IshAvAsya Upanishad Mantra #11

By: Jayakrishna Nelamangala

॥ ॐ श्री गुरुभ्यो नमः हरिः ॐ ॥

|| ōm̐ śrī gurubhyō namaḥ hariḥ ōm̐ ||

Mantra #11

In the previous two mantras, it was stated that true knowledge (vidyā,) is related to the recognition and rejection of wrong knowledge (avidyā). One goes hand-in-hand with the other. This is what makes true knowledge distinct and different from blind-belief. Previously, we have also briefly studied how the three great Acharyas have interpreted the words vidyā and avidyā. In three different ways.

The meaning of the two previous mantras is more clearly stated by the next mantra #11 which starts with the words ‘vidyāṁ cāvidyāṁ ca’.

उपनिषत्‌ upaniṣat
विद्यां चाविद्यां च यस्तद्वेदोभयँ सह ।
अविद्यया मृत्युं तीर्त्वा विद्ययाऽमृतम्‌ अश्नुते ॥ ११ ॥
vidyāṁ cāvidyāṁ ca yastadvēdōbhayam̐ saha | avidyāyā mr̥tyuṁ tīrtvā vidyāyā’mr̥tam aśnutē || 11 ||

Here, vidyā, stands for the knowledge of Vedic Parabrahman. avidyā stands for the recognition and rejection of false-knowledge.

‘ca’ means ‘and’. In the English language, the conjunction ‘and’ is used to express the joining of two phrases. For example, the two ideas ‘She is good at singing’ and ‘She is good at dancing’ are combined into ‘She is good at both singing and dancing’. Now look at the mantra. It has the expression ‘vidyāṁ ca avidyāṁ ca’ which when literally translated is ‘vidya and avidya and’, it is like saying ‘She is good at both singing and dancing and’. We don’t have such expressions in the English Language. However, Veda uses such an expression to present the idea of what is technically known as ‘itaretara-yōga’, the idea that each is related to the other.

The person who understands both of them, ( vidyā and avidyā ) in this manner, what happens to that person ? It is explained by the upanishat is, one must also know what it is not. This is also called “व्यावृत्ति vyāvr̥tti”, in English it is called ‘distinction’.

In this example, the dependence of prakriti and its products on īśā is established by the upanishat. All other meanings regarding, prakriti, its products and Parabrahman, have to be examined against this yathārtha jñāna that “ishāvāsyamidam sarvam” taught by this upanishat. Some teach what results in teaching that “ईशं इदं सर्वं īśaṁ idaṁ sarvaṁ” (All of this world itself is God) whereas this upanishat was actually teaching “Ishāvāsyamidam sarvam”. We should keep in mind all the above questions when we read various interpretations of this upanishat. One should always remember that, between faith and knowledge, it is only knowledge that enables a student to separate true and false knowledge and it is blind faith that disables the same student.

Those that are fit for knowledge and mōksha, lose their dukha-svabhāva by the recognition and rejection of wrong-knowledge and the same people attain the form of सुख-ज्ञान sukha-jñāna by obtaining the right-knowledge of Vedic Brahman, and this is what gets to be termed as ‘gaining sarūpa’. Those who understand this properly are the virtuous people.

This attainment of the nature of sukha and jñāna is also sometimes called attaining भगवत्सरूप bhagavat-sarūpa. (not svarūpa). In the state of mōksha, a mukta lives in his natural state of ज्ञानानन्दस्वरूप jñānānandasvarūpa. But one should not forget “ishāvāsyam idam sarvam” in any case. That ‘sarvam’ includes the state of mōksha as well. The jīvātman when in samsāra has svātantrya-bhrānti and that is the cause of his dukha. When that bhrānti is completely removed by jñāna, then he understands fully that he is a mere puppet in the hands of God.

Those who are of the nature of dukha, crossing over their dukha because of the rejection of wrong-knowledge, is one creative activity of the Lord. Similarly, a fit person becoming of the nature of knowledge and bliss, is another creative activity of the Lord. The same person, becoming similar to Vedic Brahman in terms of his blemishless sukha and knowledge, is another greatness of the creative activity of the Lord. So, to say that all these are with the jīvātmans even without any sādhana, without depending on any creative activity of the Lord, is to simply deny the greatness of the creative activity of the Lord. When we say, a jeevātman becomes Paramātma-sarūpa, it does not mean he becomes the same as God. If we understood it like that it goes against the upanishadic teaching that the world in its entirity is Ishāvāsya and there is no exception to it. ‘sarūpa’ and such other technical philosophical words have to be understood with a proper study of philosophy.

“vidyāyā” dēvatājñānēna “amr̥taṁ” dēvatātmabhāvaṁ “aśnutē” prāpnōti | taddhi amr̥tamucyatē yaddēvatātmagamanaṁ |

śrī śankara has taken the word vidyā to mean देवता ज्ञान dēvatā jñāna and ‘avidyā’ to mean ‘karma’. Both are to be practiced by the same individual. One who has this combined activity of devatā-jñāna and agni-hotra and other karma, gradually will get the final result. His natural karma and jñāna are denoted by ‘mrutyu’, and both of them are overcome by performance of agnihotra and such other karma. Then, by the knowledge of devatā, he attains the nature of being a devatā. THis becoming a devatā is indeed what is termed in the upanishat as “amrutam”.

A few questions arise here. Why his natual karma and jñāna are called ‘mrutyu’? What does it mean to get over one’s natural karma and jñāna by performance of agni-hotra etc? āgni-hotra is yet another karma. How can one karma get rid of another karma?

श्री रङ्गरामानुज भाष्यं śrī raṅgarāmānuja bhāṣyaṁ

विद्यां ब्रह्मोपासनरूपां तदङ्गभूतकर्मरूपां अविद्यां चैतदुभयं सह वेद । अङ्गाङ्गिभावेन सहानुष्ठेयं वेद इत्यर्थः । अविद्यया विद्याङ्गतया चोदितेन कर्मणा मृत्युं विद्योपपत्तिप्रतिबन्धकीभूतं पुण्यपापरूपं प्राक्तनकर्म तीर्त्वा निर्विशेषं उल्लङ्घ्य । विद्यया परमात्म उपासनरूपया । अमृतं अश्नुते मोक्षं प्राप्नोति इत्यर्थः । तीर्त्वा इत्यत्र उपायविरोधितरणं उच्यते । अमृतमश्नुत इति उपेयब्रह्मप्राप्तिविरोधिभूतेभ्यः सर्वपापेभ्यः मोक्ष इति भेदः ।

vidyāṁ brahmōpāsanarūpāṁ tadaṅgabhūtakarmarūpāṁ avidyāṁ caitadubhayaṁ saha vēda | aṅgāṅgibhāvēna sahānuṣṭhēyaṁ vēda ityarthaḥ | avidyāyā vidyāṅgatayā cōditēna karmaṇā mr̥tyuṁ vidyōpapattipratibandhakībhūtaṁ puṇyapāparūpaṁ prāktanakarma tīrtvā nirviśēṣaṁ ullaṅghya | vidyāyā paramātma upāsanarūpayā | amr̥taṁ aśnutē mōkṣaṁ prāpnōti ityarthaḥ | tīrtvā ityatra upāyavirōdhitaraṇaṁ ucyatē | amr̥tamaśnuta iti upēyabrahmaprāptivirōdhibhūtēbhyaḥ sarvapāpēbhyaḥ mōkṣa iti bhēdaḥ |

‘vidyā’ is of the form of meditation on Brahman, and karma which is performed as part of it called ‘avidyā’ and one who knows that both of these should be performed together as part of each other. By avidyā means by karma that is enjoined as part of vidyā. ‘mrutyum’ means that which is an obstacle for gaining knowledge, which is in the form of sin and merit resulting from previous karma. tīrtvā means completely leaping over. By vidyā means by the meditation on Brahman. ‘amrutam ashṇute’ means ‘attains mōksha’. This is the meaning. Where it says, ‘teertvā’ or ‘leaping over ‘ what is stated is, the obstacles to the means for reaching aim, those obstacles are leaped over, so that means become By avidyā i.e., by the recognition and rejection of wrong-knowledge, the person crosses over destruction, misery, ignorance and such other undesirables. By the correct-knowledge i.e., by the correct knowledge of Brahman as given by vēda, the person attains eternality and bliss. The upanishat teaches that emancipation is two-fold: removal of misery and obtainment of bliss. Accordingly, the means for mōksha is also two-fold: Rejection of wrong-knowledge and obtainment of right-knowledge of Vedic Brahman. By the rejection of wrong-knowledge, its effects which are misery and delusion get removed. This is what is termed as “removal of the undesirables”. By the right-knowledge of Vedic Brahman, there will be bliss without any blemish and it occurs to that eligible soul that is in mōksha. These two factors must not be forgotten while understanding the notion of mōksha.

We should notice the importance of this itareratara-yōga between rejection of wrong-knowledge and establishing the right-knowledge. One goes hand-in-hand with the other. One must be hidden in the other. Then only it becomes knowledge. This is the significance of the upanishat using ‘cha’ (and) twice. ‘ विद्यां चाविद्यां च vidyām cha avidyām cha’. In normal usage, only one ‘cha’ would be sufficient. So, knowledge obtained in any other fashion, is सदोष sa-dōṣa, and is opposed to this upanishat.

Let us think for a second, what that anyathā-jñāna could be, according to this upanishat? Let us consider just one example. ” इशावास्यं इदं सर्वं iśāvāsyaṁ idaṁ sarvaṁ” – has already established that this world of vividity that we all live in, is made out of prakriti. Prakriti and all its products are dependent on Isha. Any other thought opposed to this thought even in the slightest sense is anyathā-jñāna. Different people will give out different meanings for this upanishat. Some even may try to reconcile between these very different meanings and come up with a compromised hybrid meaning.

उपनिषत्‌ upaniṣat
विद्यां चाविद्यां च यस्तद्वेदोभयँ सह ।
अविद्यया मृत्युं तीर्त्वा विद्ययाऽमृतम्‌ अश्नुते ॥ ११ ॥
vidyāṁ cāvidyāṁ ca yastadvēdōbhayam̐ saha |
avidyāyā mr̥tyuṁ tīrtvā vidyāyā’mr̥tam aśnutē || 11 ||

One who understands that (यस्तद्वेद yastadvēda) the inter-related viṣṇuḥ yāthāthmya-jñāna (विद्यां च vidyāṁ ca) and mithyā-jñāna-nindā (अविद्यां च avidyāṁ ca)  as both together causing mōksha ( उभयँ सह ubhayam̐ saha), such a person, by the rejection of mithyā-jñāna (अविद्यया avidyāyā) after crossing over the undesirable dukha-ajñāna (मृत्युं तीर्त्वा mr̥tyuṁ tīrtvā), and by the true-knowledge of Vedic Brahman as given by Veda (विद्यया vidyāyā) attains the other part of mōksha which is of the form of jñāna and ānanda (अमृतम्‌ अश्नुते amr̥tam aśnutē).

For the sake of completeness, we will study a little bit of the three bhāṣyas coming from the three schools of Vedanta.

श्री शंकरभाष्यं śrī śaṁkarabhāṣyaṁ
यत एवमतो ’विद्यां च अविद्यां च’ देवताज्ञानं कर्म च इत्यर्थः । “यस्तद्” एतद् “उभयं सह” एकेन पुरुषेण अनुष्ठेयं “वेद” तस्यैव समुच्चायकारिण एवैकपुरुषार्थसंबन्धः क्रमेण स्यात् इत्युच्यते – “अविद्यया” कर्मणा अग्निहोत्रादिना ’मृत्युं” स्वाभाविकं कर्म ज्ञानं च मॄत्युशब्दवाच्यं उभयं “तीर्त्वा” अतिक्रम्य “विद्यया” देवताज्ञानेन “अमृतं” देवतात्मभावं “अश्नुते” प्राप्नोति । तद्धि अमृतमुच्यते यद्देवतात्मगमनं ।

yata ēvamatō ’vidyāṁ ca avidyāṁ ca’ dēvatājñānaṁ karma ca ityarthaḥ | “yastad” ētad “ubhayaṁ saha” ēkēna puruṣēṇa anuṣṭhēyaṁ “vēda” tasyaiva samuccāyakāriṇa ēvaikapuruṣārthasaṁbandhaḥ kramēṇa syāt ityucyatē – “avidyāyā” karmaṇā agnihōtrādinā ’mr̥tyuṁ” svābhāvikaṁ karma jñānaṁ ca mr̥̄tyuśabdavācyaṁ ubhayaṁ “tīrtvā” tikramya

clean and clear. Where it says, ‘अमॄतमश्नुत amr̥̄tamaśnuta’ it means ‘Brahman is the goal and obstacles are all the sins which block the attainment of reaching Brahman, and release from all such sins’. This is the difference between ‘mr̥tyuṁ tīrtvā’ and ‘amrutam ashnute’. कुर्वन्नेवेह कर्माणि kurvannēvēha karmāṇi teaches ‘karma-yoga’ which produces para-bhakti and this mantra teaches that daily karma and special karma cleanse the sādhaka and enhance the bhakti.

Note that in the previous mantra, avidyā was defined as ‘vidyāvidhura karma’ i.e., karma without knowledge. Here, ‘avidyā’ is said to be karma enjoined as part of vidyā. So, what is leaped over? The obstacles that are blocking the means for vidyā, are leaped over. ‘mrutyum teertvā’ makes the way for means for getting knowledge and ‘vidyā’ is said to be meditation on Brahman which is also another ‘means’. Hence both avidyā and vidyā have been interpreted from the standpoint of the “means”.

श्री मध्व भाष्यम्‌  śrī madhva bhāṣyaṁ

तस्मात्‌ यथा स्वरूपम्‌ तु नारायणम्‌ अनामयम्‌ । अयथार्थस्य निन्दां च ।

अन्यथोपासका ये तु तमो अन्धम्‌ यान्ति असंशयम्‌ । ततो अधिकमिव व्यक्तं यान्ति तेषाम्‌ अनिन्दकाः । ये विदुः सह सज्जनाः । ते निन्दया अयथार्थस्य दुःख अज्ञानदि रूपिणः । दुःख अज्ञानादि सन्तीर्णाः सुख ज्ञानदि रूपिणः । यथार्थस्य परिज्ञानात्‌ सुखज्ञानदिरूपताम्‌ यान्ति ॥

tasmāt yathā svarūpam tu nārāyaṇam anāmāyām | ayathārthasya nindāṁ ca | anyathōpāsakā yē tu tamō andham yānti asaṁśayam | tatō adhikamiva vyaktaṁ yānti tēṣām anindākāḥ | yē viduḥ saha sajjanāḥ | tē nindāyā ayathārthasya duḥkha ajñānadi rūpiṇaḥ | duḥkha ajñānādi santīrṇāḥ sukha jñānadi rūpiṇaḥ | yathārthasya parijñānāt sukhajñānadirūpatām yānti ||

Because of this reason that, only in the form of yathārtha svarūpa, or the svarūpa as it is, Parabrahman who is guṇa-pūrṇa  and defectless, nirdōṣa (and having understood it this way), one need to also perform the rejection of ayathārtha (that which is not as it is). Those with fittedness for knowledge who know the two together (‘what it is’ along with ‘what it is not’) such virtuous people who may have dukha and ajñāna, by the rejection of wrong-knowledge having crossed over dukha and ajñāna, become of the nature of sukha and jñāna by knowing the yathārtha-swarūpa of Vedic Brahman, attain the nature of sukha and jñāna i.e, they attain mōksha.