What the scriptures say about the wish to understand
What do the scriptures say about the wish to understand?
The texts call it jijñāsā (जिज्ञासा). The wish to know, honoured as its own kind of approach (7.16). Nachiketa holds to his question against every bribe; Shaunaka asks for the one thing that explains the rest. They set it against a moral dilemma, confusion and emptiness.
- 51 verses
- 28 stories
- Where questions begin
तद्विद्धि प्रणिपातेन परिप्रश्नेन सेवया । उपदेक्ष्यन्ति ते ज्ञानं ज्ञानिनस्तत्त्वदर्शिनः ॥
tadviddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā | upadekṣyanti te jñānaṃ jñāninastattvadarśinaḥ ||
Learn it by bowing down, by questioning, and by service. Those who are wise and have seen the truth will teach you that knowledge.
The wish to understand in the texts' own words
Verses that show it in a person, or name it outright.
- Arjuna
कार्पण्यदोषोपहतस्वभावःपृच्छामि त्वां धर्मसंमूढचेताः । यच्छ्रेयः स्यान्निश्चितं ब्रूहि तन्मेशिष्यस्तेऽहं शाधि मां त्वां प्रपन्नम् ॥
kārpaṇyadoṣopahatasvabhāvaḥpṛcchāmi tvāṃ dharmasaṃmūḍhacetāḥ | yacchreyaḥ syānniścitaṃ brūhi tanmeśiṣyaste’haṃ śādhi māṃ tvāṃ prapannam ||
My nature is stricken by weakness and my mind is confused about what is right. I ask you: tell me for certain what is best for me. I am your student; I have come to you, teach me.
- Seer
अथातः पवमानानामेवाभ्यारोहः । स वै खलु प्रस्तोता साम प्रस्तौति । स यत्र प्रस्तुयात् तदेतानि जपेदसतो मा सद् गमय तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय मृत्योर्माऽमृतं गमयेति ।
athātaḥ pavamānānāmevābhyārohaḥ | sa vai khalu prastotā sāma prastauti | sa yatra prastuyāt tadetāni japedasato mā sad gamaya tamaso mā jyotirgamaya mṛtyormā’mṛtaṃ gamayeti |
Now the chanting of the purifying verses. When the priest begins the hymn, one should recite: From the unreal lead me to the real. From darkness lead me to light. From death lead me to immortality.
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.3.28
Names the voice of someone who wants what is real and asks to be led to it. our reading
- Narada
सोऽहं भगवो मन्त्रविदेवास्मि नात्मविच्छ्रुतꣳ ह्येव मे भगवद्दृशेभ्यस्तरति शोकमात्मविदिति सोऽहं भगवः शोचामि तं मा भगवाञ्छोकस्य पारं तारयत्विति तꣳ होवाच यद्वै किंचैतदध्यगीष्ठा नामैवैतत् ॥
so’haṃ bhagavo mantravidevāsmi nātmavicchrutaꣳ hyeva me bhagavaddṛśebhyastarati śokamātmaviditi so’haṃ bhagavaḥ śocāmi taṃ mā bhagavāñchokasya pāraṃ tārayatviti taꣳ hovāca yadvai kiṃcaitadadhyagīṣṭhā nāmaivaitat ||
'Sir, I know only the texts; I do not know the self. I have heard from people like you that one who knows the self crosses beyond sorrow. I am in sorrow, sir. Please take me across.' He said to him: 'Whatever you have studied is only name.'
Chhandogya Upanishad 7.1.3
- Rama
संसार एव निवहे जनो व्यवहरन्नपि । न बन्धं कथमाप्नोति पद्मपत्रे पयो यथा ॥
saṃsāra eva nivahe jano vyavaharannapi | na bandhaṃ kathamāpnoti padmapatre payo yathā ||
How can a person who lives and works in the middle of the world not be bound by it, the way water sits on a lotus leaf?
Yoga Vasishtha
Shows the wish to stay engaged and yet free. our reading
- Arjuna
व्यामिश्रेणेव वाक्येन बुद्धिं मोहयसीव मे । तदेकं वद निश्चित्य येन श्रेयोऽहमाप्नुयाम् ॥
vyāmiśreṇeva vākyena buddhiṃ mohayasīva me | tadekaṃ vada niścitya yena śreyo’hamāpnuyām ||
With these seemingly mixed words you confuse my mind. Tell me decisively that one thing by which I may reach the highest good.
He asks for the one thing that is surely best. our reading
- Lakshman
अहं प्रपन्नोऽस्मि पदाम्बुजं प्रभो भवापवर्गं तव योगिभावितम् । यथाञ्जसाज्ञानमपारवारिधिं सुखं तरिष्यामि तथानुशाधि माम् ॥
ahaṃ prapanno’smi padāmbujaṃ prabho bhavāpavargaṃ tava yogibhāvitam | yathāñjasājñānamapāravāridhiṃ sukhaṃ tariṣyāmi tathānuśādhi mām ||
I take refuge at your lotus feet, Lord, which free one from the world and which yogis meditate on. Teach me so that I may easily and happily cross this endless ocean of ignorance.
Ram Gita (Adhyatma Ramayana, Uttara 5), verse 5
Shows Lakshmana asking to be taught how to cross. our reading
- Seer
हिरण्मयेन पात्रेण सत्यस्यापिहितं मुखम् । तत्त्वं पूषन्नपावृणु सत्यधर्माय दृष्टये ॥
hiraṇmayena pātreṇa satyasyāpihitaṃ mukham | tattvaṃ pūṣannapāvṛṇu satyadharmāya dṛṣṭaye ||
The face of truth is covered by a golden vessel. Uncover it, O Pushan, so that I, who hold to truth, may see.
Isha Upanishad 15
Shows someone holding to truth asking for the bright covering to be lifted. our reading
- Rama
व्यवहारवतो युक्त्या दुःखं नायाति मे यया । अथवा व्यवहारस्य ब्रूत तां युक्तिमुत्तमाम् ॥
vyavahāravato yuktyā duḥkhaṃ nāyāti me yayā | athavā vyavahārasya brūta tāṃ yuktimuttamām ||
Tell me the skill by which sorrow doesn't come to me while I go about my work, or else tell me the best way of dealing with life itself.
Yoga Vasishtha
He asks for a workable way, not an escape. our reading
- Krishna
चतुर्विधा भजन्ते मां जनाः सुकृतिनोऽर्जुन । आर्तो जिज्ञासुरर्थार्थी ज्ञानी च भरतर्षभ ॥
caturvidhā bhajante māṃ janāḥ sukṛtino’rjuna | ārto jijñāsurarthārthī jñānī ca bharatarṣabha ||
Four kinds of good people worship me, Arjuna: the distressed, the seeker of knowledge, the seeker of wealth, and the wise, best of the Bharatas.
- Shaunaka
शौनको ह वै महाशालोऽङ्गिरसं विधिवदुपसन्नः पप्रच्छ । कस्मिन्नु भगवो विज्ञाते सर्वमिदं विज्ञातं भवतीति ॥
śaunako ha vai mahāśālo’ṅgirasaṃ vidhivadupasannaḥ papraccha | kasminnu bhagavo vijñāte sarvamidaṃ vijñātaṃ bhavatīti ||
Shaunaka, the great householder, approached Angiras in the proper way and asked: 'Sir, what is that which, when known, makes all this known?'
Mundaka Upanishad 1.1.3
What it heals
The states the texts set it against.
Practices that grow the wish to understand
Verses that give something to do, today or in the hard moment.
- Krishna
तद्विद्धि प्रणिपातेन परिप्रश्नेन सेवया । उपदेक्ष्यन्ति ते ज्ञानं ज्ञानिनस्तत्त्वदर्शिनः ॥
tadviddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā | upadekṣyanti te jñānaṃ jñāninastattvadarśinaḥ ||
Learn it by bowing down, by questioning, and by service. Those who are wise and have seen the truth will teach you that knowledge.
Shows real questioning of one who knows is named as the way to learn. our reading
- Yama
उत्तिष्ठत जाग्रत प्राप्य वरान्निबोधत । क्षुरस्य धारा निशिता दुरत्यया दुर्गं पथस्तत्कवयो वदन्ति ॥
uttiṣṭhata jāgrata prāpya varānnibodhata | kṣurasya dhārā niśitā duratyayā durgaṃ pathastatkavayo vadanti ||
Arise! Awake! Go to the great ones and learn. Sharp as a razor's edge, hard to cross, is that path, say the wise.
Katha Upanishad 1.3.14
Shows going to those who know and learning. our reading
- Teacher
अथ यदि ते कर्मविचिकित्सा वा वृत्तविचिकित्सा वा स्यात् ॥ ये तत्र ब्राह्मणाः संमर्शिनः । युक्ता आयुक्ताः । अलूक्षा धर्मकामाः स्युः । यथा ते तत्र वर्तेरन् । तथा तत्र वर्तेथाः । अथाभ्याख्यातेषु । ये तत्र ब्राह्मणाः संमर्शिनः । युक्ता आयुक्ताः । अलूक्षा धर्मकामाः स्युः । यथा ते तेषु वर्तेरन् । तथा तेषु वर्तेथाः । एष आदेशः । एष उपदेशः ।
atha yadi te karmavicikitsā vā vṛttavicikitsā vā syāt || ye tatra brāhmaṇāḥ saṃmarśinaḥ | yuktā āyuktāḥ | alūkṣā dharmakāmāḥ syuḥ | yathā te tatra varteran | tathā tatra vartethāḥ | athābhyākhyāteṣu | ye tatra brāhmaṇāḥ saṃmarśinaḥ | yuktā āyuktāḥ | alūkṣā dharmakāmāḥ syuḥ | yathā te teṣu varteran | tathā teṣu vartethāḥ | eṣa ādeśaḥ | eṣa upadeśaḥ |
Now, if you are ever unsure about an action or about conduct, look to the thoughtful people there: devoted, independent, not harsh, lovers of what is right. As they would act, so should you act. And towards people under accusation, act as such people would. This is the instruction, this is the teaching.
Taittiriya Upanishad 1.11.3-4
- Parvati
जासु भवनु सुरतरु तर होई। सहि कि दरिद्र जनित दुखु सोई॥ ससिभूषन अस हृदयँ बिचारी। हरहु नाथ मम मति भ्रम भारी ॥
jāsu bhavanu surataru tar hoī| sahi ki daridra janit dukhu soī|| sasibhūṣan as hṛdayaṁ bicārī| harahu nāth mam mati bhram bhārī ||
'Can one whose home is beneath the wishing tree suffer the pain of poverty? Thinking this over in your heart, Moon-crowned Lord, take away the heavy confusion of my mind.'
Ramcharitmanas, Bal Kand 102 (chaupai 2)
Names her asking plainly of the one who knows. our reading
- Vasishtha
कोऽहं कथमयं दोषः संसाराख्य उपागतः । न्यायेनेति परामर्शो विचार इति कथ्यते ॥
ko’haṃ kathamayaṃ doṣaḥ saṃsārākhya upāgataḥ | nyāyeneti parāmarśo vicāra iti kathyate ||
'Who am I? How did this trouble called worldly life come upon me?' Reflecting on this rightly is called inquiry.
Yoga Vasishtha
Shows two questions to sit with. our reading
- Vidura
प्रज्ञावृद्धं धर्मवृद्धं स्वबन्धुं / विद्यावृद्धं वयसा चापि वृद्धम् / कार्याकार्ये पूजयित्वा प्रसाद्य / यः संपृच्छेन्न स मुह्येत्कदाचित्
prajñāvṛddhaṃ dharmavṛddhaṃ svabandhuṃ / vidyāvṛddhaṃ vayasā cāpi vṛddham / kāryākārye pūjayitvā prasādya / yaḥ saṃpṛcchenna sa muhyetkadācit
One who honours and wins over a kinsman mature in wisdom, in goodness, in learning and in years, and asks him what should and should not be done, is never confused.
Mahabharata · Udyoga Parva · Vidura Niti
- Shiva
सगुनहि अगुनहि नहिं कछु भेदा। गावहिं मुनि पुरान बुध बेदा॥ अगुन अरूप अलख अज जोई। भगत प्रेम बस सगुन सो होई ॥
sagunahi agunahi nahiṃ kachu bhedā| gāvahiṃ muni purān budh bedā|| agun arūp alakh aj joī| bhagat prem bas sagun so hoī ||
There is no difference between God with form and God without form: so say the sages, the Puranas, the learned and the Vedas. The One without qualities, without form, unseen and unborn, takes on form out of love for his devotees.
Ramcharitmanas, Bal Kand 109 (chaupai 5)
Names an honest theological question honoured with an answer. our reading
- Kakbhushundi
जानें बिनु न होइ परतीती। बिनु परतीति होइ नहिं प्रीती॥ प्रीति बिना नहिं भगति दिढ़ाई। जिमि खगपति जल कै चिकनाई ॥
jāneṃ binu na hoi paratītī| binu paratīti hoi nahiṃ prītī|| prīti binā nahiṃ bhagati diṛhāī| jimi khagapati jal kai cikanāī ||
Without knowing his greatness, no trust forms; without trust, no love; and without love, devotion is not firm, just as, king of birds, oil does not stay on water.
Ramcharitmanas · Uttar Kand
Names knowing as the first step so asking is right. our reading
People who lived it
Someone in the scriptures came to this, and the story shows how.
Is this where you are?
Write a line about today. Your words find their place on the map, with a verse for each.
Questions people ask
What is the Sanskrit word for the wish to understand?
Which Bhagavad Gita verse speaks about the wish to understand?
Verses, translations and stories come from the Wisdom library, read with the traditional commentaries. A line marked stated in the text is a link the verse or a named commentator makes; our reading is Wisdom's own reading of the verse.