{"id":20557,"date":"2020-03-05T01:58:15","date_gmt":"2020-03-05T05:58:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/?p=20557"},"modified":"2020-10-05T01:58:43","modified_gmt":"2020-10-05T05:58:43","slug":"sri-isopanisad-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/sri-isopanisad-9\/","title":{"rendered":"Sri Isopanisad 9"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u012a\u015bo 9<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n
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andha\u1e41 tama\u1e25 pravi\u015banti
\nye \u2019vidy\u0101m up\u0101sate
\ntato bh\u016bya iva te tamo
\nya u vidy\u0101y\u0101\u1e3f rat\u0101\u1e25<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Synonyms<\/span><\/h2>\n
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andham<\/em><\/a> \u2014 gross ignorance; tama\u1e25<\/em><\/a> \u2014 darkness; pravi\u015banti<\/em><\/a> \u2014 enter into; ye<\/em><\/a> \u2014 those who; avidy\u0101m<\/em><\/a> \u2014 nescience; up\u0101sate<\/em><\/a> \u2014 worship; tata\u1e25<\/em><\/a> \u2014 than that; bh\u016bya\u1e25<\/em><\/a> \u2014 still more; iva<\/em><\/a> \u2014 like; te<\/em><\/a> \u2014 they; tama\u1e25<\/em><\/a> \u2014 darkness; ye<\/em><\/a> \u2014 those who; u<\/em><\/a> \u2014 also; vidy\u0101y\u0101m<\/em><\/a> \u2014 in the culture of knowledge; rat\u0101\u1e25<\/em><\/a> \u2014 engaged.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Translation<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Those who engage in the culture of nescient activities shall enter into the darkest region of ignorance. Worse still are those engaged in the culture of so-called knowledge.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Purport<\/span><\/h2>\n
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This mantra<\/em> offers a comparative study of vidy\u0101<\/em> and avidy\u0101. Avidy\u0101,<\/em> or ignorance, is undoubtedly dangerous, but vidy\u0101,<\/em> or knowledge, is even more dangerous when mistaken or misguided. This mantra<\/em> of \u015ar\u012b \u012a\u015bopani\u1e63ad<\/em> is more applicable today than at any time in the past. Modern civilization has advanced considerably in the field of mass education, but the result is that people are more unhappy than ever before because of the stress placed on material advancement to the exclusion of the most important part of life, the spiritual aspect.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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As far as vidy\u0101<\/em> is concerned, the first mantra<\/em> has explained very clearly that the Supreme Lord is the proprietor of everything and that forgetfulness of this fact is ignorance. The more a man forgets this fact of life, the more he is in darkness. In view of this, a godless civilization directed toward the so-called advancement of education is more dangerous than a civilization in which the masses of people are less \u201ceducated.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Of the different classes of men\u00a0\u2013 karm\u012bs, j\u00f1\u0101n\u012bs<\/em> and yog\u012bs<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 the karm\u012bs<\/em> are those who are engaged in the activities of sense gratification. In the modern civilization, 99.9 percent of the people are engaged in the activities of sense gratification under the flags of industrialism, economic development, altruism, political activism, and so on. All these activities are more or less based on satisfaction of the senses, to the exclusion of the kind of God consciousness described in the first mantra<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In the language of the Bhagavad-g\u012bt\u0101<\/em> (7.15)<\/a>, people who are engaged in gross sense gratification are m\u016b\u1e0dhas<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 asses. The ass is a symbol of stupidity. Those who simply engage in the profitless pursuit of sense gratification are worshiping avidy\u0101,<\/em>according to \u015ar\u012b \u012a\u015bopani\u1e63ad.<\/em> And those who play the role of helping this sort of civilization in the name of educational advancement are actually doing more harm than those who are on the platform of gross sense gratification. The advancement of learning by a godless people is as dangerous as a valuable jewel on the hood of a cobra. A cobra decorated with a valuable jewel is more dangerous than one not decorated. In the Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya<\/em> (3.11.12), the advancement of education by a godless people is compared to decorations on a dead body. In India, as in many other countries, some people follow the custom of leading a procession with a decorated dead body for the pleasure of the lamenting relatives. In the same way, modern civilization is a patchwork of activities meant to cover the perpetual miseries of material existence. All such activities are aimed toward sense gratification. But above the senses is the mind, and above the mind is the intelligence, and above the intelligence is the soul. Thus the aim of real education should be self-realization, realization of the spiritual values of the soul. Any education which does not lead to such realization must be considered avidy\u0101,<\/em> or nescience. And to culture such nescience means to go down to the darkest region of ignorance.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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According to the Bhagavad-g\u012bt\u0101<\/a><\/em> (2.42, 7.15), mistaken mundane educators are known as veda-v\u0101da-rata<\/em> and m\u0101yay\u0101pah\u1e5bta-j\u00f1\u0101na.<\/em> They may also be atheistic demons, the lowest of men. Those who are veda-v\u0101da-rata<\/em> pose themselves as very learned in the Vedic literature, but unfortunately they are completely diverted from the purpose of the Vedas.<\/em> In the Bhagavad-g\u012bt\u0101<\/em> (15.15)<\/a> it is said that the purpose of the Vedas<\/em> is to know the Personality of Godhead, but these veda-v\u0101da-rata<\/em> men are not at all interested in the Personality of Godhead. On the contrary, they are fascinated by such fruitive results as the attainment of heaven.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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As stated in Mantra One, we should know that the Personality of Godhead is the proprietor of everything and that we must be satisfied with our allotted portions of the necessities of life. The purpose of all Vedic literature is to awaken this God consciousness in the forgetful living being, and this same purpose is presented in various ways in the different scriptures of the world for the understanding of a foolish mankind. Thus the ultimate purpose of all religions is to bring one back to Godhead.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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But the veda-v\u0101da-rata<\/em> people, instead of realizing that the purpose of the Vedas<\/em> is to revive the forgetful soul\u2019s lost relationship with the Personality of Godhead, take it for granted that such side issues as the attainment of heavenly pleasure for sense gratification\u00a0\u2013 the lust for which causes their material bondage in the first place\u00a0\u2013 are the ultimate end of the Vedas.<\/em> Such people misguide others by misinterpreting the Vedic literature. Sometimes they even condemn the Pur\u0101\u1e47as,<\/em> which are authentic Vedic explanations for laymen. The veda-v\u0101da-ratas<\/em> give their own explanations of the Vedas,<\/em> neglecting the authority of great teachers (\u0101c\u0101ryas<\/em>). They also tend to raise some unscrupulous person from among themselves and present him as the leading exponent of Vedic knowledge. Such veda-v\u0101da-ratas<\/em> are especially condemned in this mantra<\/em> by the very appropriate Sanskrit words vidy\u0101y\u0101\u1e41 rat\u0101\u1e25. Vidy\u0101y\u0101m<\/em> refers to the study of the Vedas<\/em> because the Vedas<\/em> are the origin of all knowledge (vidy\u0101<\/em>), and rat\u0101\u1e25<\/em> means \u201cthose engaged.\u201d Vidy\u0101y\u0101\u1e41 rat\u0101\u1e25<\/em> thus means \u201cthose engaged in the study of the Vedas.<\/em>\u201d The so-called students of the Vedas<\/em> are condemned herein because they are ignorant of the actual purpose of the Vedas<\/em> on account of their disobeying the \u0101c\u0101ryas.<\/em> Such veda-v\u0101da-ratas<\/em> search out meanings in every word of the Vedas<\/em> to suit their own purposes. They do not know that the Vedic literature is a collection of extraordinary books that can be understood only through the chain of disciplic succession.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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One must approach a bona fide spiritual master in order to understand the transcendental message of the Vedas.<\/em> That is the direction of the Mu\u1e47\u1e0daka Upani\u1e63ad<\/em> (1.2.12). These veda-v\u0101da-rata<\/em> people, however, have their own \u0101c\u0101ryas,<\/em> who are not in the chain of transcendental succession. Thus they progress into the darkest region of ignorance by misinterpreting the Vedic literature. They fall even further into ignorance than those who have no knowledge of the Vedas<\/em> at all.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The m\u0101yay\u0101pah\u1e5bta-j\u00f1\u0101na<\/em> class of men are self-made \u201cGods.\u201d Such men think that they themselves are God and that there is no need of worshiping any other God. They will agree to worship an ordinary man if he happens to be rich, but they will never worship the Personality of Godhead. Such men, unable to recognize their own foolishness, never consider how it is that God can be entrapped by m\u0101y\u0101,<\/em> His own illusory energy. If God were ever entrapped by m\u0101y\u0101, m\u0101y\u0101<\/em> would be more powerful than God. Such men say that God is all-powerful, but they do not consider that if He is all-powerful there is no possibility of His being overpowered by m\u0101y\u0101.<\/em> These self-made \u201cGods\u201d cannot answer all these questions very clearly; they are simply satisfied to have become \u201cGod\u201d themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u012a\u015bo 9 andha\u1e41 tama\u1e25 pravi\u015banti ye \u2019vidy\u0101m up\u0101sate tato bh\u016bya iva te tamo ya u vidy\u0101y\u0101\u1e3f rat\u0101\u1e25 Synonyms andham \u2014 gross ignorance; tama\u1e25 \u2014 darkness; pravi\u015banti \u2014 enter into; ye \u2014 those who; avidy\u0101m \u2014 nescience; … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-01 05:42:05","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20557\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}