१. १ VIVEKA (Discrimination)
नित्यानित्यवस्तुविवेकः कः ?
नित्यवस्त्वेकं ब्रह्म तद्व्यतिरिक्तं सर्वमनित्यम् |
अयमेव नित्यानित्यवस्तुविवेकः |
Nityaanityavastuvivekah kah?
Nityavastvekam Brahma tadvyatiriktam sarvamanityam
Ayameva nityaanityavastuvivekah
What is meant by the discrimination between the permanent and the impermanent?
The Reality alone is eternal; everything else is ephemeral. This conviction alone is the discrimination between the permanent and the impermanent.
Viveka is the capacity of the intellect to distinguish, categorize and recognize one thing from another. Man possesses five types of viveka (the capacity to distinguish between):-
1) the part and the whole: amsha- amshi viveka
2) the means and the goal: saadhan- saadhya viveka
3) the good and the pleasant: shreyah- preyah viveka
4) the Self and the non-Self: aatmaa- anaatmaa viveka
5) the eternal and the ephemeral: nitya –anitya viveka
One on the spiritual path should have a well-developed capacity to discriminate between the eternal and the ephemeral.
On giving a little thought one realizes everything changes, the size, weight of the body the colour of hair, moods of the mind, intellectual capacities, opinions, personalities, duties, faith, relationships, the social, political, and economic circumstances, education, technology, life-styles, fashions, modes of transport and entertainment, the rivers, the mountains, the sun, moon, stars, everything changes. From the subatomic to the cosmic level everything is in a state of flux. Everything is time bound, however much we may not want it to be.
Is there not anything which is permanent?
Sure there is! For every change to be perceived there must be a changeless substratum. Just like the movie screen which remains untainted and unaffected inspite of all the action being projected on it, the eternal Reality is only one, changeless, unaffected and beyond time. This eternal factor is called Brahman in our scriptures. It is only when one realizes the changing nature of everything, that the changeless can be distinguished from all else. This firm discrimination between what changes and what does not is called “viveka” – the first of the four fold qualifications.