The Higher Half

The word paraardha in Sanskrit means the more remote or opposite side or half; it also refers to the highest number (100,000 billions); in the Puranic tradition it signifies the number of mortal days corresponding to 50 years of Brahma’s life. Paraardha is composed of two components: para and ardha. The word para as a pronoun has the following senses: far, distant, remote (in space), opposite, ulterior, farther than, beyond, on the other or farther side of, extreme etc. It also has other meanings like ancient, past, later, future, next, following, succeeding, subsequent, strange, foreign, alien, adverse, hostile, another (different from one's self), enemy, foe, adversary, etc. The most prominent one of all meanings of para is supreme or highest, as we see it in the words like parabrahma, the Supreme Absolute One, paraa vaak, the Supreme Speech. The transcendental Brahman is described as paraatpara (literally beyond the beyond).

The word ardha, in Sanskrit, literally means half. The experience with this word is really very illumining. The word ardha is derived from the root-sound ‘ridh’ which means ‘to grow or increase’. How then from this root came the sense of half? Let us enter into the true sense of ardha through an experiential mode.

The root-sound ‘ridh’ means, ‘to grow, increase, prosper, succeed’. This is the first set of meanings of root ‘ridh’. From the above senses it also gets the other senses like ‘to go and join’, because anything which grows it grows towards something and finally it meets that something. In this sense it also bore the sense of place of destination, the person to whom one directs oneself, or simply place; this also leads to the sense of addition, a part added, so the part added or half. So we see that in the word ardha meaning half the aspiration to grow fuller or the sense of upward movement is hidden.
Now para and ardha joined together make the word paraardha which means the higher half. When the Vedic Rishis spoke of the higher worlds of Sacchidananda they used the term paraardha to mean the higher half of the world-existence. This is also described as the highest seat or param dhaama. While giving this sense to the word paraardha the ancient Rishis also thought of that higher half as the destination of man’s upward movement. The word opposite to paraardha is aparaardha which refers to the lower half of world-existence. The supreme goal of human life as per the Vedic Rishis is to rise from the level of lower half to unite with the higher half. Then only there comes the completeness to one’s existence.

The aparaardha, according to Sri Aurobindo is the lower kingdom or lower half of world-existence formed by mind, life and matter. Pure consciousness (chit) and pure bliss (ananda) proceed out of pure Being (sat) to form paraardha or the higher kingdom, the upper half of world-existence. (see SABCL Volume 22, Letters on Yoga, Page: 243; also (The Upanishads,1981), Page: 45)