ISAVASYA UPANISHAD: “The All-Pervading Reality”: 11 - Swami Gurubhaktananda.

 

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Saturday 21, February 2026, 06:40.
ISAVASYA UPANISHAD:
MEDITATIONS on the Self
18 Mantras on: “The All-Pervading Reality” 
Wave 3:
Mantras 9-15 (6 No.)
The Integration of KNOWLEDGE:

on the 12 Lectures delivered: Swami Tejomayananda:  to the 15th Batch Vedanta Course:   at Sandeepany Sadhanalaya, Powai, Mumbai July 11th – July 16th, 2012

Reflections: Swami Gurubhaktananda 
Post-11.

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Mantram - 9: Worship of Avidya & Vidya 

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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Mantram -10: The Fruits of Avidya & Vidya

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 

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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Comments:

In this second set of three mantras, 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 did not oppose 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 Yoga. 

C. 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. 

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. 

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 ego lessness 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 & Manifest 

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