Mankind has tried to grapple with the challenge of realising the Supreme Brahman since time immemorial. The Seers in the Upanishads have intuitively grasped glimpses of this Eternal Truth and have expressed their responses in cryptic statements that preceptors have tried to unravel. Vidyaranya is one such preceptor whose perspicacity is reflected in the manner he has clarified Vedanta truths and showed posterity the way to tread this subtle path, pointed out Sri K. Srinivasan in a lecture.
The discussion plunges headlong into the most important exercise — to differentiate between the Eternal truth and the unreal. It becomes a fruitful exercise only if one has tremendous faith in one's preceptor. A guru's intuitive knowledge can dispel the ever-present ignorance that attaches itself to our consciousness, because of which we tend to believe that the phenomenal universe is real.
But through inference we should be able to know that Truth is eternal while the universe is Maya. For instance, the observance of smoke leads us to infer fire's presence. Similarly by inference we recognise or realise consciousness that is the cause of our existence. Vidyaranya gradually shows us to understand the nature of this consciousness.
Another fact we have to understand is that this knowledge is too subtle. We cannot say we have realised this knowledge as we can say about the tangible objects of this world. As the Kenopanishad states, if we think we know about these esoteric truths, we actually do not know; while, when we accept that we cannot claim to know the truth, we at least know that Truth is ever present though not within the reaches of our physical, mental and intellectual faculties.
The normal way we understand is through the senses, the mind and intellect; and what is perceived is differentiated because of the variety inherent in the worldly objects, as well as the various senses that enable us to make contact with these. But the consciousness or the Self that is responsible for activating the different sense organs is different from them.
