Encapsulation of Kena Upanishad

"That which cannot be expressed by speech, but by which speech is expressed—That alone know as Brahman and not that which people here worship.
That which cannot be apprehended by the mind, but by which, they say, the mind is apprehended—That alone know as Brahman and not that which people here worship.
That which cannot be perceived by the eye, but by which the eye is perceived—That alone know as Brahman and not that which people here worship.
That which cannot he heard by the ear, but by which the hearing is perceived—That alone know as Brahman and not that which people here worship". (1.5-8) - Kena Upanishad.

Kena Upanishad is one of the Upanishads among 10 main Upanishads, which belongs to Sama Veda. It contains 4 chapters in total and a total of 34 verses. Kena Upanishad is also known as Keno Upanishad. The Upanishad starts with the words "Kena Ishitam" thus the name is derived as Kena Upanishad. Kena Ishitam can be divided into two parts “Kena” and “Ishitam” where - Kena means whom or whose and Ishitam means will or desire.

Let me take an earnest and humble attempt to provide an encapsulation of the entire “Kena Upanishad”. 

The entire Upanishad is presented as a conversation between a wise teacher and a brilliant and staunch student where the student is seemingly asking few simple questions that are able to extract profound answers from the highly knowledgable teacher.

First, let us establish some simple logic. Can a light bulb provide light on its own? The answer is “No”. It requires Electrical Energy. Can a pressure cooker make a sound on its own? The answer here is also “No”. It requires Heat Energy.

So can we conclude that in this world “nothing can function or make a movement on its own” and it definitely requires help from some energy? The answer is “Yes”. That seems to be a very simple and reasonable conclusion and is in agreement with Issac Newton's first law of motion.

Before diving into the Kena Upanishad let us contemplate and scrutinize some simple questions. Suppose a student asks "By whom willed and directed a light bulb provides the light? By whom do the video camera and loudspeaker functions?" We all are aware that the answer is “Electrical Energy” commonly which we call as current or power or simple electricity. Without using the word Energy let us see rather hear how a scientist provides the answer in the poetic form. "It is the light of the light, camera of the camera, speaker of the speaker. It is immortal because it can neither be created nor be destroyed. Probably it may sound like some elementary chemistry class lecture where a teacher is giving a lecture about element - “Any substance that contains only one kind of an atom is known as an element. Because atoms cannot be created or destroyed in a chemical reaction, elements such as phosphorus (P4) or sulphur (S8) cannot be broken down into simpler substances by these reactions………..” A light bulb does not know it but it is because of which the light bulb functions. A video camera cannot reveal it however because of which the video camera functions. The sound of the loudspeaker does not go there but without which, the loudspeaker cannot produce the sound". Thus all the answers point to the one single “Electrical Energy”.

The Kena Upanishad, in the very first verse a brilliant and staunch and keen disciple asks "By whom willed does the mind cognise objects? Desired by whom the breathing happens or takes place? By whose will the speech happens or is spoken? By whom do the eyes and ears functions?"

In the remaining 7 verses of the first chapter, the preceptor provides the answers. "It is the ear of the ear, the mind of the mind, the tongue of the tongue, the breath of the breath, the eye of the eye. It can neither be created nor be destroyed and hence the wise knowing and identifying with it become immortal".

This is in conformance with the simple logic we established earlier. Nothing can function on its own, be it the eye or the ear. To function, the presence of energy is very much required.

The teacher continues. "Speech cannot reveal it, but it reveals speech. One cannot cognise it with the mind but because of which the mind cognises. It cannot be seen by the eye but by which the eyes see. It cannot be heard by the ear but by which the ears are able to hear. It never breathes but by which the breathing happens, know that alone as Brahma , the Life Energy.

At the beginning of the second chapter, the teacher warns the student that having heard the above explanation if you start thinking that "Now I know it”, then you know very little. Never think I know it well. Also never think I do not know. So one must comprehend it in between as both not known and the known".

Do you think one can clearly see the difficulty of trying to explain the term “Energy” merely using words? Probably we can appreciate the difficulty better if we were to think about clearly explaining Light Energy using words to a person who is born blind.

The teacher says "One could with conviction ascertain its presence through every single modification of the mind. Knowing the Brahman - the Life Energy which is the greatest of all human aspirations. The wise with their subtle intellect recognises the presence of one single Brahman, Atma - the Life Energy in all living beings and rise above the limited individual selfishness, become selfless and with great love and compassion embrace the entire humanity along with animal and plant kingdoms and with great joy and gratefulness appreciate the glory of the wonderful Nature.

The third chapter narrates a story where the Gods (and Goddesses) were rejoicing their victory in a war, lacking humility and completely forgetting the presence of Brahman - the Life Energy. At that time, Brahman assuming a glowing form appears before them. Agni, the Lord of Fire approaches Brahman and boasts of his power that he could burn anything. Brahman throws a blade of grass at him and asks him to burn it. Agni fails to burn it. 

Similarly, Vayu, the Lord of Wind approaches Brahma and fails to blow away the blade of grass. Having been humbled, the King of Gods - Lord Indra tries to approach Brahma, however, in a flash Brahma disappeared. At that moment the Goddess Uma appears and tells them that it was Brahma and it was due to Brahma that the Gods attained ed the victory and achieved the greatness and eminence

Through this story what is being conveyed is whatever great feat we achieve it is due to the presence of the Atma - the Life Energy that is working through our body and mind. Our parents did not have any choice to carve us with the desired capabilities nor did we have any choice to decide on the capabilities with which we have taken the birth. So if we possess some great capabilities we need to be thankful and grateful to the kismet or the Providence that has chosen us to possess those capabilities and never be forgetful of the fact that it is the Life Energy that is expressing itself through our body and mind.

If we take a class full of students, there is only one teacher and it is the same lecture all the students are simultaneously hearing. However, each and every student understands and comprehends the lecture differently according to one's capabilities. So if one understands better then instead of gloating over possessing a greater capability to understand, realise the fact that it is the same single Life Energy powering the body and the mind of each and every student and with utter humility be thankful if one can understand the lecture better than many others. This is the lesson on humility and with immense modesty conveyed by chapter three of the Kena Upanishad.

In the story, it is mentioned that Brahma disappeared in a flash. That's because each one of us has experienced Brahma however unfortunately every single time only for very few moments and before one can comprehend it the Brahma disappears in a flash.

The great Vedantic master Shankara in his "Laghu Vakya Vritti" says when one thought subsides and before the next thought arises in our mind we exist as Pure Consciousness. However unfortunately the next thought arises fast and destroys the purity of our Consciousness. Shankara literally begs that each one of us should put the effort and with great concentration and dedication must exist as Pure Consciousness for one moment to start with. Then extend it to two seconds, then later three, and slowly extend the duration. With constant practice, we will soon be able to discover our true nature that we are Pure Consciousness, Awareness, Knowingness, Thinking Ability, Concentrating Entity, all-powerful Life Energy.

Kena Upanishad (4.5) says "One can experience the Atma using the mind as fast as the mind wills it with strong conviction".“By mind alone, the Atma could be realised” says Katha Upanishad (2.4.11). Using our mind all we need to do is to be in one single thought that "I am the Consciousness", or "I am the Awareness" or "I am the Thinking Ability" or "I am the nameless and formless - Life Energy". Being in this one single thought is called "Fourth" by the Mandukya Upanishad and is called "Turiya" as described in Gaudapada Karika.

Subroneel Saha is high in life. He enjoys life and believes to savour everything by doing along the path with passion, which he considers to be the most important part of the experience. He is a prolific writer on history, mythology, sacred lore, legends, folklore, fables and parables, and for challenging willful misinterpretations of ancient Indian and world scriptures, stories, symbols, and rituals. He intents to break the dogma and reveal the intentional part of every myth and the story, with the relevance with business, management, social life, student life.
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