Kena Upanishad. Talks on Kena Upanishad BY Swami Parmarthananda Saraswa9 :1 Contents Talk 1:-General Introduc9on ......................................................................................................................... 3 Talk 2:-Shanthi Patha (Peace Invoca9on) .................................................................................................... 11 Talk 3:- Shan9 Patha and Khanda 1:Mantra 1 ............................................................................................. 17 Talk 4:- Khanda 1: Mantras 1 to 3 ............................................................................................................... 26 Talk 5:- Khanda 1: Mantras 3 to 9 ............................................................................................................... 35 Talk 6:- Khanda 2: Mantras 1 to 3 ............................................................................................................... 43 Talk 7:- Khanda 2: Mantras 4 to 5 ............................................................................................................... 52 Talk 8:- Khanda 3: Mantras 1 ...................................................................................................................... 60 Talk 9:- Khanda 3: Mantras 2 to 12 ............................................................................................................. 68 Talk 10:- Khanda 5: Mantras 1 to 4 ............................................................................................................. 74 Talk 11:- Khanda 5: Mantras 5 to 9 ............................................................................................................. 82 Talk 12:- Summary ...................................................................................................................................... 91 :2 Talk 1:-General Introduc5on Today I will give you a general introduc9on to the next Upanishad namely Kena Upanishad. While introducing the previous Upanishad (Mundaka), I had pointed out that our basic scriptures from which this knowledge is derived are known as the Vedas. The word Veda literally means a source of knowledge or a means of knowledge. It is derived from the root vid to know Vidan anena i Veda- that through which people acquire knowledge is called Veda Veda deals with the fulfillment of all the human goals. Vidan' chaturaha Purusharthaan tat prap' Upanishadyancha anena i' Vedaha – that through which a person knows about the four types of human goals – Dharma, Artha, Kama , Moksha-- as well as the means of fulfilling those goals is knows as Veda This Veda is also known by another name i.e Shruti because it is supposed to be “heard” by the Rishis when they were in medita9on; this knowledge was transmi`ed by or given out by the Lord himself. So the Lord is supposed to be the source of the Vedic wisdom and the Rishis served as the medium through whom we received this knowledge. The Rishis did not invent this wisdom; but they served as a pipeline to give wisdom to humanity. And since the Rishis heard this knowledge in their medita9ons through their Tapas(austeri9es), these Vedas are also known as Shru. Shruyate i Shru :- The heard Wisdom is Shru9 These Vedas are broadly classified into two por9ons. • The first por9on is called Veda Purvaha. • And the final por9on is called Veda Antaha or Vedanta (when joined as one word) Veda Purva (Ini.al Por.on) The Veda Purva i.e the ini9al por9on, deals with varie9es of religious ac9vi9es for the fulfillment of all human desires. The human being, right from birth is driven by desires. As a child I had a desire- a childish desire- for toys and other things. As I grew up, I did not get rid of the desire. THAT I DESIRE… Con9nues. WHAT I DESIRE… varies. So the objects of desires varied but the process of desire con9nues right from the cradle to the grave. And the Veda knows this need of the human being and the LORD through Veda wants to help the Human being in these pursuits. We find ourselves struggling to fulfill these desires and ohen we fail in the pursuit of the same. In this human pursuit, Veda wants to give us a suppor9ng hand. And so the Veda holds out a board and says- “Can I help you?” Veda does not impose anything. “If you are interested I am here to help you.” :3 For the purpose of fulfilling desires Veda prescribes a variety of ac9vi9es in the Purva Bhaga (ini9al por9on). The Vedic ac9vi9es are called Karma and since the Veda Purva is full of Vedic Ac9vi9es it is called Karma Kandam; Kanda means sec9on and Karma Kanda means Ritualis9c Sec9on These Vedic Karma can be broadly classified into three types based on the instrument that you use for doing the Karma. • Body Karma (Kayika Karmani) :- Some of the Karmas are heavily body oriented physical ac9vites. They may be backed by the mind but are mainly dominated by the body. Some of these are Yaaga, Yagya or Pooja etc. All such bodily karmas are called Kayika Karmani. Thousands of such karma are given in the Veda • Ac.vity Using Speech (Vachika Karmani) – The second class of ac9vity that we can do is purely Verbal i.e we use our organ of speech for the performance of the Karma. These including chan9ng Stotras (Hymns) Or Naam Japa (Holy names of the Lord) For e.g If you read the Vishnu Sahasranama (Thousand Names of Vishnu) we have a phala Shruthi (Fruit of the Ac9vity performed) men9oned at the end. Dharmarthi prapnuyaat Dharma….etc (Refer Vishnu Sahasranama) Now for what par9cular ac9on are you geng these Benefits? You have not done anything physically… these are just benefits of chan9ng the Vishnu Sahasranama. All such karmas are called Vachika KArmani or Ac9vity using the Organs of Speech. Not only are general results prescribed for the En9re Vishnu Sahasranama but also each verse is selected for a specific benefit. So if you have an eye problem you are supposed to chant such and such verse. Similarly if you are economically weak, you can chant the verse Shridhas…etc. (Refer Vishnu Sahasranama). I can hear all of you saying...let us learn Kena Upanishad later… we need the money now. ☺ . Anyway, Similar verses are there for leg problems, family problem, marriage problems etc. Some verses are selected from Vishnu Sahasranama , or some Riks are selected from the Rudram or some mantras from the Shri Suktam, or some Shlokas from the Saundarya Lahari etc. Each has its own result. All of this will come under Vachika karmani- verbal ac9vity • Mental Ac.vity (Manasa Karmani):- Finally the ac9vity purely done through your mental equipment known as Manasa karmani or Upasanani wherein we use the mind alone for ac9vity. These Mental Ac9vi9es are themselves are of many types. In fact you can do an en9re Puja mentally; this is called Manasa Pujaja (mental ritual). Whatever you do physically, you can do the same mentally. People ohen come to me and ask me what they should do when they are travelling by air or train and they cannot do their regular puja or Sandhyavandhanam or temple visits etc. Here is a wonderful method. You can do your whole puja in the train also!! Go to the bathroom, wash your feet and hands and face and apply some Vibhoo (holy Ash) and close your eyes. Now do everything that you do physically, in your mind. It will come under Manasa Karma. :4 Is it efficacious? Scripture says that it is MORE efficacious than physical puja! Similarly the en9re Sandhyavandhanam can be mentally done. And not only can puja be mentally done; even Japa when done mentally will come under Upasana. Manasa puja (mental ritual), Manasa parayanam (mental repe99on of holy names) and Manasa japa (mental chan9ng) comes under Upasana. Whatever you do mentally comes under Manasa Karma. In addi9on to all these things there is also the visualiza9on of the deity which is called Dhyanam For e.g Shirodhanva….( Verse describing Vishnu Refer Vishnu Sahasranama) Here the descrip9on of the Lord is given. You can invoke the lord mentally and the scriptures point out that whatever is the predominant quality of that deity that benefit or feature will accrue to the worshipper Yatha yatha Upasthe tadeva bhavathi – What you think, so you become • So one who meditates on a deity with beauty gets a beau9ful form. Whoever wants to become Miss Universe can do this; Tripura Sundari Upasana!!! ☺ • If u want money meditate on Lakshmi Devi with a lot of money around. ☺ ☺ • If you want knowledge, there is Saraswa9 Devi. So we have Kayika, Vachika and Manasa karma in the Veda Purva (Not Vedanta mind you!!) For these three types of karmas the scriptures promise three types of results also depending upon the nature of your desire. All human desire falls into only one of these three categories 1) Improvement of the Upaadhi or equipment – Either I want to improve the efficacy of the body or if there are any sicknesses I want to get rid of that. When I say improvement of the body, I am also including the subtle body. This is because a human being knows that any enjoyment requires a healthy body- mind complex. Imagine a wonderful music program on the radio and you are deaf! Where is the ques9on of enjoyment? The best musician in the world cannot help you. Saraswa9 Devi may herself come and play Veena but there can be no enjoyment. Even here while sing in the class for an hour, your body and mind should not be disturbed. If aher half an hour your knee begins to hurt; the class is over for you!!! Your a`en9on is now on the knee. Or perhaps your mind is disturbed. While you were coming to class, a rash driver overtook your vehicle via the leh. Some people are so