Time to give Vidya it’s due

Basant Panchami is dedicated to Devi Saraswati, the Goddess of Vidya. Learning, according to ancient wisdom, is of two types — Vidya and Avidya.

Let’s explore these two.

Vidya and Avidya

अन्यदेवाहुर्विद्यया अन्यदाहुरविद्यया ।
इति शुश्रुम धीराणां येनस्तद्विचचक्षिरे ॥

anyadevāhurvidyayā anyadāhuravidyayā |
iti śuśruma dhīrāṇāṃ yenastadvicacakṣire ||

One result they say is obtained by Vidya, and another result, they say, is obtained by Avidya, thus have we heard from the wise ones who explained it to us.

(Isha-Upanishad, Verse 10)

The knowledge in the fields of science, arts, politics, economics, social sciences — all the university disciplines — is called Avidya. So, the knowledge about anything within the world is Avidya. Using the senses and the mind, when we look outwards into the world, and gather information and build knowledge, that is Avidya.

Avidya is also called Aparavidya, or lower learning.

When, for a while, we turn inwards and look at ourselves, we see the self, the ego, glimpses of the entire structure and movement of the personality. This self is the seer, observer, of the world. This knowledge, this perception of the self, is called Vidya.