Describable: Indescribable (Vacya: Avacya)
Describable: Indescribable captures the soul’s journey toward purity through fourteen stages known as gunasthana. The painting uses the waxing states of the moon to show the ‘describable’ progress of a worldly being, culminating in a magnificent full moon that symbolizes the ‘indescribable’ state of absolute perfection. Below this sits a yellow half-moon, Siddhashila, the final abode of liberated souls. The path is marked by three colours: a thin red border for right perception, a thick white border for right character, and yellow for right knowledge.
In the dark-green regions, we see the first four steps of life where we are ‘worldly’ and unable to take vows. As the path moves upward, the footprints begin to cross boundaries, indicating that the soul is becoming vigilant and eventually breaking free from this worldly existence. It illustrates that while our progress can be measured and described, the final state of infinite attributes is so profound that it cannot be described.
This painting shows the ‘ascending progress’ of consciousness from the describable to the indescribable. It shows that while we start in ignorance, we have the tools—perception, knowledge, and character—to rise toward a state of omnipresence.
Reflect on your own journey and the progress you made today. While you can describe your daily tasks and struggles, there is a part of your potential—your own ‘full moon’—that is so vast it remains untapped.