Īśo 11

विद्यां चाविद्यां च यस्तद्वेदोभयँ सह।
अविद्यया मृत्युं तीर्त्वा विद्ययाऽमृतमश्नुते॥११॥

vidyāṁ cāvidyāṁ ca yas
tad vedobhayaṁ saha
avidyayā mṛtyuṁ tīrtvā
vidyayāmṛtam aśnute

vidyāmplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigvidyām

absolute knowledge; in the knowledge; knowledge; knowledge in fact; mystic formulas (by which one can appear and disappear); mystic power; prayer; this mystical prayer; transcendental knowledge.—knowledge in fact; caplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigca

ca; all these; also; also other bodily forms; also that I have not been able to ask; and (the five gross material elements and the ten acting and knowledge-gathering senses); and; and also; and Devahūti; and for all; and the paraphernalia; as also; as much as; as well; as well as; but; certainly; either; however; indeed; only; or; over and above; respectively; the word ca; this word ca; thus; totally; unlimitedly; verily.—and; avidyāmplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigavidyām

ignorance; nescience.—nescience; caplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigca

ca; all these; also; also other bodily forms; also that I have not been able to ask; and (the five gross material elements and the ten acting and knowledge-gathering senses); and; and also; and Devahūti; and for all; and the paraphernalia; as also; as much as; as well; as well as; but; certainly; either; however; indeed; only; or; over and above; respectively; the word ca; this word ca; thus; totally; unlimitedly; verily.—and; yaḥplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigyah

who; a devotee who; a person; a person who; all those; any person who; any such master who; anyone (king or governor); anyone; anyone who; Bali Mahārāja; because; everything; he (who has); he; he person who; He who (Govinda); he who (Jahnu); He who (Lord Nārāyaṇa); He who (Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu); he who (my so-called husband); he who (Somadatta); He who (the Lord); He who (the Personality of Godhead); He who (the Supreme Personality of Godhead); he who (Śunaḥśepha); he who; I who; it is He only; King Khaṭvāṅga who; Lord Rāmacandra who; Mahārāja Sagara who; on account of; one; one of the sons of Sagara Mahārāja; one which; one who (the Supreme Personality of Godhead); one who (Viśvāmitra); one who; one who is; person; such a person (as you); such a person; that; that is; that person; that Personality of Godhead who; that same person who; that which; the Lord who; the one; the one who; the person; the person who; the same Jaḍa Bharata who was formerly Mahārāja Bharata, the son of Mahārāja Ṛṣabhadeva; the same Rāhu; the Supreme Lord who; the Supreme Personality of Godhead; the Supreme Personality of Godhead who; the system; who; who are; who is; whoever; whom; you who; Your Lordship.—a person who; tatplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigtat

establishment of the statement tat tvam asi.—that; vedaplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigveda

(one who) knows; all knowledge; and of the revealed scripture; by the four Vedas (Sāma, Yajur, Ṛg and Atharva); can know; can understand; did know; do know; feels; he knew; He knows; he realizes; in knowledge; is fully aware; it knows; just try to know; know; know it; know very well; knows; like the Vedas; Lord Śiva could understand; of knowledge; of the Vedas; of the four Vedas; the Vedas; the four Vedas (Sāma, Yajur, Ṛg and Atharva), the original knowledge given by the Supreme Personality of Godhead; the Vedic knowledge; the Vedic literature; transcendental knowledge; understand; understands; understood; Vedic injunctions; Vedic literature; Vedic literatures (books of knowledge); Vedic principles; Vedic scriptures; Vedic study; who knows; you know.—knows; ubhayamplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigubhayam

both (manifestation and annihilation); both (the material world of material elements and the living entity); both (the misconceptions of I and mine); both; both of them; both types of consciousness (sleep and wakefulness); or both.—both; sahaplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigsaha

accompanied; all together; along with; also with; simultaneously; with; with her.—simultaneously; avidyayāplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigavidyayā

because of ignorance; because of less intelligence; by culture of nescience; by ignorance; by nescience; by the external, illusory energy; influenced by nescience.—by culture of nescience; mṛtyumplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigmṛtyum

birth and death; death; of death; repeated death; the path of death.—repeated death; tīrtvāplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigtīrtvā

surpassing; transcending.—transcending; vidyayāplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigvidyayā

mantra; by a prayer; by culture of knowledge; by education; by His spiritual potency; by such a process; by the necessary knowledge; by the prayers; by the spiritual mantra; by the talents; by the Vedic knowledge; by transcendental knowledge; by worship; education; with the mantra.—by culture of knowledge; amṛtamplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigamṛtam

Amṛta; deathlessness; eternal life; eternity of life; generation of the nectar; giving pleasure; happiness; immortality; indestructible; milk, which is like nectar; nectar; nectar for eternal life; nectar or milk; nectarean; never to be vanquished; the ambrosia; the embodiment of bliss; the nectar; the path of eternal life; the profession of amṛta; the results of sacrifice; understanding; very sweet; without deterioration.—deathlessness; aśnuteplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigaśnute

achieve; achieves; attains; enjoys; he enjoys; one enjoys; suffers; taste.—enjoys. ¶

Only one who can learn the process of nescience and that of transcendental knowledge side by side can transcend the influence of repeated birth and death and enjoy the full blessings of immortality. ¶

Since the creation of the material world, everyone has been trying to attain a permanent life, but the laws of nature are so cruel that no one has been able to avoid the hand of death. No one wants to die, nor does anyone want to become old or diseased. The law of nature, however, does not allow anyone immunity from old age, disease or death. Nor has the advancement of material knowledge solved these problems. Material science can discover the nuclear bomb to accelerate the process of death, but it cannot discover anything that can protect man from the cruel hands of old age, disease and death. ¶

From the Purāṇas we learn of the activities of Hiraṇyakaśipu, a king who was very much advanced materially. Wanting to conquer cruel death by his material acquisitions and the strength of his nescience, he underwent a type of meditation so severe that the inhabitants of all the planetary systems became disturbed by his mystic powers. He forced the creator of the universe, the demigod Brahmā, to come down to him. He then asked Brahmā for the benediction of becoming amara, by which one does not die. Brahmā said that he could not award the benediction because even he, the material creator who rules all planets, is not amara. As confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (8.17)plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 8.17

By human calculation, a thousand ages taken together is the duration of Brahmā's one day. And such also is the duration of his night., Brahmā lives a long time, but that does not mean he is immortal. ¶

Hiraṇya means “gold,” and kaśipu means “soft bed.” This cunning gentleman Hiraṇyakaśipu was interested in these two things—money and women—and he wanted to enjoy them by becoming immortal. He asked from Brahmā many benedictions in hopes of indirectly fulfilling his desire to become immortal. Since Brahmā told him that he could not grant the gift of immortality, Hiraṇyakaśipu requested that he not be killed by any man, animal, god or any other living being within the 8,400,000 species. He also asked that he not die on land, in the air or water, or by any weapon. In this way Hiraṇyakaśipu foolishly thought these guarantees would save him from death. Ultimately, however, although Brahmā granted him all these benedictions, he was killed by the Personality of Godhead in the form of Nṛsiṁha, the Lord’s half-lion, half-man incarnation, and no weapon was used to kill him, for he was killed by the Lord’s nails. Nor was he killed on the land, in the air or in the water, for he was killed on the lap of that wonderful living being, Nṛsiṁha, who was beyond his conception. ¶

The whole point here is that even Hiraṇyakaśipu, the most powerful of materialists, could not become deathless by his various plans. What, then, can be accomplished by the tiny Hiraṇyakaśipus of today, whose plans are thwarted from moment to moment? ¶

Śrī Īśopaniṣad instructs us not to make one-sided attempts to win the struggle for existence. Everyone is struggling hard for existence, but the laws of material nature are so hard and fast that they do not allow anyone to surpass them. In order to attain a permanent life, one must be prepared to go back to Godhead. ¶

The process by which one goes back to Godhead is a different branch of knowledge, and it has to be learned from revealed Vedic scriptures such as the Upaniṣads, Vedānta-sūtra, Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. To become happy in this life and attain a permanent blissful life after leaving this material body, one must study this sacred literature and obtain transcendental knowledge. The conditioned living being has forgotten his eternal relationship with God and has mistakenly accepted the temporary place of his birth as all in all. The Lord has kindly delivered the above-mentioned scriptures in India and other scriptures in other countries to remind the forgetful human being that his home is not here in this material world. The living being is a spiritual entity, and he can be happy only by returning to his spiritual home. ¶

From His kingdom the Personality of Godhead sends His bona fide servants to propagate this message by which one can return to Godhead, and sometimes the Lord comes Himself to do this work. Since all living beings are His beloved sons, His parts and parcels, God is more sorry than we ourselves to see the sufferings we are constantly undergoing in this material condition. The miseries of this material world serve to indirectly remind us of our incompatibility with dead matter. Intelligent living entities generally take note of these reminders and engage themselves in the culture of vidyā, or transcendental knowledge. Human life is the best opportunity for the culture of spiritual knowledge, and a human being who does not take advantage of this opportunity is called a narādhama, the lowest of human beings. ¶

The path of avidyā, or advancement of material knowledge for sense gratification, is the path of repeated birth and death. As he exists spiritually, the living entity has no birth or death. Birth and death apply to the outward covering of the spirit soul, the body. Death is compared to the taking off and birth to the putting on of outward garments. Foolish human beings who are grossly absorbed in the culture of avidyā, nescience, do not mind this cruel process. Enamored with the beauty of the illusory energy, they undergo the same miseries repeatedly and do not learn any lessons from the laws of nature. ¶

Therefore the culture of vidyā, or transcendental knowledge, is essential for the human being. Sense enjoyment in the diseased material condition must be restricted as far as possible. Unrestricted sense enjoyment in this bodily condition is the path of ignorance and death. The living entities are not without spiritual senses; every living being in his original, spiritual form has all the senses, which are now materially manifested, being covered by the material body and mind. The activities of the material senses are perverted reflections of the activities of the original, spiritual senses. In his diseased condition, the spirit soul engages in material activities under the material covering. Real sense enjoyment is possible only when the disease of materialism is removed. In our pure spiritual form, free from all material contamination, real enjoyment of the senses is possible. A patient must regain his health before he can truly enjoy sense pleasure again. Thus the aim of human life should not be to enjoy perverted sense enjoyment but to cure the material disease. Aggravation of the material disease is no sign of knowledge, but a sign of avidyā, ignorance. For good health, a person should not increase his fever from 105 degrees to 107 degrees but should reduce his temperature to the normal 98.6. That should be the aim of human life. The modern trend of material civilization is to increase the temperature of the feverish material condition, which has reached the point of 107 degrees in the form of atomic energy. Meanwhile, the foolish politicians are crying that at any moment the world may go to hell. That is the result of the advancement of material knowledge and the neglect of the most important part of life, the culture of spiritual knowledge. Śrī Īśopaniṣad herein warns that we must not follow this dangerous path leading to death. On the contrary, we must develop the culture of spiritual knowledge so that we may become completely free from the cruel hands of death. ¶

This does not mean that all activities for the maintenance of the body should be stopped. There is no question of stopping activities, just as there is no question of wiping out one’s temperature altogether when trying to recover from a disease. “To make the best use of a bad bargain” is the appropriate expression. The culture of spiritual knowledge necessitates the help of the body and mind; therefore maintenance of the body and mind is required if we are to reach our goal. The normal temperature should be maintained at 98.6 degrees, and the great sages and saints of India have attempted to do this by a balanced program of spiritual and material knowledge. They never allow the misuse of human intelligence for diseased sense gratification. ¶

Human activities diseased by a tendency toward sense gratification have been regulated in the Vedas under the principles of salvation. This system employs religion, economic development, sense gratification and salvation, but at the present moment people have no interest in religion or salvation. They have only one aim in life—sense gratification—and in order to achieve this end they make plans for economic development. Misguided men think that religion should be maintained because it contributes to economic development, which is required for sense gratification. Thus in order to guarantee further sense gratification after death, in heaven, there is some system of religious observance. But this is not the purpose of religion. The path of religion is actually meant for self-realization, and economic development is required just to maintain the body in a sound, healthy condition. A man should lead a healthy life with a sound mind just to realize vidyā, true knowledge, which is the aim of human life. This life is not meant for working like an ass or for culturing avidyā for sense gratification. ¶

The path of vidyā is most perfectly presented in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which directs a human being to utilize his life to inquire into the Absolute Truth. The Absolute Truth is realized step by step as Brahman, Paramātmā and finally Bhagavān, the Personality of Godhead. The Absolute Truth is realized by the broadminded man who has attained knowledge and detachment by following the eighteen principles of the Bhagavad-gītā described in the purport to Mantra Ten. The central purpose of these eighteen principles is the attainment of transcendental devotional service to the Personality of Godhead. Therefore all classes of men are encouraged to learn the art of devotional service to the Lord. ¶

The guaranteed path to the aim of vidyā is described by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in his Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, which we have presented in English as The Nectar of Devotion. The culture of vidyā is summarized in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.14)plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.2.14

Therefore, with one-pointed attention, one should constantly hear about, glorify, remember and worship the Personality of Godhead, who is the protector of the devotees. in the following words: ¶

tasmād ekena manasā
bhagavān sātvatāṁ patiḥ
śrotavyaḥ kīrtitavyaś ca
dhyeyaḥ pūjyaś ca nityadā

“Therefore, with one-pointed attention one should constantly hear about, glorify, remember and worship the Personality of Godhead, who is the protector of the devotees.” ¶

Unless religion, economic development and sense gratification aim toward the attainment of devotional service to the Lord, they are all simply different forms of nescience, as Śrī Īśopaniṣad indicates in the following mantras. ¶