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Kathopanisad

Chapter 1 Valli 3 Mantra 7

Lecture

Mantra

yas tu a̍vi̱jñāna̍vān bhavaty a̱mana̍skas sa̱dā’śu̍ciḥ
na sa̍ ta̱t pada̍m āpno̱ti̱ sa̱ṁsāra̍ṁ cādhi̱gaccha̍ti

yaḥ tu = but that [intellect]; bhavati = becoming; avijñānavān = unskilfull, having no insight and discrimination; amanaskaḥ = whose mind is uncontrolled; sadā = always; aśuciḥ = impure; saḥ = he, that person; na = does not; āpnoti = obtain; tat = that; padam = goal; ca = and/but; adhigacchati = obtains, reaches; saṁsāraṁ = worldly existence.

And he who is devoid of proper understanding, thoughtless, and always impure, never attains that goal and gets into the round of births and deaths.

by Swami Chinmayananda:

With reference to what we have already discussed it must be quite clear that the Sruti’s intentions are to make the seeker understand that unless he first of all trains himself to live the day to day life intelligently following the codes of morality and ethics he shall not stand any chance of succeeding in the life Divine. Sruti is never tired of repeating at every stage the all-important fact that spiritual practices cannot produce the total office of perfection or happiness unless the devotee is ready first of all, to learn to live a life of truthfulness and perfect self-control. One who is not constantly bringing his discriminative understanding in curbing the impulses of his mind is one who is unyoked (Ayukta) and the wise laugh at his animalism and note him down as an Avijnanavan.

In modern times we are hearing on all sides especially, among the educated classes, that our sacred religion is empty, hollow and useless | There are some monstrous, book-wise scholars, who in their puffed-up vanities hurl shameless calumnies against this great religion. This Sadhu has met personally some of them, and when cornered to explain why they condemn Hinduism, some of them, at least, seem to come out with a real cause; they say that they had tried Bhakthi, Karma and other Yogas for a long time continuously, but that they were not able to enjoy even a trace of the joy and happiness which the Yogas promise as a reward, such desperados, indeed are, in themselves, a sad criticism upon the fall of Hinduism, the Science of Self-perfection.

Even in the Vedic days, when, we all know, the people lived a much more self-controlled life of honesty and goodness, the Srutis were insisting with extra-emphasis upon the need and importance of living a life of perfect self-control for every seeker. And, our poor seekers, living the broad-way-life market dishonesties, black-marketing creeds and corruptions of every kind — if they do some minutes of Japa, cte., how can they come to enjoy the blessings of the Absolute Perfection: All his Kirtans and Bhajans, Japa and Tapa, temple-going, and Brahmin-feeding are waste of time and money, if the devotee is not prepared to keep his mind always under control and thus ultimately come to control in slow degrees the mad onrush of the sense organs! This famous fact is hinted at here by the Sruti.

Those who fail to keep up an intelligent self-control upon their own endless sense-demands, not only fail to climb up the ladder of perfection and thus ultimately reach the Supreme God-head (known to us in the scriptures as Tad-Padam …. That State), but also, says the Sruti, slowly fall in the scale of evolution and thus reach the lower states of animal existence. Man, though he is an animal, is considered as the roof and crown of beings because of his reasoning capacity. He alone is the one animal who can, at each go in life, discriminate between the Path of Good and the Path of the Pleasant, and firmly make a bid always to stick to the Path of Good.

When Man, of his own accord, refuses the blessings of his powers of discrimination, which his intellect is capable of, he is deliberately flouting his privileges as Man. And when one has thus, of his own freewill, chosen to be an animal, certainly, Nature shall bless him with the sorrows and limitations of the animal beings. Man alone is the glorious heir to the Supreme Joy rising out of the Knowledge achieved, and therefore, of the lived Perfections.

It is the lot of the animals “to live to cat”, suffer meekly the gruesome burden of voiceless sorrows and live a life of delusions and empty joys. The Sruti here clearly points out that the men of no self-control not only fail to reach the Supreme State of Joy and Peace, but also fall back into the sorrow pit at the very center of the whirl of birth and death (Samsaram chadhi-Gachchathi),

by Swami Gurubhaktananda:

Yah tu avijnanavan bhavati      He who is of a non-discriminating intellect,
amanaskah sadaa ashuchih;   ever thoughtless and always impure,
na sah tat padam aapnoti      he never attains that Goal;
samsaaram cha adhi-gacchhati.  instead, he gets further into Samsara.

This and next two verses focus on the Destination. The intellect is the key deciding factor. If it is of the Avijnana-vani type, there will be a smooth ride to the end of the road. If not, then one has to prepare for a very bumpy  ride, perhaps even a collision sooner or later.

The Bhashya carefully picks up the key qualities needed in the intellect and the mind.

The Avijnana-vani: Lack of discrimination and thoughtlessness are the factors that make a poor charioteer. Instead of taking one to the Goal, such a driver takes one deeper into the pit of worldly existence.

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