ISAVASYA UPANISHAD : - 10. Swami Tejomayananda.

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Saturday, August 20, 2022. 06:00

A. AVIDYA AND VIDYA

POST 10.

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Mantram-9: Worship of Avidya & Vidya

"Andham tamah pravishanti ye avidyaam upaasate;
tatah bhooyah iva te tamah ye u vidyaayaam rataah."

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Translation :

1 Andham tamah pravishanti   =  They enter into blinding darkness

2 ye avidyaam upaasate;      =  who are worshippers of Avidya alone;

3 tatah bhooyah iva te tamah =  but they enter even greater darkness

4 ye u vidyaayaam rataah.    =  who verily are worshippers of Vidya alone.

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Mantrm-10: The Fruits of Avidya & Vidya

"Anyat eva aahuh vidyayaa, anyat aahuh avidyayaa;
iti shushruma dheeraanaam ye nah tat vicha-chakshire."

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Translation :

5 Anyat eva aahuh vidyayaa,   = One thing, they say, is obtained from Vidya,

6 anyat aahuh avidyayaa;      = and another thing, they say, from Avidya;

7 iti shushruma dheeraanaam,  = Thus we have heard from the wise,

8 ye nah tat vicha-chakshire. = who have explained it to us.

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Mantram-11: Combining Avidya & Vidya

" Vidyaam cha avidyaam yah, tat veda ubhayam saha;
avidyayaa mrityum teertvaa, vidyayaa amritam ashnute."

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Translation :

9 Vidyaam cha avidyaam yah,    = Vidya (knowledge) and Avidya (ignorance) – he who

10 tat veda ubhayam saha;      = knows them both together (at the same time),

11 avidyayaa mrityum teertvaa, = he overcomes death through Avidya 

12 vidyayaa amritam ashnute.   = and obtains immortality through Vidya.

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Commentary :

In this second set of three verses, in 9 the fruits Avidya and Vidya, when worshipped 

alone, are given; in 10 their fruits are compared to each other (again, note that they not 

opposed to each other), and in 11 is given the fruit of combining both of them. 

The problem before us is to find the right interpretation of Avidya and Vidya so that 

it fits all three verses without contradiction. Further, we also need to explain what is meant 

by ‘death’ and ‘immortality’ in the last mantram.

The dictionary meanings of the two terms are “knowledge” and “ignorance”.

Three options are examined:

A. Combining Darkness & Light:

Avidya = Ignorance or delusion, the very opposite of Self-knowledge.

Vidya = Atma Vidya, the knowledge of the Self.

B. Combining Karma Yoga & Jnana Yoga:

Avidya = the path of Karma Yoga, purification through devotional action.

Vidya = Sadhana Chatushtaya, the preparation for Jnana YogaC. Combining Karma with Karma Yoga:

Avidya = the path of Karma, simply as a means to earn wealth.

Vidya = the path of Karma Yoga, purification through devotional action.

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Let us take up each one and see if it fits all the three Mantras:

A. Combining Darkness & Light: This is the standard interpretation of the terms, 

without any reference to the context. It is quite clear that we cannot accept these literal 

meanings because Knowledge and Ignorance are diametrically opposed to each other. They 

cannot be combined. Hence we have to drop this interpretation.

B. Combining Karma Yoga & Jnana Yoga: This is a feasible possibility because both 

are of the same type – both are Yogas. They can be combined with each other. However, 

the Vidya here is taken as the preparatory stage of Jnana Yoga. What happens when the 

preparation is over and one is ready to start the path in earnest? At that point the person 

has to separate from Karma Yoga. The two paths then cannot go together from that point 

onwards. It will be equivalent to the first option.

C. Combining Karma & Karma Yoga: This is the case that fits the present context. It 

is like one who combines a regular earning job (Karma) with a hobby (Upasana).

This interpretation takes Vidya to be an intermediate type of knowledge: It drops 

the level of Vidya from knowledge of the Self, yet keeps it raised above secular knowledge.

It is that knowledge which is sufficient for the performance of Upasanas prescribed by the 

scriptures for purification of the mind. It can include knowledge of devotional worship, 

knowledge of the science of Karma Yoga (actions done as selfless service), and knowledge of 

the performance of rituals. 

Knowledge of this intermediate type is like a ‘hobby’ that takes the person forward 

in spiritual life, while he still does a full-time ‘job’ for earning wealth.

The ‘job’ side of his life will fall under Avidya. It requires him to do some legitimate 

Karmas for the upkeep of his family. (It is most likely that such a person will be a 

householder, although that is not a pre-condition.) Such actions and the secular knowledge

required for it is classified as Avidya.

The fruit of Avidya is the maintenance of the body and the household. The fruit of 

Vidya is the development of the Spirit. It may occupy secondary place to the earning, but 

there could come a time when the person starts applying more effort to the Upasana than 

to his job. If this becomes very intense, he may decide to leave his job and do Upasana all 

the time for the love of God. In this case he will be like the one who drops his job in order to 

pursue his hobby.

Combining a job and a hobby is quite commonplace. In the same way combining 

Karma with worship is quite common. One gains freedom from ‘death’ – which could mean 

freedom from poverty, hardship, diseases, pains, etc. – by doing the ‘job’ called Avidya; and 

relative immortality through pursuing the ‘hobby’ of Vidya. [Absolute immortality as defined 

in Vedanta can come only through Self-knowledge, and that has been excluded here.]

Relative immortality refers to life in higher planes of existence. For example, there are 

heavenly worlds where one does not age, and feels no hunger or thirst, etc. 

The human being is a spiritual being with a material body. Both have to be taken 

care of. It is not advisable to be completely immersed in the world of sense pleasures; nor is 

it advisable to be completely immersed in study of scriptures, gaining more in scholarship, 

and avoiding one’s responsibility to care for the body. Hating the world is worse than being 

attached to it.

These higher planes could mean a place or Loka in the heavenly worlds after death, 

or it could be taken as a higher standard of living in this world itself. In either case it implies 

progress towards a life of goodness, morality, virtue and well-being, free from the hardship 

endured by the less endowed.

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A Non-Religious (Secular) Interpretation:

The third option above can include the following purely secular interpretation: This 

considers living a purely secular life, with no link to religious life. Avidya would refer to a 

labourer’s life where no knowledge at all is required. Such people are considered ignorant, 

but they have a virtue of having very little ego. They endure great hardship, which comes to 

their lot due to poverty and dullness of intellect. Yet they live very good, pure, simple 

lifestyles as peasants. That is the fruit of this Avidya.

Vidya, in this case, refers to secular knowledge as gained in the universities. He who 

gets educated and strives to understand more about the world he lives in, graduates and 

earns well in some profession. He has a better standard of living than the man of Avidya, but 

that is all. Spiritually he is still ignorant. In fact, because of his wealth and knowledge, he 

becomes more egoistic, proud, and even arrogant, and that places him in greater darkness 

than the simple darkness of the peasant.

Combining these two would give one the fruit of a better living from the Vidya and 

an egolessness and endurance gained from the Avidya type of life. The hardship takes one 

across death, and the learning takes one to ‘immortality’ or fame in this world. 

This option, although it fits all three verses, may not be favoured because it does not 

bring in the spiritual dimension of life, which is the purpose of an Upanishad.

Now we consider the second set of 3 verses, dealing with the Unmanifest and the 

Manifest. This is a lot more difficult to understand than the first, on Avidya and Vidya.

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Next-B. SAMBHOOTI & ASAMBHOOTI

Mantram 12: Worship of Unmanifest & Manifes

Mantram 13: The Fruits of Unmanifest & Manifest

Mantram 14: Combining Unmanifest & Manifest

To be continued ....

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