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Īśopaniṣad with Śaṅkara's bhāṣya · 11
vidyāṃ cāvidyāṃ ca yas tad vedobhayaṃ saha | avidyayā mṛtyuṃ tīrtvā vidyayāmṛtam aśnute
Translation. Whoever knows both—knowledge of the deities (vidyā) and ritual action (avidyā)—together, as practices of one and the same person,
having crossed beyond “death” (mṛtyu)—the pair of natural action and cognition—by ritual action such as Agnihotra, through knowledge of the deities attains the immortal state (amṛta), identification with the deity.
Grammar check: 14 words pass / 0 flagged / 1 beyond the checkerPāṇini-verified
Every word's claimed grammar is re-derived with vidyut-prakriya, software implementing Pāṇini's rules. Flags are shown, never hidden; some are the text taking epic or Vedic liberties the classical rules do not generate.
Word by word
| surface | lemma | grammar |
|---|
| vidyām | vidyā | pass |
| ca | ca | pass |
| avidyām | avidyā | pass |
| ca | ca | pass |
| yaḥ | yad | pass |
| tat | tad | pass |
| veda | vid | unsupported |
| ubhayam | ubhaya | pass |
| saha | saha | pass |
| avidyayā | avidyā | pass |
| mṛtyum | mṛtyu | pass |
| tīrtvā | tṝ | pass |
| vidyayā | vidyā | pass |
| amṛtam | amṛta | pass |
| aśnute | aś | pass |
How the commentary settled it
Where the verse alone is ambiguous, the reading follows Śaṅkara's commentary; the deciding lines are quoted below each decision.
In this mantra, vidyā denotes knowledge of the deities and avidyā denotes ritual action, rather than generic knowledge and ignorance.→ vidyā = devatājñāna; avidyā = karma, including Agnihotra and similar rites
isup [1]yata evamato vidyāṃ cāvidyāṃ ca devatājñānaṃ karma cetyarthaḥ /
Since this is so, ‘knowledge and non-knowledge’ mean knowledge of the deities and ritual action.
isup [3]avidyayā karmaṇā agnihotrādinā mṛtyuṃ svābhāvikaṃ karma jñānaṃ ca mṛtyuśabdavācyamubhayaṃ tīrtvā atikramya vidyayā devatājñānenāmṛtaṃ devatātmabhāvamaśnute prāpnoti /
Through non-knowledge—that is, through ritual action such as Agnihotra—having crossed beyond death, namely the pair of natural action and cognition denoted by the word ‘death,’ through knowledge, that is, knowledge of the deities, he attains the immortal state, identification with the deity.
Tat and ubhayam are coreferential accusatives governed by veda, while saha requires the two disciplines to be combined by one and the same practitioner.→ “Whoever knows both of these together,” understood as practices to be undertaken by one person in combination
isup [2]yastadetadubhayaṃ sahaikena puruṣeṇa anuṣṭheyaṃ veda tasyaivaṃ samuccayakāriṇa eva ekapuruṣārthasambandhaḥ krameṇa syādityucyate /
It is said that, for the person who knows both of these as to be undertaken together by one person—and who thus acts through their combination—a sequential relation to the single human goal would arise.
Avidyayā is an instrumental of means, and mṛtyum is the object crossed; mṛtyu here encompasses the pair of natural action and cognition.→ “by ritual action, having crossed beyond ‘death,’ the pair of natural action and cognition”
isup [3]avidyayā karmaṇā agnihotrādinā mṛtyuṃ svābhāvikaṃ karma jñānaṃ ca mṛtyuśabdavācyamubhayaṃ tīrtvā atikramya vidyayā devatājñānenāmṛtaṃ devatātmabhāvamaśnute prāpnoti /
Through non-knowledge—that is, through ritual action such as Agnihotra—having crossed beyond death, namely the pair of natural action and cognition denoted by the word ‘death,’ through knowledge, that is, knowledge of the deities, he attains the immortal state, identification with the deity.
Amṛtam is not interpreted as unqualified final liberation; it is the state of identification with or attainment of the deity, reached through deity-knowledge. Aśnute therefore means “attains.”→ the immortal state consisting in identification with the deity
isup [3]avidyayā karmaṇā agnihotrādinā mṛtyuṃ svābhāvikaṃ karma jñānaṃ ca mṛtyuśabdavācyamubhayaṃ tīrtvā atikramya vidyayā devatājñānenāmṛtaṃ devatātmabhāvamaśnute prāpnoti /
Through non-knowledge—that is, through ritual action such as Agnihotra—having crossed beyond death, namely the pair of natural action and cognition denoted by the word ‘death,’ through knowledge, that is, knowledge of the deities, he attains the immortal state, identification with the deity.
isup [4]taddhyamṛtamucyate yaddevatātmagamanam
For that attainment of the deity-state is called the immortal state.
Tīrtvā is an indeclinable absolutive from tṝ, not a finite imperative.→ “having crossed,” an absolutive whose subject is the subject of aśnute
isup [3]avidyayā karmaṇā agnihotrādinā mṛtyuṃ svābhāvikaṃ karma jñānaṃ ca mṛtyuśabdavācyamubhayaṃ tīrtvā atikramya vidyayā devatājñānenāmṛtaṃ devatātmabhāvamaśnute prāpnoti /
Śaṅkara paraphrases tīrtvā with the likewise absolutive atikramya, ‘having passed beyond,’ before the finite verb aśnute/prāpnoti.
Avidyā and amṛta are analyzed morphologically as nañ-tatpuruṣa compounds, while their contextual meanings remain governed by the commentary. The lexical segmentation is also reflected in [MW s.v. avidyā, 108,3] and [MW s.v. amṛta, 82,2].
→ nañ-tatpuruṣa analysis
Śaṅkara's commentary on this unit
1yata evamato vidyāṃ cāvidyāṃ ca devatājñānaṃ karma cetyarthaḥ /
2yastadetadubhayaṃ sahaikena puruṣeṇa anuṣṭheyaṃ veda tasyaivaṃ samuccayakāriṇa eva ekapuruṣārthasambandhaḥ krameṇa syādityucyate /
3avidyayā karmaṇā agnihotrādinā mṛtyuṃ svābhāvikaṃ karma jñānaṃ ca mṛtyuśabdavācyamubhayaṃ tīrtvā atikramya vidyayā devatājñānenāmṛtaṃ devatātmabhāvamaśnute prāpnoti /
4taddhyamṛtamucyate yaddevatātmagamanam