LEARNED AND EDUCATED

We can only call those people “learned” who have read a lot, understood what they have read, remembered what they have read, and understood and acted according to what they have read, understood and remembered.

Educated and learned people may or may not be illiterate, and literate people may or may not be educated. To be learned in the real sense mentioned above, all four factors are necessary. A person who has one of these points missing is not a learned person. The following examples illustrate this.

1) It is necessary to read a lot. Limited reading or reading only one subject will not be enough. It is necessary to read many books. We would not call a person who reads only a little learned.

2) It is necessary to read a lot and to understand it. If any body reads a lot but does not understand it, then he or she cannot be called learned.

3) Whatever has been read and understood should also be remembered. If one does not remember, then one is not learned. If you were to ask a man who had previously passed his M.Sc. to appear now for the matriculation examination, he would be unable to pass it as he has forgotten everything.

4) Reading, understanding and remembering should go together and then one will have to act accordingly. If a lawyer were to do the work of a clerk, she could not be called learned. She should do only legal work. An Advocate, if she does not practice her profession, will forget all the laws, then how can she be called learned?

Only one who posses all the above four points can be called learned. Only that person is educated.

How many ways of [[studying]] are there? There are three ways of [[studying]]. First, there is [[studying]] using the eyes. Then there is [[studying]] by hearing. In the olden times, many people were not literate but they knew many things by hearing them. You may still find some old people who do not know how to read or write, but they know the Rámáyańa and the Mahábhárata very well. Thirdly, there is [[studying]] by mudrá or movement. A blind person can know about something by touching it. This is called “the tactual method”. If a man is standing far away and you need to tell him something, then you can do a mudrá to call him nearer – you can make him understand without speech. The deaf and dumb use this method of mudrá. If one indriya (sense organ) ceases to work, then the others become more sensitive. For example, there are five sense organs. Suppose that every sense organ has a power of 20 degrees. If any one of the sense organs ceases to function, then the power of that organ is shared between the remaining organs. That is, the remaining sense organs will get 25 degrees of power. A deaf man can understand everything with the science of the eyes and facial expressions and a blind man by hearing, smelling or touching.

The fine arts came into existence through the medium of mudrá. Lord Shiva is the creator of the fine arts. Mudrá is “the externalization of internal feeling” and means “to express the desires of the mind”.

Sátsaungena bhavenmuktih asatsaungeśu bandhanam
Asatsauṋgamudrańaḿ yat sá mudrá parikiirtitá

“Keeping good company leads to salvation, whereas the company of bad people leads to greater bondage.
Shunning the company of wicked people is called ‘mudrá’”.

[The following section was also printed separately as “Mudrá” in Saḿgiita: Song, Dance and Instrumental Music. This is the Saḿgiita: Song, Dance and Instrumental Music, 1st edition, version.]

To communicate ideas through gesture and posture is called “mudrá”. In the East, we find that dance is dominated by mudrá, and in the West, we find that it is dominated by rhythm. Indian folk dance and classical dance are also mudrá-dominant. Mudrá is more subtle than rhythm.

What is saḿgiita or music? Singing, the playing of instruments and dancing are together called “saḿgiita”. Where there is only singing and the playing of instruments but no dance, it is called “giita”. In the time of the Mahábhárata, what Krśńa said was called “Giitá” because He only told it, He did not dance. If Krśńa had explained the nature of Dharma while dancing, then it would not have been called “Giitá”, it would have been called “Saḿgiita”.

“Yá Bhagavatá giitá sá Giitá.”

“Whatever Bhagaván has said is Giitá.”

There are six primary rágas and thirty six primary rágińiis. Today we find two types of dance in India. First, there is Aryavarta Nrtya or North Indian style. Secondly, there is Dákśinátya Nrtya or Carnatic or the South Indian style. Both styles were given by Lord Shiva, but credit for bringing them to the public goes to Maharshi Bharata.

In the Vedas there is rhythm, because most of the Vedas come from outside India. The propagators of the Veda could not go against rhythm. They had to accept rhythm but not grammar. For this reason, there are many grammatical mistakes in the Vedas.

In Tantra, mudrá is dominant. Rhythm is guided by mudrá. In a few places, the Vedas also use mudrá. For example, in shráddha (last rites) there is pińd́adán mudrá which is also called “auṋkush mudrá”. In pitr yajiṋa, there are also mudrás, which are called namah mudrá, abhaya mudrá, varada mudrá, etc., are found in the Vedas. The portion of the Vedas which was made in India [like Atharva Veda] is responsible for these mudrás.

Instrumental music is also based on mudrá. In western countries, only instruments such as the violin are based on mudrá. Mańipurii dance, folk dance, Cho dance and Rámvásha dance, all have a predominance of mudrá. Rámvásha dance has less mudrá because it is a war dance. Cho dance⁽¹⁾, which is performed after battle during times of rest in the military camp, has more mudrá in it. The dancer only dances, and does not sing. Another person sings and narrates in song what is taking place. In the táńd́ava nrtya of Lord Shiva, there is more rhythm, and in Parvatii’s lalita dance there is the dominance of mudrá, sweet and refined. Both these dances make a person tired quickly in India because India is a hot country.

In the word “tál”, “tá” is derived from táńd́ava and “la” from lalita, so it has become tál. Tál is the adjustment of both, that is why it has become more popular.

[end of section that was printed separately as “Mudrá”]

Footnotes

(1) Cho means unusual gestures, or decorative dress or adornments. Cho dance is an ancient martial dance with decorative dress still very popular in Ráŕh areas. –Trans.