Kathopanishad- Verse 5 - kathopanishad-1-2-5-avidyāyāmantare

Kathopanishad – Part 1 – Canto 2 – Verse 5 « »

अविद्यायामन्तरे वर्तमानाः
स्वयं धीराः पण्डितंमन्यमानाः ।
दन्द्रम्यमाणाः परियन्ति मूढा
अन्धेनैव नीयमाना यथान्धाः ॥ ५॥

avidyāyāmantare vartamānāḥ
svayaṃ dhīrāḥ paṇḍitaṃmanyamānāḥ .
dandramyamāṇāḥ pariyanti mūḍhā
andhenaiva nīyamānā yathāndhāḥ .. 5..

5 Fools dwelling in darkness, but thinking themselves wise and erudite, go round and round, by various tortuous paths, like the blind led by the blind.

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Sri Shankara’s Commentary (Bhashya) translated by S. Sitarama Sastri

Com.—But those men living in Samsâra in the midst of ignorance as in thick darkness, entangled in a hundred meshes formed by attachment for sons, cattle and the rest, regarding themselves as intelligent and well-versed in the Sâstras, go round and round, get into many crooked ways afflicted with miseries such as old age, death, disease, etc., devoid of discernment, just as the blind led by the blind in uneven paths come to great grief.

Commentary by Swami Krishnananda of the great Divine Life Society

Avidyāyām antare vartamānāḥ, svayaṁ dhīrāḥ paṇḍitam manyamānāḥ, dandramyamāṇāḥ pariyanti mūdhāḥ, andhenaiva nīyamānā yathāndhāḥ (1.2.5): Yama continues, “People in this world are actually like blind people led by blind people. The teachers of humanity are blind. They understand nothing about the ultimate reality of life, and they are the rulers, the administrators, the teachers, the prophets. The subjects are also blind, and so one who cannot see is instructing the other who also cannot see. These are the people who are sunk in avidya, ignorance of the ultimate nature of reality. Avidya is non-apprehension of what is really there, and apprehension of what is really not there.”

Avidya has two characteristics: avarana and vikshepa. Avarana is the veil that covers the consciousness and prevents it from knowing what is actually there, and vikshepa is the other aspect of avidya which, while it has already screened the perception of the reality away from consciousness, it compels it to know something which is not there. So, a double tragedy follows for people who are sunk in avidya: they do not know what is really there, but they know very well what is not there. They think they are very wise; such are the people in this world. They think they are most learned, highly cultured, and no one is equal to them. Staggering, dizzy, giddy due to the pride of wealth and the strength of the ego, they live a futile existence in this world. Mūdhāḥ is the word used in respect of these people, fools of the first water.

Links
Various resources on the Kathopanishad
Upanishad Series – Katopanishad Commentary by Swami Chinmayananda

Kathopanishad – Verse 5 – kathopanishad-1-2-5-avidyāyāmantare – In Sanskrit with English Transliteration, Meaning and Commentary by Adi Shankaracharya (Sankara Bhashya) – Katha-1-2-5