Upnishad
INTRODUCTION TO UPANISHADS
ISAVASYOPANISHAD
KATHOPANISHAD
KENOPANISHAD
MUNDAKOPANISHAD
SVETASVATAROPANISHAD
TAITTIRIYOPANISHAD
CHHANDOGYOPANISHAD
INTRODUCTION TO UPANISHADS
In the Upanishads, we have a scripture which, among all the holy scriptures of the world, displays the most scientific spirit in connection with spiritual enquiry. The sages, whose thoughts and teachings we read in the Upanishads, seem to be as much inspired by constructive doubt as the most modern men of science. Their questions and answers indicate that they lived in an age when, alongside of conformism and the rigid maintenance of old practices, men thirsted for Truth and the atmosphere was charged with the boldest free thought: Satyamevajayate nanrtam satyenapantha vitato devayanah.
The conformism that prevails in our own midst today, in spite of so much science and free thought, does not confuse us. We are familiar with it and we find no difficulty in appraising and evaluating in their true measure both the conflicting elements, orthodox practice as well as the prevailing scepticism. But the conformism of some thousands of years ago is a very different thing. We understand it much less, if at all, and it, therefore, blurs the picture. We may fail for this reason rightly to appreciate the spirit of enquiry which dominated the mind and lives of the sages whose teachings are recorded in the Upanishads, and which is reflected in every line of this great scripture of India.
If we learn to make due allowance for the time-interval, and have enlightenment and elasticity of mind enough to be able to use and profit by a holy book with invaluable hoary associations, without having to get the text actually expurgated and revised in order to exclude the irrelevancies and the mere background of a bygone age, we cannot have a better book of religion for modern times than the Upanishads. The spacious imagination, the majestic sweep of thought and the almost reckless spirit of exploration with which, urged by the compelling thirst for Truth, the Upanishad teachers and pupils dig into the Open Secret of the Universe, make this most ancient among the world's holy books still the most modern and most satisfying.
It is probable that the Upanishads were originally composed somewhat as notes of lectures, intended to assist the pupil's memory in subsequent reflection. They were not composed as text-books of philosophy to serve by themselves, as books are now written. Notes in our days would be short indicative phrases written to dictation or taken down by the students themselves. But, in the old days, they took the shape of verses to be memorized, as writing played a lesser part in learning than it does now. Placed before us today in the shape of printed matter, with title-page, contents and index all complete, the Upanishads perplex us in many places with their seeming simplicity of language, covering thoughts that are far from clear. Isolated from teacher and without personal expansion and explanation, these compositions confuse us with antithesis and epigram and the use of the same word in varying senses, a style which we should have particularly avoided when discussing difficult problems. All this is, however, understandable if we remember that they were not books to displace teacher but were notes to standardize teaching and to help memory.
Apart from the difficulty arising out of the form, and the difference of purpose of the composition from that of modern books, the distance that divides us from the day when these thoughts were propounded makes the greatest difficulty. The reflections were necessarily hung on to the life, beliefs and manners of those ancient times. To understand the meaning and the point of what was said by men of a long past age, we have to get back to the circumstances of that age, a task of great difficulty even for the most imaginative among us.
Beliefs and practices that are to us obviously childish formed the large and main background of life in those days, and the reflections of the best and wisest men of those days, which necessarily referred to and were set on the background of their own daily life, have to be interpreted by us, eliminating that background. What was very real and serious to them is to us childish, untenable and of no consequence, so that even the reflections thereon become un-understandable. The process of seeing a picture apart from the background is not easy. We are apt to lose ourselves in the reactions produced in our modern minds by the beliefs and practices referred to, and fail to grasp the essential amidst the distractions of the incidental.
In studying the Upanishads, we come against repeated references to ceremonials, sacrifices and the worship of gods and discussions as to their efficacy, which confuse the deeper and predominant enquiry. The position becomes to the Hindu readers worse still on account of the formal persistence in Hinduism even now of the shell of those beliefs and practices. To interpret and evaluate the substance of the Upanishads, we need a powerful imagination and an intellectual elasticity that can jump over the tremendous space that divides the beliefs, aspirations and psychologies of modern life from those of a long-past age. A study of the full text of the longer Upanishads would be the best means of comprehending the mind of the fathers of Hinduism. But at the same time, the difficulties pointed out above reach the greatest dimensions in these longer Upanishads. In making the selections for the following chapters, an attempt has been made to reduce these difficulties to the minimum without prejudice to the main purpose of presenting an adequate idea of the Upanishad-content.
ISAVASYOPANISHAD
The Bhagavad Gita presents a synthesis of the highest spiritual effort of the individual with the most practical social co-operation. We should carry on the activities of life, but we should do so remembering that all that we do belongs to God. Work done in this spirit will not cling to us in rebirth. This teaching that is expanded in the Bhagavad Gita is found tersely enunciated in the Isavasyopanishad in the first two verses.
1 & 2
Everything in the universe abides in the Supreme Being. Realize this well, and, realizing it, cast off the desires that rise in the heart, for example, the thought of possessing what is enjoyed by another. Joy comes only by the giving up of desires and attachments. You may live the longest life, doing work in a detached spirit and dedicating everything to God. Thus only can we escape the contamination of work and sterilize life.
The Vedantic teaching about higher knowledge should not confuse us into neglect of duties and indifference about discipline of mind and control of senses. To go through the activities of daily life in a spirit of detachment serves as a preparation for the reception of higher knowledge and for self-realization which secures Moksha. Indeed, philosophical learning without discipline of conduct is more to be dreaded than even ritualism without the knowledge of Vedanta. Higher enlightenment is impossible, and even if it were possible, worthless, unless there has been preparation and purification by means of restraint of the senses. Fill the span of life given to you, says the Upanishad, with work and worship as is done by people without the higher knowledge, but carry on the work in the spirit of detachment and understand the forms in the sense that you have learnt from the higher knowledge. Thereby you shall pass through Death to Immortality.
9 & 11
* [Vidya and Avidya are phrases presenting considerable difficulty and the context does not help to clarify doubts. But I venture to think that the purport of the two slokas is what I have given above.]
The Santi Sloka of this Upanishad tersely sets out the relation of the Individual Soul to the Supreme Spirit. The Self that functions within us is of divine origin. It is of the same substance as the Supreme Spirit. The part that makes up the individual comes out of the whole, and the stuff of which it is made is of such a transcendental nature that the whole remains whole, in spite of something being taken out of the whole. Again, though what is taken out is but a part, it is as whole as the original. The axioms of mathematics relating to the whole and the part do not apply to the Absolute and its manifestations.
That is whole and this is whole. The perfect has come out of the perfect. Yet the perfect remains, as before, perfect.
As the Soul is the life of the body which without it would be a carcase, so is the Supreme Spirit the essence of the individual Soul's being. And yet, even as the Soul is 'lost' in the body, the Supreme Spirit, functioning as the Soul of the Individual Soul, loses cognizance of its own real Divine nature. It is the Supreme Spirit that moves, though in reality there is no motion, it being the one Reality. There can be no motion when there is nought else. It is far away, because we fail to realize it. It is near, because it is immanent in everything and is in the recess of one's own heart.
It moves. It does not move. It is far away, yet most near. It is the internal Spirit of everything that we know.
If we realize this all-pervading immanence of the Supreme Spirit, the distinction between oneself and others melts away and with it disappear, as a matter of course, grief and illusion. The 29th and following verses in the sixth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita are almost in the same words as the following slokas from isavasyopanishad:
6
If one sees all living things as if they were in his own body, i.e., feels their joys and sorrows as his own, and sees the same Universal spirit in all things then there is no need for protecting oneself against others.
7
When a man understands that all being are, indeed, the all-pervading Spirit, then he realizes the oneness of all things and illusion and grief vanish.
The Isavasyopanishad emphasises the need for balance. In verses which are unfortunately obscure (9, 11, 12, and 14), the importance of both knowledge and discipline, and of attention to matter as well as to spirit is dealt with.
The Upanishad winds up with a prayer for strength to maintain internal and external purity. Addressing the morning sun, the aspirant is taught to feel and say, "O Sun, of refulgent glory, I am the same Person as He that is in you."And he is asked to say to himself: "My body will disintegrate but not I and my deeds. O Mind, remember this always, remember this always."
16
Oh Sun, who art our Nourisher, Giver of Knowledge, Dispenser of Justice, Giver of. Light, Son of the Creator, disperse thy rays, draw in thy light, so that I may be enabled to behold thy most beautiful form. I am that same Person as makes thee who thou art.
As for my body:
17
My body will be reduced to ashes and my breath will join the deathless moving winds. Oh Mind, remember thy acts.
The formula -- I am the person that is seen in that refulgent form -- occurs slightly modified in Chhandogya Upanishad also. The insistence is on the realization of the all-inclusive Oneness Of the Soul, the Universe. The Spirit in the Sun is the same as myself ! A daily repetition and contemplation of this truth is prescribed as an aid in life to detachment, elevation of Spirit and Self-realization.
KATHOPANISHAD
Every Hindu knows the great Kurukshetra scene, which forms the prologue of the Bhagavad Gita - the warrior, stricken by remorse and doubt, throwing himself at the mercy of his divine charioteer for guidance. The Katha Upanishad has an equally sublime introductory scene, forming a noble background for the great teaching imparted in the Upanishad itself.
Vajasravasa performed an elaborate sacrifice, which terminated with a parting of all his possessions as gifts to the guests assembled. Vajasravasa's son, Nachiketas, watched the proceedings and, as he saw the gifts being given, he was filled with the thought of the vanity of it all.
"of what use is it," he said to himseff "giving these toothless old cattle and cows past the age of bearing? Should not my father, if he is minded to give what is dear to him, give me away?" So he went to his father and said: "Father! To whom are you going to give me?" His father did not pay heed to the question, but went on with the routine of the great sacrifice. Nachiketas repeated the question again and again till Vajasravasa, losing patience, exclaimed without meaning anything like what he said: "You? I shall give you to Yama."
Nothing could be uttered on such a solemn occasion but must be carried out. The father was aghast at his own exclamation. Nachiketas, however, decided to go to Yama. "Many have gone before me and many yet must go after me. I go not alone to Death, and what can Yama do to me? Consider what has happened before this, and consider what is going to happen in the future. Countless are the mortals that have died before this and will die hereafter. The life of mortals, indeed, is like that of the corn which grows and ripens and is reaped, and like the grains that fall which spring again into life."
Chapter 1 - 5&6.
So Nachiketas went to Yama. Yama was not prepared for the voluntary visitor. He was not wiling to receive anyone before time. Nachiketas had to wait for three days before Yama received him. A Brahamana could not thus be disregarded even by Yama. So, to make up for the offence, Death offered to Nachiketas whatever boon he might demand. He offered many gifts - length of days, and all the possessions of the earth that one could desire, and Swarga thereafter. But the youth chose for a boon-instruction at Yama's hands about the nature of the soul.
"There is no boon that I desire other than this knowledge," said Nachiketas, "and there can be no better instructor than you for imparting this knowledge. What use is length of days and what joy can possessions, or song or dance, or horses and chariots give, so long as you are there as an ever-present termination to it all?"
Yama pleaded with Nachiketas:
Chapter 1 - 21.
Even the gods have had doubts in the matter. The nature of it is so subtle that it is not possible to comprehend it satisfactorily. Choose some other boon, Nachiketas. Do not insist; release me from this.
But Nachiketas answered:
Chapter 1 - 22.
If even the gods had doubts in this matter and you say that it is not easily to be comprehended, who then could expound it as you can, O Death, and what other boon can equal this? None, indeed.
Yama pleaded again:
Chapter 1 - 23.
Ask for sons and grandsons who may live for a hundred years. Ask for numerous cows, elephants, and gold and horses. Ask for large tracts of land, and live as many autumns as you desire.
Chapter 1 - 24.
Or choose any boon that you can conceive equal to this, with wealth and long life. Be lord of wide dominions, O Nachiketas, I will make you the enjoyer of every desire.
Chapter 1 - 25.
Ask freely for every rare enjoyment in the world of mortals. Here are nymphs in chariots playing on lutes, such as men have never seen. These will serve you at my command. But, do not ask me about Death.
Nachiketas was unmoved. He said:
Chapter 1 - 26.
These ephemeral pleasures, O Death, consume the powers of the mortal's senses. Even if they lasted all life, they are of little worth. You say you give me these gifts, but being all limited by the death of the enjoyer, they remain but yours though you appear to give them away, these chariots, and song and dance.( Sri Sankaracharya's interpretation of etc. is simply Keep these ephemeral things for yourself; I do not care for them.)
Chapter 1 - 27.
How can man be satisfied with wealth? Can we hold wealth when we see you? All wealth disappears on death. We live but as long as you command it to be. That boon alone, therefore, is worthy of being desired that I craved of you.
Yama thus failed to persuade Nachiketas to give up his inquiry into the mystery of life even for all the pleasures of this world and of the world of the gods. "You have displayed courage and resolve," said Yama. "There can be no better seeker than such a one, even as you stated that there can be no better instructor than myself. Listen, then, I shall explain."
Then follows the teaching.
The first thing that man should learn in the pursuit of Truth is that the good is something different from the pleasant. So Yama begins thus:
Chapter 2 - 1&2.
( * is explained by Sri Sankaracharya to mean "for thc sake of the maintenance of the body." It may, perhaps, with a 1ittle grammatical licence, be understood to mean "hoping that the source of pleasure may be acquired and preserved.")
The Good is one thing, the Pleasant is another. These two lead man to very different ends. He who chooses the Good attains happiness. He who prefers the Pleasant ever loses his object. The wise are not deceived by the attractions of the Pleasant. They choose the Good. Fools are snared into the mere pleasant and perish.
Chapter 2 - 5.
Steeped in ignorance, men engage themselves in activities and pursuits and considering themselves men of understanding and learned, stagger along aimlessly like blind men led by the blind, going round and round in the cycle of births.
The main obstacle in the path of the man striving for the higher life is the identification of oneself with the body. Therefore, all teaching in Hindu Vedanta stresses on man finding his soul within. If one realizes the divinity of the eternal spirit within, the battle is won.
Chapter 2 - 12.
Concentrating the mind on the Spirit within, man should realize the divine character of his own soul and its inherent freedom. The Spirit lodged within oneself is unperceived because of the perplexities of joy and grief and attachment to worldly objects. When one realizes the divine Spirit within himself, all the confusion of joy and grief disappears.
Chapter 2 - 23 & 24.
This realization can come only if from inside one's own heart spring purity of resolve and earnestness of spirit. It does not come by study or learned discussions. It comes to one whose Self yearns for realization, and whose mind has turned away from evil and has learnt to subdue itself and to be at peace with the world.
In other words, it comes out of the longing for self-realization that leads to detachment, rather than from much learning; that is to say, it comes out of the grace of the Supreme Spirit that dwells within us.
The Self is other than the changing body. It is other than the fears and the passions that agitate the mind. The Soul is divine in origin. It is not altered in nature by the qualities of the mind in which it is embodied. It can be released from the meshes of these qualities by a realization of its own intrinsic divine nature.
The reader may note that the following verses are almost identical with the Gita verses on the subject, though there is no question here of inducing Nachiketas to take up arms without any compunctions of conscience.
Chapter 2 - 18.
You are not born, nor do you die. You did not come from anything else, nor were made out of something other than yourself. You are unborn, eternal, everlasting and always existed. You are not slain, though the body is slain.
Chapter 2 - 19.
If you think you slay some one, or that you will be slain by some one, you are wrong in both cases. The Soul neither slays nor is slain.
Chapter 2 - 20.
Subtler than the atom, greater than the greatest, the Atman resides in the hearts of living beings. He who makes himself desireless and has cast off grief beholds the greatness of the Spirit within him.
Chapter 2 - 21.
The man of understanding realizes this bodiless Spirit dwelling in the bodies, this imperishable substance lodged in the perishable and realizing it cast off grief.
Chapter 3 - 3,4,5&9.
The journey of life can be safely completed, and the Supreme world of Vishnu reached only if one keeps a watchful control over the senses. The body is like a chariot to which the senses are yoked like horses. The mind is like the reins, which enable the charioteer, viz., the understanding, to hold the horses, i.e., the senses, in check. The Soul rides on the chariot, and the road is the world of objects over which the senses move. If the reins are not held firmly and wisely, the senses, like vicious horses, will get out of control, and the chariot will not reach the goal, but will go round and round in births and rebirths. If the man is wise, and controls his mind, his senses will be like good horses driven by a good driver.
Chapter 4 - 1&2.
The self-existent Spirit worked its way out from within and thus the openings of the mind are directed outwards, viz., the sense organs. Therefore do men's thoughts ever tend outwards. But the few, who have true understanding turn their mind inwards and realize the Self within. Those without understanding, who do not control themselves and pursue external pleasures fall into the widespread net of Birth and Death. Those of steady mind, realizing what is truly lasting, do not turn their thoughts to transient pleasures.
Chapters 4-8, 5-9.
The sacred fire is well concealed in the wood like a child in the womb of the mother. The Soul is contained in the body as the fire is contained and concealed in the wood. Fire manifest takes shape in accordance with the thing burning. It is now the flame of a lamp, now a furnace and now a forest-fire, according as to where it is manifested. The fire by itself is one and the same. So also, the Soul though manifold in embodiment, is the same as that in which it abides for the time being.
Chapter 4 - 10&11.
What is here is there, and what is there is here; i.e., things and beings seem various but are, indeed one Being. We are liberated when we perceive this oneness. We go from death to death if we perceive difference. It is the mind that by enlightenment can overcome the notion of difference and have a vision of the transcendent Oneness of all.
Chapter 4 - 14&15.
The rain falling on the hill divides itself and flows down the hill-sides in many torrents. The ignorant man sees manifoldness in beings and is confused and he runs after the manifoldness. If water is poured into water, it becomes one and the same with it. Thus it is with the Self of the man of understanding who sees unity in manifoldness.
It is the light of the Spirit within that really enables us to see, not the light that falls from outside. Does this Spirit within shine by its own light or does it shine by Another Light? Is it a Self-luminous Soul or is it a reflection of the One lustrous Being? It is on this note of sublime doubt that the fifth valli of the Upanishad closes. The following two verses go together:
Chapter 5 - 14.
They say that the Indefinable Spirit of Supreme Bliss is this that is within me. How can I make out whether this Spirit within me shines by itself or shines by the reflected light from the Universal spirit?
Chapter 5 - 15.
The sun does not furnish the light there, nor the moon, nor the stars, nor these flashes of lightning born of the clouds; certainly not the light of these sacrificial fires. The Spirit shines and all things else shine as a result. Everything in the universe reflects but that light. (I crave the forgiveness of the learned for giving an interpretation different from the orthodox commentarians in regard to these two verses. My interpretation is based on the juxtaposition of and )
Merely to know is not enough to escape from the tangle of illusion. Faith and discipline of life are necessary. The illusion arises not so much from ignorance as from attachments. Enlightenment comes with detachment, not with learning. This is the main teaching to which all the schools of Hindu philosophy ultimately revert and on which they lay the greatest emphasis. The discipline and meditation that serve to help the Soul to detach itself from the things or the world is what is called Yoga.
Chapter 6 - 15.
When the knots of the heart are untied, and man is freed from wordly attachments, he becomes immortal. This is the whole of the teaching.
The Antaratman is lodged in the secret recess of our hearts. It is sheathed as the reed-plant is sheathed in its blades. We should abstract it with understanding, tearing ourselves from attachments and desires and separating the pure from the gross. The Spirit within is pure and is immortal. Thus ends Yama's exhortation in this Upanishad:
Chapter 6 - 17.
Of the size of a thumb, the Spirit within is lodged in the hearts of men and is there always. With understanding, separate Him from the sheaths of the body in which He is lodged even as you take off the blades of a reed-plant. Know that He is immaculate and deathless.
KENOPANISHAD
WHAT is the Supreme Spirit? By what relation to our experience shall we understand it? This is the subject of enquiry in this Upanishad. As the Isavasyopanishad is known by its first word, so also is this Upanishad named after its first word Kena, "By whom?"
Neither by the senses nor by human reasoning can we hope to comprehend the nature of Brahman. This is so because the subject, the object and the means are all identical. It is Brahman by which the understanding itself functions.
chapter 1 - 5,6,7,8
The Supreme Spirit is that by which the mind thinks; it is not one of the concepts that can be conceived by the mind, but it is that by which, indeed, one is able to think through his mind. It is that which enables the eye to see, the ear to hear, the breath to move. These functions themselves depend on Brahman, and, therefore, are these senses and the mind unable to, comprehend the Brahman. Do not take this body that one has to feed and look after for the Soul.
Life is not the aggregate of the functions of the body but a function of the Highest Spirit, in as much as not a thought or a breath or a glance is possible without the Supreme Agent.
Chapter 2 - 1,3
(Note: I have interpreted as above on the lines of Sri Ramanujacharya's Commentary on the first six chapters of the Gita.)
He who thinks that he knows really thereby proves himself ignorant. He who realizes that he cannot know Him has best understood him. Those who seek to know Him, as they can grasp things of ordinary knowledge, can never achieve their object. Those who realize the limitation of the human mind in respect of the knowledge of the Supreme Spirit and, therefore, frankly confess ignorance, really approach a true understanding of it.
The limitation of human knowledge, when trying to comprehend the Supreme Being, is brought out in the above epigram.
Not by reasoning but only by an awakening can we get a vision of the Supreme Spirit. Life, in relation to the Ultimate Reality, is like a state of sleep. Reason, in respect of Ultimate Reality, is like the impossible conception of a sleeping man trying to know what he is about, without waking up. As sleep is to waking, so is ordinary life to the state of realization.
Self-discipline gives strength of spirit: To one so strengthened, knowledge gives immortality:.
The Self is itself immortal, and one has but to know it to become immortal. A man dreams that he is suffering from a mortal illness and is dying. He suffers pain and even death. But the moment he wakes up, he is cured and regains life. So does Jnana give immortality to man.
The third chapter of this Upanishad is an allegory to illustrate that everything rests on the Supreme Spirit. It is That which gives heat to Fire, and energy to Motion, and the power of knowing to individual knowledge, however great. All beings are like electric lamps that glow by the power that is received by them from the Supreme Being, themselves not knowing it.
The gods were once elated at a great victory, and the Brahman appeared before them. They could not recognize or understand the vision. Agni, Vayu and Indra were sent to approach and understand Him. They went, one by one, and tried to impress on the strange vision their respective powers. But when they were challenged to prove their vaunted strength, Agni could not burn, and Vayu could not move by a hair's breadth a dry bit of grass which was placed before them and which they attacked with all their strength one after the other. Indra went near to see, when the other two failed, but with his thousand eyes he failed to see anything whatsoever. The apparition disappeared altogether from his sight.
Chapter 3 - 3.
The said to Agni: "Oh, Jataveda, go and ascertain who this is, this adorable Being." He said: "Yes."
Chapter 3 - 4.
He ran up to the Being, who asked him: "Who are you?" Agni answered: "I am Agni, I am also called Jataveda."
Chapter 3 - 5.
"And what is your strength?", the Being asked. "I can burn up all that is here on earth," answered Agni.
Chapter 3 - 6.
He placed before Agni a bit of dry grass, saying, "Burn this" Going at it with all his energy Agni found that he could not burn it. He returned to the gods and said he could not make out who this strange Being was.
Chapter 3 - 7.
Then they said to Vayu: "Oh, do go ascertain who this is." And Vayu said: "So be it"
Chapter 3 - 8.
He ran Up to the Being who asked him: "Who are you?" "I am Vayu, Otherwise called Matarisva," answered Vayu.
Chapter 3 - 9.
Then said the Being: "What is your strength?" "Oh, I can sweep away whatever exists on this earth," answered Vayu.
Chapter 3 - 10.
Then the Being placed a withered blade of grass before Vayu, and said: "Move this." Vayu set on it with all his might, but could not move it; and he returned to the gods and said: "1 could not make out who this is."
Chapter 3 - 11.
Thereupon, they beseeched indra to find out who it was. He agreed to do so,but when he ran up, he found that the Being had gone out of his view altogether.
MUNDAKOPANISHAD
May our ears hear what is good, may our eyes see what is good. May we, what time we live, be blessed with healthy limbs and body, that we may glorify the lord. May all the gods bless us. May our minds be at peace.
This Upanishad Consists of Angiras's instruction to his disciple, Shaunaka.
Chapter 1(1) -4,5.
There are two sciences worthy of being learnt, of which the learned treat one as higher, and the other as lower. The Vedas, the Rig Veda, the Yajur Veda, the Sama Veda, the Atharva Veda, intonation, ritual, grammar, etymology, metre, astronomy and all else that is commonly known as learning constitute the lower knowledge, the higher is that by which the Ever-existing is realised. [It should be remembered that the Veda was the encyclopaedia of all the knowledge of those days, and not a hymn-book only.]
Chapter 1(2) -7,8.
Ceremonials and sacrifices lead men round and round, and not to the ultimate goal to which an understanding of the Self alone can lead.
The popular belief as regards the efficacy of sacrifies is, though not rudely negatived, politely put aside in the Upanishads as not leading to what is true and imperishable happiness.
The passage that occurs in Katha Upanishad about fools fancying themselves learned appears here with just one verbal change. Light is here thrown on what is meant by the important term avidya which occurs in the Katha and lsavasya Upanishads and also in the Gita (ch. 2 - 42, 43).
Chapter 1(2) -12.
Realizing this, the seeker should abandon his desire and attachments for things transient, and respectfully approach a teacher who is qualified by learning and conduct to impart the higher knowledge.
Chapter 2(1) -1.
This deals with the relationship between the individual Soul and the Absolute Being.
The Soul is like the spark that is thrown out and re-absorbed by the blazing fire.
It is left to be inferred that it is of the same nature as the fire, and does not exist apart from it.
Chapter 2(1) -4,5.
The whole universe is a manifestation and product of that universal, formless, causeless Being. The sun, moon and all the quarters, all knowledge, and the souls of all existing beings are parts and manifestations of that single all-immanent Being. All life and all qualities, functions and activities are forms of that single Energy. He is the Fire which has lighted the Sun and makes it burn, like a log burning in the fire. Thereby does the sun give us warmth and light. The rain does not rain, but it is He that rains through the clouds. Beings come together and multiply, but it is He alone that multiplies through them.
Chapter 2(1) -9,10.
From Him have issued all the mountains and the seas, the rivers, the trees and plants and their life-bearing essences. He who thus knows the Supreme Spirit that dwells within the heart, dear boy, cuts off all the knots of ignorance which bind man.
Chapter 2(2) -1.
He has taken shape and dwells near, yea, in the cave of the human heart. Everything that moves, breathes or twinkles, moves and lives in Him. All that exists, as well as all ideas, even those which the mind indicates to itself as inconceivable, issue out of His presence.
Chapter 2(2) -3,4.
To perceive this Absolute Foundation of all existence, the mind must be as concentrated on it as an archer concentrates on his target. The Upanishad, i.e., knowledge received from the teacher, is the bow. The understanding Self should, like an arrow sharpened by devotion, be placed in it. Directing it at the target, viz., the Brahman, pull the bow-string well with concentrated mind and you will hit the target. As a skilful archer, when aiming, makes his arrow merge in the target in his sight, and the two become but one and the same thing, so should your Self, the arrow, be merged by concentration in the target, viz., Brahman.
When the pupil pulls the bow-string with steady aim, if the teacher asks him, "What do you see the pupil should be able to reply truly that he sees nothing but the point he aims at. He must see neither bow, nor arrow, nor anything else but Brahman.
Chapter 2(2) - 5.
He is the whole Universe. Heaven, Earth and Sky, your mind and your life-breath are all woven into Him. All other knowledge is a mere snare of words to be escaped from. He is the one and only Existence. This knowledge is the bridge leading to Immortality.
Chapter 2(2) - 7.
He is within our own hearts. He has lodged Himself in the food-sustained body of men and rules both body and life, even He that sustains the whole universe and all its glory. The unruffled spirits contemplate on Him and realize his Deathless form of absolute joy.
Chapter 2(2) - 8.
When His presence in our own bodies and His immanence in every aspect of existence is realized all doubts, all attachments and all activities vanish.
Chapter 2(2) - 10,11.
On realizing Him, what is individual life? What even are the sun and the moon, the stars and the lightning of the clouds? What need be said, then, of this fire? All these are but reflections of that One Undying Light. He fills all the quarters and all overhead and down below. He alone exists.
Chapter 3(1) -1,3.
Man's suffering lasts only until he sees the Supreme Being that dwells within himself. The Indwelling Supreme Spirit and the Individual Soul are like two birds. They cling to one another and are on the same tree. One eats the fruits of the tree, the other looks on, happy. One is attached to works, the other is free. When a man sees the Universal Ruler in himself, then the distinction between Good and Evil drops out. He is freed from passions and reaches the goal, i.e., becomes one with the Universal.
How can one be enabled to have a vision of the Supreme Being within oneself? Mere learning does not reveal Him. One has to realize that the Lord is the life that lives and the light that shines in everything. When he realizes this, he loses his dependence on externals and finds bliss in himself.
Chapter 3(1) - 4.
The man who realizes "It is the Supreme Life that shines in and through all life" does not waste words. His pleasures and his love are then all in the soul. He becomes the most enlightened among the philosophers.
Chapter 3(1) - 5.
Truth, penance, understanding and purity are essential requisites for this revelation of the Brahman within. When the heart is cleansed, Brahman is revealed, and He is seen shining like a burning light within oneself.
Chapter 3(1) - 6.
Truth wins ever, and not untruth. With Truth is paved the road to the Divine. On that road walk the Rishis with desires all quenched to reach the Supreme Abode of Truth.
Truth is the only pathway to God, and the seers pursue this to reach Him. This emphatic dependence on Truth is the dominating characteristic of the Upanishads.
The Lord is not to be apprehended by the senses, but only by the mind into which all the senses have been drawn in. All thought is interwoven with the senses, and it is only when the mind is released from all this and is in a state of perfect freedom and tranquillity, that the Lord reveals Himself.
Chapter 3(1) - 8,9.
Not by the eyes nor by speech or through other senses can He be apprehended: not even by austerities or ceremonials. He whose mind is pure and serene can by meditation attain a vision of the Indivisible. The Subtle Spirit dwelling within, into which the fivefold life has entered, can be realized by the understanding. If the understanding that is pierced and pervaded by the senses is purified, then the spirit reveals itself unto it.
Chapter 3(2) - 3.
This appears in the Kathopanishad also.
Much learning or scholarly discussion, or force of intellect cannot enable one to realize the Spirit within.
The Spirit that yearns for seff-realization realizes itself.
The yearning for realization automatically destroys other desires and attachments, and enables one to reach self-realization.
The feeble-mided, who do not make earnest effort through well-directed meditation and control of mind and senses, cannot hope to realize the Self within. The will to realize and strenuous effort are necessary. Balam in the following sloka stands for effort and strength exercised in the way of self-control and steady application. Chapter 3(2) - 4.
Realization of the Soul cannot be attained by a man who has not strength and a vigilant spirit. It cannot be attained by austerities without devotion. But if with undertanding a man strives with these aids, his soul enters the Abode of Brahman.
Chapter 2(2) - 6,8
Knowledge and discipline are mutually complementary. Vedanta explains the true nature of what we seek. Yoga, i.e., detachment and self-discipline, purifies the mind and enables it to perceive the Truth. Those whose understanding has been thus enlightened as well as purified become one with the Universal Spirit. They join the Supreme Being and lose themselves in Him even as all the rivers join and lose themselves in the great ocean.
Here ends our little book. Lets bow to the Rishis.
SVETASVATAROPANISHAD
THE dotrine of the Vedanta is summarized in the following mantras:
Chapter 1 - 8.
The Lord upholds the Universe, which is a union of the manifest and the unmanifest, the imperishable and the perishable. Functioning as Enjoyer through the senses, the Soul in man loses the consciousness of lordship and is enchained. When he realizes lordship, he is freed from every tie. Let man realize the Divinity of his soul. Thereby does he obtain Release.
Chapter 1 - 10.
Iswara rules over the Soul as well as material nature which forms the field for the Soul's functioning. Man reaches liberation from all the illusions of the world by contemplation and repeated meditation until realization is attained of the true nature of these three, God, Matter and Soul.
The fire is not seen when it is concealed in the wood. But it appears to view when the wood burns. So does meditation bring out the Supreme Spirit from within us. Like oil hidden in the sesame seed, like ghee concealed in milk, like water hidden from view in the river-bed, like fire that is contained in the Arani (fire-churner), abides the Supreme Spirit within us, though not manifest. When the two pieces of wood in the Arani are rubbed, the fire manifests itself. The butter is separated by churning the milk. The water is seen if we sink a pit in the sand of the river-bed. The Divine Self, that is hidden within one's self, can similarly be made manifest through the practice of truth, meditation and control of mind and senses, which is penance. Make the body the lower piece of the Arani and make the Understanding the upper piece, and by the practice of meditation, churn the fire out, so to say.
Chapter 1 - 13.
Just as fire when it abides in its womb, the woods, is not seen in its manifest form but yet exists and appears to view when the wood burns, even so do both aspects of abiding unmanifest and being drawn out apply to the Spirit in the body. The Pranava can enable the Spirit to be perceived.
Chapter 1 - 14.
Make your body the nether piece and Pranava the upper piece of the Arani and churn with the practice of meditation. Thus will you be enabled to perceive the concealed Divinity within.
Chapter 1 - 15.
As oil in the oil-seed, ghee in the curdled milk and water in the river-bed, so can That be obtained out of the self, through truth and restraint of thought and the senses.
The following verses are addressed as a prayer for enlightenment to the Universal Spirit which is One but takes various shapes with various powers and functions, that will in the end re-unite and be lost in Him-the Sun, the Moon, the Air, the starry firmament, fire, water, Brahma, the Lord, man and woman, in youth or in tottering old age, beast, bird, insect, the dark-blue bee, the green parrot with red eyes, the clouds that shoot forth lightning, the ocean, the seasons - all will be re-absorbed in Him that has no begining, the cause of All.
Chapter 4 -1-4,17.
The Divine Spirit that has forged and brought the Universe into being, the Supreme Soul, ever dwells in the hearts of men. He is revealed by the heart and intellect combining and controlling the mind and by meditation. They attain deathlessness who thus see Him revealed.
Chapter 4 - 20.
This Isa, dwelling in the heart of man, can be perceived not by the eye but the heart; and he who perceives Him thus by the heart attains immortality.
Not time or innate quality of matter is the true cause of phenomena, as some learned men imagine, but the glory of God who dwells in and revolves all things, animate and inanimate. When one discovers this Universal Spirit within one's self, the misery of life is ended. It would be easier to roll up the sky and carry it on one's head as a tanner carries a hide than to achieve happiness without realizing the immanence of God.
Chapter 6 - 1.
Some learned men attribute the phenomena of the universe to the innate nature of things, other deluded persons say that time is the cause. But it is the glory of God by which alone the wheel revolves and this world goes on.
Chapter 6 - 20.
When (men could roll up the sky like a hide). we could reach the end of pain and grief without realizing God who abides in all things.
Chapter 6 - 11.
God, who is concealed in all beings, is one. He pervades everything. He is the inner soul of every being and the overseer of all activity. He dwells in all forms of life. He is the eternal witness, the Conscious Being within, standing apart from that in which He abides and unqualified.
Chapter 6 - 19.
Without parts, action-less, tranquil, uncontaminable, spotless, the bridge that transcends and leads to immortality, consuming and unquenchable like fire.
The direct teaching of a father or a Guru is essential. Without this, book-knowledge would be of no great avail. But more important than all is the previous purging of character and restraint of mind and senses, which are necessary for the knowledge and realization of the highest truth. Otherwise, knowledge leads to harm, not to good. "I am God" would lead to arrogance and atheism without purity of character, restraint and humility and the personal guidance of father or revered teacher. Hence the following prohibition which should not be understood in any sense other than the caution above indicated.
Chapter 6 - 22.
TAITTIRIYOPANISHAD
WE have in the Taittiriya Upanishad, (first valli, eleventh anuvaka) a valedictory exhortation which reveals to us something of the system of education that produced the cultured among the ancient inhabitants of this sacred land.
After having taught the Vedas, the teacher instructs the pupil thus: Speak what is true. Do your duties. Continue, without neglect, the daily study of the Veda. Now that you have come to the end of your stay with your teacher, marry and bring forth progeny. Do not swerve from Truth and Dharma, and do something useful in the social economy. Achieve greatness, and do not fail to refresh your memory in respect of what you have learnt.
Remember the gods and your ancestors. Honour your mother. Look upon her as God. Honour your father. Look upon him as God. Honour your teacher as God. Honour your guest. Look upon him as if God came to receive your attention. May you ever exercise your understanding and, distinguishing the good from the blame-worthy. Avoid the latter and ever do what is good. Follow all that was good in your teacher’s life, not any other. You will meet with better men than even the teachers with whom you have lived. Show them due respect.
Give gifts with faith, not neglectfully but with joy, with humility, with fear and with kindness.
Chapter 1 - 11.
If your mind is troubled with any doubt as to what is right or wrong, follow the example of gentle and pious elders living in your neighbourhood in regard to those matters. This is the rule and this the teaching.
In the third valli of the Taittiriya Upanishad, Varuna instructs his son Bhrigu on the immanence of Brahman in matter as well as in the Spirit. The food we eat and the air we breathe are sacred forms of Brahman that builds us up, enables us to speak, think, act, exercise the will and understand.
Chapter 3 - 2.
He knew that food is Brahman, for from food, indeed, are born all beings in this world, by food do they live, and, after death, they become food again for other beings.
We should not speak ill of food. We should not throw away food. We should produce plenty of food. We should let no one who comes for food be turned away.
Chapter 3 - 7-10.
The teaching is that food should be looked upon as Brahman, for from food are born all beings, by food do they live, and they become food at their death. It is by food, one for another, that all beings are made interdependent and made into one linked whole in the world.
CHHANDOGYOPANISHAD
THE sixth chapter of the Chhandogya Upanishad begins with the old, old riddle: Was there a first cause? Shall we, seeing that the search for causes leads us backwards along an interminable chain, give up the theory of causation and say that the world came out of nothing? This cannot be, says the Rishi. Out of nothing, nothing could come. Non-Being cannot produce Being. Much less could the phenomenon of consciousness come out of nothing. We must hold that there was a first Cause: Sat: i.e., Being with consciousness.
Sat willed that it may expand and multiply. So it produced light, Tejas. The Spirit in Tejas willed to multiply and produced water. The Sprit in Water willed to become manifold, and it produced all the living things of the world.
Lest the reader imagine that the march of modern science has made this explanation out of date, it may be recalled that neither Chemistry nor Biology nor any other physical science explains anything. Plato depicted mankind as chained in a cave in such a way that they can look only on the wall which forms the back of the cave; they cannot see the busy life outside but only the shadows which objects moving in the sunshine cast on the walls of the cave. For the captives in the cave, the shadows constitute the whole phenominal world, the world of reality remaining for ever beyond their ken. Sir James Jeans, the great physicist, says that modern science has come to the same conclusion. The reality behind the phenomenal world is unreachable. Chemical and other "laws" are only classifications and simplifications of observed phenomena, and nothing more. Neither familiarity nor classffication can itself be explanation. The unexplained factor outside the cave that permanently circumscribes our knowledge is the Sat of the Chhandogya.
"How can this vast universe with its multitudinous variety be produced in this simple way?" asked Svetaketu, whom his father, Uddalaka, was instructing as to how the entire world has been evolved out of the Sat.
VI - (14)-1-3.
"Fetch a fruit of the big fig tree," said Uddalaka
"Here is one, Sir," said Svetaketu.
"Break it, what do you see there?"
"These little seeds."
"Crush one of the little seeds."
"Yes, Sir, I have done it."
"What do you see inside?"
"Nothing," said the son
"Yet in the subtle substance inside that little seed, which your eye does not even perceive, existed all this big branching nyagrodha tree. Do you wonder at it? Likewise all that exists, this universe, was in that Sat which thou too art. Believe it' dear child, thou art that."
"If the Sat is the all-pervading cause of all, why is it not perceived clearly?" is the next question.
As a lump of salt is dissolved in water and disappears, so is the Sat lost from view in the world but is still immanent in everything in the universe, as the salt is present in every part of the water. The following is a vivid account of the instruction in this regard, which reminds one of a modern laboratory lecture:
VI - (12) -1-3.
"How are we to gain knowledge of the Sat, which is imperceptible?" is the next question.
VI - (14) -1-3
Like unto that of a man blindfolded and carried away by robbers from his own country is man's condition. The folds of cloth over his eyes being removed by a friend, he recovers the use of his eyes and slowly finds his way home, step by step, enquiring at each stage. So also, the good teacher instructs the seeker of Truth and helps him to unloose his bonds of desire, and saves him from the robbers. The robbers are his past deeds that brought him to this condition. Recovering his sight as soon as the desires and attachments that blind his vision are removed, he finds his way to the Sat. Thereafter, it is only a matter of waiting for natural death.
INTRODUCTION TO UPANISHADS
ISAVASYOPANISHAD
KATHOPANISHAD
KENOPANISHAD
MUNDAKOPANISHAD
SVETASVATAROPANISHAD
TAITTIRIYOPANISHAD
CHHANDOGYOPANISHAD
INTRODUCTION TO UPANISHADS
In the Upanishads, we have a scripture which, among all the holy scriptures of the world, displays the most scientific spirit in connection with spiritual enquiry. The sages, whose thoughts and teachings we read in the Upanishads, seem to be as much inspired by constructive doubt as the most modern men of science. Their questions and answers indicate that they lived in an age when, alongside of conformism and the rigid maintenance of old practices, men thirsted for Truth and the atmosphere was charged with the boldest free thought: Satyamevajayate nanrtam satyenapantha vitato devayanah.
The conformism that prevails in our own midst today, in spite of so much science and free thought, does not confuse us. We are familiar with it and we find no difficulty in appraising and evaluating in their true measure both the conflicting elements, orthodox practice as well as the prevailing scepticism. But the conformism of some thousands of years ago is a very different thing. We understand it much less, if at all, and it, therefore, blurs the picture. We may fail for this reason rightly to appreciate the spirit of enquiry which dominated the mind and lives of the sages whose teachings are recorded in the Upanishads, and which is reflected in every line of this great scripture of India.
If we learn to make due allowance for the time-interval, and have enlightenment and elasticity of mind enough to be able to use and profit by a holy book with invaluable hoary associations, without having to get the text actually expurgated and revised in order to exclude the irrelevancies and the mere background of a bygone age, we cannot have a better book of religion for modern times than the Upanishads. The spacious imagination, the majestic sweep of thought and the almost reckless spirit of exploration with which, urged by the compelling thirst for Truth, the Upanishad teachers and pupils dig into the Open Secret of the Universe, make this most ancient among the world's holy books still the most modern and most satisfying.
It is probable that the Upanishads were originally composed somewhat as notes of lectures, intended to assist the pupil's memory in subsequent reflection. They were not composed as text-books of philosophy to serve by themselves, as books are now written. Notes in our days would be short indicative phrases written to dictation or taken down by the students themselves. But, in the old days, they took the shape of verses to be memorized, as writing played a lesser part in learning than it does now. Placed before us today in the shape of printed matter, with title-page, contents and index all complete, the Upanishads perplex us in many places with their seeming simplicity of language, covering thoughts that are far from clear. Isolated from teacher and without personal expansion and explanation, these compositions confuse us with antithesis and epigram and the use of the same word in varying senses, a style which we should have particularly avoided when discussing difficult problems. All this is, however, understandable if we remember that they were not books to displace teacher but were notes to standardize teaching and to help memory.
Apart from the difficulty arising out of the form, and the difference of purpose of the composition from that of modern books, the distance that divides us from the day when these thoughts were propounded makes the greatest difficulty. The reflections were necessarily hung on to the life, beliefs and manners of those ancient times. To understand the meaning and the point of what was said by men of a long past age, we have to get back to the circumstances of that age, a task of great difficulty even for the most imaginative among us.
Beliefs and practices that are to us obviously childish formed the large and main background of life in those days, and the reflections of the best and wisest men of those days, which necessarily referred to and were set on the background of their own daily life, have to be interpreted by us, eliminating that background. What was very real and serious to them is to us childish, untenable and of no consequence, so that even the reflections thereon become un-understandable. The process of seeing a picture apart from the background is not easy. We are apt to lose ourselves in the reactions produced in our modern minds by the beliefs and practices referred to, and fail to grasp the essential amidst the distractions of the incidental.
In studying the Upanishads, we come against repeated references to ceremonials, sacrifices and the worship of gods and discussions as to their efficacy, which confuse the deeper and predominant enquiry. The position becomes to the Hindu readers worse still on account of the formal persistence in Hinduism even now of the shell of those beliefs and practices. To interpret and evaluate the substance of the Upanishads, we need a powerful imagination and an intellectual elasticity that can jump over the tremendous space that divides the beliefs, aspirations and psychologies of modern life from those of a long-past age. A study of the full text of the longer Upanishads would be the best means of comprehending the mind of the fathers of Hinduism. But at the same time, the difficulties pointed out above reach the greatest dimensions in these longer Upanishads. In making the selections for the following chapters, an attempt has been made to reduce these difficulties to the minimum without prejudice to the main purpose of presenting an adequate idea of the Upanishad-content.
ISAVASYOPANISHAD
The Bhagavad Gita presents a synthesis of the highest spiritual effort of the individual with the most practical social co-operation. We should carry on the activities of life, but we should do so remembering that all that we do belongs to God. Work done in this spirit will not cling to us in rebirth. This teaching that is expanded in the Bhagavad Gita is found tersely enunciated in the Isavasyopanishad in the first two verses.
1 & 2
Everything in the universe abides in the Supreme Being. Realize this well, and, realizing it, cast off the desires that rise in the heart, for example, the thought of possessing what is enjoyed by another. Joy comes only by the giving up of desires and attachments. You may live the longest life, doing work in a detached spirit and dedicating everything to God. Thus only can we escape the contamination of work and sterilize life.
The Vedantic teaching about higher knowledge should not confuse us into neglect of duties and indifference about discipline of mind and control of senses. To go through the activities of daily life in a spirit of detachment serves as a preparation for the reception of higher knowledge and for self-realization which secures Moksha. Indeed, philosophical learning without discipline of conduct is more to be dreaded than even ritualism without the knowledge of Vedanta. Higher enlightenment is impossible, and even if it were possible, worthless, unless there has been preparation and purification by means of restraint of the senses. Fill the span of life given to you, says the Upanishad, with work and worship as is done by people without the higher knowledge, but carry on the work in the spirit of detachment and understand the forms in the sense that you have learnt from the higher knowledge. Thereby you shall pass through Death to Immortality.
9 & 11
* [Vidya and Avidya are phrases presenting considerable difficulty and the context does not help to clarify doubts. But I venture to think that the purport of the two slokas is what I have given above.]
The Santi Sloka of this Upanishad tersely sets out the relation of the Individual Soul to the Supreme Spirit. The Self that functions within us is of divine origin. It is of the same substance as the Supreme Spirit. The part that makes up the individual comes out of the whole, and the stuff of which it is made is of such a transcendental nature that the whole remains whole, in spite of something being taken out of the whole. Again, though what is taken out is but a part, it is as whole as the original. The axioms of mathematics relating to the whole and the part do not apply to the Absolute and its manifestations.
That is whole and this is whole. The perfect has come out of the perfect. Yet the perfect remains, as before, perfect.
As the Soul is the life of the body which without it would be a carcase, so is the Supreme Spirit the essence of the individual Soul's being. And yet, even as the Soul is 'lost' in the body, the Supreme Spirit, functioning as the Soul of the Individual Soul, loses cognizance of its own real Divine nature. It is the Supreme Spirit that moves, though in reality there is no motion, it being the one Reality. There can be no motion when there is nought else. It is far away, because we fail to realize it. It is near, because it is immanent in everything and is in the recess of one's own heart.
It moves. It does not move. It is far away, yet most near. It is the internal Spirit of everything that we know.
If we realize this all-pervading immanence of the Supreme Spirit, the distinction between oneself and others melts away and with it disappear, as a matter of course, grief and illusion. The 29th and following verses in the sixth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita are almost in the same words as the following slokas from isavasyopanishad:
6
If one sees all living things as if they were in his own body, i.e., feels their joys and sorrows as his own, and sees the same Universal spirit in all things then there is no need for protecting oneself against others.
7
When a man understands that all being are, indeed, the all-pervading Spirit, then he realizes the oneness of all things and illusion and grief vanish.
The Isavasyopanishad emphasises the need for balance. In verses which are unfortunately obscure (9, 11, 12, and 14), the importance of both knowledge and discipline, and of attention to matter as well as to spirit is dealt with.
The Upanishad winds up with a prayer for strength to maintain internal and external purity. Addressing the morning sun, the aspirant is taught to feel and say, "O Sun, of refulgent glory, I am the same Person as He that is in you."And he is asked to say to himself: "My body will disintegrate but not I and my deeds. O Mind, remember this always, remember this always."
16
Oh Sun, who art our Nourisher, Giver of Knowledge, Dispenser of Justice, Giver of. Light, Son of the Creator, disperse thy rays, draw in thy light, so that I may be enabled to behold thy most beautiful form. I am that same Person as makes thee who thou art.
As for my body:
17
My body will be reduced to ashes and my breath will join the deathless moving winds. Oh Mind, remember thy acts.
The formula -- I am the person that is seen in that refulgent form -- occurs slightly modified in Chhandogya Upanishad also. The insistence is on the realization of the all-inclusive Oneness Of the Soul, the Universe. The Spirit in the Sun is the same as myself ! A daily repetition and contemplation of this truth is prescribed as an aid in life to detachment, elevation of Spirit and Self-realization.
KATHOPANISHAD
Every Hindu knows the great Kurukshetra scene, which forms the prologue of the Bhagavad Gita - the warrior, stricken by remorse and doubt, throwing himself at the mercy of his divine charioteer for guidance. The Katha Upanishad has an equally sublime introductory scene, forming a noble background for the great teaching imparted in the Upanishad itself.
Vajasravasa performed an elaborate sacrifice, which terminated with a parting of all his possessions as gifts to the guests assembled. Vajasravasa's son, Nachiketas, watched the proceedings and, as he saw the gifts being given, he was filled with the thought of the vanity of it all.
"of what use is it," he said to himseff "giving these toothless old cattle and cows past the age of bearing? Should not my father, if he is minded to give what is dear to him, give me away?" So he went to his father and said: "Father! To whom are you going to give me?" His father did not pay heed to the question, but went on with the routine of the great sacrifice. Nachiketas repeated the question again and again till Vajasravasa, losing patience, exclaimed without meaning anything like what he said: "You? I shall give you to Yama."
Nothing could be uttered on such a solemn occasion but must be carried out. The father was aghast at his own exclamation. Nachiketas, however, decided to go to Yama. "Many have gone before me and many yet must go after me. I go not alone to Death, and what can Yama do to me? Consider what has happened before this, and consider what is going to happen in the future. Countless are the mortals that have died before this and will die hereafter. The life of mortals, indeed, is like that of the corn which grows and ripens and is reaped, and like the grains that fall which spring again into life."
Chapter 1 - 5&6.
So Nachiketas went to Yama. Yama was not prepared for the voluntary visitor. He was not wiling to receive anyone before time. Nachiketas had to wait for three days before Yama received him. A Brahamana could not thus be disregarded even by Yama. So, to make up for the offence, Death offered to Nachiketas whatever boon he might demand. He offered many gifts - length of days, and all the possessions of the earth that one could desire, and Swarga thereafter. But the youth chose for a boon-instruction at Yama's hands about the nature of the soul.
"There is no boon that I desire other than this knowledge," said Nachiketas, "and there can be no better instructor than you for imparting this knowledge. What use is length of days and what joy can possessions, or song or dance, or horses and chariots give, so long as you are there as an ever-present termination to it all?"
Yama pleaded with Nachiketas:
Chapter 1 - 21.
Even the gods have had doubts in the matter. The nature of it is so subtle that it is not possible to comprehend it satisfactorily. Choose some other boon, Nachiketas. Do not insist; release me from this.
But Nachiketas answered:
Chapter 1 - 22.
If even the gods had doubts in this matter and you say that it is not easily to be comprehended, who then could expound it as you can, O Death, and what other boon can equal this? None, indeed.
Yama pleaded again:
Chapter 1 - 23.
Ask for sons and grandsons who may live for a hundred years. Ask for numerous cows, elephants, and gold and horses. Ask for large tracts of land, and live as many autumns as you desire.
Chapter 1 - 24.
Or choose any boon that you can conceive equal to this, with wealth and long life. Be lord of wide dominions, O Nachiketas, I will make you the enjoyer of every desire.
Chapter 1 - 25.
Ask freely for every rare enjoyment in the world of mortals. Here are nymphs in chariots playing on lutes, such as men have never seen. These will serve you at my command. But, do not ask me about Death.
Nachiketas was unmoved. He said:
Chapter 1 - 26.
These ephemeral pleasures, O Death, consume the powers of the mortal's senses. Even if they lasted all life, they are of little worth. You say you give me these gifts, but being all limited by the death of the enjoyer, they remain but yours though you appear to give them away, these chariots, and song and dance.( Sri Sankaracharya's interpretation of etc. is simply Keep these ephemeral things for yourself; I do not care for them.)
Chapter 1 - 27.
How can man be satisfied with wealth? Can we hold wealth when we see you? All wealth disappears on death. We live but as long as you command it to be. That boon alone, therefore, is worthy of being desired that I craved of you.
Yama thus failed to persuade Nachiketas to give up his inquiry into the mystery of life even for all the pleasures of this world and of the world of the gods. "You have displayed courage and resolve," said Yama. "There can be no better seeker than such a one, even as you stated that there can be no better instructor than myself. Listen, then, I shall explain."
Then follows the teaching.
The first thing that man should learn in the pursuit of Truth is that the good is something different from the pleasant. So Yama begins thus:
Chapter 2 - 1&2.
( * is explained by Sri Sankaracharya to mean "for thc sake of the maintenance of the body." It may, perhaps, with a 1ittle grammatical licence, be understood to mean "hoping that the source of pleasure may be acquired and preserved.")
The Good is one thing, the Pleasant is another. These two lead man to very different ends. He who chooses the Good attains happiness. He who prefers the Pleasant ever loses his object. The wise are not deceived by the attractions of the Pleasant. They choose the Good. Fools are snared into the mere pleasant and perish.
Chapter 2 - 5.
Steeped in ignorance, men engage themselves in activities and pursuits and considering themselves men of understanding and learned, stagger along aimlessly like blind men led by the blind, going round and round in the cycle of births.
The main obstacle in the path of the man striving for the higher life is the identification of oneself with the body. Therefore, all teaching in Hindu Vedanta stresses on man finding his soul within. If one realizes the divinity of the eternal spirit within, the battle is won.
Chapter 2 - 12.
Concentrating the mind on the Spirit within, man should realize the divine character of his own soul and its inherent freedom. The Spirit lodged within oneself is unperceived because of the perplexities of joy and grief and attachment to worldly objects. When one realizes the divine Spirit within himself, all the confusion of joy and grief disappears.
Chapter 2 - 23 & 24.
This realization can come only if from inside one's own heart spring purity of resolve and earnestness of spirit. It does not come by study or learned discussions. It comes to one whose Self yearns for realization, and whose mind has turned away from evil and has learnt to subdue itself and to be at peace with the world.
In other words, it comes out of the longing for self-realization that leads to detachment, rather than from much learning; that is to say, it comes out of the grace of the Supreme Spirit that dwells within us.
The Self is other than the changing body. It is other than the fears and the passions that agitate the mind. The Soul is divine in origin. It is not altered in nature by the qualities of the mind in which it is embodied. It can be released from the meshes of these qualities by a realization of its own intrinsic divine nature.
The reader may note that the following verses are almost identical with the Gita verses on the subject, though there is no question here of inducing Nachiketas to take up arms without any compunctions of conscience.
Chapter 2 - 18.
You are not born, nor do you die. You did not come from anything else, nor were made out of something other than yourself. You are unborn, eternal, everlasting and always existed. You are not slain, though the body is slain.
Chapter 2 - 19.
If you think you slay some one, or that you will be slain by some one, you are wrong in both cases. The Soul neither slays nor is slain.
Chapter 2 - 20.
Subtler than the atom, greater than the greatest, the Atman resides in the hearts of living beings. He who makes himself desireless and has cast off grief beholds the greatness of the Spirit within him.
Chapter 2 - 21.
The man of understanding realizes this bodiless Spirit dwelling in the bodies, this imperishable substance lodged in the perishable and realizing it cast off grief.
Chapter 3 - 3,4,5&9.
The journey of life can be safely completed, and the Supreme world of Vishnu reached only if one keeps a watchful control over the senses. The body is like a chariot to which the senses are yoked like horses. The mind is like the reins, which enable the charioteer, viz., the understanding, to hold the horses, i.e., the senses, in check. The Soul rides on the chariot, and the road is the world of objects over which the senses move. If the reins are not held firmly and wisely, the senses, like vicious horses, will get out of control, and the chariot will not reach the goal, but will go round and round in births and rebirths. If the man is wise, and controls his mind, his senses will be like good horses driven by a good driver.
Chapter 4 - 1&2.
The self-existent Spirit worked its way out from within and thus the openings of the mind are directed outwards, viz., the sense organs. Therefore do men's thoughts ever tend outwards. But the few, who have true understanding turn their mind inwards and realize the Self within. Those without understanding, who do not control themselves and pursue external pleasures fall into the widespread net of Birth and Death. Those of steady mind, realizing what is truly lasting, do not turn their thoughts to transient pleasures.
Chapters 4-8, 5-9.
The sacred fire is well concealed in the wood like a child in the womb of the mother. The Soul is contained in the body as the fire is contained and concealed in the wood. Fire manifest takes shape in accordance with the thing burning. It is now the flame of a lamp, now a furnace and now a forest-fire, according as to where it is manifested. The fire by itself is one and the same. So also, the Soul though manifold in embodiment, is the same as that in which it abides for the time being.
Chapter 4 - 10&11.
What is here is there, and what is there is here; i.e., things and beings seem various but are, indeed one Being. We are liberated when we perceive this oneness. We go from death to death if we perceive difference. It is the mind that by enlightenment can overcome the notion of difference and have a vision of the transcendent Oneness of all.
Chapter 4 - 14&15.
The rain falling on the hill divides itself and flows down the hill-sides in many torrents. The ignorant man sees manifoldness in beings and is confused and he runs after the manifoldness. If water is poured into water, it becomes one and the same with it. Thus it is with the Self of the man of understanding who sees unity in manifoldness.
It is the light of the Spirit within that really enables us to see, not the light that falls from outside. Does this Spirit within shine by its own light or does it shine by Another Light? Is it a Self-luminous Soul or is it a reflection of the One lustrous Being? It is on this note of sublime doubt that the fifth valli of the Upanishad closes. The following two verses go together:
Chapter 5 - 14.
They say that the Indefinable Spirit of Supreme Bliss is this that is within me. How can I make out whether this Spirit within me shines by itself or shines by the reflected light from the Universal spirit?
Chapter 5 - 15.
The sun does not furnish the light there, nor the moon, nor the stars, nor these flashes of lightning born of the clouds; certainly not the light of these sacrificial fires. The Spirit shines and all things else shine as a result. Everything in the universe reflects but that light. (I crave the forgiveness of the learned for giving an interpretation different from the orthodox commentarians in regard to these two verses. My interpretation is based on the juxtaposition of and )
Merely to know is not enough to escape from the tangle of illusion. Faith and discipline of life are necessary. The illusion arises not so much from ignorance as from attachments. Enlightenment comes with detachment, not with learning. This is the main teaching to which all the schools of Hindu philosophy ultimately revert and on which they lay the greatest emphasis. The discipline and meditation that serve to help the Soul to detach itself from the things or the world is what is called Yoga.
Chapter 6 - 15.
When the knots of the heart are untied, and man is freed from wordly attachments, he becomes immortal. This is the whole of the teaching.
The Antaratman is lodged in the secret recess of our hearts. It is sheathed as the reed-plant is sheathed in its blades. We should abstract it with understanding, tearing ourselves from attachments and desires and separating the pure from the gross. The Spirit within is pure and is immortal. Thus ends Yama's exhortation in this Upanishad:
Chapter 6 - 17.
Of the size of a thumb, the Spirit within is lodged in the hearts of men and is there always. With understanding, separate Him from the sheaths of the body in which He is lodged even as you take off the blades of a reed-plant. Know that He is immaculate and deathless.
KENOPANISHAD
WHAT is the Supreme Spirit? By what relation to our experience shall we understand it? This is the subject of enquiry in this Upanishad. As the Isavasyopanishad is known by its first word, so also is this Upanishad named after its first word Kena, "By whom?"
Neither by the senses nor by human reasoning can we hope to comprehend the nature of Brahman. This is so because the subject, the object and the means are all identical. It is Brahman by which the understanding itself functions.
chapter 1 - 5,6,7,8
The Supreme Spirit is that by which the mind thinks; it is not one of the concepts that can be conceived by the mind, but it is that by which, indeed, one is able to think through his mind. It is that which enables the eye to see, the ear to hear, the breath to move. These functions themselves depend on Brahman, and, therefore, are these senses and the mind unable to, comprehend the Brahman. Do not take this body that one has to feed and look after for the Soul.
Life is not the aggregate of the functions of the body but a function of the Highest Spirit, in as much as not a thought or a breath or a glance is possible without the Supreme Agent.
Chapter 2 - 1,3
(Note: I have interpreted as above on the lines of Sri Ramanujacharya's Commentary on the first six chapters of the Gita.)
He who thinks that he knows really thereby proves himself ignorant. He who realizes that he cannot know Him has best understood him. Those who seek to know Him, as they can grasp things of ordinary knowledge, can never achieve their object. Those who realize the limitation of the human mind in respect of the knowledge of the Supreme Spirit and, therefore, frankly confess ignorance, really approach a true understanding of it.
The limitation of human knowledge, when trying to comprehend the Supreme Being, is brought out in the above epigram.
Not by reasoning but only by an awakening can we get a vision of the Supreme Spirit. Life, in relation to the Ultimate Reality, is like a state of sleep. Reason, in respect of Ultimate Reality, is like the impossible conception of a sleeping man trying to know what he is about, without waking up. As sleep is to waking, so is ordinary life to the state of realization.
Self-discipline gives strength of spirit: To one so strengthened, knowledge gives immortality:.
The Self is itself immortal, and one has but to know it to become immortal. A man dreams that he is suffering from a mortal illness and is dying. He suffers pain and even death. But the moment he wakes up, he is cured and regains life. So does Jnana give immortality to man.
The third chapter of this Upanishad is an allegory to illustrate that everything rests on the Supreme Spirit. It is That which gives heat to Fire, and energy to Motion, and the power of knowing to individual knowledge, however great. All beings are like electric lamps that glow by the power that is received by them from the Supreme Being, themselves not knowing it.
The gods were once elated at a great victory, and the Brahman appeared before them. They could not recognize or understand the vision. Agni, Vayu and Indra were sent to approach and understand Him. They went, one by one, and tried to impress on the strange vision their respective powers. But when they were challenged to prove their vaunted strength, Agni could not burn, and Vayu could not move by a hair's breadth a dry bit of grass which was placed before them and which they attacked with all their strength one after the other. Indra went near to see, when the other two failed, but with his thousand eyes he failed to see anything whatsoever. The apparition disappeared altogether from his sight.
Chapter 3 - 3.
The said to Agni: "Oh, Jataveda, go and ascertain who this is, this adorable Being." He said: "Yes."
Chapter 3 - 4.
He ran up to the Being, who asked him: "Who are you?" Agni answered: "I am Agni, I am also called Jataveda."
Chapter 3 - 5.
"And what is your strength?", the Being asked. "I can burn up all that is here on earth," answered Agni.
Chapter 3 - 6.
He placed before Agni a bit of dry grass, saying, "Burn this" Going at it with all his energy Agni found that he could not burn it. He returned to the gods and said he could not make out who this strange Being was.
Chapter 3 - 7.
Then they said to Vayu: "Oh, do go ascertain who this is." And Vayu said: "So be it"
Chapter 3 - 8.
He ran Up to the Being who asked him: "Who are you?" "I am Vayu, Otherwise called Matarisva," answered Vayu.
Chapter 3 - 9.
Then said the Being: "What is your strength?" "Oh, I can sweep away whatever exists on this earth," answered Vayu.
Chapter 3 - 10.
Then the Being placed a withered blade of grass before Vayu, and said: "Move this." Vayu set on it with all his might, but could not move it; and he returned to the gods and said: "1 could not make out who this is."
Chapter 3 - 11.
Thereupon, they beseeched indra to find out who it was. He agreed to do so,but when he ran up, he found that the Being had gone out of his view altogether.
MUNDAKOPANISHAD
May our ears hear what is good, may our eyes see what is good. May we, what time we live, be blessed with healthy limbs and body, that we may glorify the lord. May all the gods bless us. May our minds be at peace.
This Upanishad Consists of Angiras's instruction to his disciple, Shaunaka.
Chapter 1(1) -4,5.
There are two sciences worthy of being learnt, of which the learned treat one as higher, and the other as lower. The Vedas, the Rig Veda, the Yajur Veda, the Sama Veda, the Atharva Veda, intonation, ritual, grammar, etymology, metre, astronomy and all else that is commonly known as learning constitute the lower knowledge, the higher is that by which the Ever-existing is realised. [It should be remembered that the Veda was the encyclopaedia of all the knowledge of those days, and not a hymn-book only.]
Chapter 1(2) -7,8.
Ceremonials and sacrifices lead men round and round, and not to the ultimate goal to which an understanding of the Self alone can lead.
The popular belief as regards the efficacy of sacrifies is, though not rudely negatived, politely put aside in the Upanishads as not leading to what is true and imperishable happiness.
The passage that occurs in Katha Upanishad about fools fancying themselves learned appears here with just one verbal change. Light is here thrown on what is meant by the important term avidya which occurs in the Katha and lsavasya Upanishads and also in the Gita (ch. 2 - 42, 43).
Chapter 1(2) -12.
Realizing this, the seeker should abandon his desire and attachments for things transient, and respectfully approach a teacher who is qualified by learning and conduct to impart the higher knowledge.
Chapter 2(1) -1.
This deals with the relationship between the individual Soul and the Absolute Being.
The Soul is like the spark that is thrown out and re-absorbed by the blazing fire.
It is left to be inferred that it is of the same nature as the fire, and does not exist apart from it.
Chapter 2(1) -4,5.
The whole universe is a manifestation and product of that universal, formless, causeless Being. The sun, moon and all the quarters, all knowledge, and the souls of all existing beings are parts and manifestations of that single all-immanent Being. All life and all qualities, functions and activities are forms of that single Energy. He is the Fire which has lighted the Sun and makes it burn, like a log burning in the fire. Thereby does the sun give us warmth and light. The rain does not rain, but it is He that rains through the clouds. Beings come together and multiply, but it is He alone that multiplies through them.
Chapter 2(1) -9,10.
From Him have issued all the mountains and the seas, the rivers, the trees and plants and their life-bearing essences. He who thus knows the Supreme Spirit that dwells within the heart, dear boy, cuts off all the knots of ignorance which bind man.
Chapter 2(2) -1.
He has taken shape and dwells near, yea, in the cave of the human heart. Everything that moves, breathes or twinkles, moves and lives in Him. All that exists, as well as all ideas, even those which the mind indicates to itself as inconceivable, issue out of His presence.
Chapter 2(2) -3,4.
To perceive this Absolute Foundation of all existence, the mind must be as concentrated on it as an archer concentrates on his target. The Upanishad, i.e., knowledge received from the teacher, is the bow. The understanding Self should, like an arrow sharpened by devotion, be placed in it. Directing it at the target, viz., the Brahman, pull the bow-string well with concentrated mind and you will hit the target. As a skilful archer, when aiming, makes his arrow merge in the target in his sight, and the two become but one and the same thing, so should your Self, the arrow, be merged by concentration in the target, viz., Brahman.
When the pupil pulls the bow-string with steady aim, if the teacher asks him, "What do you see the pupil should be able to reply truly that he sees nothing but the point he aims at. He must see neither bow, nor arrow, nor anything else but Brahman.
Chapter 2(2) - 5.
He is the whole Universe. Heaven, Earth and Sky, your mind and your life-breath are all woven into Him. All other knowledge is a mere snare of words to be escaped from. He is the one and only Existence. This knowledge is the bridge leading to Immortality.
Chapter 2(2) - 7.
He is within our own hearts. He has lodged Himself in the food-sustained body of men and rules both body and life, even He that sustains the whole universe and all its glory. The unruffled spirits contemplate on Him and realize his Deathless form of absolute joy.
Chapter 2(2) - 8.
When His presence in our own bodies and His immanence in every aspect of existence is realized all doubts, all attachments and all activities vanish.
Chapter 2(2) - 10,11.
On realizing Him, what is individual life? What even are the sun and the moon, the stars and the lightning of the clouds? What need be said, then, of this fire? All these are but reflections of that One Undying Light. He fills all the quarters and all overhead and down below. He alone exists.
Chapter 3(1) -1,3.
Man's suffering lasts only until he sees the Supreme Being that dwells within himself. The Indwelling Supreme Spirit and the Individual Soul are like two birds. They cling to one another and are on the same tree. One eats the fruits of the tree, the other looks on, happy. One is attached to works, the other is free. When a man sees the Universal Ruler in himself, then the distinction between Good and Evil drops out. He is freed from passions and reaches the goal, i.e., becomes one with the Universal.
How can one be enabled to have a vision of the Supreme Being within oneself? Mere learning does not reveal Him. One has to realize that the Lord is the life that lives and the light that shines in everything. When he realizes this, he loses his dependence on externals and finds bliss in himself.
Chapter 3(1) - 4.
The man who realizes "It is the Supreme Life that shines in and through all life" does not waste words. His pleasures and his love are then all in the soul. He becomes the most enlightened among the philosophers.
Chapter 3(1) - 5.
Truth, penance, understanding and purity are essential requisites for this revelation of the Brahman within. When the heart is cleansed, Brahman is revealed, and He is seen shining like a burning light within oneself.
Chapter 3(1) - 6.
Truth wins ever, and not untruth. With Truth is paved the road to the Divine. On that road walk the Rishis with desires all quenched to reach the Supreme Abode of Truth.
Truth is the only pathway to God, and the seers pursue this to reach Him. This emphatic dependence on Truth is the dominating characteristic of the Upanishads.
The Lord is not to be apprehended by the senses, but only by the mind into which all the senses have been drawn in. All thought is interwoven with the senses, and it is only when the mind is released from all this and is in a state of perfect freedom and tranquillity, that the Lord reveals Himself.
Chapter 3(1) - 8,9.
Not by the eyes nor by speech or through other senses can He be apprehended: not even by austerities or ceremonials. He whose mind is pure and serene can by meditation attain a vision of the Indivisible. The Subtle Spirit dwelling within, into which the fivefold life has entered, can be realized by the understanding. If the understanding that is pierced and pervaded by the senses is purified, then the spirit reveals itself unto it.
Chapter 3(2) - 3.
This appears in the Kathopanishad also.
Much learning or scholarly discussion, or force of intellect cannot enable one to realize the Spirit within.
The Spirit that yearns for seff-realization realizes itself.
The yearning for realization automatically destroys other desires and attachments, and enables one to reach self-realization.
The feeble-mided, who do not make earnest effort through well-directed meditation and control of mind and senses, cannot hope to realize the Self within. The will to realize and strenuous effort are necessary. Balam in the following sloka stands for effort and strength exercised in the way of self-control and steady application. Chapter 3(2) - 4.
Realization of the Soul cannot be attained by a man who has not strength and a vigilant spirit. It cannot be attained by austerities without devotion. But if with undertanding a man strives with these aids, his soul enters the Abode of Brahman.
Chapter 2(2) - 6,8
Knowledge and discipline are mutually complementary. Vedanta explains the true nature of what we seek. Yoga, i.e., detachment and self-discipline, purifies the mind and enables it to perceive the Truth. Those whose understanding has been thus enlightened as well as purified become one with the Universal Spirit. They join the Supreme Being and lose themselves in Him even as all the rivers join and lose themselves in the great ocean.
Here ends our little book. Lets bow to the Rishis.
SVETASVATAROPANISHAD
THE dotrine of the Vedanta is summarized in the following mantras:
Chapter 1 - 8.
The Lord upholds the Universe, which is a union of the manifest and the unmanifest, the imperishable and the perishable. Functioning as Enjoyer through the senses, the Soul in man loses the consciousness of lordship and is enchained. When he realizes lordship, he is freed from every tie. Let man realize the Divinity of his soul. Thereby does he obtain Release.
Chapter 1 - 10.
Iswara rules over the Soul as well as material nature which forms the field for the Soul's functioning. Man reaches liberation from all the illusions of the world by contemplation and repeated meditation until realization is attained of the true nature of these three, God, Matter and Soul.
The fire is not seen when it is concealed in the wood. But it appears to view when the wood burns. So does meditation bring out the Supreme Spirit from within us. Like oil hidden in the sesame seed, like ghee concealed in milk, like water hidden from view in the river-bed, like fire that is contained in the Arani (fire-churner), abides the Supreme Spirit within us, though not manifest. When the two pieces of wood in the Arani are rubbed, the fire manifests itself. The butter is separated by churning the milk. The water is seen if we sink a pit in the sand of the river-bed. The Divine Self, that is hidden within one's self, can similarly be made manifest through the practice of truth, meditation and control of mind and senses, which is penance. Make the body the lower piece of the Arani and make the Understanding the upper piece, and by the practice of meditation, churn the fire out, so to say.
Chapter 1 - 13.
Just as fire when it abides in its womb, the woods, is not seen in its manifest form but yet exists and appears to view when the wood burns, even so do both aspects of abiding unmanifest and being drawn out apply to the Spirit in the body. The Pranava can enable the Spirit to be perceived.
Chapter 1 - 14.
Make your body the nether piece and Pranava the upper piece of the Arani and churn with the practice of meditation. Thus will you be enabled to perceive the concealed Divinity within.
Chapter 1 - 15.
As oil in the oil-seed, ghee in the curdled milk and water in the river-bed, so can That be obtained out of the self, through truth and restraint of thought and the senses.
The following verses are addressed as a prayer for enlightenment to the Universal Spirit which is One but takes various shapes with various powers and functions, that will in the end re-unite and be lost in Him-the Sun, the Moon, the Air, the starry firmament, fire, water, Brahma, the Lord, man and woman, in youth or in tottering old age, beast, bird, insect, the dark-blue bee, the green parrot with red eyes, the clouds that shoot forth lightning, the ocean, the seasons - all will be re-absorbed in Him that has no begining, the cause of All.
Chapter 4 -1-4,17.
The Divine Spirit that has forged and brought the Universe into being, the Supreme Soul, ever dwells in the hearts of men. He is revealed by the heart and intellect combining and controlling the mind and by meditation. They attain deathlessness who thus see Him revealed.
Chapter 4 - 20.
This Isa, dwelling in the heart of man, can be perceived not by the eye but the heart; and he who perceives Him thus by the heart attains immortality.
Not time or innate quality of matter is the true cause of phenomena, as some learned men imagine, but the glory of God who dwells in and revolves all things, animate and inanimate. When one discovers this Universal Spirit within one's self, the misery of life is ended. It would be easier to roll up the sky and carry it on one's head as a tanner carries a hide than to achieve happiness without realizing the immanence of God.
Chapter 6 - 1.
Some learned men attribute the phenomena of the universe to the innate nature of things, other deluded persons say that time is the cause. But it is the glory of God by which alone the wheel revolves and this world goes on.
Chapter 6 - 20.
When (men could roll up the sky like a hide). we could reach the end of pain and grief without realizing God who abides in all things.
Chapter 6 - 11.
God, who is concealed in all beings, is one. He pervades everything. He is the inner soul of every being and the overseer of all activity. He dwells in all forms of life. He is the eternal witness, the Conscious Being within, standing apart from that in which He abides and unqualified.
Chapter 6 - 19.
Without parts, action-less, tranquil, uncontaminable, spotless, the bridge that transcends and leads to immortality, consuming and unquenchable like fire.
The direct teaching of a father or a Guru is essential. Without this, book-knowledge would be of no great avail. But more important than all is the previous purging of character and restraint of mind and senses, which are necessary for the knowledge and realization of the highest truth. Otherwise, knowledge leads to harm, not to good. "I am God" would lead to arrogance and atheism without purity of character, restraint and humility and the personal guidance of father or revered teacher. Hence the following prohibition which should not be understood in any sense other than the caution above indicated.
Chapter 6 - 22.
TAITTIRIYOPANISHAD
WE have in the Taittiriya Upanishad, (first valli, eleventh anuvaka) a valedictory exhortation which reveals to us something of the system of education that produced the cultured among the ancient inhabitants of this sacred land.
After having taught the Vedas, the teacher instructs the pupil thus: Speak what is true. Do your duties. Continue, without neglect, the daily study of the Veda. Now that you have come to the end of your stay with your teacher, marry and bring forth progeny. Do not swerve from Truth and Dharma, and do something useful in the social economy. Achieve greatness, and do not fail to refresh your memory in respect of what you have learnt.
Remember the gods and your ancestors. Honour your mother. Look upon her as God. Honour your father. Look upon him as God. Honour your teacher as God. Honour your guest. Look upon him as if God came to receive your attention. May you ever exercise your understanding and, distinguishing the good from the blame-worthy. Avoid the latter and ever do what is good. Follow all that was good in your teacher’s life, not any other. You will meet with better men than even the teachers with whom you have lived. Show them due respect.
Give gifts with faith, not neglectfully but with joy, with humility, with fear and with kindness.
Chapter 1 - 11.
If your mind is troubled with any doubt as to what is right or wrong, follow the example of gentle and pious elders living in your neighbourhood in regard to those matters. This is the rule and this the teaching.
In the third valli of the Taittiriya Upanishad, Varuna instructs his son Bhrigu on the immanence of Brahman in matter as well as in the Spirit. The food we eat and the air we breathe are sacred forms of Brahman that builds us up, enables us to speak, think, act, exercise the will and understand.
Chapter 3 - 2.
He knew that food is Brahman, for from food, indeed, are born all beings in this world, by food do they live, and, after death, they become food again for other beings.
We should not speak ill of food. We should not throw away food. We should produce plenty of food. We should let no one who comes for food be turned away.
Chapter 3 - 7-10.
The teaching is that food should be looked upon as Brahman, for from food are born all beings, by food do they live, and they become food at their death. It is by food, one for another, that all beings are made interdependent and made into one linked whole in the world.
CHHANDOGYOPANISHAD
THE sixth chapter of the Chhandogya Upanishad begins with the old, old riddle: Was there a first cause? Shall we, seeing that the search for causes leads us backwards along an interminable chain, give up the theory of causation and say that the world came out of nothing? This cannot be, says the Rishi. Out of nothing, nothing could come. Non-Being cannot produce Being. Much less could the phenomenon of consciousness come out of nothing. We must hold that there was a first Cause: Sat: i.e., Being with consciousness.
Sat willed that it may expand and multiply. So it produced light, Tejas. The Spirit in Tejas willed to multiply and produced water. The Sprit in Water willed to become manifold, and it produced all the living things of the world.
Lest the reader imagine that the march of modern science has made this explanation out of date, it may be recalled that neither Chemistry nor Biology nor any other physical science explains anything. Plato depicted mankind as chained in a cave in such a way that they can look only on the wall which forms the back of the cave; they cannot see the busy life outside but only the shadows which objects moving in the sunshine cast on the walls of the cave. For the captives in the cave, the shadows constitute the whole phenominal world, the world of reality remaining for ever beyond their ken. Sir James Jeans, the great physicist, says that modern science has come to the same conclusion. The reality behind the phenomenal world is unreachable. Chemical and other "laws" are only classifications and simplifications of observed phenomena, and nothing more. Neither familiarity nor classffication can itself be explanation. The unexplained factor outside the cave that permanently circumscribes our knowledge is the Sat of the Chhandogya.
"How can this vast universe with its multitudinous variety be produced in this simple way?" asked Svetaketu, whom his father, Uddalaka, was instructing as to how the entire world has been evolved out of the Sat.
VI - (14)-1-3.
"Fetch a fruit of the big fig tree," said Uddalaka
"Here is one, Sir," said Svetaketu.
"Break it, what do you see there?"
"These little seeds."
"Crush one of the little seeds."
"Yes, Sir, I have done it."
"What do you see inside?"
"Nothing," said the son
"Yet in the subtle substance inside that little seed, which your eye does not even perceive, existed all this big branching nyagrodha tree. Do you wonder at it? Likewise all that exists, this universe, was in that Sat which thou too art. Believe it' dear child, thou art that."
"If the Sat is the all-pervading cause of all, why is it not perceived clearly?" is the next question.
As a lump of salt is dissolved in water and disappears, so is the Sat lost from view in the world but is still immanent in everything in the universe, as the salt is present in every part of the water. The following is a vivid account of the instruction in this regard, which reminds one of a modern laboratory lecture:
VI - (12) -1-3.
"How are we to gain knowledge of the Sat, which is imperceptible?" is the next question.
VI - (14) -1-3
Like unto that of a man blindfolded and carried away by robbers from his own country is man's condition. The folds of cloth over his eyes being removed by a friend, he recovers the use of his eyes and slowly finds his way home, step by step, enquiring at each stage. So also, the good teacher instructs the seeker of Truth and helps him to unloose his bonds of desire, and saves him from the robbers. The robbers are his past deeds that brought him to this condition. Recovering his sight as soon as the desires and attachments that blind his vision are removed, he finds his way to the Sat. Thereafter, it is only a matter of waiting for natural death.
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