Language is a remarkable tool that the man has invented for
his benefit. The only living being that had the ability to invent a tool that
could be used to invent many more tools had been the human being. Using this
tool the man can know, can help others know what he has known, can delve into
things that he never has seen or experienced, and perhaps, would never be able
to see or experience in his life, can imagine the unimaginable, and think the
unthinkable. Undoubtedly, the power of language and words is astonishing. For
all we know, maybe, the God or the concept of the God wouldn’t have been there
if the language was not invented.
The language can grant us utmost freedom, but it can also enslave
us like the most wretched of the slaves. Many of us know many of the words that
we understand differently each according to his experiences and each according
to his imagination. For example, take the word ‘the God’. How differently, we
think of Him? Some say, Neti Neti (not this, not this); some say, ‘the
God is not there’, others say, ‘He is One and One alone’; still others believe
in many Gods.
The words are the source of our prejudices. They are the
cause of our stagnation. The words can convert an inquiry into dumbness. They
can convert a living exploration into utter blindness of mind and intellect.
The words enlighten us. They also push us into oblivion. They can even push us
from enlightenment straight into oblivion.
We have to learn to live with the words. Just as everything
in the universe changes with time, space and circumstances, the meaning of the
words also change with time, space and circumstances. The words are exploratory
in their character. The day we start believing that they are only explanatory
in nature they become illusory. We must use the words with care. We must ensure
that the words and we are not repeating ourselves with each other.
[This
series is being presented by Promod Kumar Sharma, who has also authored
“Mahatma A Scientist of the Intuitively Obvious” and “In Search of Our
Wonderful Words”.]
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