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anyad evāhur vidyayā-
nyad āhur avidyayā
iti śuśruma dhīrāṇāṁ
ye nas tad vicacakṣire

SYNONYMS

anyat—different; eva—certainly; āhuḥ—said; vid-yayā—by culture of knowledge; anyat—different; āhuḥ—said; avidyayā—by culture of nescience; iti—thus; śuśruma—I heard; dhīrāṇām—from the sober; ye—who; naḥ—to us; tat—that; vicacakṣire—explained.

TRANSLATION

The wise have explained that one result is derived from the culture of knowledge, and that a different result is obtained from the culture of nescience.

PURPORT

Cultivation of nescience results in increasing bondage and suffering in material existence. Cultivation of vidya, real knowledge, results in liberation from material existence and suffering. Kṛṣṇa describes the culture of spiritual knowledge through the Esoteric Teaching:

“Humility, pridelessness, nonviolence, tolerance, simplicity, approaching a bona fide spiritual master, cleanliness, steadiness and self-control; renunciation of the objects of sense gratification, absence of false ego, the perception of the evil of birth, death, old age and disease; non-attachment to children, wife, home and the rest, and even-mindedness amid pleasant and unpleasant events; constant and unalloyed devotion to Me, resorting to solitary places, detachment from the general mass of people; accepting the importance of self-realization, and philosophical search for the Absolute Truth—all these I thus declare to be knowledge, and what is contrary to these is ignorance.” [Bhagavad-gita 13.8-12]

Now we will discuss these 18 items of transcendental knowledge one by one.

Humility: A student of the Esoteric Teaching should be a perfect gentleman, humbly offering respect to all, especially the Master Teachers and fellow students of the Absolute Truth. He should not seek out controversy or engage in fractious debate.

Pridelessness: A neophyte on the spiritual path should not pose as a spiritual teacher simply for name and fame. We see many unqualified and unrealized people making a business out of teaching so-called spiritual knowledge. All this business is simply a waste of time. The real pride of a disciple is in following the instructions of a bona fide spiritual Master Teacher.

Nonviolence: Real nonviolence means that we should avoid causing anxiety to others by the body, mind, or words. The real spiritual teacher removes all our anxiety by engaging us in the lifelong work of devotional service to the Lord.

Tolerance: We should be tolerant and mild, even in the face of deliberate provocation. All the great saints throughout history demonstrated this good quality in their personal dealings with their opponents.

Simplicity: One should be straightforward, avoiding all duplicity and politics. Sometimes when dealing with intractable people, it is necessary to be a little diplomatic; but such diplomacy must be kept to an absolute minimum.

Approaching a bona fide spiritual master: The serious student of the Absolute Truth should make a comparative study of different teachings and teachers, to find a bona fide spiritual Master Teacher who can actually lead him to complete spiritual realization. To realize the benefit of the Esoteric Teaching, one must fully surrender to a qualified Master Teacher, render favorable service and make relevant inquiries.

Cleanliness: There is no question of approaching the actual platform of self-realization without following the regulative principles given in the revealed scriptures. They are: pure vegetarian diet, abstention from intoxication, illicit sexual affairs, gambling and speculation.

Steadiness: One should understand everything through the ontological viewpoints and philosophical conclusions of the Vedic scriptures, especially those comprising the Esoteric Teaching: Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Caitanya-caritamrta and the books of the Six Gosvamis of Vrndavana.

Self-control: A serious student of the Esoteric Teaching completely refrains from practices that are detrimental to the interest of self-realization. Anything that artificially increases the material needs of life should be avoided.

Renunciation of the objects of sense gratification: As discussed in Mantra 1 of Sri Isopanisad, one should not accept more possessions than the minimum required for the maintenance of the body.

Absence of false ego: The first principle of spiritual life is that we are spirit souls. Therefore should not falsely identify the self with the gross material body; nor should one consider the other people and things related to the body to be his possessions.

Perception of the evil of birth, death, old age and disease: As long as we have a material body, we must tolerate the miseries of material existence: excessive heat and cold, hunger and thirst, the unpleasant manifestations of other people and especially repeated birth, old age, disease and death. Making plans to get rid of these miseries is a waste of time, because they are caused by accepting the material body. The best course of action is to apply oneself wholeheartedly to the study and realization of the Esoteric Teaching, and discover how to regain our forgotten spiritual identity.

Non-attachment to children, wife, home and the rest: One should avoid excessive attachment to wife, children and home. The revealed scriptures ordain marriage as a concession to those students who cannot easily give up sex life, and such family relations are natural objects of our care and affection. But we should never let family attachment eclipse our love for God, or working for family maintenance diminish our devotional service. Instead we should engage family members as assistants in the activities of divine service. We should not be attached to anything beyond the necessities of life required for spiritual advancement. Sometimes we need tools and equipment for preaching and other spiritual engagements, but we should understand that all these are the Lord's property and use them only in His service.

Even-mindedness amid pleasant and unpleasant events: We should not be overly happy when we receive something favorable, nor distressed when something unfavorable happens. The enlightened person views desirables and undesirables as the same, knowing that such relative feelings are simply creations of the mind.

Constant and unalloyed devotion to Kṛṣṇa: The ultimate goal of human life is to become a pure devotee of the Personality of Godhead, Sri Kṛṣṇa, constantly serving Him with rapt attention and deep ecstatic love. We should pursue this goal with complete focus and dedication.

Resorting to solitary places, and detachment from the general mass of people: The best residence for students of the Esoteric Teaching is in a secluded, sacred place with a calm and quiet atmosphere favorable for spiritual culture; one should avoid congested places where non-devotees congregate. If it is not possible to live in a remote holy place or peaceful rural area, then at least one should make regular retreats to such places for spiritual cultivation and sadhana. Sometimes we find ourselves preaching in great crowded cities out of necessity. In such cases, the safest residence is the shelter of the lotus feet of a pure devotee, and engaging fully in his service.

Accepting the importance of self-realization, and philosophical search for the Absolute Truth: To fully appreciate the exalted topics of the Esoteric Teaching, one should become a scientist or philosopher and conduct rigorous epistemological and ontological research into the spiritual knowledge of the Esoteric Teaching. This is the best use of the advanced intelligence of the human form of life. The first principle of such research is to recognize that any attainment in spiritual knowledge is permanent, whereas all cultivation of material knowledge ends with the death of the body.

The above items given by Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself combine to form the spiritual path of the Esoteric Teaching, a gradual process by which we can develop real knowledge. Except for these 18 items, all other methods and activities simply increase ignorance and nescience. The principle given here in Sri Isopanisad and by all the great Master Teachers is that material knowledge, no matter how advanced, is merely composed of observations of the external features of the illusory energy with our imperfect senses. Thus culturing material knowledge makes one more or less like the animals, who are doing the same thing. Thus by advancement of material knowledge, modern man is simply becoming more and more animalistic.

Today even foolish children think themselves self-sufficient, and disrespect their more experienced elders. They can understand that the materialistic schools and universities impart the wrong type of education, because their elders are no wiser, happier or more satisfied than they are. Thus losing respect for their superiors, young boys and girls all over the world are simply causing disturbances in society. Thus Sri Isopanisad very strongly warns that the culture of material knowledge leads only to nescience or foolishness.

Instead of being centers of knowledge, in the view of Sri Isopanisad the universities are actually capitals of nescience; consequently the intellectuals they produce are educated in material knowledge only. Thus they are foolishly engaged in developing dangerous weapons for the government, and ever more useless, economically exploitive and ecologically wasteful products for industry. University students today have no knowledge of the principles of spiritual life discussed above, nor do they have any faith in the scriptures. If religious principles are taught at all, it is for the sake of name and fame and not for practical action. Consequently there is turmoil, unrest and violence all over the world. This animosity extends even to the field of religion, as we see struggles between various religious groups on a global scale.

The cultivation of nescience by the people in general has facilitated their exploitation under the guise of nationalism. Because of a lack of real knowledge, they do not consider that this planet is just a lump of matter more insignificant than a particle of dust floating in boundless space. Because God is complete, He has kindly made these planets complete in themselves, perfectly equipped with all resources and necessities of life. Yet although we are even more infinitesimal parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, we tiny, weak creatures foolishly desire to dominate the unlimited planets of the material creation. Thus we take birth again and again, and are repeatedly frustrated by old age, disease and death.

Yet because of the culture of nescience, foolish men try to artificially divide God's creation and establish separate nations. Such foolish people make various plans to maintain their artificial national boundaries, a totally impossible task. Yet for this impossible purpose, each nation has become a source of anxiety for others. When the majority of a nation’s resources is devoted to defense, the duty of the government leaders to benefit the people under their care spoiled. They are falsely proud of being advanced in material knowledge, but due to lack of real spiritual understanding they cannot even feed and clothe their own people.

Sri Isopanisad condemns this faulty materialistic education, and Lord Kṛṣṇa gives clear instructions in Bhagavad-gita how to develop real knowledge. This mantra states that vidya, real knowledge, must be received from a dhira. A dhira is a sober man who is undisturbed by material illusion due to perfect spiritual realization. A dhira neither hankers for nor laments over anything. He realizes that the material body and mind he has acquired by his karma are foreign to the real self; therefore he simply makes the best use of a bad bargain, engaging whatever material facility he receives in the process of acquiring and maintaining vidya.

The dhira understand the Esoteric Teaching by hearing it from superior authorities who have realized this knowledge by following the regulative principles of the scriptures. To follow the regulative principles successfully, one must take shelter of a bona fide spiritual Master Teacher. The transcendental message of the Esoteric Teaching and the instructions of how to follow the regulative principles come down to the disciple from the Master. Such absolute knowledge cannot be acquired by the epistemologically insufficient process of inductive speculation using limited Aristotelian logic, as taught by nescient material education.

One can become a dhira only by submissive hearing from a bona fide spiritual Master Teacher. Arjuna became a dhira by submissively hearing Bhagavad-gita from Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead Himself. The perfect disciple must be like Arjuna, and the perfect spiritual master must be as good as the Lord Himself in spiritual qualities. This process of learning vidya (knowledge) from the dhira (the undisturbed) is exemplified by the sacred conversation of Bhagavad-gita. Thus the highest scriptures confirm that one must hear submissively from a dhira in order to attain actual education.