Category:Darkness of Ignorance
Theme Analysis
The "darkness of ignorance" (ajnana-timira) describes the fundamental illusion that covers every conditioned soul in the material world. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that this darkness manifests as the bodily concept of life, where the eternal soul mistakenly identifies with temporary matter. This condition is likened to a cataract that blinds the spiritual vision. The remedy for this blindness is the "torchlight of knowledge" (jnana-anjana) administered by the spiritual master. Furthermore, Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda are celebrated as the sun and moon who have simultaneously arisen on the horizon of Gauḍa to dissipate this accumulated darkness and bestow benediction upon all.
- The Universal Condition: Every living entity is born into the darkness of ignorance, identifying with the body and acting for sense gratification.
- The Guru's Role: The bona fide spiritual master opens the darkened eyes of the disciple with the torchlight of transcendental knowledge.
- The Sun and Moon: Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda are the divine luminaries who chase away the darkness of the Age of Kali.
- The Process: Devotional service (bhakti-yoga) and the chanting of the holy name are the practical means to clear the heart of this ignorance.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: Awakening from Darkness of Ignorance.
Subcategories
This category has the following 4 subcategories, out of 4 total.
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Pages in category "Darkness of Ignorance"
The following 122 pages are in this category, out of 122 total.
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- I offer my respectful obeisances unto Krsna Caitanya & Nityananda, who are like the sun & moon. They have arisen simultaneously on the horizon of Gauda to dissipate the darkness of ignorance & thus wonderfully bestow benediction upon all - CC Adi 1.2
- I offer my respectful obeisances unto Krsna Caitanya & Nityananda, who are like the sun & moon. They have arisen simultaneously on the horizon of Gauda to dissipate the darkness of ignorance & thus wonderfully bestow benediction upon all - CC Adi 1.84
- I offer my respectful obeisances unto Krsna Caitanya & Nityananda, who are like the sun & moon. They have arisen simultaneously on the horizon of Gauda to dissipate the darkness of ignorance & thus wonderfully bestow benediction upon all - CC Madhya 1.2
A
- After the creation of the demigods, all entities are covered by the darkness of ignorance. Each and every living being in the material world is conditioned by his mentality of lording it over the resources of material nature
- All kinds of activities, both auspicious and inauspicious, that are detrimental to the discharge of transcendental loving service to Lord Sri Krsna are actions of the darkness of ignorance
- Although Bali Maharaja was offering his body to the Lord for the Lord's third step, he was still in the darkness of ignorance. Actually the body did not belong to him, but because of his long-standing demoniac mentality he could not understand this
- Among these three, goodness is the platform of knowledge, and passion brings about a mixture of knowledge and ignorance, but the mode of ignorance is full of darkness
- Animals have no ability to know that they are in darkness, but human beings can know. Like Devahuti, an intelligent person should become disgusted with the darkness of ignorance
- Any person, if he is fortunate enough to hear these teachings (of Bhagavad-gita) from Krsna or from His bona fide spiritual representative, is sure to become a liberated person and get out of the darkness of ignorance. BG 1972 purports
- As long as human society is in darkness and ignorance, men will continue to make huge arrangements in the bodily conception of life. This is described by Prahlada Maharaja as bharam
- As the sun and moon drive away darkness by their appearance and reveal the nature of everything, these two brothers dissipate the darkness of ignorance covering the living beings and enlighten them with knowledge of the Absolute Truth
- As we associate with Krsna, He helps us to understand Him and dispels the darkness of ignorance with the light of knowledge. Krsna is sitting within our hearts acting as guru
B
- Because Arjuna is above such darkness (of ignorance), the Personality of Godhead agrees to describe His various opulences. BG 1972 purports
- Being anxious, he cannot even sleep properly. He thus becomes more and more unhappy, and he gradually loses his intelligence and consciousness. In that state he becomes almost perpetually like a blind man who has fallen into a dark well of ignorance
- Being bitten by this python, they always remain in the darkness of ignorance. They are like dead bodies thrown in a distant forest. Thus the conditioned souls cannot understand what is going on in life
- By the grace of Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda, this darkness of ignorance is removed and the truth is brought to light
- By the grace of the Lord the pure devotee cannot be in the darkness of ignorance. Therefore, it is necessary that we must always be in the sight of Lord Krsna so that we can see both ourselves and the Lord with His different energies
- By the instruction of the spiritual master, the darkness of ignorance is removed, and thus the disciple is enabled to go to the side of freedom
- By the mercy of the Lord, a devotee develops all the good qualities of God, for a devotee can never remain in the darkness of ignorance
- By the throwing influence the illusory energy throws the living entities into the darkness of ignorance, and by the covering influence she covers the eyes of men with a poor fund of knowledge about the existence of the Supreme Person
F
- For such a blind human society in the darkness of ignorance, SB is the torchlight to see things in proper perspective. Therefore it was necessary to describe the science of God from the very beginning, or from the very birth of the phenomenal world
- For those who are sleeping in the darkness of ignorance, it is not possible to understand how the Supreme Godhead manifests Himself in the material and spiritual worlds. Thus this address by Krsna to Arjuna is significant. BG 1972 purports
- Full knowledge of Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan is revealed to the pure devotees. The Lord says in BG (10.11): Out of compassion for them, I, dwelling in their hearts, destroy with the shining lamp of knowledge the darkness born of ignorance
I
- I am such a sinful person, but since I have now gotten this opportunity, I must completely control my mind, life and senses and always engage in devotional service so that I may not fall again into the deep darkness and ignorance of material life
- I offer my respectful obeisances unto my spiritual master, who with the torchlight of knowledge has opened my eyes, which were blinded by the darkness of ignorance - Gautamiya-tantra
- If a man fails to discharge his duties as a human being, he is forced to transmigrate to the asurya planets and take birth in degraded species of life to work hard in ignorance and darkness
- If a yogi looks upon the marks of the Lord's sole and on the blazing brilliance of His nails, then he can be freed from the darkness of ignorance in material existence
- If Krsna consciousness is preached all over the world, the darkness of ignorance and the anxiety of material existence will turn into the whiteness of purity, peacefulness and prosperity
- If one engages only in caring for the necessities of the body, not caring for the eternal necessities of life, then he is part of a civilization whose advancement puts the living entities in the darkest region of ignorance
- If one places himself in artificial light, it may flicker and go out. Krsna is just like sunlight. Where He is present there is no question of darkness and ignorance. The wise men, the mahatmas, understand this
- If one simply chants the holy name of Krsna, this holy name will rise within one's heart like the powerful sun and will immediately dissipate all the darkness of ignorance
- If the so-called advanced in education they speak so irresponsibly, naturally, others will follow. Therefore, at the present moment, the whole generation is covered with ignorance and darkness. No clear knowledge
- If we drink this nectar (bhagavad-gita), very soon the brilliant sunshine of transcendental knowledge will dispel the darkness of ignorance caused by our unwanted material desires
- If we keep ourselves in KC always, we cannot be influenced by the darkness of ignorance; rather, we shall always walk very freely in the bright sunshine of Krsna. Kuntidevi therefore prays that Krsna continue to be present with her and the Pandavas
- Ignorance in material existence is compared to darkness, and in all Vedic literatures the Personality of Godhead is compared to the sun. Wherever there is light there cannot be darkness
- In the Svetasvatara Upanisad (3.8), the Supreme is described as aditya-varnam tamasah parastat, He whose self-manifest form is luminous like the sun and transcendental to the darkness of ignorance
- In this material world, every living entity is covered by the darkness of ignorance. Therefore the Vedas enjoin that one should approach the Supreme Lord through the spiritual master, who is described and offered prayers in the Gautamiya-tantra
- It appears that Srimati Devahuti, the glorious mother of Lord Kapiladeva, is very compassionate for the regrettable condition of people in general, who, not knowing the goal of life, are sleeping in the darkness of illusion
- It is said that all the people in the material world are blinded by the darkness of ignorance. When people are blind, out of their ignorance they say, - There is no God. I cannot see God
- It is the general feeling of the Vaisnava, or devotee of the Lord, that he should awaken them - conditioned souls sleeping in the darkness of ignorance
K
- Krsna says that anyone can understand Himself, anyone can understand Krsna and the relationship, provided the darkness of ignorance is taken away. That is required. That is done by Krsna personally. For whom? Tesam evanukampartham
- Krsna says that as one devotes himself to rendering service, He Himself dispels the darkness of ignorance. If we actually want to become perfect in this life, we only need to engage in devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Bhagavan
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- Lord Caitanya appeared in order to dissipate this darkness of ignorance by igniting the spark of spiritual life that can, by His causeless mercy, enlighten the entire world
- Lord Siva is also in charge of the tamo-guna, or the mode of ignorance in this material world. His potency, the goddess Durga, is described as keeping all living entities in the darkness of ignorance
- Lord Siva is so kind that he gives shelter to such creatures (persons who are in the darkness of the mode of ignorance) and gradually elevates them to spiritual consciousness
M
- More important than the body and mind is the spirit, which has been set aside without any proper culture of knowledge. As a result, the darkness of nescience has overshadowed the world and has brought about great unrest, disturbance, and distress
- Mucukunda knew very well that wherever the Lord is personally present by His transcendental name, qualities, form and so on, there cannot be any darkness of ignorance. He is like a lamp placed in the darkness; He immediately illuminates a dark place
- My dear Lord, You are the supreme spiritual master of everyone; therefore all conditioned souls covered with the darkness of ignorance can be enlightened by You as the spiritual master
N
- Narayana, the SPG, who is full of all opulences, is predominant within the core of your heart because of your being a pure devotee. He always drives away all the darkness of ignorance, as the sun drives away the darkness of the universe
- No one can make a solution of the darkness of ignorance simply by the reflection of light. Similarly, no one can come out of material existence simply by the reflected light of the common man; one has to receive the light from the original light itself
O
- O Lord, You are the master of the entire universe. What have You not given to us? You have entered the core of our hearts and dissipated the darkness of our ignorance by Your effulgence. This is the supreme gift. We do not need a material donation
- One can vividly see His glowing complexion of molten gold, which dispels the darkness of ignorance
- One has to fix his mind first on the lotus feet of the Lord if he wants to be freed from the darkness of ignorance in material existence
- One should be very much pessimistic. Otherwise, he'll have to remain in the darkness of ignorance of this material nature. One should thoroughly understand that we are in a very precarious condition
- One who enlightens his disciple and saves him from rotting in the darkness of ignorance in this material world is a true guru
- One who takes shelter of the Lord, the perpetual light, has no fear of being annihilated in the darkness of fog or ignorance
- Only because of the darkness of ignorance do the yogis and jnanis deny the senses of the Lord and thus artificially try to control the activities of the diseased senses
- Only one who is actually eager to receive knowledge to eradicate the darkness of ignorance is eligible to approach a guru, or spiritual master
- Out of compassion for them, I, dwelling in their hearts, destroy with the shining lamp of knowledge the darkness born of ignorance. BG 10.11 - 19
P
S
- Siva appeared to be like that, but his name, Siva, is actually fitting, for he is very kind to persons who are in the darkness of the mode of ignorance, such as unclean drunkards who do not regularly bathe
- Sometimes philosophers criticize the devotees because they think that most of the devotees are in the darkness of ignorance and are philosophically naive sentimentalists. Actually that is not the fact. BG 1972 purports
- Sri Krsna is compared to the sun. The darkness of nescience disappears as soon as our relationship with Sri Krsna is established
- Sridhara Swami said in his verse, "Let them loiter in the darkness of ignorance and illusion, falsely enjoying as if very learned scholars, although they are without knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead"
T
- The appearance of the Kumaras is both (vaikrta, e.g., mahat-tattva, false ego, sense perceptions, knowledge, working capacity, controlling deities, ignorant darkness and prakrta creations e.g., immovable entities, lower species of life, human beings)
- The conditioned souls, although eternally existing as parts of the Supreme Lord, are sometimes put within the cloud of the material concept of life, in the darkness of ignorance. The whole Vedic process is to alleviate that darkened condition
- The darkness of ignorance is called kaitava, the way of cheating, which begins with religiosity, economic development, sense gratification and liberation
- The energy of Yogamaya and Mahamaya keeps the living entities sleeping in this material world in the great darkness of ignorance
- The fifth creation is that of the controlling deities by the interaction of the mode of goodness, of which the mind is the sum total. The sixth creation is the ignorant darkness of the living entity, by which the master acts as a fool
- The holy name of Krsna can drive away all the darkness of ignorance that arises in the heart due to greatly sinful activities performed in previous lives
- The internal energy is there along with the Absolute Person as the moonlight is there with the moon. The external energy is compared to darkness because it keeps the living entities in the darkness of ignorance
- The killer of the soul, whoever he may be, must enter into the planets known as the worlds of the faithless, full of darkness and ignorance
- The living entity must get strength from Nitai-Gaura, or Krsna-Balarama. Without the mercy of Nitai-Gaura, there is no way to come out of this dark well of ignorance
- The Lord always helps the pure devotees by imparting necessary knowledge within their hearts, and thus out of His special favor He dissipates all the darkness of ignorance
- The Lord is just like the effulgent sun. Consequently, whenever the Supreme Personality of Godhead is present, there cannot be darkness or ignorance
- The Lord says in the BG that demoniac persons who deny the existence of the Lord are thrown more & more into the darkness of ignorance, and thus such demoniac persons transmigrate life after life without any knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- The period of passion is called Treta-yuga, the period of mixed passion and ignorance is called Dvapara-yuga, and the period of darkness and ignorance (the last period) is called Kali-yuga, or the age of quarrel
- The pure devotee always has Krsna within his heart; therefore he is just like the sun that dissipates the darkness of ignorance. This is the special mercy rendered to the pure devotee by Krsna. BG 1972 purports
- The temporary comforts of the body are not the goal of life, and it is due only to darkest ignorance that people become enamored of the glimmering advancement of material comforts
- The vaisyas are the third social order. They imbibe mixed qualities, namely creative passion as well as the darkness of ignorance, and generally they are engaged as farmers and merchants
- The veda-vada-rata people progress into the darkest region of ignorance by misinterpreting the Vedic literature. They fall even further into ignorance than those who have no knowledge of the Vedas at all
- The Vedic information is, "Do not remain in the darkness. Come to the light." But that education is wanting. That is called mukti, to get out of the darkness of ignorance and darkness of this material world
- The Vedic wisdom forbids us to be attracted by false beauty. But because we are now in the darkness of ignorance, the Vedic civilization allows very restricted mixing of woman and man
- The wrong conception of accepting this material manifestation as being divorced from the energy of the Lord is illusion, but it is not false. And this illusory conception is called the reflection of the reality in the darkness of ignorance
- There is no possibility for the Supreme Lord to become embodied by material qualities or material senses, for He is above the influence of material nature and cannot possibly be put in the darkness of ignorance like the living entities
- There is no want of knowledge in the devotional service of Vasudeva, the Personality of Godhead. He, the Lord, personally takes charge of dissipating the darkness of ignorance from the heart of a devotee
- These (foolish) disciples are not interested in pursuing spiritual life to save themselves from the darkness of ignorance
- This (that without the protection of Gaura-Nitai one cannot get out of the dark well of ignorance in material existence) is indicated here (in SB 7.15.46) by the word nocet, which means that one will always remain in the dark well of material existence
- This is the greatest service to the human society, to get out them from the darkness of ignorance. That is the greatest gift
- This liberation (from the darkness of ignorance in material existence) is not achieved by mental speculation, but by seeing the light emanating from the lustrous toenails of the Lord
- This material world is a dark well of ignorance. The fallen soul in this dark well must take shelter of the lotus feet of Gaura-Nitai, for thus he can easily emerge from material existence
- Those in the darkness of ignorance, however, do not know this mission. Instead, being carried away by the waves of material nature (BG 3.27), they are undergoing the tribulations of mrtyu-samsara-vartmani (BG 9.3), repeated birth and death
- Those who are actually bewildered by the Mayavada philosophy and are still in the darkness of ignorance consider Lord Visnu to be a demigod, in defiance of the Rg-vedic mantra om tad visnoh paramam padam - Visnu is always in a superior position
- Those who are in the darkness of ignorance conclude that the Lord's birth and activities in the material world are similar to those of the ordinary living being. Such imperfect conclusions cannot give anyone liberation
- To save human civilization from the darkness of ignorance, this movement was started. The main purpose of the Krsna consciousness movement is to enlighten the forgetful living entity and remind him of his original Krsna consciousness
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- Vaikarika is the neutral stage of creation, and tejas is the initiative of creation, while tamas is the full display of material creation under the spell of the darkness of ignorance
- Vedic scriptures warn the conditioned souls not to become prey to delusion but to get rid of it. The Vedas warn us to go not to the darkness of ignorance but to the progressive path of light
W
- We are very proud of our two small eyes, and puffed up with vanity, we are always enthusiastic to see everything with our own eyes. But we do not know that whatever we are seeing at the present moment is covered with the darkness of nescience
- We have both come to relieve you from this false lamentation, which is due to your being merged in the darkness of ignorance. For those who are advanced in spiritual knowledge to be affected by material loss and gain is not at all desirable
- We offer our prayers to the spiritual master with the following sloka: (om ajnana-timirandhasya) "I offer respectful obeisances unto my spiritual master, who with the light of knowledge has opened my eyes, which were blinded by the darkness of ignorance"
- Whatever you have spoken to me appears perfectly right. Your speeches are gradually destroying the darkness of my ignorance, for you are narrating the topics of the Lord
- When Angira Rsi and Narada saw that Maharaja Citraketu, an advanced devotee, had fallen in the darkness of ignorance and was lamenting for the material body of his son, by their causeless mercy they came to advise him so that he could be saved
- When one actually becomes purely Krsna conscious, no one has any right to rule over him. When situated in Krsna consciousness, one is no longer in the darkness of ignorance, and when freed from all such darkness, one is situated in his original position
- When one is under the shelter of this internal potency, the darkness of material ignorance is at once dissipated. And even those who are atmarama, or fixed in trance, take shelter of this maya, or internal energy
- When situated in Krsna consciousness, one is no longer in the darkness of ignorance, and when freed from all such darkness, one is situated in his original position
- When the purusa who worships, the living entity, thinks of becoming one with the Supreme person, he simply becomes bewildered and falls into the darkness of ignorance
- When you are transcendental, above this darkness of material world, then you can accept the . . . If you are actually interested in the uttama, something beyond this darkness of ignorance, then you accept one guru
- Within the material world, every conditioned soul is in the darkness of ignorance. This means that all conditioned souls are under the concept of bodily existence
- Without spiritual education, people are kept in dark ignorance and do not know what will happen to them after the annihilation of the present body
- Without the protection of Gaura-Nitai - Krsna and Balarama - one cannot get out of the dark well of ignorance in material existence
Y
- You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the origin and Supreme Lord of all living entities. You have arisen to disseminate the rays of the sun in order to dissipate the darkness of the ignorance of the universe
- You can give me real knowledge because you are great personalities. I am as foolish as a village animal like a pig or dog because I am merged in the darkness of ignorance. Therefore, please ignite the torch of knowledge to save me
- You have done him a very merciful favor by taking away all his opulence, because his exalted position as King of heaven was putting him in the darkness of ignorance