and viveka-chudâ-mani is the crest-jewel of discrimination. It is called the crest-jewel because of many reasons. What one finds when one reads this book, with a practising learner"s insight, is that it is free from avoidable complications of logic. This discrimination leads to the step which is, to draw from the analogy of Sri Ramakrishna, on the last rung of the ladder, after which it is the terrace, our destination. Shankara takes a three-pronged approach to explain the whole gamut of Viveka.

(a) The Potential: Shankara says that the power of discrimination is there in all people. There is not much difference between an ordinary human and a wise person in respect of this potential power. If we realize that this life is a continuous struggle against Nature to express our inner principles, then it is this power of discrimination which plays the most vital role in the system. Latent it remains in the so-called ordinary people. So, ordinariness is not a thing that describes us, but it is our wish and ability to use this knowledge of discrimination, which make all the distinction. It is surely in respect of this intrinsic power in us that the scriptures set a common ultimate goal for all. The grumbling about inadequacy of one"s inbuilt aptitude, therefore, cannot be substantiated by scriptural authority. This special point as to how we have been gifted with an exceptionally rare opportunity of securing a human birth (nara-janma- durlabham), Shankara brings out in a few of the opening verses in the Vivekachudâmani.

(b) The Dynamism: The innate power no doubt pines for its manifestation; for, this yearning is inherent in all potential power. One becomes one"s own friend or foe (âtmaiva âtmanah bandhuh & ripuh) depending upon one"s reaction or response to this animated urge of the potency, which is how we appraise the level of one"s responsibility ("response + ability", according to Stephen Covey). If we expect the response to come spontaneously then we should know that it comes with practised ease alone. Those who had had the privilege of a study of the scriptures (vipratâ or shruti-pâradarshanam) and putting into practice the values learnt therefrom (vaidika-dharma-mârga-paratâ), enjoy the advantage of this "practised ease". Shankara says in the Vivekachudâmani (18): when the four qualifications including viveka (discrimination) are present in the aspirants their longing for the goal is valid, when they are absent, it is not. This logic is called co-presence (anvaya) and co-absence (vyatireka). A Vedantic study pre-supposes these four qualifications of a student--viveka, vairâgya (dispassion), sampatti (virtues), and mumukshutva (desire for liberation). It is like, if you are able to lift 80 kilograms of weight then you will be qualified for the first round of the competition. Then the coach takes over and gives instructions how to improve upon the performance. After a long discourse on all the aspects of Arjuna"s immediate duty, Sri Krishna tells the latter that the "response" to the call of duty is his (Arjuna"s) and his alone. In general, in the modern context, the training for using the discriminating knowledge starts in the family. The family is the basic social unit; its composition has values as the bonding agent. Viveka does not depend on any time-frame. It pervades the whole span of one's life.

One doubt needs clarification in this respect: the faculty of discrimination depends heavily on reasoning; but the scriptures say that the goal is beyond reasoning. Then, are we to believe that the scriptural approach to reality is irrational? How to reconcile these aspects? As to that, the teachers say that it is not irrational because it does not deny the weight, function and utility of reasoning. Rather it says the way that leads one beyond reasoning is through proper reasoning, which should be based on a positive urge to know. According to the scriptures, reasoning is one of the three components of valid knowledge (pramâ)--the scriptural data (Shruti), the reasoning (Yukti), and the experience (Svânubhuti). The scriptures advise us to use reasoning based on scriptural data and our practical experiences (svânubhuti- anusârena), and not on speculation. Similarly, we may recollect, the ideal of "inaction" preached by Sri Krishna is an attitude, to be developed through steady practice. Of course, the theoretical knowledge about the true purport of "inaction" should be the goading principle. Practice of proper action will help us gain the insight of inaction. If perfection is the goal, then it should be in and through the perfecting means.

For a proper or, at least, reasonable response, there are, among a few others, two types of the discrimination to be practised.

(i) The first of these two vivekas is called nitya-anitya-vastu-viveka or discrimination between the permanent and the transient. Sri Ramakrishna calls it sat-asat-vastu-vichâr, discrimination between the Real and the unreal. And when we are required to use our latent power of discrimination, our first consideration will be to look at the permanence and the transience of things. This viveka is fundamental, for before embarking upon any goal one should be convinced about the goal itself. Discrimination is the means to arrive at the conclusion in this respect. The scriptures try to impress upon us the idea that if we are sufficiently inquisitive to solve the problem of birth and death, we should look for a permanent solution, not a momentary one. Hence the idea of discrimination called shreyas-preyas-viveka, between selectable and delectable, between preferable and pleasurable, comes to play a major role; because, of the two, the permanent and the transient, onehas to choose the one which fulfils one"s purpose.

(ii) The second type of viveka should hinge on the first type. It is called dharma-adharma-viveka which takes care of all the relations which relate the aspirant to the above goal, and help him/her to decide between just relation/duty and unjust relation/duty. There are various paths which lead to the goal through the performance of this dharma-adharma-viveka. Even for material purposes it is perhaps the most important tool in the hands of successful people. These two types of vivekas present the dynamic aspect of the potential power of discrimination.

(c) The Awakening: What is the upshot of this dynamism? It generates viveka-jnâna, which forms the radiant Jewel. A siddha or perfected soul sees the real as the real alone; for it is a positive experience. Swamiji calls it a "conscious dream"--it is not like coming out of the dream and confirming it as unreal or having a feeling in the dream itself that one is dreaming, but it emphasizes one"s being conscious about the presence and reality of the dreamer, which, in other words, means that we are required not to be sure about the unreality of the dream alone, but to be conscious about the reality of the dreamer. As for example, when we wake up from sleep we experience dream to be a dream. Similarly when we wake up from the "waking state" (jâgrat-avasthâ) to self-consciousness, we see the relative world as a "conscious dream". Normally, remaining in the jâgrat-avasthâ we compare the jâgrat-avasthâ with the svapna-avasthâ (dream state). Therefore, the comparison is bound to be heavily and unduly biased to the jâgrat-avasthâ; and our assessment becomes unjustly relative to one of the two comparable states. This fallacy is resolved by rousing ourselves to the "self-conscious activity [dynamism]" (as termed by Swamiji), which is done from the third-party position called the stateless "self-consciousness" (Turiya). This is like waking up from a "waking state". Sri Krishna's comparison is on the same line when he says: the state in which ordinary people keep awake is regarded as a dream by the self-conscious ones. The scriptures also affirm that the witness to the states should be different from them (tebhyo vilakshanah sâkshih). It seems, this is the type of knowledge the farmer in the above story had had at that moment. So we find that he could not determine, between two events that were equally unfortunate, which one could really overwhelm him. A very commonplace but critical coincidence of two similar experiences of svapna- and jâgrat-avasthâ has been presented in the story, and luckily so for the farmer--it jerked the dreaming farmer to wake up to a "conscious dream", to wake up from the "waking state"!

So far so good. But, doesn"t our heart ache to swallow without a pinch of salt this cold-blooded attitude of the farmer, who is the father of the dead son? Sri Ramakrishna would say, "Yes, it does; it aches very excruciatingly." His comparison is: the pain would be "as severe as the squeezing of a towel". Yet the farmer remained unmoved! However, Sri Ramakrishna ends the story thus: "The farmer was a Jnâni; therefore he realized that the waking state is as unreal as the dream state. There is only one eternal Substance, and that is the Âtman." And we can turn to the Gita for consolation: Him (this Âtman) the weapons cleave not. He is indestructible. To a Jnâni not only the death but the birth also is as unreal as a dream; because this Self has neither birth nor death.

The blurring effect of unreality does not affect a siddha"s vision due to this knowledge that is born of discrimination. For Sri Ramakrishna this knowledge was natural; so he could see the minds of people like things in a glass case and assess them on their terms. The positive result of the discrimination is thus the highest and therefore it forms the crest-jewel of discrimination. Whether the dynamism of viveka is going right can be tested. If it gives rise to Vairâgya, dispassion to the anitya, preyas, and adharma, then one knows that the practice of viveka has been effective. This dispassion when perfected becomes the first of the six splendours of Ishwara--vairâgya, jnâna (knowledge), aisvarya (splendour), bala (power), virya (control), tejas (effulgence).

It is like a lighthouse that gives direction to people. It may not illumine all, but all can see it and adjust their direction. Shankara took it up for an elaborate treatment, for, it is the first of the sâdhana-chatushtaya (four- fold means) for those who have mumuk-shutâ (desire for liberation), desire to wake up from the "waking state".