Dayananda on Jijnasu & Jnani (BG7:16)

caturvidhā bhajante māṁ janāḥ sukṛtino’rjuna ārto jijñāsurarthārthī jñānī ca bharatarṣabha (16)

caturvidhāḥ – four-fold; janāḥ – people; sukṛtinaḥ – who do good actions; mām – me; bhajante – worship; arjuna – O Arjuna!; ārtaḥ – the one in distress; arthārthī – the one who seeks security and pleasure; jijñāsuḥ – the one who desires to know; ca – and; jñānī – the one who knows; bharatarṣabha – O the foremost in the clan of Bharata! 

Arjuna, the foremost in the clan of Bharata! People given to good actions, who worship me are four-fold–the distressed, the seeker of security and pleasure, the one who desires to know (me), and the one who knows (me).

The jijñāsu is not invoking Īśvara’s grace for simple accomplishments. He wants to know the truth of Īśvara, the ultimate cause of everything. And this jijñāsu is a great devotee. He does not use Bhagavān as an accomplice for his small pursuits. He wants to know who is Īśvara and as a bhakta he invokes Īśvara’s grace for this.

Knowledge of Īśvara is nothing but knowledge of ātmā. Īśvara, the cause of everything, happens to be in essence, oneself. If Īśvara were other than ātmā, he would be anātmā, and therefore, inert. The only conscious being is ātmā, and Īśvara is not separate from it.

This seeming difference between Īśvara and the individual is due to upādhi, as we have seen. There is only one reality which the jijñāsu wants to know. He is a devotee because he seeks the help of Īśvara and performs prayerful actions to earn this help.

When one is a jijñāsu one necessarily becomes a jñānī, the one who knows the truth of Lord Viṣṇu, Parameśvara, as oneself. Such a person is a real bhakta.

The jñānī’s devotion is what we call sādhya-bhakti. There are two types of bhakti. One is sādhana-bhakti, a devotion to Īśvara as a means. This is the devotion of a jijñāsu. But the bhakti of one who understands Īśvara, who recognises the truth of Īśvara as ātmā, is sādhya-bhakti. It is a bhakti that has fulfilled itself in the form of parama-prema-svarūpa-bhakti, absolute love.

This is the devotion of a jñānī. For him, the bhakti has fulfilled itself. So, how can we call him a bhakta? He is still a bhakta if we consider a bhakta as someone who is in union with Īśvara. For a jñānī, Īśvara is aparokṣa, immediate. It is the only difference, and it is a great difference. 

For a jijñāsu, however, there is a possibility of Īśvara becoming aparokṣa and for the jñānī, he is aparokṣa because Īśvara, the cause of everything, is non-separate from ātmā. Even though Īśvara is the ātmā of everyone, it is only the jñānī who appreciates it. Only he has an intellect subtle enough to recognise what is true for everyone. And the jñānī is distinguished here among the bhaktas as a fulfilled bhakta. The jijñāsu is going to be fulfilled.

Bhakti, devotion, is any type of union between jīva and Īśvara. By a proper action or even a thought you are uniting yourself to Īśvara. But jñānī does not try to make a bridge between jīva and Īśvara. Gaining the knowledge, he finds that he is always united. There is only one thing–Īśvara, that is ātmā. There is no second thing at all to unite with. So, he is nitya-yukta, always united.

There are four kinds of virtuous men who worship me, Arjuna: the man in distress, the man who seeks power, the man who seeks wisdom, and the sage. ~Bhagavad Gita 7:16 (tr-Stephen Mitchell)

Isavasya 1 Translation Fantasia

ishavasyam idam sarvam yat kincha jagatyaam jagat

tena tyaktena bhunjitha ma gridhah kasya svid dhanam.

ईशावास्यमिदगं् (ईशा-वास्यम्, ईशा-आवास्यमd) – indwelling or clothing of the Lord; [वास् – to dwell, वस – to clothe]; इदम्d – this; सर्वम् – all; यत्-किञ्च – whatever; जगत्याम् – in the universe; जगत् – moving world; तेन – by Him; त्यक्तेन – by abandonment, by that which is left; भुञ्जीथाः – (you) may enjoy; मा – do not; गृधः – covet; कस्य-स्वित् – whose, anybody’s; धनम् – wealth

That Supreme Being pervades everything here.

That which moves and That which does not move.

Therefore, let go and rejoice!

Whose wealth is this anyway?

The Upanishad says, ‘Ishavasyam idam sarvam’ – ‘that Supreme Being pervades everything here.’ Yat kincha jagatyam jagat – ‘That which moves and That which does not move.’ Actually, the word jagat, which we call the world, comes from the root, ‘to move.’ Tena tyaktena bhunjitha – ‘therefore, let go and rejoice! Let go!’ Don’t get caught up in this circus. Let go and enjoy yourself – rejoice! Ma gridhah kasya svid dhanam – Whose wealth is this anyway?

~Sri M

All this, whatsoever exists in the universe, should be covered by the Lord. Having renounced (the unreal), enjoy (the Real). Do not covet the wealth of any man.

The word "enjoy" is also interpreted by the great commentator Sankaracharya as "protect," because knowledge of our true Self is the greatest protector and sustainer.

~Paramananda

All this, whatever moves in this universe, including those that move not, is indwelt or pervaded or enveloped or clothed by the Lord. That renounced, thou shouldst enjoy. Covet not anybody’s wealth. 

The word vāsyam is a pregnant sound in Sanskrit with unlimited suggestiveness and innumerable meanings. It may be used to mean ‘to be clothed’, ‘to be worn as garment’, ‘to be inhabited’, ‘to be enveloped,’ or ‘to be pervaded.’ And here in this context, all these meanings are applicable. The great ṛṣi exclaims that ‘all this’ that we are perceiving through our sense organs or by the intervention of our mind and intellect – all this – is indwelt by the Spirit which is the Lord of the world of perception. 

‘That renounced’ (tena tyaktena) – This is the effective part, the technique to experience the Lord that ‘envelopes all this’ (īśāvāsyam idagṁ sarvam). Identified with the beauty of a sculpture, many a time, we fail to notice the material with which it is made. Very rarely are you recognising the paper on which these words are printed – you are seeing the ideas through the word meanings, and not the colour of the white paper. And yet, you know that these printed words are impossible to be read if the paper were black in colour! To see the colour of the paper is to ignore the words. To renounce the enchantments of and hunger for the names and forms is to recognise the Lord, the Infinite. ~

~Chinmayananda

ALL THIS-whatever exists in this changing universe-should be covered by the Lord. Protect the Self by renunciation. Lust not after any man's wealth. 

This universe, from the standpoint of Absolute Reality, is nothing but the Lord. That it is perceived as a material entity is due to ignorance. One should view the universe, through the knowledge of nonduality, as Atman alone.

~Nikhilananda

Everthing in this ever-changing universe is pervaded by that Supreme Being. Surrender up your world. Be supported by that understanding. Don't seek after material wealth.

All is Brahman. Let go of thinking otherwise. Take refuge in that truth alone. The material world has nothing more to offer.

~Isa Upanishad 1 (transcreated by [tx] aumdada)

Isavasya 2 Translation Fantasia

kurvanneveha karmāṇi jijīviṣecchatagṁsamāḥ, 

evaṁ tvayi nānyatheto’sti na karma lipyate nare.

कुर्वन् – performing; एव् – alone; इह – here (in this world); कर्माणि – work, deeds; जिजीविषेत् – should desire to live; शतग्ं – a hundred; समाः – years; एवम् – thus; त्वयि (सति) – while you are; न – not; अन्यथा – the other; इतः – for; अस्ति – is; न – not; कर्म – deed; लिप्यते – is attached; नरे – in the man

Performing verily, work in this world one should desire to live a full hundred years. This alone is right, for there is no other right path. Action never clings to a man of this temperament.

The Masters of the scriptures declare that if any given individual generation of a given period of history has not the required tendency of unaction to pursue the path of knowledge as described in the previous stanza, they should immediately take to a dynamic and conscious programme of activity, and should steadily walk the path of action. Here, the second stanza is dedicated to extol the path of karma.

In case you are not able to live the life of God-vision achieved through renunciation, then have certainly the desire to live a full hundred years of productive, selfless work.

~Chinmayananda

If a man wishes to live a hundred years on this earth, he should live performing action. For you, who cherish such a desire and regard yourself as a man, there is no other way by which you can keep work from clinging to you.

A person attached to his human body and desirous of enjoying on earth his full span of life should devote himself to religious duties and other unselfish actions; if not, he will engage in evil action. It is clear that this verse does not apply to the illumined person, who is not attached to material things and is indifferent about the length of his life. According to Sankara the discipline of Self-Knowledge and the way of worldly enjoyment are totally incompatible. A sannyasin, seeking Self-Knowledge, is indifferent to both life and death.

~Nikhilananda

If one should desire to live in this world a hundred years, one should live performing Karma (righteous deeds). Thus thou mayest live; there is no other way. By doing this, Karma (the fruits of thy actions) will not defile thee. 

If a man still clings to long life and earthly possessions, and is therefore unable to follow the path of Self-knowledge (Gnana-Nishta) as prescribed in the first Mantram (text), then he may follow the path of right action (Karma-Nishta). Karma here means actions performed without selfish motive, for the sake of the Lord alone.

~Paramananda

In this world, perform your rightful work as a means to no end but living out your allotted hundred years or so. No other way exists where actions do not tie a person down.

While in this world, practice karma yoga, even if it takes 100 years. To do so otherwise binds you to a figment of imagination.

~Isa Upanishad 2 (tx-aumdada)

Isavasya 3 Translation Fantasia

asuryā nāma te lokā andhena tamasāvṛtāḥ, tāgṁste pretyābhigacchanti ye ke cātmahano janāḥ. 

असुर्याः – demoniac, sunless; नाम – really; ते – those; लोकाः – people (lit. world); अन्धेन तमसा – by blinding darkness (gloom); आवृता – covered; ताग्म् – to those; ते – they; प्रेत्य – after death; अभिगच्छन्ति – go to; ये के च – whosoever; आत्म-हनः – killers of the Self; जनाः – people

Sunless are those worlds, and enveloped in blinding gloom to which all those people who are slayers of their own souls go, departing from here.

Now a doubt may arise as to what would be the destiny of those who are not following either the path of meditation or the path of action? What would happen to them and their pilgrimage, is explained in this particular stanza. The Upaniṣad Master declares that having been born as a man, an individual (or society or community or nation) who refuses to live either the ‘life of meditation’ or ‘the life of intense and continuous activity’, is to be considered as committing suicide. Such a nation must necessarily come to fall into an abyss of darkness and despair. The individual (or the community) should thereafter, certainly, come to experience a terrible fall in its cultural and spiritual eminence.

~Chinmayananda

After leaving their bodies, they who have killed the Self go to the worlds of the Asuras, covered with blinding ignorance.

What does it mean "to kill the Self?" How can the immortal Soul ever be destroyed? It cannot be destroyed, it can only be obscured. Those who hold themselves under the sway of ignorance, who serve the flesh and neglect the Atman or the real Self, are not able to perceive the effulgent and indestructible nature of their Soul; hence they fall into the realm where the Soul light does not shine. Here the Upanishad shows that the only hell is absence of knowledge.

~Paramananda

Those worlds blinded by the cover of deep ignorance are named sunless. These killers of the Self reach for such a place of death.

~Isa Upanishad 3 (tx-aumdada)

Isavasya 4 Translation Fantasia

anejad ekam manaso javiyo nainad deva apnuvan purvam arshat

tad dhavato nyan atyeti tishthat tasminn apo matarishva dadhati

अनेजत् – unmoving; एकम् – One; मनसः – than the mind; जवीयः – swifter; न – not; एनत् – this; देवाः – gods; आप्नुवन् – reached, overtake; पूर्वम् – before; अर्षत् – ran; तत् – it; धावतः – running; अन्यान् – others; अत्येति – overtakes; तिष्ठत् – staying; तस्मिन् – in it; अपः – activities (lit. water – here figuratively used for action); मातरिश्वा – wind; दधाति– supports or allots

The Self is the motionless one, swifter than the mind. The devas (senses) could not overtake it; It ran before them. Sitting, It goes faster than those who run after It. By It, Mātariṣvā (the element Air) supports the activity of all living beings.

From this stanza onwards we have, in four continuous mantras, the description of the Supreme indicated in terms of Its qualities, and these stanzas together is one vākya. Though the Eternal has no quality of Its own, and since language can explain only in terms of guṇas or experiences, the qualities of the Self indicated here are not to be taken literally. 

The Upaniṣad asserts that the Self is swifter than the mind. By denying motion, it is not denying the speed which is its rate of motion. The mind is the fastest thing in the universe. But the Self runs faster, because the Reality in the form of ‘existence’ is already there, before the mind could reach the spot of its contemplation.

~Chinmayananda

That One, though motionless, is swifter than the mind. The senses can never overtake It, for It ever goes before. Though immovable, It travels faster than those who run. By It the all-pervading air sustains all living beings.

This verse explains the character of the Atman or Self. A finite object can be taken from one place and put in another, but it can only occupy one space at a time. The Atman, however, is present everywhere; hence, though one may run with the greatest swiftness to overtake It, already It is there before him.

~Paramananda

Anejad means, ‘that which does not move.’ In other words, ‘that Supreme Self does not move’. It is that which is unmoving.

Ekam – ‘One’

Manaso javiyo – ‘Even faster and swifter than the mind.’ If that ‘One’ is faster and swifter than the mind, there is no way that the mind can find It.

Nainad deva apnuvan purvam arshat – ‘There is no way that the senses can ever reach It.’

Tad dhavato nyan atyeti tishthat tasminn apo matarishva dadhati ‘By itself It stands still. It out-strips those who run to reach for It. In It, the all-pervading air or energy – prana, supports the activities of all beings.’ 

~Sri M

That non-dual Atman, though never stirring, is swifter than the mind. The devas (the senses) cannot reach It, for It moves ever in front. Though standing still, It overtakes others who are running. Because of Atman, Vayu (the World Soul) apportions the activities of all.

VAYU: The first cosmic manifestation of the Absolute in the relative universe, also known by such epithets as the World Soul, Hiranyagarbha, and Prana. It sustains the whole universe by apportioning to everyone his function. But the World Soul can exercise its lordship because Atman is its inner Self. Without Atman even the highest cosmic entity becomes powerless and ceases to exist.

~Nikhilananda

Unmoving, nondual, faster than the mind, unreachable by divine senses, surpassing those who chase after despite Its staying still, by That the life force of fire and air supports the activities of all beings.

~Isa Upanishad 4 (tx-aumdada)

Isavasya 5 Translation Fantasia

tad ejati tan naijati tad dure tad vadantike tad 

antarasya sarvasya tad u sarvasyasya baahyatah.

तत् – It; एजति – moves; तत् – It; न – not; एजति – moves; तत् – It; दूरे – far; तत् – It; उ – verily; अन्तिके – near; तत् – It; अन्तः – inside; अस्य – of this; सर्वस्य – all; तत् – It; उ – verily; सर्वस्य – all; अस्य – this; बाह्यतः – outside

It moves and It moves not. It is far and also It is near. It is within and also It is without all this.

It is near to those who have the power to understand It, for It dwells in the heart of every one; but It seems far to those whose mind is covered by the clouds of sensuality and self-delusion. It is within, because It is the innermost Soul of all creatures; and It is without as the essence of the whole external universe, infilling it like the all-pervading ether.

~Paramananda

The Ᾱtman moves and It moves not; It is far and It is near; It is within all this, and It is also outside all this.

Pure Consciousness is homogeneous and all-pervading and, as such, the Self cognised here is the same as the Self experienced as revelling there. This idea is again more clearly brought out in the expression: It is within all this and It is without all this. Not only is the Ᾱtman the central core of the spirituo-physical personality in the seeker, but the same Consciousness is the very substratum for the entire perception of the universe. To consider this Self to be only within and thus to live a life of pure introversion is a negation of Truth.

~Chinmayananda

Tad ejati tan naijati tad dure tad vadantike – ‘It moves, yet it moves not. It is far and yet it is near.’ Tad antarasya sarvasya – ‘It is within all this.’ Tad u sarvasyasya baahyatah – ‘It is outside all this.’

The fifth shloka is a typical presentation that sounds very close to the Zen teachings. One of the important teachings of Zen is to make it clear that even the highest level of intellect, by itself, cannot find the Supreme Truth. This is not to discourage intelligence; we are differentiating here between intelligence and intellect. What the Upanishad is trying to say, what it is trying to do, is to put all our logical thinking into an arrangement that appears to be totally contradictory. That means, what we call cold logical thinking cannot be applied to the understanding of the Supreme Being.

~Sri M

That moves, That does not move; That is far off, That is very near; That is inside all this, and That is also outside all this.

That is inside; asya sarvasya, of all this- in accordance with the Vedic text: `The Self that is within all' (Br. III. iv. 1) -, of all this world consisting of name, form, and activity. Tat, That; u, also; sarvasya asya bahyatah, is outside all this, because It is all-pervasive like space; and It is inside, because It is extremely subtle. Besides, It is without interstices, (It is continuous), in accordance with the Vedic text: 'Pure intelligence alone' (Br. IV. v. 13).

~Shankara (tr-Gambhirananda)

That moves and That does not move. That is far and That is also near. That is within all this and That is also outside all this.

~Isa Upanishad 5 (tx-aumdada)

Isavasya 6 Translation Fantasia

yas tu sarvani bhutani atmany evaanupashyati 

sarva bhuteshu chatmanam tato na vijugupsate.

यः – who; तु – however; सर्वाणि – all; भूतानि – beings; आत्मनि – in the Self; एव – alone; अनुपश्यति – constantly sees; सर्वभूतेषु – in all beings; च – and; आत्मानम् – Self; ततः – then; न – not; विजुगुप्सते – shrinks, feels hatred

He who constantly sees everywhere all existences in the Self and the Self in all beings and forms, thereafter shrinks not from anything.

This stanza explains more vividly than in any other Upaniṣad about the state of perfect tranquillity gained by a Self-realised sage, and as such, this stanza has been oft quoted and repeated in books and heard from platforms.

The one who has thus realised the core of all beings as the core in himself, and his own Self as the Self in every name and form, he is a sage, a prophet, a God-man, a true leader of the people, and a guiding power in the universe.

In realising thus, the individual gets permanently divorced from all his mental ideas of repulsion, shrinking, dislike, fear, hatred and such other perversions of feelings.

~Chinmayananda

The wise man beholds all beings in the Self, and the Self in all beings; for that reason he does not hate anyone. 

The perception that Pure Consciousness is the essence and reality of all is the foundation of the Golden Rule. He who is firmly established in the perfect equality of Atman, samatva, has overcome all repulsion, secretiveness, shrinking, dislike, fear, hatred, and other perverse traits which arise from the perception of separation.

~Nikhilananda

He who sees all beings in his own self, and his own self in all beings, does not feel any revulsion whatsoever.

That means, a person who begins to understand, who is absolutely still and quiet, who begins to inhale the fragrance of that Supreme Being, sees that he has no enemies anymore. He cannot be revolted he cannot be against anything or anybody, because he sees his Self in them and their Self in him. That Supreme Being pervades all. He is your antaryami, the antaryami in every one of us.

~Sri M

He who sees all beings in the Self itself, and the Self in all beings, feels no hatred by virtue of that (realization).

This is only a restatement of a known fact. For, this is a matter of experience that all revulsion comes to one who sees something as bad and different from oneself, but for one who sees only the absolutely pure Self as a continuous entity, there is no other object that can be the cause of revulsion. Therefore he does not hate.

~Shankara (tr-Gambhirananda)

Whosoever perceives all beings in the Self alone and the Self in all beings never feels any opposition.

~Isa Upanishad 6 (tx-aumdada)

Isavasya 7 Translation Fantasia

yasmin sarvani bhutani atmaivabhud vijanatah

tatra ko mohah kah shokah ekatvam anupashyatah

यस्मिन् – in whom; सर्वाणि – all; भूतानि – beings; आत्मा – Self; एव – alone; अभूत् – have become; विजानतः – knowing; तत्र – these; कः – what; मोहः – delusion; कः – what; शोकः – grief; एकत्वम् – oneness; अनुपश्यतः – while constantly seeing

To the seer, all things have verily become the Self: what delusion, what sorrow, can there be for him who beholds that oneness?

Both ignorance (avidya) and its effect, that is to say, multiplicity, are destroyed for the knower of Atman. This Knowledge itself is Liberation. The knower, though living in a body, is free from attachment and aversion, pain and pleasure, and the other pairs of opposites.

~Nikhilananda

When, to the knower, all beings have become one in his own Self (Ᾱtman), how shall he feel deluded thereafter? What grief can there be to him who sees oneness everywhere?

In the previous stanza, the ṛṣi explained to us the glory of Self-realisation in a language of negative assertions and not in the language of positive declarations. We were only told that the individual will have no more any repulsion against or hatred for anything in life. But here, in this stanza, the same idea has been explained to us by the ṛṣi with more emphasis and practical assertions.

~Chinmayananda

This is a corollary to what has already been said before. Yasmin sarvani bhutaniatmaivabhud vijanatah – ‘When one realizes that that Supreme Self is the inner reality of all beings, when one realizes that all beings are verily his own Self,’ Tatra ko mohah kah shokah ekatvam anupashyatah- ‘Such a person, who is established in complete Oneness, when he sees that all is One, where in him is the place for delusion and where is the place for sorrow?’

~Sri M

As all beings have become the Self alone for the seer who understands, what attachment and what sorrow is there for that one who sees unceasingly such oneness?

~Isa Upanishad 7 (tx-aumdada)

Isavasya 8 Translation Fantasia

sa paryagach chukram akaayam avranam asnaaviram shuddham apaapa viddham kavir manishi paribhuh

svayambhur yathatathyatorthan vyadadhac chashvatibhyas samabhyah.

सः – he; पर्यगात् – all-pervading; शुक्रम् – bright; अकायम् – bodiless; अव्रणम् – scatheless, without wound; अस्नाविरग्म् – without muscles; शुद्धम् – pure; अपापविद्धम् – unpierced by evils; कविः – wise; मनीषी – omniscient; परिभूः – transcendent; स्वयम्भूः – self-existing; याथातथ्यतः – respectively; अर्थान् – functions, duties; व्यदधात् – allotted; शाश्वतीभ्यः – eternal; समाभ्यः – for years to come (figuratively the Creators that is Prajāpatis)

He, the Ᾱtman, is all-pervading, bright, bodiless, scatheless, without muscles, pure, unpierced by evils, wise, omniscient, transcendent and self-existing. He alone allotted respective functions (duties) to the various eternal Creators. 

Here is a stanza typical of the literature of Upaniṣads which attempts at a complete and exhaustive definition so as to give to the readers, if not a word painting of the Eternal, at least a sufficient amount of data to give a sincere student an intuitive understanding of the all comprehensive factor called Life or Ᾱtman. The great commentator, Śaṅkara, has himself more than once used this stanza and the expressions therein in his commentaries to indicate the Self in us.

It is this Self or pure Consciousness that is the power and the strength behind the laws of all natural phenomena. If the movement of the planets, the regularity of the seasons, the harmony in nature, the rhythm in reproduction have all been strictly followed without exception all around the globe for millions of years now, it is because of the unquestionable authority of the law giver and His law. That authority, might or power belongs to the supreme Reality, the Self.

~Chinmayananda

It is He who pervades all-He who is bright and bodiless, without scar or sinews, pure and by evil unpierced; who is the Seer, omniscient, transcendent and uncreated. He has duly allotted to the eternal WorldCreators their respective duties.

WHO PERVADES ETC: Brahman interpenetrates everything and pervades the phenomenal universe as fragrance pervades sandal-paste. BRIGHT: Refers to the luminosity of the pure Self. BODILESS: Without a subtle form. WITHOUT SCAR ETC: Without any defect. Brahman is devoid of a gross form. PURE: Free from a causal body. BY EVIL UNPIERCED: Uncontaminated by such limitations of prakriti as dharma (righteousness) and adharma (unrighteousness). As a witness, He watches the modifications of prakriti; He is not impressed or troubled by them. SEER: He sees all in detail as well as in its totality. OMNISCIENT: The ruler of the mind, which is the· organ of understanding. TRANSCENDENT: Beyond all manifestations.

~Nikhilananda

He (the Self) is all-encircling, resplendent, bodiless, spotless, without sinews, pure, untouched by sin, all-seeing, all-knowing, transcendent, self-existent; He has disposed all things duly for eternal years. 

This text defines the real nature of the Self. When our mind is cleansed from the dross of matter, then alone can we behold the vast, radiant, subtle, ever-pure and spotless Self, the true basis of our existence.

~Paramananda

That is all-pervading and resplendent; formless, unscathed, and without muscle; pure, spotless, and omniscient; transcendent, self-existent, and perfectly allotting all things throughout an eternity of time. 

~Isa Upanishad 8 (tx-aumdada)

Isavasya 9 Translation Fantasia

andhantamaḥ praviśanti ye’vidyāmupāsate, tato bhūya iva te tamo ya u vidyāyāgṁratāḥ. (

अन्धम् – blinding; तमः – darkness; प्रविशन्ति – enter; ये – who; अविद्याम् – avidyā (see commentary for details); उपासते – worship; ततः – than that; भूयः – greater; इव – as though; ते – they; तमः – darkness; ये – who; उ – verily; विद्यायाग्म् – in vidyā (see commentary for details); रताः – devoted, engaged in

They who worship avidyā alone fall into blindening darkness, and they, who worship vidyā alone fall, as though, into even a greater darkness.

In this stanza, the ṛṣi has opened up the problem and he is to summarise his conclusions in the following three mantras.

Those who are following the path of upāsanā or introvert life, who meditate deeply, seeking nothing but the all-pervading Reality seem to fall as though into a still greater darkness because such hasty and unprepared meditators may overdo the negation aspect of the technique of meditation and reach a destination of blind non-existence! In this connection, the term ‘as though a greater darkness’ is very significant; it is not really darkness.

The context here would demand that we take vidyā to be the ‘higher meditation’, and avidyā to be ‘all sādhanās’ that prepare one, by exhausting one’s existing vāsanās, to have a peaceful mind that can readily be brought to the seat of meditation. 

~Chinmayananda

Into a blind darkness they enter who follow after the Ignorance, they as if into a greater darkness who devote themselves to the Knowledge alone.

All manifestation proceeds by the two terms, Vidya and Avidya, the consciousness of Unity and the consciousness of Multiplicity. They are the two aspects of the Maya, the formative self-conception of the Eternal. Unity is the eternal and fundamental fact, without which all multiplicity would be unreal and an impossible illusion. The consciousness of Unity is therefore called Vidya, the Knowledge.

Those who are devoted entirely to the principle of multiplicity and division and take their orientation away from oneness enter into a blind darkness of Ignorance. To turn away from the progression towards Oneness is to turn away from existence and from light.

Those who are devoted entirely to the principle of indiscriminate Unity and seek to put away from them the integrality of the Brahman, also put away from them knowledge and completeness and enter as if into a greater darkness. They enter into some special state and accept it for the whole, mistaking exclusion in consciousness for transcendence in consciousness.

~Aurobindo

They enter into blind darkness who worship Avidya (ignorance and delusion); they fall, as it were, into greater darkness who worship Vidya (knowledge).

Those who follow or "worship" the path of selfishness and pleasure (Avidya), without knowing anything higher, necessarily fall into darkness; but those who worship or cherish Vidya (knowledge) for mere intellectual pride and satisfaction, fall into greater darkness, because the opportunity which they misuse is greater.

~Paramananda

Into a blind darkness they enter who are devoted to ignorance (rituals); but into a greater darkness they enter who engage in knowledge [of a deity] alone.

BLIND DARKENESS: It is characterized by an absence of knowledge because it is opposed to knowledge. IGNORANCE: The word avidya in the text signifies karma, or ritualistic action, such as the Agnihotra sacrifice. GREATER DARKNESS: The result of meditation on the deities without any ritual leads to a greater darkness. KNOWLEDGE: The word knowledge here means knowledge or contemplation of a deity. It does not signify Supreme Knowledge.

The following interpretation of the text is adapted from Sankara's com:mmentary: "The first verse of the Isa Upanishad refers to devotion to the Knowledge of Brahman through renunciation of all desires. The second verse lays down devotion to action (rituals) for those who are ignorant, desirous of a long life on earth, and incapable of cultivating devotion to Knowledge." Verse nine condemns ignorant people with a view to harmonizing work with knowledge of a deity.

~Nikhilananda

Note: There are three interpretations presented here: Shankara via Nikhilananda (Vedic ritual and meditation); Aurobindo (Integral Yoga); Chinmayananda (BMI Advaita).

Those who follow avidya fall into its blinding ignorance but those who engage with vidya alone enter as though into a greater darkness.

~Isa Upanishad 9 (tx-aumdada)