View source for Vidya (philosophy)

{{Other uses|Vidya (disambiguation){{!}}Vidya}}
{{short description|Conceptions of knowledge and understanding in Indian religions}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}

'''''Vidya''''' ({{lang-sa|विद्या}}, {{IAST3|vidyā}}) figures prominently in all texts pertaining to [[Indian philosophy]] – meaning science, learning, knowledge, and scholarship. Most importantly, it refers to valid knowledge, which cannot be contradicted, and true knowledge, which is the [[Intuition#Eastern philosophy|intuitively]]-gained knowledge of the [[Paramatman|self]]. ''Vidya'' is not mere intellectual knowledge, for the [[Vedas]] demand understanding.<ref>{{cite book|title=Philosophy of the Upanishads|author=Archibald Edward Gough|publisher=Trubner & Co.|page=[https://archive.org/details/philosophyofupan00gouguoft/page/48 48]|url= https://archive.org/details/philosophyofupan00gouguoft |year=1882}}</ref>

==Meaning==
''Vidya'' primarily means "correct knowledge" in any field of science, learning, philosophy, or any factual knowledge that cannot be disputed or refuted.<ref>{{cite web|title=learnsanskrit.cc Sanskrit Dictionary|publisher=learnsanskrit.cc|url= http://learnsanskrit.cc/translate?search=%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE&dir=au }}</ref> 

Its root is ''vid'' ([[Sanskrit]]: विद्), which means "to reason upon", knower, finding, knowing, acquiring or understanding.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://spokensanskrit.org/index.php?mode=3&script=hk&tran_input=%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D&direct=se|title=Sanskrit Dictionary for Spoken Sanskrit|website=SpokenSanskrit.org|access-date=28 April 2019}}</ref>

==Hinduism==
{{Hindu philosophy}}
{{Hinduism}}
In [[Hindu philosophy]], ''vidyā'' refers to the knowledge of the soul or spiritual knowledge;<ref>{{cite book|title=The Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary|author=V.S.Apte|publisher=The Digital Dictionaries of South Asia|page=325|url=http://dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/contextualize.pl?p.1.apte.694114|year=1957}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> it refers to the study of the six schools of Hindu philosophy: [[Nyaya]], [[Yoga]], [[Vaisheshika]], [[Samkhya]], [[Mīmāṃsā|Purvamimamsa]] and [[Vedanta|Uttaramimamsa]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Going to school in South Asia|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|page=75|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=LQcBMtetBDkC&q=vidya&pg=PA75 |isbn=9780313335532|year=2007}}</ref> The process of gaining the knowledge of the [[Atman (Hinduism)|Atman]] cannot commence unless one has explored the ''Prānavidya'' or ''Agnividya''  to the full in all its numerous phase; through ''vidyā'' or '' [[upasana]] '' to ''[[jnana]] '' was always the eternal order indicated by the Upanishads. ''Jnāna'' dawns after the completion and perfection of the being through the ''vidyās''; then, one crosses over beyond birth and death having already destroyed the bonds of death.<ref>{{cite book|title=Commentary on the Katha Upanishad (Verses I.1.17/18)|author=Swami Krishnananda|pages=20, 21|url= http://www.swami-krishnananda.org/katha1/Commentary_on_Katha_Upanishad.pdf }}</ref>

===Vedas===
During the [[Vedic]] period, ''vidyādāna'' or the gift for the sake of education was considered to be the best of gifts, possessing a higher religious efficacy than even the gift of land. ''Vidyā'' comes from the root ''vid'' ("to know"); it therefore means knowledge, science, learning, lore, scholarship and philosophy.
There are basically four ''Vidyas'':
# ''Trayi'' (triple) which is the study of the [[Vedas]] and their auxiliary texts;
# ''[[Anviksiki]]'' which is logic and metaphysics;
# ''Dandaniti'' which is the science of governance;
# ''Varum'', the practical arts such as agriculture, commerce, medicine etc.
''Vidyā'' gives insight, in the spiritual sphere it leads to salvation, in the mundane sphere it leads to progress and prosperity. ''Vidyā'' illuminates the mind and shatters illusions, increases intelligence, power and efficiency; develops the intellect and makes it more re-fined; it effects a complete transformation as the root of all happiness and as the source of illumination and power.<ref>{{cite book|title=Early Aryans ti Swaraj|author=S.R.Bakshi|publisher=Sarup & Sons|pages=11 to 15|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Ldo1QtQigosC&q=vidya&pg=PA11 |isbn=9788176255370|year=2005}}</ref> The word, ''Vidyā'', does not occur in the [[Rig Veda]], it occurs in the [[Atharvaveda]] and in the [[Brahmana]] portions of the [[Yajurveda]] and in the [[Upanishads]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Devi Mahatmya|author=Thomas B.Coburn|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|page=189|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=hy9kf7_TOHgC&q=vidya&pg=PA189 |isbn=9788120805576|year=1988}}</ref>

===Agni Vidyā===
''Agni Vidyā'' or the science of [[fire]] is said to be the greatest discovery of the ancient Indians who gained direct experience of divine fire through continuous research, contemplation, observation and experimentation; their experience led them to discover ways of using this knowledge to heal and nurture the outer and the inner worlds. To them fire is sacred, and because of the pervasive nature of fire all things are sacred. Body and mind which are extensions of the fire that the soul spontaneously emits are also sacred. Within the body the most significant centres of fire are more subtle than those of the sense organs. They are called the ''chakras'' which are seven fields of sacred fire. The understanding of the role of fire without and within gives proper self-understanding which understanding is gained through yogic practices. The performance of [[yajna]]s is the ''karma-kānda'' aspect of ''agni vidyā''. All rituals follow set rules and conditions. The main function of the fire ritual is to make an offering to nature's finest forces and divinities that fill the space of inner consciousness; fire carries oblations to these forces and divinities. The fire has seven tongues all having unique qualities. The gods, goddesses, divinities and nature's forces are grouped in seven main categories which match with the qualities of the seven tongues of fire.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Pursuit of Power and Freedom|publisher=Himalayan Institute Press|pages=33, 34, 38, 39|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ph55FuAfQ7AC&q=vidya&pg=PA33 |isbn=9780893892746|year=2008}}</ref>

===In Vedanta and the Upanishads===
====Atmaikatva====
''Atmaikatva'' or the absolute oneness of the self is the theme of entire [[Advaita Vedanta]] which distinguishes six ''[[pramana]]s'' or means of valid knowledge, but this ''vidyā'' or knowledge of [[Brahman]] is ''guhahita'', ''gahavareshta'' i.e. set in the secret place and hidden in its depth, unattainable except through ''adhyātma-yoga'', the meditation centering upon the nature of the self. Vedanta literature is only preparatory to it, it dispels ignorance and makes the mind receptive but does not reveal the truth therefore it is an indirect means of knowledge. The oneness of the self, which is self-established and self-shining, is called ''vidyā'' in cosmic reference which reveals the true nature of [[Brahman]], the self-shining pure consciousness which is not a ''visaya'' ('object matter or content') but the one subject, transcendent of all conventional subjects and objects.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Philosophy of Sankar's Advaita Vedanta|author=S.K. Chattopadhyaya|publisher=Sarup & Sons|page=30|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IPasbJW-1PwC&q=vidya&pg=PA30 |isbn=9788176252225|year=2000}}</ref> The Self or the Atman is to be sought, the Self is to be enquired into, known and understood.<ref>{{cite book|title=Chandogy Upanishad (Verse VIII.vii.1)|year=1942|page=[https://archive.org/details/Shankara.Bhashya-Chandogya.Upanishad-Ganganath.Jha.1942.English/page/n461 446]|url= https://archive.org/details/Shankara.Bhashya-Chandogya.Upanishad-Ganganath.Jha.1942.English }}</ref>

====Hierarchy of knowledge====
The sage of the [[Mundaka Upanishad]] (Verse I.1.4), more in the context of the ritualistic than of epistemological concerns, states that there are two kinds of knowledge (''vidyā'') to be attained, the higher (''para'') and the lower (''apara''). ''[[Para Vidya|Para vidyā]]'', the higher knowledge, is knowledge of the Absolute ([[Brahman]], [[Ātman (Hinduism)|Atman]]); ''Apara'', the lower knowledge, is knowledge of the world – of objects, events, means, ends, virtues and vices. ''Para vidyā'' has Reality as its content; ''Apara vidyā'', the phenomenal world. According to Advaita Vedanta, ''Para vidyā'', by the nature of its content, possesses a unique quality of ultimacy that annuls any supposed ultimacy that might be attached to any other or form of knowledge, and is intuitively gained as self-certifying. Once Brahman is realized all other modes of knowledge are seen to be touched by ''avidyā'', the root of ignorance. In this context, ''Vidyā'' means true knowledge.<ref>{{cite book|title=Advaita Vedanta: A Philosophical Re-construction|author=Eliot Deutsch|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|page=81|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=63gdKwhHeV0C&q=vidya&pg=PA81|isbn=9780824802714|year=1973}}</ref>
However, it is argued that the Advaita Vedanta interpretation does not answer the final question: what is the reality or truth-value of ''avidyā'' or what is the substratum that is the basis or cause of ''avidyā''?<ref>{{cite book|title=Modern Indian Interpreters of the Bhagavad Gita|publisher=SUNY Press|page=181|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ku2DGm20WWUC&q=vidya&pg=PA181  |isbn=9780887062971|date=January 1986}}</ref>

====Valid knowledge====
The Upanishads teach that the knowledge of difference is ''avidyā'' or ignorance, and the knowledge of identity is true knowledge or ''vidyā'' or valid knowledge, which leads to life eternal. For the [[Cārvāka]]s, perception is the only means of valid knowledge (''pramana''). Vadi Deva Suri of the [[Jainism|Jaina school]] defines valid knowledge as determinate cognition which apprehends itself and an object and which is capable of prompting activity which attains a desirable object or rejects an undesirable object; the result of valid knowledge is cessation of ignorance. [[Vaisheshika]]s recognized four kinds of valid knowledge – Perception, Inference, Recollection and Intuition. The Mimamsa schools introduced the concept of intrinsic validity of knowledge (''svatahpramanya'') and extrinsic validity of knowledge (''parastah-apramana'') but agreed that the validity of knowledge cannot be determined by the knowledge of any special excellence in its cause or the knowledge of its harmony with the real nature of its object or the knowledge of a fruitful action. [[Adi Shankara|Sankara]] accepted perception, inference, scriptural testimony, comparison, presumption and non-apprehension as the six sources of knowledge and concluded that the knowledge which corresponds with the real nature of its object is valid. The Atman is the reality in the empirical self as the ever-present foundational subject-objectless universal consciousness which sustains the empirical self.<ref>{{cite book|title=Outlines of Indian Philosophy|author=Jadunath Sinha|publisher=Pilgrim Books|pages=16,120,162,319,368|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=99aBngEACAAJ  |isbn=9788176240659|year=1999}}</ref>

====Further Significance====
In ''upāsanā'' the movement starts from the outer extremities and gradually penetrates into the inmost recesses of the soul, and the whole investigation is conducted in two spheres, in the subject as well as in the object, in the individual as well as in the world, in the ''aham'' as also in the '' [[idam]] '', in the ''adhyātma'' and also in ''adhidaiva'' spheres and conducted synthetically as well as analytically, through ''apti'' as well as ''samrddhi'', which the [[Bhagavad Gita]] calls '' [[yoga]] '' and '' [[vibhooti]] ''. The ''vidyās'' do not rest content in knowing the reality simply as a whole but proceed further to comprehend it in all its infinite details too. The higher includes the lower grades and adds something more to it and never rejects it; the lower has its fulfilment in the higher and finds its consummation there but never faces extinction. All forms of contemplation have only one aim: to lead to the Supreme Knowledge and hence they are termed as ''vidyās''; through ''vidyā'', which is ''amrta'', one attains immortality ([[Shvetashvatara Upanishad]] Verse V.1). ''[[Dahara-vidya|Dahara Vidyā]]'', ''Udgitha Vidyā'' and ''[[Madhu-vidya|Madhu Vidyā]]'' are the synthetic way whereas the analytic way is signified by the Sleeping man of the ''Garga-Ajātsatru'' episode and by the Five Sheaths, which ways show that the world and the individual spring from the same eternal source.<ref>{{cite book|title=Studies in the Upanishads|author=Govindagopal Mukhopadhyaya|publisher=Pilgrims Book|pages=171, 175|url= http://www.abebooks.com/Studies-Upanishads-Govindagopal-Mukhopadhyaya-Pilgrims-Publishing/12423632861/bd }}</ref>

===In Hindu Tantra===
In [[Hinduism]], goddesses are personifications of the deepest level of power and energy. The concept of [[Shakti]], in its most abstract terms, relates to the energetic principle of ultimate reality, the dynamic aspect of the divine. This concept surfaces in the [[Kena Upanishad]] as Goddess Umā bestowing ''Brahma-vidya'' on [[Indra]]; when linked with ''shakti'' and ''maya'', she embodies the power of illusion (''maya''), encompassing ignorance (''[[Avidya (Hinduism)|avidya]]'') and knowledge (''vidyā'') and thereby presented with a dual personality. According to the Saktas, [[Maya (Illusion)|Māyā]] is basically a positive, creative, magical energy of the Goddess that brings forth the universe. The ten ''Mahāvidyās'' are bestowers or personifications of transcendent and liberating religious knowledge; the term ''Vidyā'' in this context refers to power, essence of reality and the ''mantras''. The gentle and motherly forms of Goddess Sri Vidyā are 'right-handed'.<ref>{{cite book|title=Hindu Goddesses: Beliefs and Practices|author=Lynn Foulston|publisher=Sussex Academic Press|pages=[https://archive.org/details/hindugoddessesbe0000foul/page/9 9], 14,115|url= https://archive.org/details/hindugoddessesbe0000foul |url-access=registration|quote=sri vidya.|isbn=9781902210438|year=2009}}</ref> When the awareness of the 'exterior' ([[Shiva]]) combined with the "I" encompasses the entire space as "I" it is called ''sada-siva-tattva''. When later, discarding the abstraction of the Self and the exterior, clear identification with the insentient space takes place, it is called ''isvara-tattva''; the investigation of these two last steps is pure ''vidyā'' (knowledge).<ref>{{cite book|title=Tripura Rahasya|publisher=world Wisdom|page=89|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SOpi_CkDfKQC&q=vidya&pg=PA147 |isbn=9780941532495|year=2002}}</ref> ''Māyā'', which has been identified with ''[[Prakrti]]'' in the [[Shvetashvatara Upanishad]] represents its three ''[[Guṇa|guna]]s''; also identified with ''avidyā'', which term primarily means the dark abyss of non-being and secondarily the mysterious darkness of the unmanifest state, ''Māyā'' binds through ''avidyā'' and releases through ''vidyā'' .<ref>{{cite book|title=Taittiriya Upanishad (Verse III.2)|publisher=The Ramakrishna Math|page=13|url=http://www.estudantedavedanta.net/Taittiriya%20Upanishad%20-%20Swami%20Sarvanand%20[Sanskrit-English].pdf }}</ref>

==Buddhism==
{{Buddhism}}
In [[Theravada Buddhism]], ''vidyā'' means 'non-dual awareness' of [[three marks of existence]]. In [[Tibetan Buddhism]], the word, ''[[rigpa]]'' , meaning ''vidyā'', similarly refers to non-dualistic awareness or intrinsic awareness. <ref>{{cite web|title=The Three Characteristics of Existence|publisher=Maithri Publications|url= http://www.maithri.com/links/articles/tri_lakshana1.htm }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Reflections in a mirror|author=Charlie Singer|publisher=iUniverse|pages=15, 49|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=myZdqZhmAwIC&q=vidya&pg=PA49  |isbn=9781462046577|date=2011-09-07}}</ref>

===''Vidyā'' mantras===
{{main|Dharani#Dhāraṇīs and mantras}}
In [[Vajrayana]] texts, [[mantra]]s exist in three forms: ''guhyā'' (secret), ''vidyā'' (knowledge) ''dhāraṇī'' (mnemonic). Male Buddhist tantric deities are represented by the grammatically masculine ''vidyā'', while female Buddhist tantric deities are represented by the grammatically feminine ''dhāraṇī''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Buddhist Goddesses of India|author=Miranda Eberie Shaw|publisher=Princeton University Press|url=https://archive.org/details/buddhistgoddesse00shaw |url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/buddhistgoddesse00shaw/page/7 7]|quote=vidya.|isbn=0691127581|year=2006}}</ref> The ''vidyā'' mantras constitute the knowledge and the mind of all the [[Buddha]]s and that which possesses the ''[[Dharmadhatu|dharma-dhātu]]'' (essence of ''dhamma''), and it is this knowledge, according to Cabezon, which "pacifies the suffering experienced in the existential world (''[[saṃsāra]]'') and the heaps of faults such as desire".<ref>{{cite book|author=Jose Ignacio Cabezon|title=The Buddha's Doctrine and the Nine Vehicles: Rog Bande Sherab's Lamp of the Teachings|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Ty3O7BZYO5QC |year=2013|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-995862-7|pages=108–111 with footnote 15}}</ref>

===''Pañcavidyā''===
In Buddhism, the ''{{lang|sa-Latn|pañcavidyā}}'' ([[Sanskrit]]; {{zh|c=五明|p=wǔ-míng}}) or "five sciences" are the five major classes of knowledge (''vidyā'') which [[bodhisattva]]s are said to have mastered. A recognised master of all five sciences is afforded the title ''[[Pandita (Buddhism)|paṇḍita]]''. The five sciences are:<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TMphyKzpZyYC&q=%22five+sciences%22&pg=PA14|title=Dharma's Gatekeepers, The|first=Jonathan C.|last=Gold|date=5 June 2008|page=15|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=9780791479711|access-date=28 April 2019|via=Google Books}}</ref>
# the "science of language" (''{{lang|sa-Latn|śabda vidyā}}''; {{lang|zh-Latn|shēng-míng}}, {{lang|zh|聲明}});
# the "science of logic" (''{{lang|sa-Latn|hetu vidyā}}''; {{lang|zh-Latn|yīn-míng}}, {{lang|zh|因明}});
# the "science of medicine" (''{{lang|sa-Latn|cikitsā vidyā}}''; {{lang|zh-Latn|yào-míng}}, {{lang|zh|藥明}});
# the "science of fine arts and crafts" (''{{lang|sa-Latn|śilpa-karma-sthāna vidyā}}''; {{lang|zh-Latn|gōngqiǎo-míng}}, {{lang|zh|工巧明}});
# the "inner science" of spirituality (''{{lang|sa-Latn|adhyātma vidyā}}''; {{lang|zh-Latn|nèi-míng}}, {{lang|zh|內明}}) which relates to the study of the [[Tripiṭaka]].

==See also==
* [[Jnana]]
* [[Mahavidya]]
* [[Prajñā (Buddhism)]]
* [[Prajna (Hinduism)]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Indian philosophy|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Rigveda]]
[[Category:Hindu philosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Buddhist philosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Jain philosophy]]
[[Category:Vedanta]]
[[Category:Upanishadic concepts]]
[[Category:Yoga concepts]]
[[Category:Tantra]]
[[Category:Advaita Vedanta]]
[[Category:Nonduality]]

[[Category:Knowledge]]
[[Category:Sanskrit words and phrases]]