Īśāvāsyopaniṣat 09, 10, and 11
andhantamaḥ praviśanti ye'vidyāmupāsate। tato bhūya iva te tamo ya u vidyāyāṁ ratāḥ ॥9॥
[अन्धन्तमः (andhantamaḥ) - darkness; प्रविशन्ति (praviśanti) - enter; ये (ye) - those who; अविद्याम् (avidyām) - negative knowledge; उपासते (upāsate) - practice; ततः (tataḥ) - from that; भूय (bhūya) - further; इव (iva) - as if; ते (te) - they; तमः (tamaḥ) - darkness; यः (yaḥ) - who; उ (u) - also; विद्यायाम् (vidyāyām) - positive-knowledge ; रताः (ratāḥ) - engrossed;]
Those who practice negative-knowledge (negations) enter deep darkness, but those who are engrossed only in positive-knowledge (affirmations) also go to further darkness.
anyadevā'hurvidyayā anyadāhuravidyayā। iti śuśruma dhīrāṇāṁ ye nastadvicacakṣire ॥10॥
[अन्यदेवाऽहुः (anyadevāhuḥ) - They say; विद्यया (vidyayā) - positive knowledge (affirmations); अन्यदाहुः (anyadāhuḥ) - they say differently; अविद्यया (avidyayā) - by negative knowledge (negations); इति (iti) - thus; शुश्रुम (śuśruma) - heard; धीराणां (dhīrāṇām) - from the wise; ये (ye) - who; न (na) - not; अस्तत् (astat) - being, that; विचचक्षिरे (vicacakṣire) - with distorted/special, insight;]
'Positive-knowledge (affirmations) is different from that of negative-knowledge (negations)' - thus we have heard from the wise who do not have distorted insight.
vidyāṁ cāvidyāṁ ca yastadvedobhayaṁ saha। avidyayā mr̥tyuṁ tīrtvā vidyayā'mr̥tamaśnute ॥11॥
[विद्यां (vidyām) - positive-knowledge (affirmations); च (ca) - and; अविद्यां (avidyām) - negative-knowledge (negations); च (ca) - and; यः (yaḥ) - who; तत् (tat) - that; वेद (veda) - knows; उभयं (ubhayaṁ) - both; सह (saha) - together; अविद्यया (avidyayā) - by wrong understanding; मृत्युं (mṛtyuṁ) - death; तीर्त्वा (tīrtvā) - crossing; विद्यया (vidyayā) - by right understanding; अमृतम् (amṛtam) - immortality; अश्नुते (aśnute) - attains;]
He who knows both the positive-knowledge (affirmations) and negative-knowledge (negations) together, by knowing wrong understanding, crosses over death, and by having right-understanding, attains immortality.
Īśā.Bhāshya 09, 10, and 11
The wise with right insight have both positive-knowledge (affirmations) and also negative-knowledge (negations). Having only one type of knowledge will not lead to the goal. One must overcome fear by negative-knowledge and attain happiness through positive-knowledge.
anyathopāsakā ye tu tamo'ndhaṁ yāntyasaṁśayam। tato'dhikamiva vyaktaṁ yānti teṣāmanindakāḥ॥
Those practitioners of different path (with negative-knowledge) go into deep darkness without doubt. But those who take refuge only in positive-knowledge without criticizing (i.e. not having the negative knowledge) enter into even greater darkness.
tasmādyathāsvarūpaṁ tu nārāyaṇamanāmayam। ayathārthasya nindāṁ ca ye viduḥ te hi sajjanāḥ। te nindayā'yathārthasya duḥkhājñānādirūpiṇaḥ॥
Therefore, those who know the as-is essence of all pervading lord Narayana, who is without defect, criticizes the improper, knowing them well. Indeed, such people are only righteous. They criticize the improper knowledge in the form of ignorance and suffering.
duḥkhājñānādisantīrṇāḥ sukhajñānādirūpiṇaḥ। yathārthasya parijñānāt sukhajñānādirūpatām॥ yānti ... ॥ 9-11 ॥
Having crossed over suffering and ignorance, they attain the state characterized by happiness and knowledge with the help of right knowledge of the reality.
(...iti kaurme॥)
(... states thus in Kaurma Purāna)
Positive Knowledge (vidyā): This refers to knowledge about what something is or what exists. It's the affirmation or assertion of something's existence or qualities. For example, knowing that a particular fruit is an apple or understanding the principles of physics would be considered positive knowledge.
Negative Knowledge (avidyā): Negative knowledge, on the other hand, is knowledge about what something is not or what does not exist. It's the negation or denial of certain qualities or existence of something. For instance, knowing that a particular fruit is not an orange or understanding that a square circle does not exist falls under negative knowledge.
They are often used in philosophical discussions and epistemology to differentiate between affirmations and negations in knowledge. The terms 'vidya' and 'avidya' are used here to mean positive-knowledge and negative-knowledge, and is not used in an ordinary sense to mean knowledge and ignorance. Testimonial quoted from Kaurma Purana further substantiates the same.
