AWAKENINGS

Chapter 2: Know and Know Not Preface: ‘Know and Know Not’ are the phrase used to those who try to know the Limitless Brahman. These principles of ‘Know and Know Not’ are fully exploited in Chapter 2 of Kena Upanishad in the five stanzas. One may be confronted with directly opposite meanings which will necessarily confuse any one, however much one is capable of. These phrases are in vogue from time immemorial from Confucius down to the modern authors. The modern version of ‘Know and Know Not’ is as follows: “He who knows not and knows not he knows not: he is a fool - shun him. He who knows not and knows he knows not: he is simple - teach him. He who knows and knows not he knows: he is asleep - wake him. He who knows and knows he knows: he is wise - follow him.” In these five stanzas of Kena Upanishads, you will undergo yourself the four stages as indicated in the above quotes. Foolishness, Simplicity, Sleepiness and Wise ness are all to be experienced in knowing Brahman in all its splen

Chapter 1: What is Brahman? Kena is the first word in the Upanishad and hence it is titled as such. Kena means ‘By Whom’ in Sanskrit. It is also a short Upanishad like Isa Upanishad. Kena Upanishad has four parts. Parts 1 and 4 contain 9 stanzas each, part 5 contains 5 stanzas and part 3 contains 12 stanzas – totaling 5 parts of 35 stanzas only. Kena Upanishad deals with Brahman – Ultimate Power of the Universe. The various aspects of this Ultimate Power of the Universe are revealed in the form of questions and answers between the student and the Teacher. The invocation song itself sets the tone for the heavy subject to be discussed by the teacher and the student. Om! May Brahman protect both the teacher and the student. May Brahman bestow upon both the fruit of knowledge. May we both obtain energy to acquire knowledge. May we both reveal the Truth of our studies. May we cherish no ill feeling towards each other. Protection, Knowledge, Energy, Truth and Understanding are all invoked an

Harvest No. 4 - Mahatma Gandhi’s Crusade Against Christian Harvest of Hindus Before Independence there were many attempts made by Christian Missionaries to convert Gandhi into Christianity. Gandhi, as a true follower of Truth and Non-violence, had faced them in his own way which had portrayed him as a crusader against their nefarious attempts to make India as Christian Nation. Some of the Christian missionaries, recognizing his deep interest in Sermon on the Mount and resulting pacifism, were attracted to him with an ulterior motive of using him as a “tool” in mass conversion because of his extraordinary stature around the globe and particularly India. But, nothing had succeeded. Gandhi had ridiculed the Missionaries as ‘vendors of goods’ with no spiritual attitudes in their activities. In this context, Gandhi, in his Harijan Paper of November 5, 1937, had quoted a specific instance about the activities of a Christian missionary thus: ‘Only the other day a missionary descended on a f

Harvest No. 3 - General Personal Experiences with Conversions ‘O Sinners! Listen to us. Jesus Christ had shed his blood for all your sins. Convert to Christianity to eschew all your sins and start a new life and save yourself from hell!’ - I heard in my native town as a young boy studying in government school a few white clad Christian missionaries preaching in corners of streets. Some of them would be playing music - prominent amongst them the drummers and cymbals. First, they would sing some Christian prayer songs to attract the passers-by and after some crowd being gathered around them, they would start to preach and then distribute Christian literatures - denigrating the Hindu gods and canvassing to join Christianity for their salvation. I used to these propaganda from my early age and had never been affected by it - perhaps due to my family background. I loved my School Teacher whose name was Jesudass. He was a bachelor and was permitted to live at the school premises itself. He u

Chapter 5: Truth, Mind and Deeds In this essay, the last four verses of Isa Upanishad from 15th to 18th are being dealt with. In these verses, the Sun, Air and Fire are being prayed to have a truthful, fruitful and fulfilling life. In the process, the powerful forces of Sun, Air and Fire are described. Sun is described in two verses, while air and fire in one verse each. The descriptions are being made by a seer who is a seeker of truth like Sun God with all its splendors, illuminations, brightness and golden rays. A seer speaks to the Sun: O, Sun! You are the face of truth. You have veiled your face with a golden shining disc which prevents the humans to view your face. I am a seer and am a seeker of truth. Please remove the disc so that I may see the Truth. O, Sun! You are the source of all life and source of everything. You are the son of Prajapathi. You are the solitary traveler. Your dazzling rays prevent me from viewing your form which is the most benign. I am also the seeker of

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