Kenopanishad – 5

Upasanas, sadhanas and values

In the previous blog we saw the story which is about a battle which the Devas won over the Asuras and became elated with pride over their victory.  They did not credit their victory to the Supreme Lord, Brahman, but ‘stole’ all the glory for themselves.  To teach them a lesson, Brahman who is the Supreme Controller of every thought and action of ours, brought about an incident which humiliated the Devas, killed their pride and restored them to their divine status.  This story leads to four upasanas stated in chapter 4 in Mantras 4, 5 & 6, based on the above story where Brahman as Yaksha, the Saguna Brahman, appeared brief, brilliant and attractive, drawing attention to Himself.  Two of these upasanas are Adidaiva upasanas (Mantra 4), one Adhyatma upasana (Mantra 5) and one Guna Visishta upasana (Mantra 6).  Adidaiva upasana is one where the meditation on Iswara is done with the help of an external symbol called alambanam.  Adhyatma upasana is one where meditation on Iswara is done invoking one or more aspect of Him on one’s body or part of the body.  Guna Visishta upasana is one where the meditation is done on a particular glory of Iswara.  Through these upasanas

1)  One gets Chiththa ekagratha. single pointed focusing of mind

2)  One meditates on Brahman as the srishti, sthithi, laya karanam for this Jagat

3)  One meditates on the nityatvam of Brahman  and anityatvam of the Jagat

4) One develops Vairagya as Jagat is anityam, and so asaram, i e without substance.

The upasanas given in Mantra 4 are:

1)    Vidyut upasana- upasana on Iswara with lightning as alambanam.  Lightning which is brief, brilliant and attractive symbolizes Yaksha.  On a dark night when lightning flashes the external world is revealed for a moment, to go back into darkness again.

2)    Nimesa upasana – upasana on Iswara with winking as alambanam.  The winking is of fleeting nature and is compared to Yaksha.  The eye lights up the external world when it is open like the lightning.   The external world is shut off when it is closed, to reappear again when it opens, and stay that way until the eye closes again. This stands for srishti, sthithi and laya of Jagat, which is not permanent. 

Mantra 5 gives the third upasana, Vritti upasana- upasana on Iswara with the Vritti of the mind as alambanam.  Vritti is momentary and is compared to Yaksha.  Vriiti illuminates an object and this helps us to gain the knowledge of the object.  In deep sleep where Vrittis are absent, external world is shut off.  Further as Mantra 4 of chapter 2 pointed out Brahman as consciousness is associated with every one of our thoughts, as chithabhasa. 

Mantra 6 gives the fourth upasana, Tadvana upasana – upasana on Iswara as one endowed with all glories.  In the story it is seen that Agni’s power to burn and Vayu’s power to blow off did not work when challenged by Yaksha.   Lord Krishna emphasizes this fact  in Bhagavad Gita as follows:

Yadyad vibhootimat sattwam shreemadoorjitameva vaa I

Tattadevaavagaccha twam mama tejom’shasambhavam.II

Whatever being there is that is glorious, prosperous or powerful, that know thou to be a manifestation of a part of My splendour. (10-41)

“Whatever that is glorious, brilliant and powerful know that to be a part manifestation of my glory” says here Lord Krishna.  Sri Sankara in his commentary on Mantra 5 says “Brahman is well known by the name Tadvanam because it is the innermost self of all beings and therefore the most adorable and worshipful”  The Mantra goes on to give the benefit of the upasana on the word Tadvanam as Brahman, the most adorable and worshipful, as making  that person, the upasaka, most adorable and worshipful person by others. 

After the upasanas Guru wants to emphasise Karma yoga sadhanas and moral character that gives Chiththa Suddhi and helps one to retain and get establihed in BrahmaVidya in reply to the student’s question whether any important point is left out. We can call these Karma yoga sadhanas and values, the foundation bricks for the building of BrahmaVidya.  . They are

1)    Tapas; a life of disciplined moderation and willful self-denial.

2)    Dama; mastery over sense-organs

3)    Karma; performance of actions for inner growth, as enjoined by the Sastras

4)   Vedas; Vedic studies

5)  Satyam; a life of honesty and truthfulness  

Guru employs a simile to drive home this point.  He compares BrahmaVidya to a cow whose legs are Tapas, Dama and Karma, and its other limbs are Vedas and its abode is Satyam.  By remarking Satyam is its abode, guru stresses the importance of moral character in the pursuit of BrahmaVidya.  Swami Ranganathananda while commenting on this Mantra 8 remarks  “Spirituality is not mere scholarship; it is being and becoming, in the words of Swami Vivekananda: it is growth, development and realization.  Spiritual knowledge, unlike scholarship does not arise in the mind of man as long as it is morally impure”.  

The Upanishad concludes with Mantra 9, which makes an emphatic statement that who has acquired the knowledge of Brahman as before stated attains Jeevan Mukthi with all his karmas that result in rebirth getting destroyed, ensuring Videha Mukthi after death.

Acknowledgement

While concluding the series of blogs on Kenopanishad I wish to record my deep debt of gratitude to the speeches and writings on Kenopanishad, of:

1)    Swami Paramarthananda

2)    Swami Gurubhakthananda

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