AWAKENINGS

Isa Upanishad sheds light on the following words: 1. Vidhya and Avidhya. 2. Manifested and Unmanifested. The explanations and indepths meanings of these four important words are dealt with in the six verses from 9 to 14 of the Isa Upanishad. Vidhya is normally attributed to knowledge. Such persons are devoid of rites or karma or work or avidhya. They are engaged only in vidhya i.e.spending their entire time in worshiping or meditation. They are of the strong faith that vidhya is enough to achieve the ultimate aim of salvation from the pranks of deaths. Avidhya is rites or karma or work or even ignorance. They are engaged in such religious duties driven due to the desires of senses which are the hallmark of ignorance. They do not worry much about ‘Vidhya’, as they feel that the paths chosen by them are enough to give them the salvation from this world. What does Isa Upanishad say about the adequacies of Vidhya and Avidhya? Isa Upanishad declares that if one practices only Avidhya, he en...

The characteristics of Soul are being described in stanzas 4 to 8. Hence it would be advisable to deal these four stanzas together. One will be bewildered on reading the most contradictory statements being stated in these stanzas. The soul, it declares, unmoving, but, moves faster than the mind. It is one, but, it is manifold. Remaining stationary, it outruns all other runners and it ran ahead. It is very near and it is far off. It is inside all and it is outside all as well. How can we reconcile such contradictory statements? On the face of it, one can simply view them as the statements of a mad man. Let us take the case of a man traveling in a train from Madurai to Madras. Actually the man had not moved himself, but, he was simply sitting or sleeping in the train. The train took him from Madurai to Madras. Without himself moving, the man could move a long distance and had reached the destined place. How is it possible? Simple. The locomotive power in the form of a train could make th...

Everyone wishes to live for long. A hundred years of life is the maximum period for any human being. For worthwhile life, a man should perform his work. Only by clinging with his work, a man can achieve his desire to live for long years. Work can be good or bad. But man should do only good work which alone will give him longevity, happiness and well being. Such work will not fetch the person any salvation from further births, as his work is being performed with desires to live long with health and wealth. Such an outlook is antithesis of renunciation which alone can make one to realize the Soul or Self which is the ultimate purpose of life leading to salvation i.e. birth-less state. ‘Live one hundred years on this earth by performing action. With such desire, one can cling to the work and not in any other way’ is the plain meaning of the second stanza. The next verse is to criticize those who perform work only to live longer and who do not apply their mind to realize the True Self wit...

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...

Prelude: Sage Uddalaka Aruni’s discourse with his son Svetaketu in Chandogya Upanishad gives an insight into the knowing of ultimate truth and the real Self. Svetaketu: Supreme Being is said to be nameless and formless? How can I know this principle? Uddalaka Aruni: Son, you might have seen many earthen pots of many forms having different names. There are also gold and steel articles of different forms and names. When you crush them, you will get the essence of the articles like clay, gold and steel. Though the forms and names are lost, the essence of the articles is revealed as clay, gold or steel. That revelation as to the nature of the mud or metals is the ultimate truth. Form and names are immaterial to know the Reality, which is the Supreme Being. Svetaketu: Father, you had told me about the non-living things. How about living things like human beings, animals and insects? Uddalaka Aruni: A man, a tiger or a fly is having different names and forms. But, when it dies, it loses its...