Vivekachudamani - Post 22

  Verse 16    

मेधावी पुरुषो विद्वानुहापोहविचक्षणः ।
अधिकार्यात्मविद्यायामुक्तलक्षणलक्षितः ॥ १६ ॥

medhāvī puruṣo vidvānuhāpohavicakṣaṇaḥ |
adhikāryātmavidyāyāmuktalakṣaṇalakṣitaḥ || 16 ||

 

(He who has a keen memory with enough knowledge of the world outside and understanding of the world within, who can argue for the scriptures and refute arguments against them, is fit for receiving atma-vidya.)

 

Here are mentioned some essential qualities in a student before he can successfully undertake a study of the Upanishads.  

 

Medhavi means the one who has got the power of reception and retention. grahaṇa dharaṇa saktih medha. Grahaṇam means the capacity to grasp what the teacher has said. And not only he should grasp, he should retain also; because the whole teaching is in the form of analysis of the scriptures. 

By 'memory', Sankara means a capacity on the part of  the student to react intensely to an experience at the time of its  occurrence, so that later on, it automatically without any effort  springs forth into the level of memorised experiences. 

A student attending the discourses given by a Master is, therefore, required to react intensely to his words and thus make the ideas and theories explained on his own at the very time of listening to them.

 

The study of Vedanta insists on an immediate understanding. He who has this capacity is fit for a study of Vedanta. If there be a student who could not understand what the Master said on a previous occasion, then as the lessons proceed, the Master will not be able to give his discourses freely since the student, at every moment, will have to speak out his misunderstanding, doubts, and confusions. 

 

Every time the Teacher will have to go back to the chapters finished earlier and that would necessarily mean no progress at all. Such a dull-headed, wool-gathering mind is not a fit instrument for the study of the science of Vedanta. 

 

'Vidvan' means learned or well-informed. This does not mean a man already well versed in the scriptures, because without listening to the teachings of a Master, no amount of self-study in the scriptures will make one a true Vidvan'. 

 

What is meant here is that the student must have a fairly good general knowledge of the world outside and also a certain amount of insight into his own psychological and intellectual composition. The more general knowledge an aspirant has, the easier it will be for the Master to make him understand the subtle Truth through a variety of examples and metaphors.

 

Sankara says Vedanta is a matter of knowing. And knowing means doubt should not be there. That means thinking must be involved; therefore the student should be what: Vidvan; Vidvan means sufficiently educated to think logically. Sufficiently educated to think logically. 

 

An argumentative spirit of enquiry and understanding is also absolutely necessary for walking the path of knowledge. In the other paths of self-discovery, this spirit of independent enquiry is not so much emphasised because the seekers walking them do not demand an explanation for personal conviction. 

 

In vedanta, an intelligent student (vidvan), with memory power (medhavi) asks questions to his master, wherever he is not convinced with the subject taught by the master, gets all the required clarifications, gets convinced and once he gets convinced, the teachings enter him as experienced and gets stored within him with his strong memory. 

 

Summarily, a student of Vedanta must be a man of receptive and agile intellect, ready to catch every subtle idea thrown out by the Master and through a process of intellectual assimilation, get at its true significance. If this agility of the head and heart is lacking, he cannot hope to have a steady and unobstructed progress in meditation. In the following verses Sankara gives details of the qualities, which are prerequisites for a student of Vedanta. 

 

Love.