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Kathopanisad

Adyaya 1 Valli 2 Mantra 5

Lecture

Mantra

avidyāyām a̱ntare va̱rtamānāḥ
sva̱yaṁ dhī̱rāḥ pa̱ṇḍitaṁ manyamānāḥ
dandramyamā̱ṇāḥ pa̱riyanti mūḍhāḥ
andhenaiva nī̱yamānā yathā’ndhāḥ

vartamānāḥ = living; avidyāyām antare = in the midst of ignorance, being entangled in hundreds of fetters, forged by craving for sons, cattle, etc.; manyamānāḥ = considering; svayam = we ourselves are; dhīrāḥ = intelligent; paṇḍitam = versed in the Scriptures; those; mūḍhāḥ = senseless, non- discriminating people; pariyanti = go round and round; dandramyamāṇāḥ = wise in their own esteem or by following closely the various crooked courses, being afflicted by old age, death, disease, etc.; just as many; andhāḥ = blind people; nīyamānāḥ = being led; andhena eva = by the blind indeed, on an uneven road, come to great calamity.

Abiding in the midst of ignorance, wise in their own esteem, thinking themselves to be learned, fools wander painfully about like the blind led by the blind.

Rāmānuja says that their ignorance is serenely ignorant of itself and so assumes the appearance of wisdom. And they wander around in the mire of acquisition and consumption with endless episodes of alternating suffering and happiness and become further entrenched in Samsāra.

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