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Śrī Īśopaniṣad
Vedic explanations for laymen. The  veda-vāda-ratas  make their own explanations of the  Vedas , neglecting the authority of the great teachers, called  ācāryas ; and they tend to raise some unscrupulous person from among themselves as the leading exponent of Vedic knowledge.
These men are especially condemned by this  mantra  of Śrī Īśopaniṣad with the very appropriate Sanskrit word  vidyā-rata .  Vidyā  means  Veda , because the  Veda  is the original in all knowledge; and  rata  means engaged.  Vidyā-rata  means engaged in the study of the  Vedas . As such, the so-called  vidyā-ratas  are condemned here because they do not know what the purpose of the  Vedas  is, on account of disobeying the  ācāryas . Such  veda-vāda-ratas  are accustomed to finding meaning in every word of the  Vedas  to suit their own purposes. They do not know that the Vedic literature is not a collection of ordinary books and cannot be understood except through the chain of disciplinary succession.
One must approach a bona fide spiritual master in order to understand the transcendental message of the  Vedas . That is the direction of the  Kaṭha Upaniṣad . But these  veda-vāda-rata  people have their own  ācārya , who is not in the chain of transcendental disciplinary succession. Thus they will progress into the darkest region of ignorance by misinterpreting the Vedic literature, even more so than those who have no knowledge of the  Vedas  at all.
The  māyayā apahṛta-jñāna  class of men are self-made “Gods.” Such men think that they are themselves God, and there is no necessity of worshiping any other God. They will agree to worship an ordinary man if he happens to be rich, but will never worship the actual Personality of Godhead. Such foolish men cannot recognize their own foolishness, regarding the question of how God can ever have been entrapped by illusion. If God were ever entrapped by illusion, then illusion would be more powerful than God. But they also say that God is all-powerful. If God is all-powerful, then how can He be over-