Wisdom Versus Knowledge The Mundaka Upanishad [The sage must distinguish between knowledge and Wisdom. Knowledge is of things, acts and relations. But Wisdom is of Brahman (Supreme Reality) alone; and beyond all things, acts, and relations, He abides forever. To become one with Him is the only Wisdom. - Swami Prabhavananda]. From The Mundaka Upanishad Translations and explanations by Swami Nikhilananda Sri Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center, New York Saunaka, the great householder, approached Angirasa in the proper manner and said: Revered Sir, What is that by the knowing of which all this becomes known? (I.i.3) Angirasa answered to Saunaka: To him he said: Two kinds of knowledge must be known – that is what the knowers of Brahman tell us. They are the Higher Knowledge and the lower knowledge. -Mundaka Upanishad (I.i.4) [Note: The Hindu philosophers observed that by knowing the nature of clay one knows the nature of everything made of clay, by knowing the nature of iron or gold one knows the nature of everything made of iron or gold. Is there not likewise, they asked, something that is the basic material of the universe, by the knowing of which everything in the universe will be known? Similarly, there should be one cause of the multiple objects of the world, by the knowing of which its effects could be known. According to Non-dualistic Vedanta an effect has no real existence apart from its cause. Therefore when a man knows the cause, he also should know that the effect has no reality independent of it. Brahman is the ultimate cause of the universe. When one knows Brahman, one also knows that the universe has no reality independent of Brahman. Higher Knowledge: The Knowledge of the Supreme Self, which is beyond duality. lower knowledge: The lower knowledge is the knowledge of the phenomenal world. In reality it is ignorance, for it does not lead to the Highest Good. The seer of the Upanishad asks the aspirant to acquire both the knowledge of the relative world and the Knowledge of Ultimate Reality. When by the pursuit of the former he fails to attain true freedom and immortality, he cultivates the latter. The lower knowledge includes the knowledge of righteous actions (dharma) and unrighteous action (adharma) and their results.] The two kinds of knowledge: Of these two, the lower knowledge is the Rig-Veda, the Yajur-Veda, the Sama-Veda, the Atharva-Veda, siksha (phonetics), kalpa (rituals), vyakaranam (grammar), nirukta (etymology), chhandas (metre) and jyotis (astronomy); and the Higher Knowledge is that by which the Imperishable Brahman is attained. -Mundaka Upanishad (I.i.5) [Note: Sri Shankaracharya explains that the Higher Knowledge refers to the actual realisation of the subject matter taught in the Sruti (Vedas). It primarily means the experience of the Imperishable Brahman taught in the Upanishads, and not the mere words contained in them. Siksha, kalpa…. : These six, known as the Vedangas, are ancillary to the Vedas. Without the knowledge of them a proper understanding of the Vedas is impossible. Is attained: In the case of the Higher Truth, attainment and knowledge are identical. This attainment is the same as the destruction of ignorance. The knower of Brahman becomes Brahman.]
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 18:44:44 +0000
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