यथाऽन्धकारो दीपेन प्रेक्ष्यमाणः प्रणश्यति । न चाऽस्य ज्ञायते तत्त्वमबोधस्यैवमेव हि ॥ २५ ॥
yathā’ndhakārō dīpēna prēkṣyamāṇaḥ praṇaśyati | na cā’sya jñāyatē tattvamabōdhasyaivamēva hi || 25 ||
Translation
As darkness, looked at with a lamp, perishes, and its nature is not known, just so is it with unknowing.
Word by word
- yathā
- as
- andhakārō
- (andhakāraḥ) darkness
- dīpēna
- with a lamp
- prēkṣyamāṇaḥ
- looked at
- praṇaśyati
- perishes
- na
- not
- ca
- and
- asya
- its
- jñāyatē
- is known
- tattvam
- nature
- abōdhasya
- with unknowing
- ēvam
- so
- ēva
- just
- hi
- indeed
Meaning
The commentary: as in a place covered by darkness, looking at the darkness with a lamp, one does not know where it fled; its root is not found; so when knowledge comes one does not know where ignorance went; no trace of it is found. Ignorance is not a thing to be destroyed; it is like darkness, which a lamp shows was never a substance.