The uniqueness of human beings lies in their discerning intellect, viveka, without which they would be no better than animals. It is discernment that puts humans at the zenith of Creation and allows them control over other creatures. It is this discerning intellect that has enabled humans to survive many a shock that has wiped out hundreds of species. The lifestyle and food habits of a tiger of today is little different from that of his predecessors aeons ago. Nor is it going to change in the years to come. But this is not the case with humans. They have evolved psychosocially with changing circumstances, and continue to do so. But for discerning wisdom, humans could well have been in the list of extinct races by now.
The term viveka comes from the Sanskrit root vichir, bearing
the connotation of prithakbhava, differentiating or discerning. The Jivanmuktiviveka
explains viveka as ‘coming to a conclusion after distinguishing and sorting out
things’. It could mean — among other things — the discernment between right and
wrong, the moral and the immoral, virtue and vice, the eternal and the
transitory, Self and non-Self.
Viveka signifies three things: First, the discerning faculty
potentially present in each and every individual, termed viveka shakti; all of
us are gifted with this faculty. Second, the process of discernment when this
aptitude is exercised, termed viveka kriya or viveka vyapara. Only a few of us consciously
use this discerning capacity in our daily affairs. Third, the knowledge born of
discernment, termed viveka jnana. Commonly, the term viveka is used to refer to
the process of discernment and the resultant knowledge.
We keep coming across choices all through our lives. And
making proper choices involves deliberation and thinking. On the nature of our
choices depends our success and failure in life. By exercising this
responsibility judiciously, humans become the architects of their destiny.