Abstract:
Iśāvāsyopaniṣad (9-11) mentions terms VidyāandAvidyā. Vidyā is taken as
knowledge and Avidyā as ignorance when literal meaning is taken. One who
follows Avidyā goes to darkness and worshipper of Vidyā to even more darkness.
One who knows Vidyā and Avidyā both together crosses death with Avidyā and
attains immortality through Vidyā. Here words Vidyā and Avidyā are cryptic and do
not mean the general connotation. Dictionary meanings of these words are
incongruent with the meaning of complete verses. In this case, commentators have
adopted different meanings suitable to their philosophy. It is however interesting to
note the hermeneutic tools they used for interpretations. Paper aims to investigate
and understand concepts of Vidyā and Avidyā through different commentaries and
throw light on philosophy behind it.
