KENA UPANISHAD

ॐ आप्यायन्तु ममाङ्गानि वाक्प्राणश्चक्षु ः श्रोत्रमथो बलमिन्द्रियाणि च सर्वाणि | सर्वं ब्रह्मौपनिषदं माऽहं

ब्रह्म निराकुर्यां मा मा ब्रह्म निराकरोदनिराकरणमस्त्वनिराकरणं मे ऽस्तु | तदात्मनि निरते य उपनिषत्सु धर्मास्ते
मयि सन्तु ते मयि सन्तु ||
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ||
May my limbs, speech, vital force, eyes, ears, as also strength and all the organs, become well
developed. Everything is the Brahman revealed in the Upanishads. May I not deny Brahman; may
not Brahman deny me. Let there be no spurning of me by Brahman, let there be no rejection of
Brahman by me. May all the virtues that are spoken of in the Upanishads repose in me who am
engaged in the pursuit of the Self (Atman); may they repose in me

BRAHMAN POWERS MIND, LIFE & SENSES

ॐ केने षितं पतति प्रेषितं मनः
केन प्राणः प्रथमः प्रैति यु क्तः |
केने षितां वाचमिमां वदन्ति
चक्षु ः श्रोत्रं क उ दे वो युनक्ति ||1.1||
By whom directed does the mind directed go towards its object. By whom enjoined does the life
breath first move. By whom is this speech willed that people utter. By which deity are the eyes and
ears directed.

श्रोत्रस्य श्रोत्रं मनसो मनो यद्

वाचो ह वाचं स उ प्राणस्य प्राणः |
चक्षु षश्चक्षु रतिमु च्य धीराः
प्रेत्यास्माल्लोकादमृ ता भवन्ति ||1.2||
It is the Ear of the ear, the Mind of the mind, the Speech of speech, the Life of life, and the eye of the
eye. Therefore the wise men give up identification with their senses and having realized It become
immortal after departing from this world.

NOTES:

This Upanishad begins in the form of a question asked by a very gifted pupil to his teacher. He asks
“by whom are the mind and senses directed?”. His question implicitly contains the answer because
he is clearly implying that there is a superior entity more powerful than mind and senses that secretly
directs their workings.

It is natural for humans to think that they are nothing but the aggregate of their sense organs and
mind encased in body. The senses are seemingly programmed to always seek outwards. A mantra
from the Kathopanishad puts this fact succinctly as follows:

“The Creator has destroyed the sense organs – therefore, they man always looks outside but not to
the inner Atman. Rare is the wise man of steady understanding who desiring immortality, turns his
eyes away from the world and towards the inner Atman”

Note: The expressions “Creator has destroyed the sense-organs” must be understood as rhetoric and
not literally. The Upanishad says so because the natural outward direction of sense organs is an
obstacle to spiritual development; so in that sense the Creator has “destroyed” the sense organs..
The first mantra shows that our pupil is indeed one such wise man (dhiira) who has looked within
and has an intuition of a higher power deep inside.

In the second mantra, the Guru recognizes that his pupil is ready and qualified to hear about
Brahman and hence proceeds to instruct him. He tells him that indeed there is a more powerful entity
deep inside that supports the functioning of mind and senses. Not only that but the person who gives
up self-identification with mind and senses and hence renounces ego and attachment to worldly
pursuits has the experience of the inner Atman and by virtue of such experience becomes immortal.

The first two mantras are a summation of the message of the entire Upanishad. In order to further
enlighten the pupil and future sadhakas (aspirants) the Guru continues …..

यद्वाचाऽनभ्यु दितं ये न वागभ्यु द्यते |

तदे व ब्रह्म त्वं विद्धि नेदं यदिदमु पासते ||1.5||
That which cannot be expressed by speech but that by which speech is revealed, know that alone to
be Brahman, and not what people here worship.

यन्मनसा न मनु ते ये नाहुर्मनो मतम् |

तदे व ब्रह्म त्वं विद्धि नेदं यदिदमु पासते ||1.6||
That which mind cannot comprehend but that by which they say the mind is encompassed, know
that to be Brahman and not what people here worship.

Similarly, the next verses 1.7, 1.8 and 1.9 reiterate that the eyes, ears and sense of smell cannot
reveal Brahman; rather it is Brahman that empowers them to carry out their own functions

NOTES:
These mantras make it explicit that Brahman as the indwelling atman is the real “I”. This “I” is
eternal, unborn, undecaying and immortal. This is the Self that man must realize after going beyond
the mind and senses and live continuously in that experience.

BRAHMAN IS NOT KNOWABLE

नाहं मन्ये सु वेदेति नो न वे देति वे द च |

यो नस्तद्वे द तद्वे द नो न वे देति वे द च ||2.2||
I do not think “I know Brahman well enough”: i.e. I consider “Not that I do not know; I know and I
do not know as well.” He among us who understands the utterance, “Not that I do not know; I know
and I do not know as well”, knows Brahman.

NOTE:
In this mantra the Upanishad is trying to convey that Brahman is not an object of the world that can
be known by our mind and senses. It is impossible to describe Brahman in any human language as it
exists beyond the various categories of our understanding. Therefore Brahman can only truly known
by experience but the mind can have only some intuition of Brahman’s power and existence.

LIVING EXPERIENCE OF BRAHMAN

प्रतिबोधविदितं मतममृ तत्वं हि विन्दते |
आत्मना विन्दते वीर्यं विद्यया विन्दते ऽमृ तम् ||2.4||
Brahman is really known when It is known with (i.e. as the Self of) each state of consciousness, and
thereby one gets immortality. By one’s own Self is acquired strength (viiryam) and through Self-
knowledge is attained immortality.

NOTES:
How do we then know Brahman? This mantra answers this question. The sign of Brahman
realization is that the Bliss of Brahman is realized in every moment of one’s life. Every moment is a
testimony to the experience of Brahman. This Self-experience frees man from all fear and doubt one
attains incomparable strength of will. This is the state of jivan-mukta or liberated living person, a
direct perception that one has gone beyond life, beyond all the sorrows and joys of life and attained
immortality.

इह चे दवे दीदथ सत्यमस्ति

न चे दिहावे दीन्महती विनष्टिः |
भूतेषु भूतेषु विचित्य धीराः
प्रेत्यास्माल्लोकादमृ ता भवन्ति ||2.5||
If one has realized Brahman here, then there is Truth; if one has not realized here, then there is great
loss. The wise ones, having realized Brahman in all beings, and having renounced ego and
ownership, become immortal.

NOTES:
The Upanishad teaches that there must be a sense of urgency to adopt a spiritual way of life such that
one can experience Brahman in this very life. As it is said by Shankaracharya, “… for all beings, a
human birth is very difficult to obtain”, therefore the opportunity of current life should be utilized to
the fullest to experience Brahman, otherwise one may have to wait for countless lives to get another
opportunity of human birth until which time one has to suffer the sorrows and pains associated with
every birth.

Therefore the wise people with their eyes firmly fixed on the goal realize Brahman within
themselves and in every creature. This realization leads to the complete annihilation of past
accumulated karmas (that have not borne fruit) and also of freedom from the fruits of karma in this
life. Thus their souls become utterly free from further rebirth and attain their true and natural state of
Immortality.

PARABLE OF YAKSHA & THE GODS

The parable of Yaksha and the gods is begun to re-emphasize that it is Brahman that endows power
to all the activities in the universe and that the gods too derive their strength from Brahman.

The gods (who symbolize the power of light and knowledge) won a great victory against the asuras
(demons, the powers of darkness and ignorance). Forgetting that it was actually Brahman that had
won a victory for them, the gods became arrogant. They proclaimed that the victory was account of
their own power and glory. Brahman knew that the gods were on the wrong path and decided to
teach them a lesson.

Brahman appears before the gods in the form of a Yaksha (a divine mysterious being). The gods are
quite puzzled by this Yaksha and send Agni, the foremost amongst the gods to find out who this
Yaksha was.

Agni approaches the Yaksha full of conceit. Yaksha asks him “Who are you?”. Agni replies “I am
Agni, I am Jataveda (knower of all that is born).”. The Yaksha asks “What is your power?”. Agni
replies “I can burn everything in this world to ashes”. Yaksha places a blade of grass in front of Agni
and says “Burn this”. Agni tries with all his might but is unable to burn that single blade of grass.
Humiliated he turns back.

The gods then ask Vayu to find out about the Yaksha. Vayu too arrogantly approaches the Yaksha.
In reply to Yaksha’s question Vayu says proudly “I am Vayu. I can carry away everything in this
world by my power”. Yaksha places a blade of grass in front and says “Carry this away”. Vayu tries
with all his might but is unable to even move the single blade of grass. He too returns in humiliation.

The gods then ask their chief Indra to find out about the Yaksha. But as soon as Indra approaches the
Yaksha it vanishes. Indra persists and presently he sees before him a most charming and beautiful
woman. She is Uma Haimavati; the consort of Shiva and the daughter of the Himalayas. She tells
Indra that the Yaksha was none other than the Supreme Brahman and it was Brahman who won for
them the victory against the demons. Indra then realizes the folly of the gods and is enlightened. He
conveys this to Agni and Vayu. Therefore Indra, Agni and Vayu have a special status among the
gods as they had the great fortune of having the closest encounter with the Supreme Brahman.

In this parable Uma is the personification of Brahman-Vidya. As Shankaracharya says “She is said to
be most charming because knowledge (vidya) indeed is the most charming thing in the universe.”

This parable offers a lesson for humanity also. Man is too proud of his accomplishments and thinks
he can overpower nature. Pride and arrogance finds a ready place in the minds of people; especially
of those who have achieved success. This story should remind everyone that our abilities and
strengths are a gift from Brahman. When the immortal gods themselves are impotent without the
sanction from Brahman, who are we, mere mortals to claim ownership of our works and the fruit of
our works. Therefore man must live life in the great spirit of the teaching of Isha Upanishad – to
surrender ones ego and live his life as a offering to Ishwara who is the sole dispenser of all that we
think is ours.