The Upanishad continues:
यत्प्राणेन न प्राणिति येन प्राणः प्रणीयते ।
तदेव ब्रह्म त्वं विद्धि नेदं यदिदमुपासते ॥ — mantra 1.9, kena.
[Meaning: What none can breathe with the breath, but by which the breath is directed, know that alone as brahman, and not this they worship here. (Here the word ’prANa’ may also mean smell. In that case, the translation would be: What one smells not by the organ of smell, but by which the smell is directed towards its objects, know that alone as brahman.)]
The above mantra tells us that brahman is that very Sentience behind everything that “Is” and that “Goes on” in this world and not any idol that we worship. Practices such as worship, mantra repetition, and yoga are efforts to understand brahman without relinquishing name and form. But true Knowing lies in knowing without name and form. Only the formless and featureless can be omnipresent.
The Upanishad goes on to say:
यस्यामतं तस्य मतं मतं यस्य न वेद सः ।
अविज्ञातं विजानतां विज्ञातमविजानताम् ॥ — mantra 2.3, kena.
[Meaning: brahman is truly comprehended by him who knows It to be incomprehensible. He knows It not, who thinks that It is comprehended by him. It is unknown to those who know and known to those who do not know.]
The mantra at 2.3 points to a simple but profound fact. When one “thinks” about (or conceptualizes) brahman, It becomes limited by that thought. Whoever claims to know It as an object does not know It. The true Knower (jnAnī) sees brahman not as something known, but as the Knower itself. The mantra is, thus, a caution against concluding prematurely “I have known brahman.”
When the mind transcends name and form, it becomes all-pervasive, like Consciousness-space. All finite things — Sun, Moon, stars, body, mind, and life-principle — exist within this all-pervasive “Me.” To locate ‘me’ within the body-mind-prANa is a mistake. One must learn instead to see the body-mind-prANa within ‘Me.’
The Upanishad captures the “way” to AtmA succinctly in the next mantra.
प्रतिबोधविदितं मतममृतत्वं हि विन्दते ।
आत्मना विन्दते वीर्यं विद्यया विन्दतेऽमृतम् ॥ — mantra 2.4, kena.
[Meaning: brahman becomes really known when It is realized in all the states of consciousness. Through that knowledge, man attains immortality. By the Self man attains strength and by Knowledge immortality.]
Mantra 2.4 is a powerful message: one has never really been separated from AtmA. We are always with It. In fact, we encounter It in every thought.
Think of a cinema screen. Many images appear on it — different characters, movements, dialogues. What is common to all of them? Light. Without light, no image appears, no movement is seen. Everything happens in the light. The light itself remains untouched by what appears on it.
In the same way, behind every thought there is stillness; behind every movement, a mover. Leave aside the content of a thought, and even its movement. What remains is the illumination that makes both possible. That illumination is AtmA. The thought itself becomes the doorway through which AtmA is recognized.
Just as a person walks through many doors while remaining the same person, so too the light of AtmA shines through every object without Itself moving.
Shankara explains this beautifully in the DakSiNAmUrti stotra:
नानाच्छिद्रघटोदरस्थितमहादीपप्रभाभास्वरं ज्ञानं
यस्य तु चक्षुरादिकरण “द्वारा” बहिः स्पन्दते । — verse 4, dakShiNAmUrti stotra by Shankara.
[Meaning: He whose light gleams “through” the senses like the light emanating from a pot with holes (in which a lamp is kept)…]
Shankara deliberately uses the word “dvArA” (doorway) to indicate that the senses are merely channels through which the light of Consciousness shines.
When someone speaks, words are heard. But along with the words comes meaning — a “shine.” The mind appears to think, though by itself it is no more than an inert movement ( = thought). When the light of AtmA falls on that thought, thinking appears to happen.
Understanding this is metaphorically called taking an “inward look.” That is why the Upanishads ask us to look inward rather than chase objects outside. There is a quiet thrill in grasping this.
Experientially realizing this Truth is immortality. And that immortality is attained only through Knowledge. Each person must discover it for oneself. Technically speaking, Self-Knowledge arises when the mind takes on the nature of AtmA — formless and limitless. This is called akhaNDAkAra vRtti.
A simple example helps. To see a tree, the mind assumes the form of the tree. That thought-modification reveals the tree. Similarly, in akhaNDAkAra vRtti, the thought-modification in the form of the Self reveals the Self.
AtmA is known only through Its own Knowledge. If we try to know It through the knowledge of something else, we can never grasp It because there are no two things here — Knowledge and the substance known. What we truly comprehend is the essence of “I.” That essence itself is Self-Knowledge. In other words, Knowledge alone is known, through Knowledge alone.
This “seeing Knowledge through Knowledge” is what is meant by experiencing the Self through akhaNDAkAra vRtti.
The kena Upanishad then introduces a story to illustrate this teaching as transmitted through tradition (Agama, sampradAya, paramparA).
Once, Indra, the king of the Gods, held court. All the Gods in the assembly noticed a mysterious, enchanting form in the sky. None could identify it. Indra sent Agni, the God of fire, to investigate. Agni could not understand it . Then VAyu, the God of air, went. He too couldn’t. Finally, Indra himself approached. At that moment, the form vanished.
Indra sat down in deep contemplation. After some time, a brilliant white light flashed across the sky and slowly took the form of a woman. She introduced herself as Goddess UmA HaimavatI. Indra asked her what that mysterious form was.
She replied that whether one saw It or not was beside the point. If one wished to understand It, It could be known only through her. She then revealed that she herself was the personification of Self-Knowledge.
She explained that what appeared as the radiant form was nothing but brahman. brahman is always seen as the world, yet rarely understood. Agni and VAyu perceived It, but could not make sense of It.
The symbolism is clear. Agni represents the mind; VAyu represents the life-principle. Neither the mind nor the life-principle can know brahman. Indra represents the individual (jIva), limited by these instruments. When he turned inward in meditation, the Knowledge of the Self revealed Itself.
The story teaches that brahman is known when the mind, in meditation, takes on the nature of brahman itself.
Another subtle point is: one can recognize the world as brahman only after knowing the formless brahman. If one stays with forms, the formless can never be grasped.
The Upanishad sums this up powerfully:
इह चेदवेदीदथ सत्यमस्ति न चेदिहावेदीन्महती विनष्टिः ।
भूतेषु भूतेषु विचित्य धीराः प्रेत्यास्माल्लोकादमृता भवन्ति ॥ — mantra 2.5, kena.
[Meaning: If a man knows It here, then there is Truth; if he does not know It here, there is great destruction for him. the wise having realized that AtmA in all beings become immortal, on departing from this world.]
This truth must be discovered here and now. Missing it is the greatest loss.
By repeating “प्रेत्यास्माल्लोकादमृता भवन्ति”, the Upanishad urges us to look for brahman everywhere—in all beings and objects—without clinging to any special form. See the Universal in the spouse, the tree, the stone by the roadside. What appears outwardly as form is deceptive. Peel away the layers to recognize the formless Beingness-Shining (asti-bhAti).
Seen from outside, a wave appears convex and distinct. Mistaking the wave for the ocean is an error. But look deeper, beyond the form, and one finds water. Form obstructs Truth; depth reveals It. This shift in vision requires courage.
To “die to the world” in this sense is not death — it is conquering mortality.
Earlier, the Upanishad taught dis-identification: I am not the eye, not the ear, not the life-principle, not the mind. Only by stepping out of the body can one recognize one’s all-pervasiveness. Air trapped in a balloon cannot know its vastness unless the balloon bursts.
As identification with the limited body drops, ego dissolves. Retaining simple I-am-ness, one then examines everything else. The same Beingness is discovered everywhere.
It is Beingness inside, and Beingness outside. It is “I” inside, and “I” outside — not “I am inside and what is outside is mine.” Everything is Me. That omnipresent “I” alone is AtmA.
Living with this universal I-ness is true fulfillment. That alone is immortality.
And that, in brief, is the message kena Upanishad gives us.
(To Continue … Part 10 (kaTha 1))