KENA UPANISHAD

KENA UPANISHAD

Lead me from the unreal to the Real.

Lead me from death to immortality.

OM shanti shanti shanti

[i]

THE STUDENT

1 Who makes my mind think?

Who fills my body with vitality?

Who causes my tongue to speak? Who is that

Invisible one who sees through my eyes

And hears through my ears?

THE TEACHER

2 The Self is the ear of the ear,

The eye of the eye, the mind of the mind,

The word of words, and the life of life.

Rising above the senses and the mind

And renouncing separate existence,

The wise realize the deathless Self.

3 Him our eyes cannot see, nor words express;

He cannot be grasped even by the mind.

We do not know, we cannot understand,

4 Because he is different from the known

And he is different from the unknown.

Thus have we heard from the illumined ones.

5 That which makes the tongue speak but cannot be

Spoken by the tongue, know that as the Self.

This Self is not someone other than you.

6 That which makes the mind think but cannot be

Thought by the mind, that is the Self indeed.

This Self is not someone other than you.

7 That which makes the eye see but cannot be

Seen by the eye, that is the Self indeed.

This Self is not someone other than you.

8 That which makes the ear hear but cannot be

Heard by the ear, that is the Self indeed.

This Self is not someone other than you.

9 That which makes you draw breath but cannot be

Drawn by your breath, that is the Self indeed.

This Self is not someone other than you.

[ii]

THE TEACHER

1 If you think, “I know the Self,” you know not.

All you can see is his external form.

Continue, therefore, your meditation.

THE STUDENT

2 I do not think I know the Self, nor can

I say I know him not.

THE TEACHER

There is only one way to know the Self,

And that is to realize him yourself.

3 The ignorant think the Self can be known

By the intellect, but the illumined

Know he is beyond the duality

Of the knower and the known.

4 The Self is realized in a higher state

Of consciousness when you have broken through

The wrong identification that you are

The body, subject to birth and death.

To be the Self is to go beyond death.

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5 Realize the Self, the shining goal of life!

If you do not, there is only darkness.

See the Self in all, and go beyond death.

[III]

1 Once upon a time the gods defeated

The demons; and though the victory

Was brought about through the power of Brahman,

The gods boasted, “Ours is the victory,

And ours the power and glory.”

2 Brahman saw their foolish pride and appeared

Before them. But they recognized him not.

3 They said to Agni, god of fire, “Find out

Who this mysterious being is.” “I will,”

4 Promised Agni and approached the being.

“Who are you?” asked the mysterious one.

“I am Agni, god of fire, known to all.”

5 “Are you powerful?” “I can burn all on earth.”

6 “Burn this:” and Brahman placed a straw in front.

The god of fire attacked the straw, but failed

To burn it. Then he ran back to the gods

And confessed, “I have failed to discover

Who this mysterious being is.”

7 They said to Vayu, god of air, “Find out

Who this mysterious being is.” “I will,”

8 Promised Vayu and approached the being.

“Who are you?” asked the mysterious one.

“I am Vayu, god of air, king of space.”

9 “Are you powerful?” “I can blow all away.”

10 “Blow this away.” Brahman placed a straw in front.

The god of air attacked the straw, but failed

To move it. Then he ran back to the gods

And confessed, “I have failed to discover

Who this mysterious being is.”

11 They begged Indra, leader of gods, “Find out

Who this mysterious being is.” “I will,”

Promised Indra and approached the being,

12 Who disappeared instantly. In his place

Appeared the lovely goddess of wisdom,

Uma, daughter of the Himalayas;

And Indra asked her, “Who was that being?”

[IV]

1 Uma replied, “That was Brahman, from whom

Comes all your power and glory.” The gods

Realized at last the Self is Brahman.

2–3 Agni, Vayu, Indra – these three excel

Among the gods because they realized Brahman.

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4 The light of Brahman flashes in lightning;

The light of Brahman flashes in our eyes.

5 It is the power of Brahman that makes

6 The mind to think, desire, and will. Therefore

Use this power to meditate on Brahman.

He is the inmost Self of everyone;

He alone is worthy of all our love.

Meditate upon him in all. Those who

Meditate upon him are dear to all.

THE STUDENT

7 Teach me more of this spiritual wisdom.

THE TEACHER

I shall share with you fully what I know.

8 Meditation, control of the senses

And passions, and selfless service of all

Are the body, the scriptures are the limbs,

And truth is the heart of this wisdom.

9 Those who realize Brahman shall conquer

All evil and attain the supreme state.

Truly they shall attain the supreme state!

OM shanti shanti shanti

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The Kena Upanishad

Kena is a word meaning, "by what, by whom, whence, how, why, from what cause".

The Upanishad reads in 3 parts: the first 13 are verses composed as a metric poem, followed by 15 prose paragraphs of main text plus 6 prose paragraphs of epilogue.

The Latter prose section is said to be far more ancient than the poetic first section. Kena Upanishad bridged the more ancient prose Upanishad era with the metric poetic era of Upanishads that followed.

The Kena Upanishad asserts that the efficient cause of all the gods, symbolically envisioned as forces of nature, is Brahman (supreme reality). It is also significant in asserting the idea of "Spiritual Man", "Self is a wonderful being that even gods worship", "Atman (Self) exists", and "knowledge and spirituality are the goals and intense longing of all creatures." The Kena Upanishad is a collection of verse discussing the attributes of Brahman: the unchanging, infinite universal spirit. With the concept of awareness - consciousness shines from a light beyond itself. Pure Consciousness is the light which makes us think, cogitate, remember etc. It is referred as mind of mind, eye of eye, ear of ear, nose of nose i.e. without the ever-existing and self-luminous Atman (I AM) as the substratum, our mind and sense-organs can not function.