Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 6.50
॥
Devanāgarī
आत्मस्वरूपविज्ञानादज्ञानस्य परिक्षयः । क्षीणेऽज्ञाने महाप्राज्ञ रागादीनां परिक्षयः
Transliteration (IAST)
ātmasvarūpavijñānādajñānasya parikṣayaḥ | kṣīṇe'jñāne mahāprājña rāgādīnāṃ parikṣayaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
आत्म-स्वरूप-विज्ञानात्ātma-svarūpa-vijñānātfrom the direct realization of the self's essence
अ-ज्ञानस्य परिक्षयःa-jñānasya parikṣayaḥthe exhaustion of ignorance
क्षीणे अ-ज्ञाने महा-प्राज्ञkṣīṇe a-jñāne mahā-prājñawhen ignorance is exhausted, O great in wisdom
राग-आदीनां परिक्षयःrāga-ādīnāṃ parikṣayaḥthe exhaustion of passion and the rest
Translation
"From the direct realization of the self's essence — the exhaustion of ignorance; when ignorance is exhausted, O great in wisdom, — the exhaustion of passion and the rest."
Version
cce2dd4b42b2 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A chain is set out: knowledge — the death of ignorance — the death of passion. This order is fundamental in nondualist teaching, and its weak link deserves examination, for it is visible here more clearly than anywhere else. The weak link is in the second transition: why does passion die with the death of ignorance?
If passion arises from ignorance — that is, a person is drawn to things because he does not know their true nature — then knowledge cancels it. So the teaching asserts. But observation says otherwise, and it cannot be disregarded. People constantly know and still want: the smoker knows the harm, the angry man knows his own anger consumes him, and this knowledge changes nothing.
This objection is old and is stated in the Gita itself, in Arjuna's own voice, and examined in detail. He asks: "impelled by what does a person commit sin, as if against his will, as though driven by force?" (3.36). The answer given is not "ignorance," but something else: kama esha krodha esha rajo-guna-samudbhavah, "this is desire, this is anger, born of the guna of passion" (3.37); and further — that it covers knowledge as smoke covers fire, and that "it is the eternal enemy of the knowing" — jnanino nitya-vairina (3.39).
The phrase jnanino vairi, "the enemy of the knowing," settles the matter. It is not said "the enemy of the ignorant"; it is said that even the knowing person has this enemy. This is why the Vaishnava side does not consider knowledge sufficient. Knowledge shows where to go; but it is the will that walks, and the will is changed not by information, but by what has become dearer to it.