Upanishadamritam – Isavasya Upanishat (Part 3)
by “Dharmatma” Dr. S. Yegnasubramanian
For Part 1, please refer to the following link
https://svbf.org/newsletters/year-2019/upanishadamritam-isavasya-upanishat-part-1/
For Part 2, please refer to the following link
https://svbf.org/newsletters/year-2019/upanishadamritam-isavasya-upanishat-part-2/
Verse #13
अन्यदेवाहुः सम्भवात् अन्यदाहुरसम्भवात्
इति शुश्रुम धीराणां ये नस्तद् विचचक्षिरे ॥ १३॥
anyadēvāhuḥ sambhavāt anyadāhurasambhavāt
iti śuśruma dhīrāṇāṃ yē nastad vicacakṣirē ॥ 13॥
anyat = the other, different; eva = only; ahuh = they (the learned) say; sambhavat = manifested; asambhavat = unmanifested; iti = thus; susrumah = we have heard; dhiranam = dhimatam = persons of sound understanding; ye = who; nah = us; tad = that; vicacaksire = vyacacaksire = explained, taught.
They spoke of a different result indeed from the worship of the Manifested, and they spoke of a different result from the worship of the Unmanifested – thus we have heard (the teaching) of those wise men who explained that to us.
The meaning of this verse is identical to verse #10 except that in place of Karma upāsana Samuccaya we are referring here to the combination of two upāsanas.
Verse #14
सम्भुतिं च विनाशं च यस्तद् वेदोभ्यगं सह
विनाशेन मृत्युं तिर्त्वा सम्भुत्याऽमृतमश्नुते ॥१४॥
sambhūtiṃ ca vināśaṃ ca yastad vēdōbhyagaṃ saha
vināśēna mr̥tyuṃ tīrtvā sambhūtyā’mr̥tamaśnutē ॥14॥
(a)sambhutim = unmanifested; vinasam = destruction; ca = and (in conjunction with); yah = who; tad = that; veda = knows; ubhayam = both; saha = together, at the same time; vinasena = by means of knowing Him as Destroyer; mrtyum = death (and other undesirables such as suffering and ignorance); tirtva = having overcome, crossed over; sambhutya = by means of knowing Him as Creator; amrtam = moksa characterized by enjoyment; asnute = obtains.
He who knows these two, the Unmanifested and the Destruction (Hiranyagarbha), together, attains immortality through the Unmanifested by crossing death through Destruction. In this verse the first word is to be read as Asambhūthi. Based on the continuation from the previous word of last verse, the letter ‘a’ is dropped as per the rules of Sanskrit grammar. The word Mruthyuhu in this verse refers to all types of limitations. The practice of two namely Hiranyagarbha upāsana and prakr̥ti upāsana leads one to cross the ocean of samsāra i.e he crosses all types of limitations. The word Amrutham here refers to māyā. The seeker merges into māyā in the present creation and will only take birth in the next creation.
Verse #15
हिरण्मयेन पात्रेण सत्यस्यापिहितं मुखम् ।
तत्त्वं पूषन्नपावृणु सत्यधर्माय दृष्टये ॥ ।१५॥
hiraṇmayēna pātrēṇa satyasyāpihitaṃ mukham
tattvaṃ pūṣannapāvr̥ṇu satyadharmāya dr̥ṣṭayē ॥ ।15॥
hiranmayena = by the golden, effulgent; patrena = by the orb, disk; satyasya = of the Lord, who is of complete and real auspicious qualities; apihitam = concealed; mukham = face (and other parts also); tat = that; tvam = you; pusan = Complete One; apavrnu = unveil, disclose; satyadharmāyā = to the devotee, i.e., to me; drstaye = in order to see.
The face of Truth (Brahman in the solar orb) is concealed by a golden vessel. Do thou, O Sun, open it so as to be seen by me who am by nature truthful (or, am the performer of rightful duties).
This and the next 3 verse describe a set of prayers offered by the practitioner of Karma upāsana Samuccaya towards the end of his life by asking the Lord to give the fruits of his sādhana. What kind of fruits is he asking for? He is requesting the Lord to give him the path of śukla Gathi that will take him to Brahma Lokha where he can gain knowledge from Lord Brahma and attain immortality.
In this verse the prayer offered is “Oh! Lord may you remove the lid of the golden vessel that is obstructing my journey through the Solar disc to Brahma Lokha as I have followed the path of truth”. The implied meaning is to clear the way for realization of Truth.
Verse #16
पूषन्नेकर्षे यम सूर्य प्राजापत्य
व्यूह रश्मीन् समूह तेजः
यत्ते रूपं कल्याणतमं तत्ते पश्यामि
योऽसावसौ पुरुषः सोऽहमस्मि ॥ ॥१६॥
pūṣannēkarṣē yama sūrya prājāpatya
vyūha raśmīn samūha tējaḥ
yattē rūpaṃ kalyāṇatamaṃ tattē paśyāmi
yō’sāvasau puruṣaḥ sō’hamasmi ॥ ॥16॥
pusan = Complete one; ekarse = Supreme Knowable, also present in the sage Ekarsi; yama = Controller of all; surya = a goal or objective for (even) the deities, also present in Surya (god of the sun); prajapatya = as being specially obtained by Prajapati or Brahma; vyuha = extend; rasmin = the knowledge of my true nature; tejah = extrinsic knowledge; yat = what, that which; te = your; rupam = form; kalyanatamam = of exceedingly auspicious nature; tat = that; pasyami = I see.yah = He who; asau = in (the deity of) Life ( asau is the locative singular of asu meaning “life”); asau = exists; purusah = the complete person; sah = he; aham = aheyam = unfit for rejection, impossible to avoid; asmi = essence, being.
O thou who art the nourisher, the solitary traveller, the controller, the acirer, the son of prajāpati, do remove thy rays, do gather up the dazzle. I shall behold by thy grace that form of thine which is most benign. I am that very Person that is yonder (in the Sun).
The seeker invokes the Lord in the solar disc even though the Lord is everywhere, He is addressed as one who travels alone everywhere. He is addressed as Yama, the controller of human activities. He is addressed as sūrya , the one who withdraws everything. When the Sun raises, the rays are sent to earth and when it sets, the rays are withdrawn. It also withdraws water from the ocean and gives it out as rain. The Sun alone gives energy to the body when it is shining and takes it back when it sets. He is addressed as son of prajāpati, who is none other than Lord Brahma. The seeker prays to the Lord, who is addressed as above to temporarily withdraw the glaring rays and the scorching heat so that he can travel through the Sun to reach Brahma Lokha. The seeker further imagines that the Sun God representing the totality of Universe and himself, are one and the same.
Verse #17
वायुरनिलममृतमथेदं
भस्मान्तगं शरीरम्
ऊँ ३ क्रतो स्मर कृतगं स्मर
क्रतो स्मर कृतगं स्मर ॥ ॥१७॥
vāyuranilamamr̥tamathēdaṃ
bhasmāntagaṃ śarīram
ūm̐3 kratō smara kr̥tagaṃ smara
kratō smara kr̥tagaṃ smara ॥17॥
vayuh = Prana, the god of Life; anilam = ah brahmaiva nilam nilayanam yasya, sah = “he whose support is ‘a’ i.e., Brahman, alone” amrtam = free of death; atha = now, then; idam = this; bhasmantam = ending in fire, subject to (destruction such as) cremation; sariram = body.
Let (my) vital force now attain the (all-pervading) immortal Air; (and) now let this body be reduced to ashes. Om, O mind, remember – remember all that has been done. O mind, remember – remember all that has been done. The seeker prays that the individual life force represented by prāṇa referred to in this verse as Vāyu merge into total life force referred to here as Anilam. Let my subtle body merge with the total subtle body and let my physical body be burnt to ashes. He is addressing his own mind not to remember anything other than the upāsana that he has been practicing. He is addressing Lord Agni to remember all the oblations and good karmas he has performed so that he can be granted śukla Gathi.
Verse #18
अग्ने नय सुपथा राये अस्मान् विश्वानि देव वयुनानि विद्वान् ।
युयोध्यस्मज्जुहुराणमेनो भूयिष्ठां ते नमौक्तिं विधेम ॥ १८॥
agne naya supathā rāye asmān viśvāni deva vayunāni vidvān,
yuyodhyasmaj juharāṇam eno bhūyiṣṭhāṁ te nama-uktim vidhema ||18||
O Fire ! O god ! Knowing, as thou do, all our deeds, lead us by the good path for the enjoyment of the fruits of our deeds; remove from us all crooked sins. We offer these many words of salutation.
This is a prayer uttered to Lord Agni. Oh! Agni. You are aware of all the noble Karmas and upāsanas I have done. Please grant me the fruits of my sādhana and lead me through the noble path of śukla Gathi. I might have committed some evil sins also. Please cleanse me of all the sins. I offer my final prostration to you repeatedly. It should be noted that is a prayer by one who is yet to gain the status of a jñāni. Does the jñāni need such a prayer? No, he is ever one with the Lord here and now.
Summary
This Upanishad can be broadly classified into four parts: jñāna Yoga summary, Karma Yoga summary, jñāna Yoga elaboration and Karma Yoga elaboration. In Verse 1, jñāna Yoga is summarized as “īśāvāsyamidagṃ sarvaṃ”. One has to change once vision for Moksha. Moksha does not require an external change. It is an attitudinal change or change of vision from seeing the world as separate to the vision of Lord alone is everything. Karma Yoga as summarized in verse 2 states that one should convert the very life he is leading to one of worship. Each action should be viewed as an offering to God. The seeker gradually moves from offering to God to offering and worship and finally to worship alone. Verses 3 through 8 elaborate upon verse 1. The entire creation is only īśāvāra. All differences that we see can be attributed to only name and form. The substance is only one and name and forms are many. Verses 8 through 18 elaborate upon Karma Yoga. Two main sādhanas are talked about – Karma upāsana Samuccaya, the combination of rituals and meditation and upāsana Dvaya Samuchchaya, combination of two upāsanas namely Hiranya Garbha upāsana and prakr̥ti upāsana. One should do his duty combined with remembering God. This section is concluded with four wonderful prayers in which the seeker prays to the Lord for Krama Mukti through the path of Shukla Gathi to attain Brahma Loka after death and gain Moksha in Brahma Loka.
