SHREE PRAKASH
ASHRAM
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Isa
Upanishad Commentary by Swami
Parmananda This
Upanishad derives its title from the opening words Isa–vasya, “God–covered.”
The use of Isa (Lord)–a more personal name of the Supreme Being than Brahman,
Atman or Self, the names usually found in the Upanishads–constitutes one of
its peculiarities. It forms the closing chapter of the Yajur–Veda, known as
Shukla (White).Oneness of the Soul and God, and the value of both faith and
works as means of ultimate attainment are the leading themes of this
Upanishad. The general teaching of the Upanishads is that works alone, even
the highest, can bring only temporary happiness and must inevitably bind a
man unless through them he gains knowledge of his real Self. To help him
acquire this knowledge is the aim of this and all Upanishads. Isa
Upanishad Peace
Chant The
indefinite term “That” is used in the Upanishads to designate the
Invisible–Absolute, because no word or name can fully define It. A finite
object, like a table or a tree, can be defined; but God, who is infinite
and unbounded, cannot be expressed by finite language. Therefore the Rishis
or Divine Seers, desirous not to limit the Unlimited,
chose the indefinite term “That” to designate the Absolute. In the light of
true wisdom the phenomenal and the Absolute are inseparable. All existence is
in the Absolute; and whatever exists, must exist in
It; hence all manifestation is merely a modification of the One Supreme
Whole, and neither increases nor diminishes It. The Whole therefore remains
unaltered. I All this,
whatsoever exists in the universe, should be covered by the Lord. Having
renounced (the unreal), enjoy (the Real). Do not covet the wealth of any man.
We cover all things with the Lord by perceiving the Divine Presence
everywhere. When the consciousness is firmly fixed in God, the conception of
diversity naturally drops away; because the One Cosmic Existence shines
through all things. As we gain the light of wisdom, we cease to cling to the
unrealities of this world and we find all our joy in the realm of Reality. The word
“enjoy” is also interpreted by the great commentator Sankaracharya as
“protect,” because knowledge of our true Self is the greatest protector and
sustainer. If we do not have this knowledge, we cannot be happy; because
nothing on this external plane of phenomena is permanent or dependable. He
who is rich in the knowledge of the Self does not covet external power or
possession. II If one
should desire to live in this world a hundred years, one should live performing Karma
(righteous deeds). Thus thou mayest live; there is no other way. By doing
this, Karma (the fruits of thy actions) will not defile thee. If a man
still clings to long life and earthly possessions, and is therefore unable to
follow the path of Self–knowledge (Gnana–Nishta) as prescribed in the first
Mantram (text), then he may follow the path of right action (Karma–Nishta).
Karma here means actions performed without selfish motive, for the sake of
the Lord alone. When a man performs actions clinging blindly to his lower
desires, then his actions bind him to the plane of ignorance or the plane of
birth and death; but when the same actions are performed with surrender to
God, they purify and liberate him. III After
leaving their bodies, they who have killed the Self go to the worlds of the
Asuras, covered with blinding ignorance. The idea of rising to bright regions
as a reward for well–doers, and of falling into realms of darkness as a
punishment for evil–doers is common to all great religions. But Vedanta
claims that this condition of heaven and hell is only temporary; because our
actions, being
finite, can produce only a finite result. What does
it mean “to kill the Self?” How can the immortal Soul ever be destroyed? It
cannot be destroyed, it can only be obscured. Those who hold themselves under
the sway of ignorance, who serve the flesh and neglect the Atman or the real
Self, are not able to perceive the effulgent and indestructible nature of
their Soul; hence they fall into the realm where the Soul light does not
shine. Here the Upanishad shows that the only hell is absence of knowledge.
As long as man is overpowered by the darkness of ignorance, he is the slave
of Nature and must accept whatever comes as the fruit of his thoughts and
deeds. When he strays into the path of unreality, the Sages declare that he
destroys himself; because he who clings to the perishable body and regards it
as his true Self must experience death many times. IV That One,
though motionless, is swifter than the mind. The senses can never overtake
It, for It ever goes before. Though immovable, It travels faster than those
who run. By It the all–pervading air sustains all living beings. This verse
explains the character of the Atman or Self. A finite object can be taken
from one place and put in another, but it can only occupy one space at a
time. The Atman, however, is present everywhere; hence, though one may run
with the greatest swiftness to overtake It, already It is there before him. Even the
all–pervading air must be supported by this Self, since It is infinite; and
as nothing can live without breathing air, all living things must draw their
life from the Cosmic Self. V It moves
and It moves not. It is far and also It is near. It is within and also It is
without all this. It is near to those who have the power to understand It,
for It dwells in the heart of every one; but It seems far to those whose mind
is covered by the clouds of sensuality and self– delusion. It is within,
because It is the innermost Soul of all creatures; and It is without as the
essence of the whole external universe, infilling it like the all–pervading
ether. VI He who sees
all beings in the Self and the Self in all beings, he never turns away from
It (the Self). VII He who
perceives all beings as the Self’ for him how can there be delusion or grief,
when he sees this oneness (everywhere) ? He who
perceives the Self everywhere never shrinks from anything, because through
his higher consciousness he feels united with all life. When a man sees God
in all beings and all beings in God, and also God dwelling in his own Soul,
how can he hate any living
thing? Grief and delusion rest upon a belief in diversity,
which leads to competition and all forms of selfishness. With the realization
of oneness, the sense of diversity vanishes and the cause of misery is
removed. VIII He (the
Self) is all–encircling, resplendent, bodiless, spotless, without sinews,
pure, untouched by sin, all–seeing, all–knowing, transcendent, self–existent;
He has disposed all
things duly for eternal years. This text
defines the real nature of the Self. When our mind is cleansed from the dross
of matter, then alone can we behold the vast, radiant, subtle, ever–pure and
spotless Self, the true basis of our existence. IX They enter
into blind darkness who worship Avidya (ignorance
and delusion); they fall, as it were, into greater darkness who worship Vidya
(knowledge). X By Vidya
one end is attained; by Avidya, another. Thus we have heard from the wise men
who taught this. XI He who
knows at the same time both Vidya and Avidya, crosses over death by Avidya
and attains immortality through Vidya. Those who
follow or “worship” the path of selfishness and pleasure (Avidya), without
knowing anything higher, necessarily fall into darkness; but those who
worship or cherish Vidya (knowledge) for mere intellectual pride and
satisfaction, fall into greater darkness, because the opportunity which they
misuse is greater. In the
subsequent verses Vidya and Avidya are used in something the same sense as
“faith” and “works” in the Christian Bible; neither alone can lead to the
ultimate goal, but when taken together they carry one to the Highest. Work
done with unselfish motive purifies the mind and enables man to perceive his
undying nature. From this he gains inevitably a knowledge of God, because the
Soul and God are one and inseparable; and when he knows himself to be one with the
Supreme and Indestructible Whole, he realizes his immortality. XII They fall
into blind darkness who worship the Unmanifested and
they fall into greater darkness who worship the manifested. XIII By the
worship of the Unmanifested one end is attained; by the worship of the
manifested, another. Thus we have heard from the wise men who taught us this. XIV He who
knows at the same time both the Unmanifested (the cause of manifestation) and
the destructible or manifested, he crosses over death through knowledge of
the destructible and attains immortality through knowledge of the First Cause
(Unmanifested). This
particular Upanishad deals chiefly with the Invisible Cause and the visible
manifestation, and the whole trend of its teaching is to show that they are
one and the same, one being the outcome of the other
hence no perfect knowledge is possible without simultaneous comprehension of
both. The wise men declare that he who worships in a one–sided way, whether
the visible or the invisible, does not reach the highest goal. Only he who
has a co–ordinated understanding of both the visible and the invisible, of
matter and spirit, of activity and that which is behind activity, conquers
Nature and thus overcomes death. By work, by making the mind steady and by
following the prescribed rules given in the Scriptures, a man gains wisdom.
By the light of that wisdom he is able to perceive the Invisible Cause in all
visible forms. Therefore the wise man sees Him in every manifested form. They
who have a true conception of God are never separated from Him. They exist
in Him and He in them. XV The face of
Truth is hidden by a golden disk. O Pushan (Effulgent Being)! Uncover (Thy
face) that I, the worshipper of Truth, may behold Thee. XVI O Pushan! O
Sun, sole traveller of the heavens, controller of all, son of Prajapati,
withdraw Thy rays and gather up Thy burning effulgence. Now through Thy Grace
I behold Thy blessed and glorious form. The Purusha (Effulgent Being) who
dwells within Thee, I am He. Here the
sun, who is the giver of all light, is used as the symbol of the Infinite,
giver of all wisdom. The seeker after Truth prays to the Effulgent One to
control His dazzling rays, that his eyes, no longer blinded by them, may
behold the Truth. Having perceived It, he proclaims: “Now I see that that
Effulgent Being and I are one and the same, and my delusion is destroyed.” By
the light of Truth he is able to discriminate between the real and the
unreal, and the knowledge thus gained convinces him that he is one with the
Supreme; that there is no difference between himself and the Supreme Truth;
or as Christ said, “I and my Father are one.” XVII May my
life–breath go to the all–pervading and immortal Prana, and let this body be burned to ashes.
Seek not
fleeting results as the reward of thy actions, O mind! Strive only for the
Imperishable. This Mantram or text is often chanted at the hour of death to
remind one of the perishable nature of the body and the eternal nature of the
Soul. When the clear vision of the distinction between the mortal body and
the immortal Soul dawns in the heart, then all craving for physical pleasure
or material possession drops away; and one can say, let the body be burned to
ashes that the Soul may attain its freedom; for death is nothing more than
the casting–off of a worn–out garment. XVIII O Agni
(Bright Being)! Lead us to blessedness by the good path. O Lord! Thou knowest
all our
deeds, remove all evil and delusion from us. To Thee we offer our
prostrations and supplications again and again. Here
ends this Upanishad This
Upanishad is called Isa–Vasya Upanishad, that which gives Brahma–Vidya or
knowledge of the All–pervading Deity. The dominant thought running through it
is that we cannot enjoy life or realize true happiness unless we consciously
“cover” all with the Omnipresent Lord. If we are not fully conscious of that
which sustains our life, how can we live wisely and perform our duties?
Whatever we see, movable or immovable, good or bad, it is all “That.” We must
not divide our conception of the universe; for in dividing it, we have only
fragmentary knowledge and we thus limit ourselves. He who sees
all beings in his Self and his Self in all beings, he never suffers; because
when he sees all creatures within his true Self, then jealousy, grief and
hatred vanish. He alone can love. That All-pervading One is self– effulgent,
birthless, deathless, pure, untainted by sin and
sorrow. Knowing this, he becomes free from the bondage of matter and
transcends death. Transcending death means realizing the difference between
body and Soul and identifying oneself with the Soul. When we actually behold
the undecaying Soul
within us and realize our true nature, we no longer identify ourself with the
body which dies and we do not die with the body. Self–knowledge
has always been the theme of the Sages; and the Upanishads deal especially
with the knowledge of the Self and also with the knowledge of God, because
there is no difference between the Self and God. They are one and the same.
That which comes out of the Infinite Whole must also be infinite; hence the
Self is infinite. That is the ocean, we are the drops. So long as the drop
remains separate from the ocean, it is small and weak; but when it is one
with the ocean, then it has all the strength of the ocean. Similarly,
so long as man believes himself to be separate from the Whole, he is
helpless; but when he identifies himself with It, then he transcends all
weakness and partakes of Its omnipotent qualities. |
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