Parā Vidyā
Parā Vidyā · parā-vidyā, “the higher knowledge”
Grammar: feminine noun phrase; parā (higher, supreme) and vidyā (knowledge): “the higher knowledge”. Its pair is aparā vidyā, “the lower knowledge”.
Meaning: the knowledge that teaches Brahma, the imperishable, and the truth of the ātmā; also called brahma-vidyā. The aparā vidyā is the knowledge of the Vedas, the Vedāṅgas and the śāstras. Both are forms of Bhagavān Vishṇu.
In the scriptures: the Agni Purāṇa opens and closes with the two vidyās.
At the opening. In Naimisharaṇya the ṛshis led by Śaunaka ask Sūta for the essence of all essences, by knowing which a man gains all-knowledge. Sūta answers that Bhagavān Śrī Mahāvishṇu is himself that essence, and that two Brahmas are to be known, the Saguṇa Brahma within reach of words and the supreme Nirguṇa Brahma; the Muṇḍaka Upanishad of the Atharva Veda also says that two vidyās are to be known. He tells what Vyāsa taught him, as Vasishṭha told Vyāsa, and as Agni Deva once told Vasishṭha, the munis and the devatās. Brahma-vidyā is the imperishable parā vidyā; therefore the Āgneya Purāṇa, which teaches it, is para (supreme), while the Ṛg Veda and the rest are called Apara Brahma because they teach the Apara Brahma. Vasishṭha asks Agni Deva for that Brahma which is the essence of all vidyās and the boat for crossing the ocean of saṃsāra. Agni Deva answers that parā and aparā, these two vidyās, are both forms of Vishṇu. The aparā vidyā is the four Vedas, Ṛg, Yajus, Sāma and Atharva; the six Vedāṅgas, Śikshā, Kalpa, Vyākaraṇa, Nirukta, Jyotisha and Chandas; and Kośa, Mīmāṃsā, Dharma-śāstra, Purāṇa, Nyāya-śāstra, Āyurveda, Saṅgīta-śāstra, Dhanurveda and Artha-śāstra. The parā vidyā is the vidyā that teaches Brahma, which cannot be seen or grasped, has no gotra and no śākhā, and is eternal (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 1).
At the close. Agni Deva tells Vasishṭha that vidyā is of two kinds, expanded and condensed. The vidyā in the form of the four Vedas is Vishṇu, the cause of the world, and the vidyās of chandas, śikshā, vyākaraṇa, nighaṇṭu, jyotisha, nirukta, dharma-śāstra, mīmāṃsā, nyāya, āyurveda, purāṇa, dhanurveda, gāndharva, artha-śāstra, vedānta and the rest are all forms of Hari. This is the aparā vidyā; the vidyā that teaches the supreme ātma-tattva is the parā vidyā. Vyāsa tells Sūta that the Purāṇa Vasishṭha told of old is of the form of the parā vidyā and the aparā vidyā; through the Ṛg Veda and the rest it teaches the aparā vidyās, and it teaches the parā vidyā, the akshara (the imperishable), and the form of Brahman both with the world and without it (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 383).
Related terms: Aparā Vidyā · Brahma-vidyā · Brahman · Akshara · Vedāṅga · Ātmā
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 1, 383