AWAKENINGS

Isa means Lord or God. Hence its name itself is indicative of its importance i.e. It is named as God’s Upanishads. Like the Kena Upanishad, the Isa Upanishad takes its name from its first word, Isa. Isa Upanishad is said to be the essence of all Upanishad teachings so far as practical life is concerned. It is comparatively a very short Upanishad, though it is an integral gospel. Its invocation song itself is very famous and has an universal and unique appeal. The meaning of the song is as follows: Om. That is full; this is full. This fullness has been projected from that fullness. When this fullness merges in that fullness, all that remains is fullness. Om, Peace, Peace, Peace! Apart from the above invocation song, there are 18 verses only. But, all these 18 verses are full of eternal truths to lead a meaningful life here in this world and then to attain salvation thereafter. Mahatma Gandhi extolled the spiritual message contained in the first verse of this Upanishad. Apart from other ...

In this Brahdaranya Upanishad’s series, the present article deals with the Vital Force in the body which needs to control three factors – name, form and action. Some liberties have been taken with a view to make the concepts clear, though the core thoughts have been kept intact. - The Editor. As per Brahdaranya Upanishad, this Universe consists of three things. They are name, form and action. Let us examine each one by one. Let us take the case of Name. The actual source of name is speech. The source of speech is sound and the source of sound is tongue, an organ in the body. The next thing is form. The source of form is sight. The source of sight is eyes, which are the organs of the body. The last one is action. The source of action is body. The source of body is its organs including mind and intellect. The man should realize that these three factors viz. name, form and action need to be abandoned to realize the presence of God in us. To achieve this, the mind, which is also conside...

Some anecdotes, discourses and selective meaningful episodes from various Upanishads are being shared with the readers through the columns of this magazine. This essay is based on Brahadaranyaka Upanishad and deals with the characteristics of Immortality of the Supreme Soul. To make the subject matter simple and understandable, some liberties had been taken in the presentation without anyway deviating the core theme. - The Editor. The hermitage of Sage Yajnavalkya was amidst the thick forest. He was living with his two wives – Maitreyi and Katyayani. One day, Yajnavalkya was in deep thoughts. He addressed Maitreyi thus: ‘My dear, I am going to renounce this life. Before my renunciation, I have to divide the wealth possessed by me between you and Katyayani.’ Maitreyi: Well, why do you want to renounce your life? Yajnavalkya: To attain the Immortality. Maitreyi: Then, whether the wealth that you propose to give me, will fetch...