A Tribute to Knowledge

Recently, I wrote a quadrilingual series of couples as a tribute to truth - one of the most eulogized ideas in Indian literature, and the idea that matters the most in science as well. Continuing along those lines, I have decided to make a poetic trilogy! :) In this post, which is part 2 of my trilogy, I pay tribute to what is arguably the single most important idea in Indian culture - knowledge. For example, consider the Vedas - the central authoritative literature in Vedic Brahminism (a polytheistic Hindu religion), and among of the important pieces of literature in the other theistic Hindu religions such as Shaivism, Shaktism, and Vaishnavism (all monotheistic Hindu religions) as well as Advaita Vedantism (a monistic Hindu religion) - but notably not in Sikhism (another monotheistic Hindu religion), Jainism, and Buddhism (both atheistic Hindu religions). The word Veda is derived from the word "Vedam" in Sanskrit, which literally means knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. No wonder then that a strong emphasis on education and learning is integral to the way of life of most Indians, cutting across all boundaries. In fact, it might be safe to say that most Indian parents, no matter how poor, would not hesitate to sacrifice their own lives if it means that their children would get a good education.

The opposite of knowledge is, of course, lack of knowledge, i.e., ignorance. As can be expected, ignorance is probably the single most criticized idea in Indian literature, and fittingly so. In fact, in all the Hindu religions, be it theistic or atheistic, the root of all evil is ignorance (not some supernatural entity as in the Abrahamic religions). It is ignorance that gives rise to fear. It is ignorance that gives rise to anger. It is ignorance that gives rise to suffering. Indeed, it is ignorance that gives rise to hatred. For example, I contend that it is ignorance of our shared humanity and common human experience that leads to discrimination of all sorts - racism, casteism, religious/ethnic/linguistic discrimination, misogyny, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, xenophobia, etc. However, I do not view the above as an unqualified shunning of ignorance - after all, ignorance can also give rise to bliss sometimes! :) In my opinion, ignorance becomes an evil only when there is a need to know, but a person refuses to learn and/or lives in denial and delusion. Obviously, the way to mitigate ignorance and overcome evil is through knowledge, through enlightening one's self and others. Of course, knowledge comes in various forms - scientific, spiritual, relational, creative, etc. - and is indeed limitless. It is impossible for any one person to know everything, but it is indeed possible to keep learning and growing - the journey is itself as important.

With that prelude, let me now present my couplets on knowledge. Enjoy! :)

Tamil:

Ariyaamai agilamum azhitthuvidum,
Aridhale adhanai agattrividum.
Adhanaal arivom anaitthaiyum,
Aramudan anbum amaidhiyum.

Interpretation in English:
Ignorance can destroy everything,
Knowledge alone can remove it.
Thus, let us keep learning,
Rightly with love and peace.

Sanskrit:

Nirvaasa kuru tamassadaa, prajnaanenevam vijnaanen saha |
Naasti loke eshaa jyoti, Jnaanameva paramajyoti ||

Interpretation in English:
Keep banishing the darkness of ignorance with spiritual and scientific knowledge.
For there is no light in this world that is as bright as the light of knowledge.

Hindi:

Padhkar sunkar thak gayaa,
Samajh na paayaa haai |
Karke anubhav paa liyaa,
haan yeh hai sacchaaii ||

Interpretation in English:
Reading and hearing only got him tired,
Alas, he could not understand.
Action and experience got him inspired,
And he knew the truth was at hand.

English:

Here and now is heaven, and indeed hell.
Just know the difference enough to tell.
You can choose to walk any path you will.
But beware ignorance is the root of evil.

In closing, I would like to add another observation that I find interesting. Owing to their emphasis on knowledge vanquishing ignorance, all the Indian religions have generally been pro-science and technology. In fact, in India, the political right (the Hindutva nationalists) have pretty much the same policies on science and technology as the left and center. In contrast, in Western democracies, particularly the USA, the political right (the Republicans) is often considered to be anti-science. For example, the American right is infamous for living in denial (or perhaps, hypocrisy) with regard to the large body of scientific evidence on humanity-induced climate change, whereas the entire Indian political spectrum generally includes protection of the environment and tackling climate change as part of their agenda. And finally, here is an even more telling example - the right in Western democracies, largely driven by Abrahamic religious dogma, rail against Darwin's theory of evolution - one of the most celebrated ideas in all of science that rightly commands unanimity in the scientific community based on overwhelming evidence. In contrast, Hindus, especially Vaishnavites (Vaishnavism is generally considered a conservative Hindu religion), often point out (sometimes smugly, if I may add! :D) that the Dashavatar of Vishnu are sort of a "prescient" statement by the Hindu religions that evolution as discovered and articulated by Darwin is indeed true! :)