Kena Upanishad | by Shankara | IV 1-6

PART IV

Sā, She; uvāca ha, said,

“Brahma iti, It was Brahman; Brahmaṇaḥ vai vijaye, in the victory of God, indeed.

The devils were conquered only by God, and you were mere instruments there. In the victory that was really His, you mahīyadhvam, became elated, you attained glory.”

The word etat, in this way, is used adverbially (to modify the verb).

“But yours is this vain-gloriousness: "Asmākam eva ayam vijayaḥ, asmākam eva ayam mahimā—ours is this victory, ours is this glory,’ (Ke. III. 2).

Tataḥ ha eva, from that, from Umā’s words alone, to be sure; Indra, vidāṁcakāra, learned; Brahma iti, that It was Brahman.

The emphatic limitation implied in tataḥ ha eva, from that alone to be sure, implies that (he came to learn) not independently.

Since these gods—Fire, Air, and Indra—approached Brahman through conversation, visualisation, etc., tasmāt, therefore, ete devaḥ, these gods; atitarām iva, surpassed greatly, through their own excellence, i.e. good luck comprising power, quality, etc.; anyān devān, the other gods.

The word iva is meaningless or is used for the sake of emphasis.

Yat Agniḥ Vāyuḥ Indraḥ, (the gods) viz. Fire, Air, and Indra:

Hi, since; te they, those gods; nediṣṭhaṁ pasparśuḥ, most proximately, intimately, touched; enat, this Brahman; through the process of conversation etc., as described earlier.

Hi, because, because of the further reason that; te, they; being prathamaḥ, first, being prominent; enat, this Brahman; vidāṁcakāra, (should be vidāṁcakruḥ), knew, knew It to be Brahman.

Since even Fire and Air knew from the words of Indra alone, and since Indra heard first from Umā’s words that It was Brahman, tasmāt vai Indraḥ atitarām iva, therefore Indra did excel (the other deities).

Hi saḥ enat nediṣṭhaṁ pasparśa, inasmuch as he touched It most proximately, because saḥ hi enat prathamaḥ vidāṁcakāra Brahma iti—this sentence has been already explained.

Tasya of the Brahman under discussion, eṣaḥ ādeśaḥ, this is the instruction through analogy:

That analogy  through which the instruction about the incomparable Brahman is imparted is called ādeśaḥ. What is that?

Yat etat, that fact, which is well known among people as the flash of lightning.

Since vidyutaḥ vyadyutat, cannot mean that Brahman (vyadyutat) flashed (by borrowing Its light) (vidyutaḥ) from lightning, therefore the meaning has to be assumed to be “the flash of lightning”.

Ā, like, is used in the sense of comparison. The meaning is: “It is like the flash of lightning”;

and (this meaning is acceptable) since it is seen in a different Vedic text, “comparable to a single flash of lightning” (Brih. II. iii. 6); for Brahman disappeared after revealing Itself but once to the gods like lightning.

Or the word tejaḥ (brilliance) has to be supplied after the word vidyutaḥ (of lightning). Vyadyutat (in this case) means flashed; (and) ā means as it were.

The purport is: It was, as though, the brilliance of lightning flashed but once.

The word iti is meant to call back to memory the word ādeśa, (so the meaning is): This is the ādeśa, the analogy. The word it is used for joining together.

(So the sense is): Here is another analogy for It.

What is that one? Nyamīmiṣat, winked, as the eye did the act of winking. The causative form (in nyamīmiṣat) is used in the same sense as the root itself.

The ā is used here, too, in the sense of comparison.

The meaning is: And it was like the opening and shutting of the eye with regard to its object. Iti adhidaivatam, this is by way of showing analogies of Brahman in a divine context.

Atha, after this; is being told the analogical instruction adhyātmam, in the context of the soul, with regard to the indwelling Self.

Yat etat, that which is a known fact, viz. that etat, to this Brahman; gacchati iva ca manaḥ, as though the mind goes, as though the mind enters into Brahman, encompasses It as an object.

And the fact that anena, by that mind; the spiritual aspirant; abhīkṣṇam, repeatedly, upasmarati, remembers intimately; etat, this Brahman; and the saṅkalpaḥ, thought of the mind with regard to Brahman.

Since Brahman has got the mind as Its limiting adjunct, It seems to be revealed by such states of the mind as thought, memory, etc., by which It seems to be objectified.

Therefore, this is an instruction about Brahman, through analogy, in the context of the soul.

In the divine context, Brahman has the attribute of revealing Itself quickly like lightning and winking and in the context of the soul, It has the attribute of manifesting Itself simultaneously with the states of the mind.

This is the instruction about Brahman through analogy:

The need for this teaching about Brahman through analogy is that It becomes easily comprehensible to people of dull intellect when instruction is thus imparted.

For, the unconditioned Brahman, as such, cannot be comprehended by people of dull intellect.

Tat, that Brahman; is ha, certainly; tadvanaṁ nāma:

tadvanaṁ is derived from the words tasya, his, and vanam, adorable; It is adorable to all creatures, since It is their indwelling Self.

Therefore Brahman is tadvanaṁ nama, well known as the one to be adored by all beings.

Since it is tadvana, therefore tadvanaṁ iti, through this name, tadvana, which is indicative of Its quality; It is upāsitavyaṁ, to be meditated on.

The text states the results of meditation through this name; saḥ yah, anyone that; veda meditates on; etat, the aforesaid Brahman; evaṁ, thus, as possessed of the qualities mentioned above; sarvāṇi bhūtāni, all beings; ha, certainly; enam, to him, this meditator; abhi-saṁvāñchanti, pray, as (they do) to Brahman.