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Sushmita delves into the word-world of absolute and relative. A Different Truths exclusive.
It is the virginity that a revelation is and presents that impresses upon and imprints the psyche, the impact of the newness and the experience undeniable, undefiable. At that moment, there is nothing relative to it — and so long we do not compare it with other impacts and experiences. That moment — of albeit a momentary flash — is a lingering and could even be an indelible and absolute presence in the consciousness. There is nothing apekshik to it. The word, apekhshik, first consciously interacted with, thanks to the lexica of Bengali and Hindi, when the conscious interaction with the word, relative, happened. And that happened when the all-pervasive and all-permeating presence of relativity, woven in and as the fabric of life, is understood and acknowledged, and to an extent experienced.
Truth is not dependent on us.
How and when those interactions happened, and what relativity is and how relativity is a constant undeniable presence on this physical plane, is not the core subject of this outpouring. That we are to embrace the truth of relativity and so allow our transactions and interactions in life to be transformed, that too is not the concern. Truth is not dependent on us. It is self-sustaining and self-perpetuating. What brings to this sharing is that that the word nirapeksha has led, facilitating the receipt, as a flash, of the new (hitherto hidden from the consciousness) in the word. Thanks to the article, ‘There is no other reality than Shiva’ [1] by Anup Taneja.
The very first sentence, “Kashmir Shaivism describes Shiva as Nirapeksha, the Absolute Being, the one without a second”, triggers the revelation, adding on to the earlier ‘known’ meaning of nirapeksha. Its hitherto known meaning was ‘neutral’; the one who takes no sides deemed as nirapekhsa. But when read this sentence, followed by subsequent, “The term ‘absolute’ is understood in two different ways: basically, it means that which exists by itself and needs no other support for its existence. The term relative, in contrast, refers to that which depends on some support”, the revelation (for me), that nirapekhsa means absolute, impresses — unquestioned — its truth. In that moment though, there is no logical discernment of its truth, just an inexpressible self-affirming feeling, proving yet again that truth conveys itself, transcending logic, and gradually reveals and unfurls its petals.
Its hitherto known meaning was ‘neutral’; the one who takes no sides deemed as nirapekhsa.
The earlier known meaning and the added present their unity, the latter, the new, 
the reason behind the former, the old!
How? Well, because the Absolute stands without the support of any other thing or being! It has nothingapekshik to itself and hence, it does not have any apeksha (expectation) from anyone (anything). It is free, independent. In furtherance and in concurrence, and as a consequence as well, it does not have to wait (that too is expressed by the word apeksha, in Bengali, though pronounced a bit differently), for anything or anyone for Its fulfillment and perpetuation. The Absolute is all-encompassing, all mighty, self-fulfilled, self-fulfilling, self-perpetuating, eternal. Hence, truly, only It could be and is only and only nirapekhsa!
Only the nirapeksha, the Absolute, could be nirapeksha, neutral, unbiased, non-judgmental.
Yes, it is like stating the obvious: Only the nirapeksha, the Absolute, could 
be nirapeksha, neutral, unbiased, non-judgmental. But then, it takes a revelation, in the form of a new meaning received, to register in the consciousness the obvious as obvious, which though, before that moment, the consciousness was unaware of and hence was oblivious to. And when we acknowledge the different meanings of the same word, as well as the similar meanings of the different words (the synonyms) — experiencing, realising and acknowledging their reach and potential — it is again the relative that is acknowledged. Each is related to the other, and hence, relative of and to the other, realising one another to be the branches of the one Absolute, the Infinite. True, the Absolute is independent. Yet, we, as well as the words and everything, on our journey — individual and collective, intrinsically — to realise the Absolute, can do so only through the relative. The relative plane, which we call ‘life’, is for that.
The Nirapeksha, such is its play that it leads us through the apekshik and being everything but nirapekhsa— so long we do not see and experience the truth and wisdom of and in being nirapeksha — while all along and all the way, it stays compassionate and nirapeksha, being what it is! No wonder, the process is eternal, calling forth and ensuring innumerable lifetimes, each apekshik, none better or futile, the Nirapeksha,nirapeksha, affirming fulfillment, ensuring the dissolution in It of all apekshik and apeksha.
Author’s Note: The root of the word, nirapeksha, and its construction, presented in and by Sanskrit, through sandhi andsandhi vichhed — union, contraction and expansion of the constituents — lead to the meanings with sparkling clarity.
©Sushmita Mukherjee
Photos from the Internet
