ISHA-UPANISHAD
First of all, let’s know as to what Upanishads are. Upanishads are teachings or explanations of the vedic hymns by the vedic scholars to their disciples. Considering popularity of these books, many books named Upanishads have been written in the modern times. As such, now number of books, being called Upanishads have crossed one hundred but thoughts contained in these new books are very much different from that of the vedaas. Only ten or eleven Upanishads are considered to be authenticate ones. Ishopanishad is one of them.
Ishopanishad explains nature of Ishwar, Jiv and Prakriti, nature of karmas or actions, pap, punya, mukti, duties, nishkaam karmas, knowledge, ignorance, the correlation between all these, the method to obviate pains and sorrows. This Upanishad is named as ‘Isha’ because its first mantra starts with the word ‘Isha’. As God lives in this whole universe, in the same way, whole of this Upanishad talks of God in its different facets.
First Mantra– ईशावास्यमिदम् to स्विद्धनम्
Meaning of this Mantra–
- Everything of the universe changes and God is present in everything.
- Use everything of this universe with a feeling of detachment. Be contented and not be greedy.
- Do not be greedy. To which person did this money or property stick? That is, money did not stick to any person forever.
Explanation—
1 Everything of the universe changes and God is present in everything.
In Sanskrit language, universe is called ‘jagat’, which means moving. Everything of this universe is moving. Whatever we feel through our senses (sounds, sights et cetra) do not ever remain constant, that is, for example, we do not see the same sight in all the 24 hours of the day or in other words, we see numerous sights in a particular period of time. This happens because everything of the universe is moving. We are moving even when we are sitting still or sleeping. When this earth of ours is moving in its orbit at a speed of approximately 1040 miles per hour, then how can we call ourselves to be at rest or ‘non-moving’? Even hills are ever moving. They are called constant or still only with respect to their surroundings.
It is true that everything of this universe is moving but speed of movement of everything is not same. We can notice this fact in things of our daily usage. Minute-hand of a clock moves faster than hour-hand and slower than second-hand of the clock. Had all the things been moving at the same speed, we would not have been able to judge their movement at all. Pay some concentration to understand this concept. Suppose, you are going somewhere in a train with your luggage. Your luggage appears to be still or at rest because it and the train are moving at the same speed. Hence, it is established that we are able to feel the movement of things only because of difference in their speeds of movement otherwise, we fail to notice any movement in them.
When we know that speeds of movement of different things is different, then we must contemplate over the reason behind the difference in their speeds. If minute-hand and hour-hand of a clock are interchanged, then we see that minute-hand, which was earlier moving faster than hour-hand has started running slower than hour-hand. This shows that speeds of the hands are not their own but have come from some external source. Speed of everything of this universe is changeable. Had the speeds of their movements be their own, it would not have been possible to change their speeds. The external source, which is the reason of movements in the things of this universe is called God or ‘Ish’. God changes the worldly things but it itself is un-changing.
Movement is also called change. We hear also, that everything of this world is changing continuously, that is, nothing remains in the same state forever. They go on changing every fraction of a second. Even if a thing is stationary at a place, it changes with respect to time and state.
But the thing, which produces movement in the worldly things is itself non-moving. Why shouldn’t we believe that the thing, which produces movement in the worldly things is also moving? Movement is there, only because of some sort of imperfection. The very meaning of movement is to go from one place or state or time to another. What sort of imperfection in God be thought of? At which place is God not present? At what time is God not present? What state can God be desirous of attaining? Even the idea that movement in God is because of some external element, does not resolve the issue. Since, if a thing changes because of some external element, then it will be said to be weaker than the external element but it would not be possible to accept God weaker than another thing. We can make changes in the weaker things only. Things, more powerful than us cannot be changed by us. This shows that power has some relation with change. This further connotes that power refers to ability to make changes. Now, some people may raise the question that how can a non-moving or unchanging thing make changes in other things? This question is totally wrong because change or movement of a thing means movement of the things with respect to place, time or state and this thing can be done only by a thing, which itself is non-moving. Hence, it is proved that God or Ish is non-moving or unchanging.
Reaching at this conclusion resolves many issues. God is called all powerful. Many people believe that since God is all powerful, He can do whatever He likes. He can be with body, without body, may or may not take birth et cetra. If this happens, then we will have to place ‘Ish’ in the category of moving objects, because it is natural only for the worldly things to change but not for ‘Ish’. Earlier we linked power with ability to make changes. A thing to be infinitely powerful must be infinitely changeless. He is all-powerful and not all-moving. Now, to be able to make changes in other things, He should have a good contact with the things, in which He is to make changes. A thing, which is to have changes cannot be away from the thing, which is to make changes. As such, Ved says that because of changing character of the worldly things, it is necessary that the entity responsible for such changes is present in every particle of worldly things. It is because of the attribute of omnipresence of God that He could create this universe and be omniscient and all powerful.
2 Use everything of this universe with a feeling of detachment. Be contented and do not be greedy.
If this world is ever changing, then what should be our behavioural approach towards it? It would be understandable by even illiterate person that our relation with changing things cannot be changeless or ever-lasting or perfect. But all the things of this world have been created for us. As such, it is not possible that these worldly things are not used by us. But what is the method by which we make use of the worldly things and at the same time move towards the unchangeable entity? The method is-to use the worldly things with detachment. Whatever we may do to keep our body at a particular place, time or state, it changes. We wanted our milk-teeth to remain but they left us, we wanted to maintain the other teeth in their original condition, again we failed. Because of this, it is said that we should make up our mind in such a way that we should use the worldly things accepting their nature to change and such sort of mentality is possible only if we use the worldly things with detachment. This means, we should use the worldly things as a mean only to fulfill our purpose and after attaining the purpose, those worldly things should lose their significance for us. For understanding ‘detachment’, the best example is that of path. We move on path only if, we place our one foot forward and immediately thereafter, we detach our back foot from the path and place it ahead of our front foot. If we do not do this, then the very purpose of path becomes meaningless, since in that case, it will not be possible for the path to take us to our destination. After reaching the destination, only a fool will like to remain in the train, bus et cetra, which are only the means of travelling and not the places to live in. If we understand that all worldly things are only means, then our behavioural approach towards these, also changes and we do not like to cling to them after these things have served their purpose. Such persons cannot be greedy.
3 Do not be greedy. To which person did this money or property stick? that is, money did not stick to any person forever.
Only that person, who does not understand the value of spending money, will like to accumulate money. One, who has understood that value of money is in spending and not in accumulating will instead of loving money will love the thing or things, which money can buy. Likewise one, who understands that train is valuable only uptill the time, it takes him to his destination, will like to sit in the train for the time needed to reach the destination. Train is not for any particular person, but for all those passengers, whose destination is same. Likewise, this money or property belongs to no particular person. At one time, it is of farmer, at another time it is of fruit seller. As such, we should leave greediness.
Second Mantra-कुर्वन्नेवेह to लिप्यते नरे।
Meaning of this Mantra—Man should wish for active life of hundred years. So acting, actions will not produce bondage. This is the only way to obviate bondage.
Explanation—In the previous mantra, we have been advised to use the worldly things with detachment. Using the worldly things is nothing but doing actions. Here, in this Mantra, only those actions or karmas have been talked of, which do not produce bondage. Though, every movement is action but all movements cannot be called karmas. As such, movement of the Earth, celestial bodies et cetra are not called karmas. An action to be called karam must be performed by a living body and with an intention. Such karmas may or may not produce bondage. For example. theft is a karam and is bound to be the cause of bondage. What does bondage of karmas mean? There is a basic principle of karmphal philosophy that no karam goes without yielding its fruit. All the incidents of our present life are the fruits of our earlier actions and present actions. Our karmas need be such that they fail to yield fruits in the shape of worldly incidents. This mantra specifies the karmas, which do not produce bondage. What are such karmas? How can we differentiate such karmas from others? How can we get the mastery over the art of doing, only such karmas? This mantra talks of the karmas done with detachment. In vedic philosophy, karmas done with a sense of attachment with their objects are called sakaam karmas, which bind us and karmas done with a sense of detachment with their objects are called nishkaam karmas and such karmas do not bind us.
Any karm can be sakaam, that is, having worldly objective or nishkaam, that is, having non-worldly objective. Nature of karmas depend upon the mentality of the doer. A karam is sakaam to the extent of presence of selfishness in it. We should practice doing karmas with the absence of selfishness in them. Only practice can make it possible that we do all the karmas with detachment and be free from the bondage of birth and death.
Third Mantra-असुर्या to जनाः
Meaning of this Mantra—The persons, who kill their selves, after death take birth in those races, which are very low as compared to human beings and which are full of darkness.
Explanation—This mantra can be divided into three parts:
- The persons, who kill their selves
- The races, which are very low as compared to human beings
- The races full of darkness
Previous mantra talked of karmas, by doing of which, we can escape from the bondage of birth and death. It has been mentioned there as to what sort of karmas bind us and what sort of karmas free us. We do not progress by doing the karmas, which bind us. Such sort of karmas slowly and slowly kill us. Here in this mantra, the persons, who do such sort of karmas, have been called as killers of their selves.
For understanding the second part of this mantra, we need to know the criterion by which, high or low level of races is decided.
By doing of karmas full of selfishness, we tend to destroy our independence and strengthen dependence. One is free to the extent others are dependent on him. In a country, most independent is that person, whose existence is considered essential by his countrymen. Only that person is the actual king of the country, who rules the hearts of his countrymen. He is able to achieve this by placing welfare of his countrymen in the centre of all of his karmas. Sakaam karmas or karmas, which are full of selfishness bring slavery and slavery is death. To better understand this concept, take an example. Suppose, you have a servant, who is paid for his services. But if he refuses to accept money or other benefits for his services, then you will develop regard for him and will not call him servant. You call him ‘servant’ only because his karmas are full of selfishness. His taking pay is his selfishness because if you do not pay him, he will not work. But if he does not accept pay or other benefit of any kind and continues to give his services, then the position will be totally different. He will be the master and you will be his slave. Slavery is like killing of soul. If one wants his self to realise his eternalness and be free from the bondage of birth and death, he should consciously make all his karmas revolve around welfare of others.
Why is slavery considered to be death? There is an English proverb-‘slave-race is a dead-race’. There is a philosophical meaning behind it. A slave race does as it is told to do by its master. It cannot refuse to do according to wishes of its master. It behaves like an inert object. Only a living thing can have the options to do a karma, not to do that or to do that in a different way. A slave does not have these options before him and as such, he is considered as dead or non-living.
Now the question remains as to what happens after death to the persons, who kill their souls?
This upanishad says that such persons take birth after death, in the races which are very low as compared to human beings. What are these races and what is their connection with killing of soul?
Our future is dependent on our present since, sanskaaras or impressions of our present actions or karmas get stored in our souls. These sanskaaras become foundation of our would-be nature. If today, you practice singing, then tomorrow you can become a singer and not a swimmer and if, today you practice swimming, then it will not help you in becoming a mathematician. Tomorrow, you will become what you are trying to do today. A person, who has done all his karmas with selfishness during whole of his life shall become likewise in future also.
What is the purpose of making races of birds, animals, insects et cetra? There is a great difference between good and bad. Conversion of badness into goodness does not happen automatically, but it is a long process running in many births. The races of birds, animals, insects et cetra are a part of this process. For diseased eyes, light is harmful and darkness is advantageous. How can the races of birds, animals, insects et cetra be advantageous for souls? Animal-races have two properties-One is un-knowledge, that is, अज्ञान in Hindi and the other is short-memory. Animal is selfish. Knowledge of animal is limited to his self or in other words, he is ignorant of the knowledge beyond that but his selfishness is limited only. A lion can kill 2-4 beings at a time but like human beings cannot make weapons, which kill lakhs of beings at one time. Then, there are many hurdles in fulfilling selfishness of animals. Their power is very limited. Because of short-memory, the sansakaaras, that is, impressions of their bad actions fade away very soon. These two properties are seen in children also. Because of existence of these two properties in animals, the bad inclinations go on diminishing and when again these souls receive human-bodies, they get just opportunity to develop good inclinations. The purpose of these races will be better understood through an example. Suppose, there is a boy, who is fond of playing cricket. Because of his habit of playing, he is unable to concentrate himself in studies. He is slave of his habit. If somehow, it could be possible to make him free of his bad habit, it would be much easier for him to have advancement in studies. These animal-races do such sort of work.
What do we mean by lower level of races? These races refer to birds, animals, insects et cetra. A race is called lower or higher with respect to its ability to do its karmas solely for their own selves or for welfare of others. In a human being, his ability to do his karmas for welfare of others or solely for his own self remains in his soul in seed form. Any of these abilities can be developed. If we develop the ability of doing our karmas for welfare of others, then we become men in real sense of the term otherwise we pave our way to lower races. A human body is a good example of doing actions for the sake of others. Eyes see for the mouth and mouth eats for the eyes.
How the races of birds, animals, insects et cetra are covered with darkness? These races can do their karmas solely for their own selves and do not have the ability to do their karmas for welfare of others. As such, these races do not possess the opportunity for development by doing their karmas for welfare of others. Animals do all their karmas for their own selves. They do not possess their families. Mothers do take care of their children but, only for a little time. After that, even love of mother cannot be developed further. In a family, country, race et cetra, there can be some scope for doing karmas for welfare of others but these races do not possess any of these. As such, these races are called full of darkness. As, there are different categories of animals, that is, ant and tiger cannot be placed in the same category, in the same way, there are different categories of darkness.
The meaning of this mantra can be summarized as-‘If after death we do not want to go in the races of birds, animals, insects et cetra, then in the present lives we should strengthen our habit of doing our karmas not for ourselves but for welfare of others.’
Fourth Mantra– अनेजदेकं to दधाति
Meaning of this Mantra—He is one, He is non-moving and runs faster than ‘मन’ or mind. He is not the subject of senses or in other words, He cannot be felt through sense-organs. He is non-moving but still remains ahead of all moving objects. Souls should dedicate their karmas to Him only.
Explanation—In this mantra, first thing, which has been told is that God is one. For being one, it is essential for Him to be non-moving. The entity, which is omnipresent can be one and not two. How is it possible for a thing, which is omnipresent to be moving? Because, for a thing to move, space is needed where that thing is not present, that is, a thing can move from a place, where it is present to a place, where it is not. Following three principles are there:
- A thing, which is not present anywhere cannot move.
- Also a thing, which is present everywhere cannot move.
- Only that thing can move, which is present at one place and absent at another place.
If a person wants to be free from the bondage of birth and death, then he is required to meditate over eternal and omnipresent or non-moving entity. Generally, human mind is occupied by non-eternal entities. ‘मन’ is said to be the fastest thing in this world. Speed of ‘मन’ is much more than that of light, which travels at a speed of around two lakh kilometers per second. How can we put breaks on such ‘मन’? What is that thing, which can defeat ’मन’ and put breaks on it? ‘मन’ will accept its defeat only from a thing, which is faster than it. Only that thing, which is present everywhere can be faster than ‘मन’. God, for being omnipresent is said to be faster than ‘मन’. Wherever ‘मन’ will go, God will be there already. It, that is, ‘मन’ will find non-moving entity, which is called God in all the moving things, it may meditate over. It is not possible to find the end of this entity named God. Subjects of senses are the things of this world and this world has been said to be ever changing. Even very intelligent men can know only a part of Him. Suppose, there is a very intelligent teacher. Students find new and new things by putting a lot of hard-work. But the things, which are new for the students are old for the teacher. He knows them already. Same state is prevalent among intelligent men and God. The knowledge, which is attained by intelligent men by great effort is already there in God because of His nature of omnipresence. God is much ahead of them because they move whereas He does not move. Where they reach after great running, He is there already.
How is all this relevant for our being free from the bondage of birth and death? To avoid ourselves after death from going into races lower than human beings, we need to meditate over an entity, which does not do anything at all for His own self. God is present in all the movements of this universe but these movements are not for Him but for souls. As such, if we dedicate all our karmas to Him, then we are able to make all our karmas devoid of selfishness. We should do our duties for the sake of duties and should not expect anything in return. But it is not possible to do anything without expecting anything in return. When it is said not to expect anything in return of karmas, then by expectations we mean only, worldly gains. Expecting non-worldly gains is nothing else than bringing in ourselves nature of God of doing all karmas for others. What is duty? Duty is doing all our acts not for our own selves but for the smooth running of the great machine named universe. This is possible only if we, realising that we are just the components of the great machine named universe, synchronise all our acts with the objective of the universe.
Fifth Mantra– तदेजति to बाह्यतः
Meaning of this Mantra—He Himself remains motionless but makes the other things move. He is near as well as far. He is present inside as well as outside everything.
Explanation—In this mantra, seemingly opposite attributes have been mentioned to be present in God. There is a difference between opposite attributes and seemingly opposite attributes. Let’s first clarify this difference. There is a notion among people that if God is kind, then, he cannot bring misery to the people by penalising them. Actually, kindness and penalising only seem to be opposite whereas there is a great coordination between these two. How? Utility of hospitals and ‘sentence-homes’ cannot be discarded or ignored by anyone. Hospitals act as ‘sentence-homes’ for bad bacteria, virus et cetra and ‘sentence-homes’ are hospitals, where the men responsible for bringing diseases in the society are treated. As intelligent people are duty-bound to find out the coordination between secrets of universe, we too should find out the coordination among these seemingly opposite attributes.
First thing, which has been told in this mantra is-
God is non-moving but is the cause of movement in all worldly things. This point has been explained in detail in the explanation to first mantra. However related excerpts from the said explanation are given below:
‘change or movement of a thing means moving that thing with respect to place, time or state and this thing can be done only by a thing, which itself is non-moving. Earlier we linked power with ability to make changes. A thing to be infinitely powerful must be infinitely changeless.’
God causes movement in everything (living as well as non-living) existing in this world. Bringing movement in inert or non-living objects is understandable but what do we mean when we say that God brings changes or movements in living objects, that is, souls? Generation of feelings of joy, happiness, enthusiasm, fear, shamefulness et cetra in a soul on his thinking of doing a good or bad act is the only way whereby God guides the soul towards attainment of his ultimate objective. On understanding these feelings, soul can go forward for doing a good act and refrain himself from doing a bad act.
Second thing, which has been told in this mantra is-
God is near as well as far. This point too has been explained in the explanation to first mantra of this Upanishad. However, related excerpts from the said explanation are given below:
‘to be able to make changes in other things, He should have a good contact with the things, in which He is to make changes. A thing, which is to have changes cannot be away from the thing, which is to make changes. As such, Ved says that because of changing character of the worldly things, it is necessary that the entity responsible for such changes is present in every particle of worldly things.’
A thing can be near or far from the angle of place, time and knowledge. Let’s understand this concept through an example. If son and father are residing at different places, then distance between them is because of place. If father had died, then distance between son and father is because of time. Since father existed in a time different from that of son. If both son and father exist in the same time and place but still do not recognize each other, then distance between them is said to be because of knowledge. Since, God pervades all the things of the universe, He is the nearest to the souls. But for the souls, who do not recognize Him, He is said to be far.
Third thing, which has been told in this mantra is-
God is present inside as well as outside everything. Above, we have explained that God pervades everything of this world. But this world has an end or a boundary. If God is present only in the world, then He too should have an end. But He is present outside this world also. He is so huge that His hugeness has no end. His hugeness is like sky. Entity of God is similar to sky, wherein a bird flies in all the directions from here to there but in the end he has to settle down without finding an end of sky.
Many theists have objections in accepting that God is present in filthy things. Is God present in dirty and filthy things also? Yes! As electricity retains its purity while being present in impure things, similarly, God remains sacred on pervading dirty and filthy things. Many intelligent people have the notion that God is above all worldly things, He has nothing to do with its creation and He does not interfere in our worldly affairs. This notion is totally wrong. He has created this world for the sole purpose of souls-for making them enjoy the fruits of their actions and for giving the souls an opportunity to enjoy His bliss. He controls all living and non-living things, existing in this world. In doing all these, He does not allow His nature to get distorted. On this subject, a very good example has been cited in Kad-upanishad. It says that as the Sun, which is eye of this world, is not affected by any disease of the eye, in the similar way, soul, who lives in a body is not affected by any deformity or disease of the body.
Sixth Mantra-यस्तु to विचिकित्सति
Seventh Mantra-यस्मिन to एकत्वमनुपश्यतः
Meaning of sixth Mantra—A person, who feels all other beings in great soul (God) and feels great soul in all other beings, gets free from all sorts of doubts.
Meaning of seventh Mantra—Sorrow and attachment moves away from a person, who feels oneness in all beings by considering them nothing but souls.
Explanation—Man faces three sorts of problems-one is doubt, second is attachment and the third is sorrow. Here, in these mantras these problems have been talked of with a solution. Problem of doubt refers to problem of choosing one among several options. Man faces all the time questions as to what is his duty?, what is not his duty?, which path is to be followed?, which path is not to be followed? et cetra but animals do not have such sort of problem as they have only one option before them. Animal races are for fading away the bad sansakaaras or tendencies, which are hurdles in development whereas human race is for moving on the path of development. Let’s make this concept clear through an example. Suppose, there is a traveller, who is ill. Because of his illness, he cannot move forward on the path. He can move forward, only if his illness is cured. After being cured, he will have two options before him-one is to move forward on his path and the second is not to carry out his journey. But before being cured of his illness, he had only one option before him. This example is good for understanding the spirit of the concept. Actually, opportunity of choosing among the different options is a blessing to human beings. This way, man can use his intelligence and dutifulness. Had there been only one option before him, he would not have had the opportunity for development of his intellect. As such, ‘doubt’ raises the inspiration for increase in knowledge. For this reason, it is said that one should know as to what is ‘doubt’ and what are the circumstances, which give rise to ‘doubt’.
Second problem is that of ‘attachment’. Some people consider ‘love’ and ‘attachment’ to be synonyms. But there is a great difference between these two terms. Love is ‘attachment’ with knowledge and as such in ‘love’, there is total unselfishness. One, who is attached does not know his own nature and his relation with the other beings. All the credit for downgrading love goes to poets and writers. Today, one, who is attached to someone is called lover.
Third problem is that of ‘sorrow’. Why does one become sorrowful? When one runs after an imaginary thing and fails to obtain the same, ‘sorrow’ grips him.
Solution to all these three problems is understanding one’s own position in this world and feeling ‘oneness’ of different things present in it. These two mantras tell that the person, who feels all beings in God and God in all beings or feels that whole of this world is soul only and understands ‘oneness’ of all beings, does not get the problems of ‘doubt’, ‘attachment’ and ‘sorrow’.
Now, what is this ‘oneness’. Let’s understand it through an example. Suppose, there is a machine having various parts of different sizes et cetra. Purpose of the machine does not get fulfilled untill and unless all the various parts do not move towards running the machine for attainment of its purpose, forgetting differences among them. In this sense, we can say that there is ‘oneness’ in various parts of the machine despite differences among them. This world, too, is like a machine and different beings are nothing but its parts. God is creator of this world and He pervades in all the beings. As such, it would not be wrong to say that He is present in the purpose of creation of this world. One, who understands all these and brings ‘oneness’ in his purpose and purpose of creation of this world, cannot have ‘doubt’, ‘attachment’ and ‘sorrow’.
Eighth Mantra– स to समाभ्यः
Meaning of this Mantra—God is all-pervasive, pure, body-less, sinless, poet, very intelligent, base of others and is reason for His own existence. He has provided different things to the beings perfectly in accordance with their earnings.
Explanation—As souls pervade their respective bodies, in the same way God pervades whole of the universe. Subjects of the world are able to control the souls because of their bodies only, for instance, had there not been an eye, soul would not have moved away from his duties because of attraction towards beauty of different sights. But the concept of pervasiveness has given rise to a doubt. Doubt is-as soul, being pervasive in whole of the body is affected by the physical actions of the body, is God too, in the same way, affected by the movements of this universe? If God happens to be affected by the movements of this universe, then God cannot be such a thing, knowing of which can solve our problems of ‘doubt’, ‘attachment’ and ‘sorrow’. Clearly, we mean to say that God is such a thing, which being pervasive in all the good and bad things of the universe remains unaffected from characteristics of such things. We see such sort of examples in the world also. Electricity and sun-rays are not affected in any way by the medium, they pass through or the things on which they fall.
Though, this body is only an instrument of the soul but soul for all its physical knowledge is dependent on various senses of the body. If one or more of these senses are injured, to that extent soul’s development is hampered. Had there been similar relation between this universe and God, then injury in one segment of the universe would have had its effect in God also. But this is not the case with universe and God. God is not dependent on anything for His acts like man. Man’s writing is bound to be affected on development of any defect in his pen but God does not require any instrument for his acts. For this reason, he is said to be one, who is able to do all His acts without any external help. But at the same time, He is the base of activities of others.
There is a notion among certain people that since God pervades this universe like soul pervades its body, then this universe can be called to be the body of God. When it is said that Sun and Moon are eyes of this world, then such people imagine that God sees through these eyes in the same way as man do. Also, they imagine in God the activities similar to man. Because of this mentality, such people happen to feel the need of food, wife, children, praise et cetra for God too. Instead of inspiring man to follow God, they imagine that God follows man. This notion has developed because of not understanding the spirit of the simile used with regard to pervasiveness of God. Because of this notion theists develop shortcomings in them, which are often laughed at. Such sort of notions gain ground because man satisfies himself with insufficient reasoning.
Only that person, who understands Him to be pure, body-less, sinless, knowledgeable, base of all and not requiring any external help gets free from the problems of ‘doubt’, ‘attachment’ and ‘sorrow’.
Now, a question arises that if God does not have any requirement of any sort, then why does He create this universe? Some people believe that since life is possible in less than a thousand million millionth part of the whole space, it is difficult to believe that this universe has been created for development of souls. As such, they say that either it should be agreed that this universe has not been created for development of souls or the creator of this universe is not an intelligent being since a person desirous of opening a school for ten pupils will not build the school in lakhs of acres. In reply to this, we may say that modern scientists have found out the hugeness of this universe but they are still to find out the hugeness of life. We can understand the utility of the hugeness of this universe on thinking of many needs of many souls. If we consider our intellect to be small, then we are faced with two options-one is to believe that this universe is meaningless and the other is to believe that though this universe is meaningful but, we are not able to understand the actual utility of it. Out of these two options, second one is more reasonable. Here, it is pertinent to mention an instance. Once, an European stayed in the village of backward race ‘Baddu’ in Africa. One morning, when he was strolling before his tent, Baddus started laughing at him and thought that he was insane. They failed to understand that strolling, too, could have a purpose. In the same way, we are not able to understand the purpose of creation of this universe. On seeing this universe, two thoughts can come to us. One is-this universe has a purpose and should find out that purpose. The second is-there is no purpose of this universe. Out of these two, which option is scientific?
Ninth Mantra– अन्धं to रताः
Tenth Mantra– अन्यदेवाहुः to विचचक्षिरे
Eleventh Mantra– सम्भूतिं to सम्भूत्याअमृतमश्नुते
Meaning of ninth Mantra—Those, who worship death meet darkness and those, who worship world meet even darker ends.
Meaning of tenth Mantra—we have listened it from the learned fellows, who have explained it for us that knowledge of death and knowledge of world bring different ends.
Meaning of eleventh Mantra—He, who has obtained knowledge of death or dissolution and knowledge of the world simultaneously crosses the ocean of death with the knowledge of death or dissolution and goes beyond death to enjoy unending bliss with the knowledge of the world.
Explanation—In the previous mantra, it has been said that God has allotted different inert objects to different beings perfectly in accordance with their acts or karmas. This allotment is creation of universe. There are two notions regarding universe.
Since, everything of the world perishes or has an end, all worldly things have been ill-treated by many sects. They have the notion that since death is the ultimate reality, a spiritual person should altogether withdraw himself from worldly things. In these mantras, such persons, have been said to be worshipers of ‘death’. Such people consider every worldly act like building a house, earning money et cetra to be meaningless. If every worldly act should be abandoned, then what should be done? Should we not think of life and instead start worshiping death? If we become a little thoughtful, we can realise that teachings of all the prevalent sects are for death and not for life. Mentality of such persons can better be understood through an example. Once, a person said to a Christian saint Agastyan, “You believe that marriage is a sin. But without this institution, whole of the world will come to an end.” The saint replied, “It would be better. Less sinners will be born and God will have less sinners in His hell.” He should have been asked that if this was the objective, then God could have fulfilled this objective by non-creation of this world. Actually, such sort of mentality has generated inability in man to enjoy the beauty of this world.
Second type of people are those, who consider this world as everything. They are not able to think beyond this world. Every day, they see men dying but still consider that they themselves will never die. It is not that such people have proved by logic that this world is eternal. They are not at all concerned with its eternalness or non-eternalness. Most of the people of this world have such sort of mentality.
This upanishad says that the people, who consider all worldly things as meaningless meet nothing but darkness and the people, who consider this world as everything meet even darker ends.
To understand this concept of the upanishad, we take the help of an example. Suppose, one master sends his servant for two months to another place to carry out a work there. This servant can have three types of mentalities. One- As I am not to stay in this city for long, it would be better if I stay at railway platform itself. When I am not going to stay in this city, it would be worthless to develop any relations with the natives of the city. I must wait earnestly for the time, when I go back. Two- City is good. I should develop relations with the natives of the city, marry and settle down here. If the master asks for coming back, I will put his such letters in dustbin. Three- Though, my stay in this city is only for two months, I should live well and complete the work for which I have been sent. As such, I must pile up all those resources, which are necessary for completion of my work so that my coming to the city does not happen to be a waste. If you happen to be master of such a servant, then, you will undoubtedly neglect the first two mentalities of the servant and will opt for the third mentality. First mentality of the servant is bad because in this mentality, the work does not get completed but second mentality of the servant is worse in the sense that because of this, not only the work does not get completed but also one loses the servant.
No doubt, worshipers of death save themselves from getting unnecessarily engrossed in worldly affairs and as a result, get less grief on death but such people are full of negativity. They are just like a traveller, who is forced to alight on a railway station and who is determined not to enter the city and who wants to go back as soon as possible. Such people consider this world as non-eternal and useless. It is true that this world is non-eternal but it is not true that this world is useless or does not have any objective. We have come in this world to fulfill a specific task. Had this world been meaningless, God would not have created it. People call this world meaningless, useless and like a dream because of their foolishness.
If, knowledge of death or dissolution and that of the world are had simultaneously, then, one becomes free from the fear of death on having the knowledge of death, that is, knowing about the dissolution of all worldly things and thereafter, on having the knowledge of the world, that is knowing about the objective of creation goes beyond death and enjoys endless bliss.
Twelfth Mantra– अन्धंतमः to रताः
Thirteenth Mantra– अन्यदेवाहुर्विद्याया to विचचक्षिरे
Fourteenth Mantra– विद्यां to विद्ययाअमृतमश्नुते
Meaning of twelfth Mantra—Worshipers of un-knowledge meet darkness and worshipers of knowledge meet even darker ends.
Meaning of thirteenth Mantra—we have listened from the learned fellows, who have explained it for us that knowledge of un-knowledge and knowledge of knowledge bring different ends.
Meaning of fourteenth Mantra—He, who has obtained true knowledge of knowledge and true knowledge of un-knowledge simultaneously frees himself from the fear of death from the knowledge of un-knowledge and obtains ultimate endless bliss from the knowledge of knowledge.
Explanation—These mantras are a maze. It is somewhat understandable that worshipers of un-knowledge meet darkness but why it is so that worshipers of knowledge meet even darker ends? Here, it is not ‘un-knowledge’ and ‘knowledge’ but ‘knowledge of un-knowledge’ and ‘knowledge of knowledge’, which enables a person to cross the ocean of death and obtain bliss respectively.
In general terms knowing of a thing is called ‘knowledge’ and not knowing of a thing is called ‘un-knowledge’. But the question is –how to obtain ‘knowledge of knowledge’ and ‘knowledge of un-knowledge’? First of all, we ponder over as to what is ‘knowledge of knowledge’ and what is ‘knowledge of un-knowledge’?
Un-knowledge is present in all the fools and inert objects. With respect to a thing of which I have no knowledge, I am as much un-knowledgeable as my chair on which I am presently sitting but my ‘knowledge of un-knowledge’ cannot be equated with that of my chair. Actually, knowledge and un-knowledge are two sides of the same coin. How? Let us consider ‘science of medicine’. First part of this science refers to the ways and means of staying healthy and the second part of it deals with causes of various diseases and their treatments. In the same way, ultimate bliss cannot be attained on having ‘knowledge of knowledge’ only. Both of these, that is ‘knowledge of knowledge’ and ‘knowledge of un-knowledge’ should be obtained simultaneously for being eligible to obtain bliss.
If we try to find out the reasons of failures of the persons in the history of human beings, then at the base of all such reasons, we will see that these people failed to figure out the circumstances correctly. Such follies occurred because-these people did not contemplate the reasons behind their un-knowledge. Generally, people pay heed to the effects of un-knowledge but they do not think of the reasons of such un-knowledge. A person, who has ‘knowledge of un-knowledge’ knows what un-knowledge is?, how does it generate?, how can it be destroyed?, how the knowledge of un-knowledge be had? and what is the benefit of having ‘knowledge of un-knowledge’?
Now, can there be anyone in the world, who loves darkness or un-knowledge and hates light or knowledge? Yes! Worshipers of un-knowledge are those people, who consider unveiling the mysteries of this universe to be bad. Such people consider science and religion to be opposite to each other. Actually, this universe is God’s flawless book. There is a great coordination between principles propounded by different religious books and practicality of those principles as seen in the universe. If there is difference between these two, then, since, it is not possible to throw out the universe, the principles given by the religious books are accepted. On the contrary, the religious books should be abandoned on being against the evidences offered by universal incidents. This mantra says that the people, who feel that knowledge of un-knowledge should not be had meet darkness.
Some learned fellows, refer to karmas done without knowledge at the place of knowledge of un-knowledge and explain the meaning of this part of the mantra as -worshipers of karmas, done without knowledge meet darkness.
Now, comes the second part of the mantra, which says a very strange thing that worshipers of knowledge meet even darker ends. How? Knowledgeable persons get a feeling that whatever they know is ultimate and nothing is beyond what they know. In that respect they become egoistic and such sort of persons fail to accept the very spirit of science and negate the truth that knowledge is endless. Further, such people do a great harm to the society out of their this mentality.
Our learned fellow friends, who drew the meaning of karmas without knowledge from the word ‘avidhya’ (अविद्या in Hindi) explain this part of the mantra as ‘worshipers of knowledge, not followed by respective or corresponding karmas meet even darker ends. Their taking the meaning of karmas without knowledge from the word avidhya (अविद्या in Hindi) is not at all against the spirit of Sanskrit language.
After, telling about shortcomings of these two types of people. Second mantra of this set says that effects of knowledge of un-knowledge and that of knowledge of knowledge are different. One must understand their boundaries with respect to one another. Third Mantra says that on obtaining the knowledge of un-knowledge and knowledge of knowledge, simultaneously, one becomes free from the fear of death for his knowledge of un-knowledge and for having the knowledge of knowledge one obtains endless bliss. Here, one should remember that not to be afraid of death and obtain bliss are two different things. Even a blind person or one, because of enthusiasm may not be afraid of death but such a person cannot get bliss.
Comparing the previous set with this set of mantras, it becomes evident that ‘worshiping death’ and having ‘knowledge of un-knowledge’ and ‘worshiping world’ and having ‘knowledge of knowledge’ have been equated.
Fifteenth Mantra-वायुरनिलममृतमथेदं to स्मर
Meaning of this Mantra—Soul is non-physical and as such is eternal. Unlike soul, this body meets an end. O soul! remember Om. Remember Him for the sake of other beings of this world. Also remember your past actions.
Explanation—All knowledge and all teachings are for soul. After mentioning about the nature of God, the nature of this world and the relation between these two, this upanishad now dwells upon soul and body. Here, in this mantra, two synonyms of soul have been used to describe his two attributes. First property is his ability to bring movement in inert objects. Untill and unless inert objects come in contact with soul, they remain motionless. Liveliness of inert objects is not their own but is borrowed from souls, for example, movement of pen and its knowledge is borrowed from the soul holding or using it. Body is nothing but closest contact of prakriti or nature with soul. Its second property is being non-physical in nature. All the worldly things are combination of elements like earth, water, fire, air and akaash or ether. But, since soul is not a combination of these elements, it is rightly called eternal.
Everyone must think over ‘what soul is?’. But generally, people are not interested in knowing as to who they are and instead they spend whole of their lives for knowing about the other things. Actually, as duties of a person are defined by the status he holds (whether a person has the duties of a peon or manager are decided by the fact if he is a peon or manager), it is not possible to know duties and rights of a soul without knowing the true nature of souls.
Some people have the notion that at the time of creation of body, God also creates a soul and combines both of these. This soul, which has been created by God remains even after death of the physical body to enjoy heaven or hell. In this notion, soul has a beginning but not an end. Vedaas are against this notion. The people, who consider souls to have been created do not understand the actual meaning of creation. Actually, creation means nothing but ‘combination’ and/or ‘dissolution’. Digging of soil is ‘dissolution’ and making a pot with that soil is ‘combination’. A thing, which is neither ‘combination’ nor ‘dissolution’ cannot be said to have been created or made. Soul, which is not a result of ‘combination’ and/or ‘dissolution’, cannot be said to have been created or made. Since, only created things have an end, it can rightly be said that soul is eternal. But the end result of this body, which is the result of combination of different elements, is to be burned so that it can go back to the elements of which it was made. With respect to the end of this body, burning has been mentioned in this mantra because, it is the only method of returning the elements of the body to their sources. It is an established fact that there is no concern of the soul with the body after it leaves it. After the soul leaves the body, it starts decomposing. It does not matter to the body whether it is buried or burnt. Also, the soul is not harmed in any way by the treatment given to the dead body. The living persons should decide as to whether the dead body should be left to decompose and be the reason of earth pollution, air pollution and various diseases or the elements, of which it was made or should be returned to their respective sources as quickly as possible. If, all the dead bodies since beginning of this creation would have been buried, then, today, there would not have been even a single inch of earth for the living people. For this reason, there is an instruction of burning the dead bodies.
After talking of the eternal nature of soul, in the second part of this mantra, soul is advised to remember God and his earlier actions. How can we know that this advice is for the soul and not for the body? The atoms of body continue to change all the time and as such it cannot have the power of reminisce. Only a thing, which does not change and is living, can remember. The knowledge obtained by seeing a thing does not remain with the eyes but is passed on to some other entity. Had that knowledge remained with eyes, eyes could not have been able to see anything else. A question arises- what is that entity to which the knowledge obtained by senses is passed on? Thinking of mind or ‘मन’ to be that entity is wrong. ‘मन’ is more restless than the senses. It is possible for the senses to remain on their subjects for some time but it is very difficult for ’मन’ to stay on a single subject for some time. Also, it is not possible for ‘मन’ to have more than one knowledge at a time. Then, who is the treasurer, who maintains the records of different information gathered by different senses and ‘मन’? Soul is that entity. All the information gathered by different senses and ‘मन’ gets stored in soul, which is living, changeless and eternal. Truly, for being able to see, we require light of lamp but lamp remains a mean of seeing and no body accepts that the seer is lamp. In the same way, a thing is remembered only on the presence of a body but body is only an instrument of remembering. Actually, a thing is remembered by the soul living in the body. Acharya Shankar is of the belief that memory is the proof of the existence of soul.
After establishing that it is soul, who remembers, we return to the advice to the soul to remember God as well as his earlier actions. When soul is eternal, his relation, too should be with an entity, which is eternal. Also, by remembering God, whose personal name is ‘Om’, soul will be able to remove his narrowness and make his heart more and more large or great. By doing away with narrowness of his heart, he will be really useful to the other beings of this world. Alongwith God, soul should remember his past karmas too. By doing this he will be able to remove the wrong tendencies, which have crept in his actions or karmas.
Sixteenth Mantra-अग्ने नय to उक्तिं विधेम
Meaning of this Mantra—O God! you are aware of our sanskaaras or tendencies, which are at the base of our actions or karmas. Accordingly, you help us escape sins, which can hinder the path of our progress. As such, we repeatedly bow down to you.
Explanation—In the previous mantra, we were instructed to remember our past karmas. How can remembering of our past help us on the path of development? This issue has been explained in this mantra. ‘Trying ourselves first’ authorises us to pray to God for help. It is only through remembering our past karmas that we can analyse our sanskaaras and try to weaken our bad sanskaaras or tendencies and strengthen or sow wanted sanskaaras. God knows all our sanskaaras. Accordingly, He knows where and how souls commit mistakes. Also, He has capacity and power to help us in weakening our bad sanskaaras or tendencies and strengthening or sowing the seeds of wanted sanskaaras. God is such a light in which we see, that is, understand the things in their true spirit. When soul remembers God, soul starts understanding the things in their true spirit and a sort of disliking develops in him towards bad sanskaaras. The best way to make a sinner leave his sins is to help him develop disliking for sins as man does sins till the time he has got liking towards the sins and remembering of God helps souls by arousing disliking for sins. Our prayer to God for helping us leave the path of sins becomes meaningful only if we too make an effort in this direction, according to our capacities and capabilities by remembering our past karmas as mentioned in the previous mantra.
Seventeenth Mantra-हिरण्मयेन to खं ब्रह्म
Meaning of this Mantra—God advises souls that truth is hidden by glittering material. Spirit of the Sun is me.
Explanation—Like children, adults, too, are wooed by the glitter of the objects without going in depth for understanding them. God advises souls not to get attracted towards outer glitter or glaze of the things. Rather, they should go deep in them and try to understand them. Then, this point has been emphasised by taking the example of the worldly sun. On seeing the sun, man bows before its shine and thinks that source of whole of light on earth is sun but it is not true. Shine, which is there in the sun is God’s. But this fact can be understood only if one goes deep in the issue by overlooking the outward shine.
-Most of the thoughts are of Pandit Gangaprasad Upadhayay
Leave A Comment