Kena Upanishad: The Real Agent in the Individual
"By whom impelled soars forth the mind projected? By whom enjoined goes forth the earliest breathing? By whom impelled this speech do people utter? The eye, the ear—what god, pray,…
From: 100 B.C.E. To: 100 C.E.
Location: India
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
From The Thirteen Principal Upanishads Translated from the Sanskrit by Robert Ernest Hume.
Query: The real agent in the individual
[Question:]
1. By whom impelled soars forth the mind projected? By whom enjoined goes forth the earliest breathing?
By whom impelled this speech do people utter? The eye, the ear—what god, pray, them enjoineth?
The all-conditioning, yet inscrutable agent, Brahma
[Answer:]
2. That which is the hearing of the ear, the thought of the mind, The voice of speech, as also the breathing of the breath,
And the sight of the eye! Past these escaping, the wise, On departing from this world, become immortal.
3. There the eye goes not; Speech goes not, nor the mind. We know not, we understand not How one would teach It.
Other, indeed, is It than the known, And moreover above the unknown. —Thus have we heard of the ancients (purva) Who to us have explained It.
4. That which is unexpressed with speech (vāc, voice) That with which speech is expressed—
That indeed know as Brahma, Not this that people worship as this.
5. That which one thinks not with thought (manas, mind), [or, That which thinks not with a mind,]
That with which they say thought (manas, mind) is thought— That indeed know as Brahma, Not this that people worship as this.
6. That which one sees not with sight (cak us, eye), [or, That which sees not with an eye,] That with which one sees sights (caksūṁa)— That indeed know as Brahma, Not this that people worship as this.
7. That which one hears not with hearing (śrotra, car), [or, That which hears not with an ear,] That with which hearing here is heard— That indeed know as Brahma, Not this that people worship as this.
8. That which one breathes (prāniti) not with breathing (prāna, breath), [or, That which breathes not with breath,] That with which breathing (prana) is conducted (prani-yate)— That indeed know as Brahma, Not this that people worship as this.
(Second Khan Da)
The paradox of Its inscrutability
9 (1). [Teacher:] If you think ‘I know well,’ only very slightly now do you know!—a form of Brahma!—what thereof is yourself, and what thereof is among the gods! So then it is to be pondered upon (mimanisyam) indeed by you.
[Pupil:] I think it is known.
10 (2). I think not ‘I know well’; Yet I know not ‘I know not'! He of us who knows It, knows It; Yet he knows not ‘I know not.’
11 (3). [Teacher:]
It is conceived of by him by whom It is not conceived of. He by whom It is conceived of, knows It not. It is not understood by those who [say they] understand It. It is understood by those who [say they] understand It not.
The value of knowledge of It
12 (4). When known by an awakening, It is conceived of; Truly it is immortality one finds. With the Soul (Atman) one finds power; With knowledge one finds the immortal.
13 (5). If one have known [It] here, then there is truth. If one have known [It] not here, great is the destruction (vinasti). Discerning [It] in every single being, the wise, On departing from this world, become immortal.
Hume, Robert Ernest. The Thirteen Principal Upanishads Translated from the Sanskrit. Oxford University Press, 1921.
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