Īśāvāsya Upaniṣad 10
अन्यदेवाहुर्विद्यया अन्यदाहुरविद्यया |
इति शुश्रुम धीराणाम् ये नस्तद्विचचक्षिरे ||10||
Metre: Anuṣṭubh
[Something] different (anyat | nom sg n) indeed (eva), they say (āhuḥ | 3p pl act perf), [comes] through knowledge (vidyayā | ins sg); [something] different (anyat | nom sg n), they say (āhuḥ | 3p pl act perf), [comes] through non-knowledge (avidyayā | ins sg). Thus (iti) we have heard (śuśruma | 1p pl act perf) from the wise (dhīrāṇām | gen pl), who (ye | nom pl m) explained (vicacakṣire | 3p pl med perf) this (tat | acc sg n) to us (naḥ | dat pl).
One thing, it is said, is attained through knowledge, and another through non-knowledge. So we have heard from the wise who explained this to us.
Śaṅkara grounds the combination of karma (action, ritual) and devatā-jñāna (knowledge of deities) in their different fruits. Vidyā (knowledge) leads, in this reading, to the realm of the gods, while avidyā/karma (ignorance as ritual action) leads to the realm of the ancestors. The appeal to the dhīrāḥ (wise ones) shows for him an inherited teacher tradition.
vidyayā a*nyad conj. ed. ] vidyayān yad GRETIL2018; vidyayā 'nyad LV1958
Other, indeed, they say, than knowledge!
Other, they say, than non-knowledge!<5>
—Thus we have heard from the wise (dhīra)
Who to us have explained It.<6>
<5: The point here made is that both knowledge and lack of knowledge are inadequate for apprehending the Ultimate.>
<6: A somewhat more concrete, and perhaps earlier, form of this stanza occurs as Kena 3 e-h.>
Other, they say, than non-knowledge!<5>
—Thus we have heard from the wise (dhīra)
Who to us have explained It.<6>
<5: The point here made is that both knowledge and lack of knowledge are inadequate for apprehending the Ultimate.>
<6: A somewhat more concrete, and perhaps earlier, form of this stanza occurs as Kena 3 e-h.>
Anders als, wozu führt Wissen <1>,
Und wozu führt Nichtwissen, ist's!
So haben von den Altmeistern
Die Lehre überkommen wir.
<1: Der Ausdruck anyad vidyayâ ist eine kühne Ellipse: "verschieden (von dem was) durch Wissen (erreicht wird)". Die Erklärung liegt in Kena 8 b: anyad eva tad viditât.>
Und wozu führt Nichtwissen, ist's!
So haben von den Altmeistern
Die Lehre überkommen wir.
<1: Der Ausdruck anyad vidyayâ ist eine kühne Ellipse: "verschieden (von dem was) durch Wissen (erreicht wird)". Die Erklärung liegt in Kena 8 b: anyad eva tad viditât.>
One thing, they say, is obtained from real knowledge; another, they say, from what is not knowledge. Thus we have heard from the wise who taught us this <4>.
<4: Cf. Talavak. Up. I, 4; vidyâyah, avidyâyâh, Vâg. Samh.; vidyayâ, avidyayâ, Upan.>
<4: Cf. Talavak. Up. I, 4; vidyâyah, avidyâyâh, Vâg. Samh.; vidyayâ, avidyayâ, Upan.>
Īśāvāsya Upaniṣad 11
विदियां च अविद्यां च यस्तद्वेदोभयं सह |
अविद्यया मृत्युं तीर्त्वा विद्ययामृतमश्नुते ||11||
Metre: Anuṣṭubh
Whoever (yaḥ | nom sg m) knows (veda | 3p sg act perf) knowledge (vidyām | acc sg) and (ca) non-knowledge (avidyām | acc sg), and (ca) this (tat | acc sg n) pair (ubhayam | acc sg n) together (saha), crosses (tīrtvā | abs) death (mṛtyum | acc sg) through non-knowledge (avidyayā | ins sg) and attains (aśnute | 3p sg med pres) immortality (amṛtam | acc sg) through knowledge (vidyayā | ins sg).
Whoever recognizes knowledge and non-knowledge together crosses death through non-knowledge and attains immortality through knowledge.
Śaṅkara continues to read vidyā (knowledge) as devatā-upāsanā (worship or meditation on a deity) and avidyā (ignorance) as karma (action, ritual). Whoever performs both together crosses death through karma within the ritual sphere and reaches, through deity-knowledge, a relative amṛta (immortality), not final liberation through Paramātman-knowledge (knowledge of the highest Self).
vidi*yāṃ conj. ed. ] vidyāṃ GRETIL2018, LV1958
Knowledge and non-knowledge—
He who this pair conjointly (saha) knows,
With non-knowledge passing over death,
With knowledge wins the immortal. <6>
<6: This stanza occurs again in Maitri 7. 9. >
He who this pair conjointly (saha) knows,
With non-knowledge passing over death,
With knowledge wins the immortal. <6>
<6: This stanza occurs again in Maitri 7. 9. >
Wer das Wissen und Nichtwissen
Beide [als unzulänglich] weiß,
Der überschreitet durch beides <2>
Den Tod und hat Unsterblichkeit.
<2: Nämlich dadurch, daß er Wissen und Nichtwissen als unzulänglich durchschaut. Auf die Gegenüberstellung, daß er durch das eine den Tod überschreite und durch das andre Unsterblichkeit erlange, ist kein Gewicht zu legen, schon deswegen nicht, weil "den Tod überschreiten" und die "Unsterblichkeit erlangen" ganz dasselbe ist. Die nämliche Bemerkung gilt für Vers 14.>
Beide [als unzulänglich] weiß,
Der überschreitet durch beides <2>
Den Tod und hat Unsterblichkeit.
<2: Nämlich dadurch, daß er Wissen und Nichtwissen als unzulänglich durchschaut. Auf die Gegenüberstellung, daß er durch das eine den Tod überschreite und durch das andre Unsterblichkeit erlange, ist kein Gewicht zu legen, schon deswegen nicht, weil "den Tod überschreiten" und die "Unsterblichkeit erlangen" ganz dasselbe ist. Die nämliche Bemerkung gilt für Vers 14.>
He who knows at the same time both knowledge and not-knowledge, overcomes death through not-knowledge, and obtains immortality through knowledge.
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