Kenopanishad : The Nature of Brahmam : 1. Reflections by Swami Gurubhaktananda.

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Tuesday, January 11, 2022.. 9:00.PM.

Chapter -1.

Mantrams - 8.

The Nature of Brahmam :

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The Disciple Questions The Guru :

Mantram 1.1: The Disciple’s Questions

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The Disciple Asks: Mantram-1.

"1 kena ishitam patati  preshitam manah, 2 kena praanah athamah  praiti yuktah;  

3 kena ishitaam  vaacham imaam vadanti, 4 chakshuh shrotram  kah  udevah yunakti."

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Translation :

1 kena ishitam patati  preshitam manah,      =  By whom willed and directed  does the mind alight upon its objects?

2 kena praanah athamah  praiti yuktah;        = Commanded by whom does the main vital air proceed to function?

3 kena ishitaam  vaacham imaam vadanti,    = By whose will and direction  do men utter speech?

4 chakshuh shrotram  kah u devah yunakti.  = The eyes and the ears – (towards their objects)  what intelligence directs them?

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Commentary :

Within this verse are found the clues which tell us who is the eligible seeker on this spiritual path. From the questions we can deduce the background of the questioner. We also deduce what he is wanting in life. There is a vacuum in him that seeks to be filled with something more lasting than what the world can offer. 

1 The questioner (disciple) has clearly passed the stage of wanting a superficial solution to life’s problems. He is in search of a deeper solution, a more lasting solution. He is not interested in the objects of perception, but in that source which motivates his mind to desire them.

2 He is also not interested in a mere explanation of the functions of the forces of life, but wants to know who their Supreme Commander is.

3-4 He is not interested in the physical organs of action and their various functions. By speech we are expected to assume that all other organs of actions are included. Similarly, by eyes and ears, all the organs of knowledge are included. He is also not interested in knowing all the details about all these ten sense organs of knowledge and action, but in that which enables them to know.

It is clear from these questions, that something deeper than the superficial is the subject matter that is sought. Not the science of biology, not physics or chemistry, nor psychology or psychiatry is the subject that is to be explored, but it is the science of the Spirit of man that is being sought.

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Points Raised in the Shankara Bhashya:

1. Is Mind a Controller or is it Controlled? An objector poses the possibility that the mind need not have anything to control it, as it can well be its own controller. The Bhashya’s reply to this is why would the mind then want to think of things that are harmful to it? 

If it controlled itself, it would not entertain anything harmful to itself, but it is everyone’s experience that it does. That shows that there is something else (Vasanas) influencing or instigating it and something else (Chetana or Consciousness) that is enlivening or illumining it.

When the same reasoning is applied to all the other questions raised, it makes it clear that the questions are more fundamental than they appear. They are actually asking “Who am I?”, the ‘I’ being the controller. Are we these Upadhis (the conglomerate of body, mind and intellect) or are we the Consciousness that enlivens them? This question seeks to know the truth about ‘I’.

2. 2. Is Mind Dependent? Another possibility is raised by an objector: Is there something in whose mere presence, the mind, etc, starts functioning? Underlying this objection is the belief that Consciousness cannot have its own will. So it is posited that It can ‘permit’ the Upadhis to function by its very presence, like a King in whose presence the other ministers and subjects do their functions. Thus, although the student is asking by whose will or direction the Upadhis are functioning, it really means “In whose Presence?”

In this manner, Sri Shankaracharya raises the level of these questions. He probes and positions, as it were, their depth in our mind. The ultimate implication of these questions is:

“If there is such a Controller, then I want to realize it – how do I go about doing that?” 

That is what seems to be at the back of these apparently innocent looking questions. 

Seen from the spiritual context, it is a deeply probing question.

The Teacher is being called upon to give a fitting answer to it. If the Teacher also sees the question in the depth suggested by Sri Shankaracharya, then we can expect a really enlightening answer. The Teacher has to enlighten the student, not push him further into bondage. 

The Kena Upanishad is the enlightened Rishi’s reply to an enlightenment-seeking student. The first verse thus launches the text towards this Unknown Target, and every student, with his attention fully riveted to the Rishi’s lips, prepares himself for a deeply absorbing intellectual journey into the Unknown.

In the very next mantram, we have a perfect lift-off . . . 

Next : Mantram - 1.2 : The Guru Introduces the Idea of Self

The Guru answers:

To be continued ....

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