Drg-Drsya-Viveka[1] is an inquiry into the distinction between the one who sees and that which is seen and is attributed to Shankara, an Indian philosopher of the 13th Century. The book uncovers relationships between the body, mind, consciousness, the world and different kinds of concentration. In my research, this book is an authentic Indian text that explains and lays out Viveka or discernment in a clear, analytical way.
To begin with, drsya, or the seen are objects in the world, the world itself, the jagat. Drg is the seer or the witness. We imagine the eyes to be the perceiver, but the eyes are merely the tools for seeing. Our body is the tool through which the world is witnessed. The mind, which processes what the body sends consists of intelligence or buddhi and egocity and is illuminated by the light of the witness or Sakshin. The Sakshin or witness or perceiver is unchangeable, intransient and is consciousness. The mind and body are insentient and cannot function without consciousness. The book describes the various attributes of the body and mind in some detail. Briefly, the body is characterized by birth, death or destruction, existence, growth, change and decay. The mind is characterized by doubt, determining faculty and memory.
The Brahman is the unchanging and non-dual entity, to which our sakshin or atman is linked to. But we cannot perceive this, since Maya or illusion throws a veil or avarana over this realization and lets us believe that the world is real and variegated through projection. All the objects that we see, the drsya have a name, form, entity, existence and likeness. The name and form vary between different objects, but the sat, cit and ananda, or existence, consciousness and bliss or joy, are present in everything.
The book outlines different kinds of concentration or Samadhi through which we can gain Viveka, and see through the veil cast by Maya and perceive the difference between the seer and the seen. The book uses the metaphors of water, fire and the sky to explain how we can understand the Brahman.
‘It is like and empty pitcher placed in the sky, having nothing inside and outside, and again, it is just like the full pitcher placed in the sea, full of water, inside and outside.’
Sweetness, coldness and fluidity are all inherent qualities of water, and foam and waves are different forms of water, but water is one. The foam and waves cannot exist without water.
Fire is not perceived in a red-hot iron ball, but is nevertheless present is the ball as heat.
Indian philosophical thought exhorts us to look beyond the world to dwell on the soul through the constant practice of discernment. However, mere intellectual understanding does not achieve knowledge of the Self.
Every object in this world has a name, form and then existence, consciousness and joy. As designers we always stop at the name and form, we rarely go deeper. And yet, if we take the example of the lota, that Charles Eames chose to highlight in the India Design Report of 1975, is he not talking about consciousness and joy? Can value (that design is supposed to bring) be equated to ‘ananda’?
[1] Nikhilānanda , and Śaṅkara . Dṛg-dṛśya-Viveka: Text with English Translation and Notes = An Enquiry into the Nature of the "Seer" and the "Seen". Mysore: Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama, 1976.
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