आवश्यक है ज्ञानार्जन

Summary

A dialogue between a guru and a disciple explores the necessity of acquiring knowledge (jnanarjana) even for a renunciant. The disciple, who is initiated, ascetic, and engaged in self-discipline, questions the need to study, believing his practices suffice. The guru responds that without knowledge, the disciple’s purpose will not succeed. He compares the ignorant ascetic to an elephant that bathes to cleanse itself but then throws sand over its body, or to a person with elephantiasis who, while weeding a field, tramples more crops than he removes. Similarly, a seeker without scriptural study may harm his own spiritual progress. The disciple then argues that he will follow the guru’s advice directly, like a patient consulting a physician rather than medical texts. The guru counters that if the patient learns some medical science, he need not repeatedly ask the physician; likewise, knowledge enables the disciple to become proficient in conduct independently. The disciple persists, saying health, not medical study, is the goal. The guru tells a story of a blind Brahmin named Somil in Ujjaini, who refused eye treatment because his eight sons, their wives, and his wife had many eyes, so his own blindness seemed irrelevant. When a fire broke out, everyone fled, forgetting the blind man, who died in the flames. The guru warns that without knowledge, one cannot distinguish right from wrong and may perish in the world’s fire. He lists eight benefits of scriptural study: attaining self-benefit, discerning knowledge and action, achieving restraint of passions, gaining unprecedented detachment, mental stability, acquiring austerity, attaining karmic shedding, and the ability to stabilize others in dharma. Convinced, the disciple agrees to study.