What is learning if the learning does not lead a person towards the supreme reality of existence? What is knowledge if it is not liberating human beings from illusion and bondage?
saa vidya: yaa vimuktayE - that is knowledge which makes one free.
kaRRadanAl Aya payan enkol?
vAlaRivan naRRAL tozhAr enin? (Tirukkural)
- what is the purpose or use of study? if one does not worship the naRRaaL - Good Feet, of Absolute Knower?
DarsanOdaya is a great book written in Sanskrit on the subject of Darsanas in general. It raises a valid and pertinent question - why do persons learn Darsanas or Sastras? What is the result of such a study? How can we identify a person who has learnt multivarious studies, Darsanas or Sastras?
The one identification of such a person will be 'calmness' 'being quiet' Saanthi.
No anger, no rancour, no mental agitation will you find in such a person who has devoted his time towards the study of Saastras or Darsanas.
DarsanOdayA quotes the following verse from Mahabharata -
samArtham sarva sAstrANi vihitAni manIshibhi: |
sa Eva sarvasAstrajna: yasya sAntam manassadA ||
yat srutam na virAgAya na dharmAya na sAntayE |
subaddhamapi sabdEna kAkavAsitam Eva tat ||
'The meaning of all Sastras is verily calmness and being content - so deem persons intelligent.
That person is called 'knower of all sastras' whose mind is always calm and quiet.
What is learnt, if it has not led one towards detachment, towards ethical living, towards mental peace, then such a learning is just a cry of crows, however beautiful the words and sentences are constructed in that learning'.
(trans mine)
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