Practical knowledge more important than theory- Vashisht

Most of us know theory. I will start with simple examples. Anybody who has studied science subject knows that writing theory exam is not a big deal, but practicals. Even after knowing the method, the equation there will be at atleast one occasion you would have struggled in the practical lab. And we would have seen people who are not that good in theory papers but do exceptionally well in practicals. I had a batchmate whose marks were average for theory but each and every lab he scored more than 90%. It had taken me a lifetime to create a model in carpentry. Most of us had to. He did all the models in 1st class. If we struggled to raise hammer in smithy, he finished of the model in the class. If CRO gave us blank lines , the CRO when he touched worked like as if touched by a magician.

So what is the difference and which is more important. The problem with most people is that when we study theory we study it unidimensional, meaning observing it only from one direction. But in fact no theory is unidimensional, it is multi dimensional. To succeed in practicals you need to understand the multidimensional aspects of the theory. And that can come only through practice.

So what is multidimensional aspect. Will give you one easy example on this. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Everyone know this theory. But the question is does your action create only one reaction. No. It creates multiple reactions. Some you see, some you dont see. It is like keeping a finger in still water and seeing the ripples. Some ripples you can see, some you cannot. Though you cannot see it, it is a truth that ripples exist. Reactions also. And since the reactions are happening based on your action you are responsible for all the reactions seen and unseen and all these can affect you.

That's why BG says concentrate on action, not on result. Because when you do action concentrating on result you are only counting on reactions that you see or you know. You are not accounting for the reactions you cannot see and you dont know. But if you concentrate on action, doing the action in the direction set by Lord Krishna, understand that he is taking care of all the reactions you see and you dont see and is setting up your defense.

So this is where theory and application matters. So dont shy away from challenges. Even simple games teach us a lot of practical knowledge than the theory class. By score 99% in exams you dont win in the school of life. It needs much more than what is available in school or college texts. So learn, use every opportunity to build practical knowledge to succeed in this world.

Dont give up when you fail. Failure only means you are missing some aspect of the theory and theory never goes wrong.