Upanishad - Shlokas

Isha Upanishad - Shloka 1

Om isavasyam-idagm sarvam yat-kinca jagatyam jagat, tena tyaktena bhunjitha ma grdhah kasya svid dhanam (1) Know that all this, whatever be in this ephemeral world penetrated by the Lord, belongs to Him. Therefore find all enjoyments in renunciation and covet not what belongs to others. Commentary  The opening mantra sounds like a corollary of Peace Invocation. It is mainly an exposition of the Path of Knowledge or Jnana yoga. Earth is a planet of solar system, orbiting about the sun between Venus and Mars. It is the planet on which we live. Cosmos is the universe, a well ordered whole. Universe includes all existing things, the whole creation or the cosmos combined into one homogenous whole. The earth is ever moving and the world is ever changing. Nothing in this world is ever static. Every atom is moving constantly. One wonders who is behind this moving power. Is he outside it or somewhere into it? We have to realize that the Supreme has its abode in everything and everywhere. In reality, it is the Infinite Self that conceives within itself the duality of one’s Self for the other. It is the mind that arises as a wave and disturbs the surface of the calm ocean of the world but the mind as the wave remains in its origin. Take the example of bracelet. Bracelet does not exist without gold whereas gold exists without bracelet. So the mind; wave or bracelet cannot exist without their basic source though the source remains as such. The quality and the nature of the created, the potentiality of the creation is all inherent in the creator. Mind, being non-different from the Infinite Self, has no independent existence of its own. The conclusion is that the world has no independent existence without the Creator God. So understand that the universe is pervaded by the Infinite Pure Awareness and then live and act in this world.  The word “Vasyam” suggests that the Supreme spirit is situated in this world and is quite at home with it. What so ever we see with our organs of sensation and perception or through our mind and intellect, are all part of nature and the whole nature is the creation and abode of God. Pure Consciousness is surrounded by all these elements and what we call the Jeeva, the human soul is nothing but divine. We have to realize the divinity within. Pure Consciousness is the seed of which the world appears as the tree.  So the world is nothing but Brahma. Elements rise in the Pure Consciousness like dream objects. Consciousness is Brahma, the mind is Brahma, and the intellect is Brahma. Brahma alone is the substance, sound or wind is the Brahma and Brahma alone is the component of all substances. All indeed is Brahma; there exists no world in reality. We all live in a world that is constantly changing. The very word Jagat suggests a changing and dynamic universe. Change is the law of life. All elements are changing. Every change is easily recognised with reference to something changeless; change being relative.  We know that God is changeless. He is the Reality, the Eternal Truth and we also know that this universe is a changing phenomenon we have to realize this reality behind all such changes. The seer suggests that we should experience the nature of Spirit through a process of renunciation. We all desire for peace and bliss in life. Happiness cannot be gained without it. Happiness is our essential nature. We have to work for it. Our misery comes not from work but from getting attached to something. So we need not grab material things as our own possession and have a feeling of detachment while working with them. We must work according to dictates that come from within; the society is bound to veer round it .There we have to plunge heart and soul and body into the work with patience, perseverance and selflessness. Everything depends upon the mind. It biases the mind that conjures up a sort of relationship between the transient phenomena of unrelated beings. With a feeling of renunciation, the mind is kept under control and the feeling of happiness in the changing objects of the universe can be achieved; provided we surrender to God so as to be "That". We have to understand that renunciation is actually the renunciation of hopes and aspirations.  Renunciation is not the physical withdrawal from the world of action but lies in giving up of self-centred activities and actions while not coveting any fruit of action. It is mental attitude towards work, neither hate nor desire but freedom from all pair of opposites. We should see the presence of the Lord in all appearances and modifications and abandon all delusions of duality. This is called surrender to Lord or offering of self to the Lord. Freedom from ego and craving or sense pleasure makes such a person happy As we think, we become that. Greed, covetousness, avarice, ego, sensuousness, have to give way to harmonious perceptions and thoughts. The seer asks us not to covet wealth. It does not belong to us. Wealth as well as materialism deludes the ignorant. It is unsteady and fleeting. It gives way to a number of worries and generates craving for more and more. The seer asks us not to make any passionate pursuit for wealth as it taints even the hearts of heroes, the seers and others and has no relationship with happiness and Bliss. It is like a night fall of the owl of evil desires, a tread of death. The seers welcome wealth of self-knowledge or else wealth is a burden even as the knowledge of scriptures is a burden .It never can serve any useful purpose. The seer asks us to employ the material wealth with a divine understanding as no material prosperity is effectively possible in the purpose without spiritual altar of divine light.  We have to accept it and consume it in cooperation for the benefit of humanity as a trustee of God. The property is not mine, it is gift of God to me for humanitarian purpose and I am answerable to Him for its consumption. The two lines of the shloka refer to two aspects—1-Knowledge and 2-Karma. Jnana and Karma are two paths in the realisation of the Supreme. Lord Krishna in Gita has stated, “Three paths have been stated by Me for seekers eager for their welfare: 1-Knowledge, 2- Karma and 3- Devotion. There is no other way of total welfare, (11-20-6) All these paths are interdependent, intertwined and inter –related in Gita’s philosophy of renunciation. They all aim at the Absolute. The path of Karma employs all the three forms of the body—the gross, the subtle and the causal-in the service of humanity. Power to act is gifted to us for a selfless service. In the path of knowledge we have to go for detachment, physical and emotional and rise above the three to seek realization in the Self. It is self –knowledge. Gita says, “Verily there is no purifier in this world like knowledge. Knowledge of the Self is very pure as it is conductive to God realisation. Sankaracharya pleads that the path of karma should merge with the Path of Knowledge (Atman Bodha -2 ) The Supreme Yoga -1 says thus , “Birds are able to fly with their two wings; even so both work and knowledge together lead to the Supreme goal of liberation. Not indeed work alone nor indeed knowledge alone can lead to liberation.” Maharishi Raman sees all the three into one. To him, devotion is Jnana Mata; (mother of knowledge) as only a true jnani can be a devotee. Devotee stresses upon surrender and jnani on vichar (knowledge) both want the Ego merge into the source where from it sprang out. All actions and karmas tend to follow one’s meditation we should meditate along the path of Karma and realise the Self. The perfect stage is the fusion of jnana, karma; and devotion. “Glimpses of World Religion” on page 41, puts it thus, “To those seeking knowledge, He is the Eternal Light, to those struggling for virtue, He is the Eternal Righteousness, and to those emotionally inclined, He is Eternal Love.” Swami Chinmayanandji sums up thus See God in all to Him belong all Know, renounce and rejoice seek not to possess, nothing is yours. Isha Upanishad - Shloka 2 Kurvan-neveha Karmani jijivisec-chatagrn samah, evam tvayi nanya-theto”sti na karma lipyate nare. (2)   Cherish a life-span of a hundred year spring of rightful actions on earth. There exists no other right option save actions unremitted without attachment to any fruits of action. Such actions do not bind. Commentary The whole universe goes on moving and working, from the atom to the highest being, working for the one end –liberty for the mind, for the body for the spirit. No one can remain without work, even for an instant. Lord Krishna in Gita says, There is nothing in all three worlds for me to do, nor is there anything worth attaining unattained yet I continue to work and engage in action “(iii-22) so action is inevitable. The activities of the mundane world have to run continuously without interruption. Everyone has to be engaged in action, either good or bad; both the good and bad actions fructify and serve as bondage in the path of God’s. Realization; exception being those that are performed with full surrender to Him. All actions are performed by the work of Prakriti (Primordial matter), the three Gunas-Rajas, Tamas and Satva; having 23 categories including 5 cognitive senses, 5 evolutes, 5 cognitive senses, 5 subtle elements, mind, intellect and ego, all these make the body. The individual identifies himself with the body and thinks that he is the doer. These three gunas combine in the human body in different proportion and impel him to act accordingly. The seer says that we should cherish the desire to live a life of a hundred years while performing all our duties and karmas. The question may arise, why should we wish a hundred year life –span, when we strive for liberation here and now in this very life? During Vedic period, the main purpose of work simply was the performance of spiritual ritual, yajna. Later in Mahabharata era, it covered all good and virtuous actions. The Upanishad age stressed upon liberation from the world-cycle in this life-time and it was to be had through self –realization and self-enquiry. Self enquiry demands wisdom which can dawn upon us through time and persistent action to thoughtlessness. Hence a hundred year of active days are cherished as ideal. The seer knows well that a happy life span of a hundred spring years can easily be achieved provided one gives up attachment to worldly attractions and allurements and surrender to the supreme. It is nothing but a liberated soul in action while not in action at all. It has been said that performance of action appropriate to you, even if it is despicable and unrighteous is the best So we have to engage ourselves  in action, established in the spirit of Yoga, and unattached to action; then we are not bound.. The Karmas are not binding if they are performed with the sense disconnected with the idea of diversity. Generally at the fag-end of life sometimes we think of leading a life full of renunciation .but we have to understand that renunciation is not the physical withdrawal from the world but mental attitude towards the world. Hence actions and activities should go on but self-centred activities be totally abandoned as they bring fruits of action and bind one. . It depends upon our attitude towards work; it has to be, neither hate nor desire; neither joy nor sorrow but work for work sake; free from pair of opposites. The difficulty is that we prefer action as doer and thus reap the fruits of action and while forgetting God, we entertain concepts, feelings and emotions and develop egoism, “I”ness and sense of duality. All these are short-lived and the result from them is also temporary. This makes us lose patience and tranquillity; equipoise and get into stress to land in chaos and restlessness. It is important that we should not think of ourselves as the doer and expect any fruit of reward. The giver of the result is not the one who acts for it but God and His laws. Therefore the desired results are seldom achieved. We have to act to the best of our abilities for fulfilment of our aim but have to be free from false hopes and insistences. This is called action without desire. Know well that we are not the doer, independent and self-sufficient. So dedicate all actions to the Lord. He alone is the wielder of threefold power - Jnana, Ichcha and Karma or Knowledge, Desire and Action. We have our own identity no doubt but it is only individual and not the total identity. God lives in the total and acts through us. We should remember Him all through our actions and leave the result to Him according to His laws and accept it as prasadam. (Gift) All actions done with a feeling of a doer are binding, whatever be the results. Actions performed with meek surrender to God are liberating as they are without any expectation of the fruits of reward. The fact stands that we perform the act not without a motive.  Every Karma has some motive behind its action. Some act for power, some for pelf and position, while only a few for liberation. Then we have to guard against path of inaction and vikarma or wrong action. The seer warns us against wrong actions and says that for this we have to understand the pravriti and nivrati of the individual. Personal inclination matters much. Discriminating faculty is very important.  We have to distinguish between right and wrong; between what to do and what not to do; between Tamas and Rajas. We have to detach ourselves from wrong deeds, born of Kama, desire and lust.  Saint T. S. Vasvani in Bhagavad-Gita page 66 quotes the examples of the great widower, the English King, Henry the 8th. He was called “The Great Widower” as he married 6 times, one woman after another. The fire of love ruled over him. It conceals the highest of knowledge into its black smoke called Dhoom. The senses, mind and intellect are declared to be its seat. Screening the light of Truth through these, the desire eludes the soul. Then there is the example of Goethe who under evil influence of Kama ran after girls in restlessness. The mental giant Nelson swayed by Karma, began living with the wife of another one while leaving his wife for another, to let her commit suicide. We need not forget that the senses are greater than the body, greater to it is the mind and still greater than the mind is the intellect; greatest of all is He, the Self. Isha Upanishad - Shloka 3 Asurya nama te lokah andhena tamasa”vrtah, Tagmste pretyabhi-gacchanti ye ke catma-hano janah (3) Whoever be they, the betrayers of soul penetrate deep down into the dark worlds of blundering gloom from here; to go where such all defrauders of their souls reach owing to ignorance after their death.. The killer of the soul, whoever he may be, must enter into the planet known as the worlds of the faithless, full of darkness and ignorance. Commentary The term used here in this shloka, “sunless world’ or asurya needs explanation. It is used as an old and traditional usage. Absence of sun is absence of light and presence of darkness is nothing but the absence of light. Light stands for knowledge and darkness for ignorance. Darkness disappears on turning towards light where as ignorance disappears if we turn towards light of the self. Even a shadow vanishes if it faces light; ignorance perishes when it turns towards self- knowledge. So in such a place of sunless existence, there rules darkness or ignorance, and the place remains devoid of real knowledge. Ignorance means Avidya and knowledge is Vidya. Avidya has no place apart from Vidya. It stays in Vidya. Absence of Vidya is Avidya. A life wedded to Avidya or ignorance of real knowledge is simply a devilish life and such a one is condemned to blinding gloom of hellish life. Any life based on ignorance and false sense of perception cannot be a life wedded to spirituality. It is a life concentrated to physical enjoyment of body and materialistic ways of self- interest devoid of any spiritual trend. It is a life concentrated upon physical enjoyments driven by senses as approved by Virochan, the Devil. The soul remains conspicuous. The ego-sense, I am the body, I am the mind, I am the doer arises when ever the self gets associated with the body. So the self of a person gets bound in the body as it runs after thoughts and gets entangled in pleasures to be bound with time and space. This is all the cause of misery and misfortune. The very first line of shloka suggests that the Supreme Being is all –pervading and the universe is in fact the Eternal effulgent Infinite consciousness shinning so brightly as to dazzle the eyes of the worldly people. He is the Light in which the Self and the world shine. Actually Consciousness minus conceptualism is the Eternal Brahman, the Absolute; consciousness plus conceptualism is thought. Consciousness reflecting into consciousness shines as consciousness and exists as consciousness yet to a person, ignorant but worldly-wise and intellectualist, rational, there arises a notion that there has come into being and there exists something else other than Consciousness. To him it appears as a world appearance. It is treated as the very nature of Eternal Consciousness. This universe so exists and remains absorbed in our very nature. The universe is neither real nor unreal, it exists in Consciousness like ornament in gold yet it does not exist independent of Consciousness. In the dazzling light of Consciousness, we fail to discriminate between sentient and insentient, inert and intelligent, and in all other essence of substances. Our intelligence identifies itself with the body. The sense of duality is awake and alert in this life of ignorance and leads us to decay and darkness of hell. The mantra extorts us to renounce the false identification of body, mind and intellect layers and seek expansion of soul for perfection. We are essentially divine. Divinity is manifest in us. We have to realize it. Let us not become suicidal and self-destroyer of soul and march forward towards Eternity.  The soul cannot be killed; it simply means that our devilish activities lower our spirits and the soul shrinks to a lower depth of degradation and downfall. We have to guard against it. It can be possible provided we shrink our ego-sense or  "I –ness".  It is only possible if we devote ourselves to action. A life of action is always elevating if it involves broad pursuit of human welfare. It leads to sublime process of higher and still higher heights of renunciation. So engage yourself in action, established in spirit of Yoga and unattached to the action, thus be not bound.   Isha Upanishad - Shloka 4   Aneja-dekam manaso javiyo nainad–deva apnuvan – purva-marsat, tad-dhavato-nyana- tyeti tisthat tasmin-napo matarsva dadhati. (4) The Atman dwells in every being. Although established in His place, the personality of Godhead is subtler than the mind. Being subtler, It is beyond approach of senses and devas.  Sitting, It travels faster than who run after It.  Because of Its presence, the air carries the water in form of clouds and sustains the life-operating activities of all beings. Commentary In the shloka 4th to shloka 8th of the Isha Upanishad, we have the description of Infinite Consciousness indicated in terms of Gunas. The Eternal is without any attribute yet our seers try to explain Him in terms of language. The question arises; can we gain the vision of the nature of the Infinite in a particular form? Well may be a possibility by the grace of God or by intensity of devotion but such a vision is definitely not His true nature... A form, since visible, is inert, finite and perishable whereas the Lord is eternal, Infinite and Supreme. Vision is a duality of the seer of the vision. The very first line of the stanza says that the Self is motionless. It is indicative of being of no speed. It indicates a static position as against dynamic one. But in case of Eternity, motionless suggests that all-pervading Consciousness is present everywhere at all times and at all places simultaneously; hence no question of any movement. The cosmos is its body, yet It has no body. It is subtler than the tip of a single strand of hair yet it pervades the entire universe. It pervades everywhere yet It moves not. The reality is that the Infinite Consciousness, being all pervading has nowhere to move about as It is already present everywhere, It needs no motion. This is in direct contrast with Jagat, the world, which is ever moving and changing. The shloka suggests that the Self is swifter than the mind. It has been accepted all over that the mind is the fastest but the Infinite surpasses it. As it is present already in the place where mind has yet to reach and it can only reach later. The All-pervading nature of the Self is such that It makes its presence felt everywhere without any movement or dynamic speed as of other objects. In short, Self is the one, unmoving, faster than the mind, having preceded mind, It is beyond reach of the senses. Ever steady, It outstrips all that run. By its mere presence It enables the cosmic energy to sustain activities of life.  The seer uses the term, Anejat Ekam. It stands for Atman, the Self. He emphasises that the Self is Ekam i.e. one and only one, or one without a second. It is the highest and beyond that there is nothing. It is Anejat, unmoving and motionless. It is alone, Infinite and non-mobile. Simultaneously It is Manasah Javeevah - or swifter than the mind. The term in self contradictory. Vedanta says that when the mind is established in desirelessness, when it does not seek pleasure, when body and limb perform their natural functions, then action and inaction are of equal value and meaning. We also see that the mind can reach anywhere unchecked and unstopped by anybody. Even the structure of the atom has been found by the mind. So mind definitely is subtler than the atom. In this way that which is behind the mind, the individual Self is subtler than the mind. But the Self or Atman being omnipresent and beyond mind is already there even before the mind reaches the spot.  The stanza suggests that even the Devas cannot overtake or surpass the Infinite. Devta is the one possessed of great and useful qualities and powers, much higher and above ordinary individual. Nasadiya Sukta (10-129) says that Gods were born later than the world’s creation. Devas are celestial powers, generally benevolent and beneficent and death – postponing. Someone who confers selflessly benefit and advantage and expects no return is also considered as a devata. Yagvalkya in Brahad (111-19) speaks of 8 vasus, from the cosmos (Earth, Water, Fire, Ether and Air) plus sun, moon and constellation; 11 Rudras (5 sense objects and 5 motor objects plus mind) 12 Adityas (12 months of the year) and Time he rest two are Indra and Prajpati.  All these together constitute 33 gods in Vedic mythology.  It is obvious that the word Devata stands for sense organs. It is the Infinite Consciousness that makes the organs function properly through mind. Sense organs can only perceive the object but ultimately the rider is the Consciousness acting through mind. Geeta says (10-2) “Neither the host of devas nor of great seers know My origin and boundless supernatural powers and influences, for in every respect I am the initial cause of all.” The line says, sitting It goes faster than who ran after It. We observe that the experience of pleasure and pain in relation to existence and non-existence of sense objects is attached to the condition of the mind. When the mind is at peace and the heart leaps to the Supreme Truth, when all the disturbing thought waves of the mind have subsided, then alone peace and bliss of the Infinite is gained. No sense organ can achieve it without grace of Infinite Consciousness. Hence the engine of Infinite carries with it attached bogies of sense organs and sense objects. Self is the very substance of Eternity in all movements and is the very force in face of all such seeming power forces. The seer further says, sitting, It outruns all others. In fact, It is stationary, sitting. Still It goes past others who run. The Vedas say that all devatas such as Vatah (Air) are in ever-flowing state, unstopped and unchecked. Their movement is swift and very fast. Still they lag behind Him in the run. He, though static and unmoving and sitting goes faster than all others who run. This is indicative of the fact that the Infinite is Eternal, omnipresent and all pervading and nothing pervading It. The term , “Matarishva” used to express it is the most appropriate and befitting. Matarishva is the Lord of cosmic energy, the vital air, (oxygen), and the main source of life. We all get it from Akash (ether), the divine space and breathe our life or else the life existence of the world will be in danger of extinction. The divine essence is the vital Air, the life force from ether called Akash. Water is such another force. It has oxygen and hydrogen in proper proportion. It has been called Apah. Apah and Apasa are interconnected and the power to release them is Matarishva; the great controller of cosmic energy. This life force operates under Supreme Consciousness, the Atman. The Supreme and the Matarishva is one and the same in this respect as our life source cannot be two but one and only one. Isha Upanishad - Shloka 5 Tadejati tannaijati tad dure tadvantike, tadan-tarasya sarvasya tadu sarv-syasya bahyatah (5) Consciousness acts and acts not; Distances matter not, far or near;  His omnipresence is in every being; Realise Him inside Self, Experience Him everywhere. Commentary  The nature of the Infinite has further been explained. The seer who realises the Atman is unable to articulate but can only give hints and suggestions about the nature of the supreme. According to Vedic concept, the Consciousness does not undergo any change. Any modification or duality is unconceivable. The Infinite Consciousness is non-dual and unmodified.  The present shloka takes up the inconceivable and contradictory presentation of the potencies of the Lord.  He walks and does not walk; The Atman moves and It moves not; He is far away and yet very near; The seer resorts to contradictions to prove the inconceivable potencies of the Lord and describe His transcendental nature. The seer realises that He is without parts but He is the All; He dwells in the body but He is omnipresent; He enjoys and does not enjoy, He is intelligent in every limb. The seer sees the Truth as he sees that the things are strung in the Self as beads are strung on a thread and knows that “I am not the mind ”. Pure Consciousness is indivisible, without parts. It does not have any form or shape. There is nothing without or within, right or left, outside or apart from It. That is the ultimate Reality. The seer knows that it is the Consciousness that experiences all but remains pure and unconditioned. It is the Absolute Truth but not as a conceit, but as pure awareness and nothing else. It is like sky, unconditioned and indivisible but it becomes cloud and conditioned. It can be compared to ultimate sub-atomic particle which yet hides within its heart the greatest of the mountains  The Supreme Being is formless yet five are its aspects-Will, space, time, order and destiny and cosmic manifestation . It has countless powers, energy, potency, knowledge, dynamics, actions, and non-actions. All these are but Pure Consciousness. They, though may so appear, are not distinct from It. Everything is the manifestation of His energy within and without. Universe is in fact the external effulgent of the Infinite Consciousness which generates within itself the knowable with an idea of space and an enquiry about it. The entire objective universe exists as the Supreme lord, the Eternal, unborn, self–effulgent and He is the All who is omnipotent, beyond conception and description .He is, yet He is not realised by the world He is within the body too yet He is far. Actually people out of ignorance wander in search of God outside the world and do not peep Him inside their heart. He resides there. He is always near us yet we try to seek Him at a distance and fail due to duality concept. From Him emerge countless divinities even as countless rays emerge from the sun. It is from Him that Infinite worlds arise as ripples from the surface of the ocean. He is the Light that makes the Self and the world shine the individual cannot exist apart from the total.  So the gross body cannot exist if not for the five great elements of the total. Individual is an essential constituent of the total. With it the total becomes complete and full.  The Consciousness lives in the body inside the Jeeva and the same Consciousness stays in totality all over the existence. It knows no time and no place. It is all-pervading and omnipresent. Atman is motionless. It is substratum of the universe and everything is inside it yet He is outside of everything. It is the space that has no range and which cannot be measured. Who can fathom the consciousness then? The seer knows it and sees that He alone is That, the controller of all this and not the content. Isha Upanishad - Shloka 6 Yastu sarvani bhutani atmanye-vanupasyati, sarva bhutesu catmanam tato na viju-gupsate (6)  Effulgence of the Infinite Consciousness Shines bright and pervades everywhere; Be That; Realise the Self by the Self in the Self. Duality and hatred vanish away as horn of a hare. Commentary Vedanta says that there exists only one Cosmic Consciousness. In reality, neither the objective universe nor the perceiving self, nor perception as such nor void nor inertness exists. The one Consciousness that exists is called Infinite Self. It conceives within itself the duality of oneself and the other. The qualities and the nature of the created and the potentiality of the creation are inherent in the creator. Even the mind has no independent existence apart from the creator. Self is self-luminous It shines all the time revealing its presence. It reveals everything else, It itself is not revealed by anything. It is the Self that reveals the body and the mind, the senses and the world. The Infinite or Pure consciousness has never been born and undergoes no change. Brahman alone is absolutely Real. This world is an illusionary appearance and the individual soul is in essence nothing other than Brahman. The shloka says that we should constantly see everywhere the existence of God and see the Self in all beings as there is no duality and only God exists everywhere and there exists nothing else but God. A wise man perceives all beings as his ownself and his self in all beings. It is the consciousness that exists in all substances, as the essence exists in all things, oil exists in sesames seeds, an aroma exist in flowers, and the faculty of objective perception exists in the perceiver. It is the essence of the world appearance. It is the greatest of our action and cause of all causes and essence in all beings. Brahman alone is absolutely real; this world is merely an illusionary appearance. The individual soul in essence is none other than Brahman. The seer says that we should contemplate on the Lord in this spirit. He is the light illuminating the solar power as well as the lunar force. He is the intelligence hidden in all material substances. He is the extravert awareness as well as the introvert prana, the life force. He is without parts and is the all; having no physical body yet dwells in the body, enjoys and does not enjoy. One should consider this and take up everything as good and fine, accept that all is well with the world as God is. One should abandon all divisive notions of this and that and realise that all is Brahman. We have to worship the Self in this way and realise the Self by the Self in the Self.  Everything has one of the three qualities - Sattva, Rajas or Tamas. It may be auspicious, good and mixed. We have to realise everything in our own self and worship or meditate upon the Self in this spirit. We have to look things with equal vision, even the pleasant and the unpleasant, beautiful and ugly, gentle and wicked. There is no duality. We have to understand that darkness means absence of light and not the negation; ignorance is absence of knowledge and nothing else.  All this is Brahman and all emanates from Brahman. Leaving all distinctions between desirable and undesirable, we should worship the Self. Self is not revealed by scriptures or instructions of preceptors but by spiritual understanding. They do guide but it is one’s own self enquiry that counts. Vivekananda says, “The Self of a man, the Atman, higher than the sun and the moon, higher than the heavens, greater than the great universe itself, this glory of the Self appears as a man, the only God that ever was, the only God that ever existed and ever will exist with wisdom, sacrifice and renunciation.” We have to concentrate upon this Self.  The seer knows that for an exalted soul, all sentient beings are one in relation to Pure Awareness. Everything is a part of the same one whole. There is no misery or grief and any feeling of duality. There is a very significant Christian saying, “Love Thy neighbour as you love yourself.”  Even this lags perfection. It accepts two different identities – you and your neighbour, independent of each other though mutually allied. This is not the Monism of Vedas.  Brharadanyaka Upanishad 4-5-15 says, “Where there is duality, there one perceives another, smells another, one tastes another, one contacts another, knows another but when all this is Atman, who is there to think, touch know whom? Who can know Him by whom all this is known? –Who can know the knower?” There is no sense of duality as God alone exists and none else. Non-duality excludes all plurality and therefore all proximity in space, all succession in time, all interdependence as cause and effect, and all options as subject and object do not appear at all. Paul Deussen raises his doubts. He says, “The gospels fix correctly as the highest law of morality. Love your neighbour as you love yourself. But why should I do so, since by the order of nature I feel pleasure and pain only in myself, not in my neighbour?”  The answer is  in the Vedas - Tat Tam Asi. You are your neighbour. These three words of metaphysical and morality together satisfy our quest as the non-duality says you are your neighbour. This is the greatness of Vedic thought of Monism. Isha Upanishad - Shloka 7   Yasmin sarvani bhutani atmaiva-bhud vijanatah, tatra ko mohah kah soka ekatva-manu-pasyatah (7) When “That I am” is known, Bliss is attained; Ignorance and delusion lose meaning. The seer of oneness receives no negative feelings; neither passion nor grief touches him. Commentary  We all know that self is self–luminous. It shines all the times and reveals its presence everywhere. It is Swayam Prakash. It reveals everything else but is not revealed by anything. Self is Eternal light. It reveals the world, the body, the senses and the mind. Even in deep sleep state when all these are absent, self is still there. It has been known that ignorance of self is the cause of sorrow and knowledge of Self leads to delight and tranquillity. So one should engage oneself in the thought of the Self and set himself established in Pure Consciousness in regard to all the precepts whether they be pleasant or unpleasant. For this we have to abandon all notions of this I am, that you are, and realize that all indeed is Brahman. Everything of the Infinite Consciousness itself is space, time, natural order, I-ness, thought and its expansion, I, You and the otherness, above and below directions, stars and mountains, ignorance and knowledge, darkness and light, whatever is, was and will be, - all such eyes are His energies. It is one though conceived as diverse. It is neither one nor many but exists in Reality. It is of the nature of Supreme, Blissful and immeasurable great cosmic Being of Consciousness. When the Self is sought in this manner, the state of equanimity like that of the space is gained and the mind becomes completely quiescent, without any least movement of thought. This is the state of equanimity in which one gets established. The inner self is extended within himself. There remains no likes and dislikes; pain and pleasure, attraction and aversion. When the mind is at peace and the heart leaps to the Supreme Truth, then all the disturbing thought waves in the mind–stuff subside. Then an unbroken flow of peace and the greatest Bliss is the result. For him this very world becomes abode of God. He knows that the ignorant live in the mind and the enlightened ones live in Sattva. He is the possessor of unending joy, happiness and Supreme Bliss.  Such a man established in the Self becomes Mahakarta, (the great doer of action); Mahabhokta (The great enjoyer) and Mahatyagi (The great renouncer) He has no doubts, and performs proper acts and is always selfless in nature. He does not hate anybody, enjoys all natural experiences, sweet or sour, and entertains no desires. He is by nature non-violent and unaffected by pleasures and pains; such a one is banished from any mental concept, like Dharma and Artha, religious commitments and monetary pursuits, birth and death. All desires and doubts; bodily attractions and attachments, pain and sufferings are naught to him as he knows that the notion of world appearance is false.     Isha Upanishad - Shloka 8 Sa paryagac-chukram-akayam–avranam asna-viragm suddham-apapa-viddham, kavir manisi paribhuh svayam-bhuh yatha-tathyatah arthan vyadadhac-chasva-tibhyah samabhyah (8) He, the Atman is all pervading; self-sufficient, scathe-less, without a body, without blemish, radiant, knowing all, seeing all, and encompassing all. He has duly assigned their respective duties to the Prajapati.  Commentary This particular shloka attempts at a comprehensive description of the Eternal in terms of meaningful phraseology of words. The seer has tried to describe the Self, the Atman in us in most appealing sweet and short words, full of symbolic meaning and details. The word Prayagat used herein simply indicates the one who has gone out or abroad but here it simply means the one who has spread out far and wide with no limit or extent, or beyond all boundaries. Another word Sukram means bright. Bright is the light but It suggests the brightness of Self. The Self is not the bright light but the effulgence that shines through and remains a light-giving principle. Scathe-less and without muscle suggests that its withering away or coming into any harmful injury is impossibility as it has no fibrous tissue with ability to contract or produce any movement even. It indicates an immune nature and therefore it is suddha and pure, being without a physical form. It remains untouched by evils. The seer describes the Self with the use of the words, prayagati, Akayam, Scathe less, without muscles, Suddha, pure, Appa-viddhan meaning immaculate, unpierced by evils, and perfectly clean and faultless. The seer sees the Atman as bodiless – the three bodies, gross, subtle and causal are absent in its case. The Atman is above and beyond it and is therefore perfect. The seer says that the Self is the seer. In this world appearance, Jeeva is the vehicle of consciousness, Jeeva has ego-sense, and intelligence is the vehicle of ego-sense, mind of intelligence, prana of mind, senses of prana; body, senses and motion become vehicle of body and such a motion is called Karma, action. As a life-principle, the Prana, being the vehicle of mind, when takes away the mind then the mind is merged with the spiritual heart, prana does not move at all, then mind attains quiescent state. Self is thus the life principle and the only seer. Self is also the knowing principle. It is omniscient. It appears without any cause; therefore is Reality which is alone, is.  Atman is the First Cause, Causeless Cause, Primeval. It is Pure Conscious Awareness and is all-pervading; nothing pervading It. The question arises, how do we know or realize the Self? Do we know ‘It’ by any external aid or by any other self or by Itself. We are all unanimous that the Self cannot be known by not-self or by anything external to self. It may be body, mind, intellect senses. We know that all these are inert and insentient. The inert cannot know anything. Then the question arises, is there more than one Self? How do we know it ; do we know from the presence of another third Self? Then this goes on; proving it a wrong assumption.  Then there remains the only alternative that there is only one Self and none else. We can realise the Self by the Self in the Self. Self is both the knower and the known; the seer and the seen; the cognisor and the cognised at the same time. It is Pure Consciousness, non-dual, homogeneous and indivisible. Self is self-luminous, shines bright all the times. It is the External light that reveals the world, body, senses and mind and intellect but is not revealed by them. It can be said that Self is Vishva at working level; Tejas at dreaming level; and Prajna at deep sleep level. These are layers of Awareness and not the alternative states for a person to step into. They examine the depths in the cosmos and the unconscious mind. Self is all-pervading and nothing pervades It. It is said that, “That which is not consciousness of internal world, nor consciousness of the external world, nor consciousness of both the worlds, nor a mass of consciousness nor consciousness nor unconsciousness ,which is unseen, beyond empirical dealings, beyond reach of organs, unchanging, auspicious, non-dual, - That is the Self and that is to be intuited.” The indivisible Consciousness exists everywhere. Self is all-pervading and it is the essence that holds everything together. That is also the creation; all this is the ever peaceful and blissful Brahman. It is the only moving finger behind the universe. It moves all natural phenomenon according to its law of nature Rita; Rta or rhythm displays a clear sense of ordered universe. It anticipates the Karmic laws and preserves the rule of creation. Rig Veda (x-190-3-) mentions, “Just as God created the sun, the earth, the moon, the electricity, the atmosphere, in the previous cycle, so He has done in the present and so He will do it in the future. His work is all flawless and absolutely without any error.” Isha Upanishad - Shloka 9 Andham tamah pravisanti ye vidyam-upasate, tato bhuya iva tamo ya u vidyayagm ratah: (9) Those devoted to the worship of Avidya or not-knowledge enter into the blinding darkness of ignorance; those who worship Vidya or pure knowledge of the Atman exclusively, seem to enter, as it were, into a greater darkness. Commentary Pure and dry knowledge of the subject cannot satisfy our quest which we have to experience ourselves. The Truth has to be personally experienced; seeker has to attain it himself. In the shlokas nine through eleven, the term Vidya and Avidya has been used. Advaits presents Vidya as knowledge of Atman, which is Pure Awareness, Changeless and unborn Reality. The other term used is Avidya. It stands for not knowledge. It may be physical or material understanding of the ever changing universe. In Advait, Avidya  is not a mere lack of knowledge as something negative but a positive nescience, not mere ignorance.  It is an obscuring layer that covers the Brahman but is removed by Vidya, the Brahman jnana. According to Vedanta, both Vidya and Avidya combine into one without duality lead to the realisation of the Ultimate Truth, the Supreme Brahman. In the verses under consideration, the apparent contradiction between the two has been very beautifully drawn ultimately to conclude that Avidya is nothing but the absence of Vidya and exists as such. Shloka 9 The seer suggests that Avidya is not knowledge. It may be full of good works; helpful and hopeful for mankind and the individual but as it is performed with the hope of some reward or return, it is binding and not liberating as Vidya is. In the absence of self–knowledge, Avidya is ignorance that ultimately deludes the performer. When consciousness objectifies itself and regards itself as its own object of observation, then there rules Avidya or ignorance.  This is the play of Prakriti, the physical and the material universe appearing as real and alluring. This nature or prakriti is three-fold. The three qualities of nature are Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. It has been subdivided into three each i.e. subtle, mild and gross. Thus the nature allures us into nine categories which together constitute the universe. Under the influence of Avidya, we get far away removed from our own self. Power of nescience, or ignorance is capable of creating a total confusion between the Real and the Unreal. We get confounded between the two and do not understand what is real and what is unreal.  Nescience can only afford the understanding of the unreal which through all its cognitions appear as real. It gives false information of the reality of the world appearance. However it can exist with Brahman as Brahman is knowledge. It cannot exist with nature, nor can individual soul be its focus. It is evident that true nature of Brahman is covered or obscured by Avidya and can be removed by Vidya. Nescience is not the real identity; even as oil in the sand is not a real identity. There cannot be any relationship between ignorance solely wedded to a life of material world and the Self or Atman. The Pure Consciousness cannot apprehend the inert object. The object may grant us pleasure but only temporarily and this pleasure is bound to end in pain as it increases our desires for more and more which we fail to fulfil. It is only when the notion of external knowable has been removed, Self shines or else it is the notion of inertia or ignorance which throws the followers into blinding darkness. The seer cautions us against going to another extreme, that of the study of scriptures, and extreme faith in rituals. It is the pursuit of Vidya, exclusive and singlehanded.  Knowledge is easy to comprehend. The seer is speaking of Vidya as knowledge of gods but not as yet the knowledge of Brahman.  People generally keep themselves wholeheartedly devoted to some god or rituals to keep off the delusion of worldly appearance, but this is not sufficient.  Pure and dry knowledge of the subject cannot satisfy our quest which we have to experience ourselves.  The Truth has to be personally experienced; seeker has to attain it himself. All wisdom is born of spirit of self-enquiry.  It dispels the non-understanding and the undivided intelligence shines in its own light. The wisdom has to arrive directly on the devotee, no transmitted knowledge can be sufficient for the real enlightenment. Self is self-luminous. When consciousness becomes aware of itself, there manifests the Intelligence itself. This is why the seer cautions us against taking resort to notions and other objects. Any single minded pursuit to learning is a mental exercise. Mind and intellect both are inert and their pursuit cannot at all be enlightening unless it is soul directed. It has to be the outcome of self-enquiry, free from the relationship of any notion, concept or idea. Vidya and Avidya are both notions and have to be done away with on the path to Eternity. We have to realise the Infinite Consciousness and not these concepts. All notions and concepts have to go first. Hence those people given to one-sided worship of Vidya alone act in vain and it may be presumed that they fall as though in greater darkness. Even though a ritualistic and theoretically spiritualist, they remain near yet far away removed from the Infinite Brahman because of these notions and concepts that cover the effulgence of the Supreme. The seer gives us a message that we rise above notions and concepts and sense of duality as the Truth is non-dual.  Isha Upanishad - Shloka 10 Anyad–evahur–vidyaya anya–dahur–avidyaya, iti susruma dhiranam ye nastad vica–caksire (10 ) The two notions –Vidya and Avidya as popularly assumed, grant different gains, serving varying interests as is experienced and explained by common people. Commentary Vidya and Avidya; Knowledge and not knowledge or ignorance both are but concepts. We are required to drop off these two on the path of spiritual journey to Eternity. The real, unreal and the admixture of the two are all but notions and naught else. The notions or concepts are neither real nor unreal. What then we call real in this universe? For this, we have to go beyond mind because unreal world has acquired substantiality on account of the persistence of this notion of its existence. Thus all beings sustain such notion out of their own concepts and ideas. The seer does not explain his own experience but that of the people. The verse contains opinion of the common people. For them Vidya and Avidya both have their own utility; the fruits may differ though. To the Avidya wedded person life seems to be real, the world of senses is real. On the other hand to a person wedded to the pursuit of Vidya, the world of spirit is the real world. Each one calls the other as a dreamer but a synthesis of both is essential for a harmony in life of this world of action and karma. Avidya stands for nescience. Generally the concept is related to physical world of beings and their activities of life existence. When consciousness is identified with mind and thus with brain, and does not remain as spiritual cosmic principle apart from mind, it is Avidya in the extreme. Avidya is something related to non-spiritual and physical world of action. It is connected with our daily life and human welfare. Vidya may be related to the truth of the metaphysical world just as chemistry and the other natural sciences deal with the truth of physical world.   An illustration for the common peoples understanding is suggested. The whole universe seems like a picture on screen. The poster of the picture may be useful and alluring but it has no sense unless the picture is shown on the screen, The screen itself is without any use unless it shows the picture on it. So neither the picture nor the screen is of any worth even though they serve some purpose. Such is the case with Vidya and Avidya. The Avidya, given to physical world of action can be worthwhile only in connection with Vidya, the supreme knowledge of Brahman. Avidya or physical sciences are no good enough to be sufficient for achieving the highest Bliss without the self –knowledge of the Infinite In easy term, we can say that science and spirituality have to go together, integrated and coordinated. Such is also the case with Vidya, it imparts pure knowledge and if exclusively pursued, it is thus a mental exercise only. The mind being inert, does not touch the Self.  Vidya and Avidya, both being concepts have to be left out on way of Self-Enquiry into Eternity...Avidya may account for pelf and position as all good works result in satisfaction of the doer and bring him name and fame, but the fact is that such a man also feels inwardly a void even in this surrounding and remains away from real Self. On the other hand, the Vidya –wedded man remains in his own dream world of ego and intellectual superiority and consequently loses his equipoise and tranquillity. Vidya and Avidya are both stations on the road map and serve some guiding purpose but the train to Eternity has to leave these stations on its journey to the supreme destination. Some people have interpreted Vidya as Devata jnana as  it leads to the abode of Devata whichever one propitiates.  Avidya is the performance of ritual with a motive. Avidya is Karma and it leads to certain goal of life.  Some saints believe that it is by good karmas, one reaches Pitraloka. From there after enjoying results of good fruits, one is reborn in the world. The saints think that by meditation and upasana, one reaches Pitraloka (manes )and from there proceeds either to world or to the Supreme. Anyway it seems to be an orthodox opinion, no more valid this day. Isha Upanishad - Shloka 11 Vidyam cavidyam ca yastad vedo – bhagyam saha, Avidyaya mrtyum tirtva vidyaya – mrtam-asnute (11) One, who knows Avidya and Vidya, both together at the same time, conquers death of physical body by Avidya and attains immortality by Vidya. Commentary Sometimes the commentaries by intellectuals become too esoteric for the common people to understand and realise. The seer here explains in simple language the utility of physical science Avidya vis-a-vis spiritual science Vidya. In fact matter and spirit are conjoined. Work and worship go together. There is a balance of harmony in inner and outer dimensions of the two. God permits personal and eternal bliss but also provides bread to all of us. Vidya guides to the first goal whereas Avidya does not let things happen but causes them to happen. The concept of “ism” has been foreign to Vedic thought. Vedanta is not an organised system of belief but of fundamental truth. It is the spirit of the individual  that works towards realisation of this truth. It is the search for liberation which is the fundamental goal of our life. A farmer may worship the plough, a fisherman his boat, people whatever god and goddesses they propitiate for their aspect of life related to them, religion remains a personal affair. God is there and so the happiness of life can be attained by His grace. The medium is not important, our spirit of surrender to Him and dedicated work for a noble cause is the way out to realise Him in the blissful heart. Vivekananda has said, "Our misery comes not from work, but by getting attached to something." One must work as the dictates comes from within and then, if it is right and good, society is bound to veer around. “We must plunge heart, soul and body into the works with purity, patience and perseverance.” He simply meant that the physical knowledge called Avidya, nescience, be put in use properly in cooperation with spiritual knowledge called Vidya in pursuit of the Infinite Consciousness. This is wisdom, the highest spiritual knowledge and with this will come the Bliss. The seer emphasises on the synthesis of Vidya and Avidya or knowledge and not knowledge or nescience. It is just as the synthesis of science and religion. It is the real integration of head and heart; something like seeking unity in diversity. It is also relevant to the modern problems of the age. The seer asks everybody to be intensely practical in the scientific approach called Avidya, as well as in the spiritual world of deep enquiry called Vidya and see in that approach, the oneness and the harmony that will pervade the state of  jeevan mukta. In fact Avidya arises in Vidya just as ripples arise in the ocean and Avidya dissolves as Vidya just as ripples are dissolved in water.  The seer wants us to resort to the understanding of non-duality as the Truth is non-dual. It is true that actions involve duality and we have to function in apparent duality. Let our nature partake of both duality and non-duality. The reality is neither duality, as it is the power of mind that creates this division, nor unity, as the concept of unity arises from anti thesis of duality. They are all notions and concepts and not the Infinite Consciousness.  The seer says that nothing is entirely physical or entirely metaphysical. One presupposes the other and explains another. What is matter - Avidya? It is only an infinitesimal part of the phenomenon of nature. The vast part is not nature. Avidya or physical sciences and material world of scientific rational is not non-inductive in religion and metaphysics. Dualism presupposes unity and non-dualism suggests dualism. This is needed for a helpful and healthy life style in the God’s world.  It has been rightly said, “Compassionate yet not contemptuous, not avoiding pair of opposites, not jealous, neither intelligent nor non-intelligent, neither motivated nor non-motivated, we should live with equal vision and inner calm in full understanding. It is a fact that he sees the Truth who sees all things are strung in the Self as beads are stung on a thread and also the one who knows well “I am not the mind”.”  The knowledge based on Avidya only gives results and therefore is binding. It clings to the notion of the world. In reality, there is no difference between meaning of world, Brahman or the Infinite Self. The world is as true in relation to Brahman as the dream city is true in relation to waking consciousness. It goes to prove that there is no duality as the world and the cosmic consciousness are synonymous. In all such cases we have to realise our true nature by self –Enquiry. Avidya arises when we believe that there is something outside of knowledge and other than knowledge. Knowledge does not have an object to know. Knowledge is independent and eternal, beyond any description. When this truth is directly realised, there is perfect knowledge.  Jinan or knowledge is for awakening and enlightenment. Its contemplation is the means to such awakening. There is absolutely no relation or division between knowledge and the object of knowledge. In the verse, there is stress on the word “Ubhayagm saha”. It means both together. The theoretical knowledge of Vedanta doctrine cannot grant salvation to anyone. They are good as preparation to higher approach.  Even the previous preparations are discarded after reaching the limit as we leave the rungs of ladder one by one while climbing. The actions are necessary for preparation only. We have not to delight in them but remain unaffected by them. So the case with Avidya and Vidya; both being concepts have to go and let only Self Knowledge shine.  Isha Upanishad - Shloka 12 Andham tamah pravisanti ye’sambhuti –mupasate, tato bhuya iva te tamo ya u sambhu-tyagm ratah. (12) Enter they into a blind darkness, who resort to the worship of the manifest prakriti, as if into a greater darkness go they who merely contemplate upon the unmanifest Nirgun (Hiranyagarbha) Commentary There is a sort of belief system in the Hindu way of life. You can believe in a god or not, you still remain a Hindu. There is ample freedom to the individual who can work out his own way to salvation by himself. Gita mentions five paths for the purpose and each individual is free to pursue any path of his liking. He may pursue the worship of god of his own choice or not worship at all and still remain a good Hindu. Hindu culture is deep rooted in the spiritual ethos of each individual working towards his own ultimate liberation as a fundamental goal of life. This is unique gift of Vedic philosophy to the world of spirituality. It has never stood for any organised process and central control. Of course there are organisations but they do not command or issue orders but exist only to make spirituality available to everyone without distinction and never aim at physical subordination or conquest of territorial integrity  and conversion. The verses 12 through 14 describe  the various ways of choices that lead to the same goal. The term used in these verses is Sambhoot and Asambhoot.  Thinkers in their own way  interpret the meaning as these words can be used to denote different ways of worship though all forms ultimately leading to the same goal. Broadly speaking Asambhoot stands for the manifest. It  can be treated as prakriti or nature.  Sambhoot stands for the unmanifest Brahman, the primordial matter. The manifest is easy to grasp and pick up. It is as if a personal god or Ishta deva. The worship of the personal god leads to the path of devotion where as meditation on the Self or the Impersonal leads to the path of Knowledge or Self- Enquiry. The interplay of science and practical knowledge of life is always connected with spiritual pursuit. These verses point at the combination of both and point out that a proper balance of Pravritti and Nivritti; action and inaction and other such dualities of life may merge into one great unity. These verses have tried to justify that the integration of both is bound to lead us to the desired goal; though single handed these paths provide us with great relief and benefits. In the above verse, the synthesis between nature (Prakriti) and Purusha has been expounded as Reality. Our limited vision and one-sided ideas fail to observe clearly the apparent looking duality as indeed non-dual. The individual is guided and governed by the understanding of nature as such. He understands Prakriti in sense of Maya, illusion or anything of the worldly object used by the beings of His creation. The whole universe is ever moving and changing and acting with various colours and different hues. Still it is inert.  It is obvious that it is far away, at a distance, removed from Reality, though in fact it is not unreal. Where there is prakriti, there has to be interplay of Purusha. “It is like the golden bird perched on the self same tree, infinite friends, the former eating the sweet and sour fruits of the tree of life while the latter looking on with detachment.” Vedanta says that Purusha and Prakriti make the universe through the Hiranyagarbha.  It  was the first to be born from the brooding heat and was born before the five elements-–water, earth, fire, either and air. It enters into the cavity of heart of everybody, abides therein and perceives through the elements and senses. Nature guides all life on the world stage through the five elements. The individual is guided and governed by his understanding of nature. True individuality is not exclusive but inclusive. An individual cannot advance either mentally or evolve spiritually in complete isolation. Society is his field of activity in affording him an opportunity to gain perfection. Then again, an individual is not merely an aggregate of Body Mind and Intellect, emotions and sentiments, ethical and aesthetical ideas but more than that. He is essentially divine. At night, one retires to sleep, as if enters into a green room after hard toil and turmoil of daylong activity. He keeps the same dress as he has more acts to play. His part is not over and he has to prepare for another day. Life is a stage where men and women are merely players; actors come and go only after playing their parts. This is the worship of manifest nature where they also serve who stand and wait but one has to place himself at His command and disposal all the time. He has written the script and He alone knows all. We are only actors, a poor player, and a walking shadow, a puppet in His hands that struts and frets his hour upon the stage of life and then is heard no more. The seer in this verse cautions us that the sheer worship of the Eternal apart from the God in the universe is a wasteful exercise. Divinity abounds in the world. God loves those who love their fellow beings. It is true that being enchanted by worldly temptations, the common person fails to see the glorious expanse. Vedic Rishis realised that Brahman as creator or Supreme Consciousness is too abstract to follow and understand. Since everything in nature is God’s creation, so they simply connected the people with Brahman through an icon of personal choice of Ishta Deva as long as it remains only a symbolic representation of the Ultimate Reality; making it possible for all diversities to represent that single transcendental Reality. God exists everywhere and to fix Him in one place and direction while ignoring the rest of the sphere cannot be treated as a true devotion that leads to Eternal Bliss. Hence the pursuit of the Impersonal God on the path of Knowledge ignoring the vastness of the expanse is fraught with danger. Self – realisation is only possible through self-expansion. The pursuit of Brahman for the sole purpose of pursuit is a risky affair. It may end in abnegation of the self, leading to negation and nivratti but it can in no way lead to fulfilment of life for Eternal Bliss, hence the utter darkness for these giants. Those people who worship the manifest prakriti should understand that the life is like an iceberg floating on the surface of the ocean of cosmic existence and  only a small portion of  that is visible at any given time. It is useful as far as the day to day life activities are concerned but not beyond that.  We remain tossed between pleasure and pain, success and failure, joy and sorrow, honour and dishonour but these are not very significant in the longer scheme of things and thus lead us to darkness. The two words of Sanskrit, Sambhoot and Asambhoot contained in this verse are difficult to construe, not easy to follow. Sambhoot generally means something that is blissful, elderly-like. It may suggest contemplation on the Self or may be known as Samadhi. Asambhoot is that which is not Sambhoot, may be something different from it. It may be contemplation on the self but on the little “i” as against the Self of the Sambhoot, the Big Self “I”. There is a lot of difference between the contemplation on the self of an individual which is his ego self and the contemplation on the Self which is Soul. Ego is not blissful and one cannot attain enlightenment through it. It is full of emptiness or selfishness; rather it is self-negation or abnegation. No liberation is possible through contemplation on this self which resorts to different notions and lives on actions. Clearly such a person is destined to go to land of thick darkness. On the other hand, there are people who devote themselves heart and soul into the pursuit of Eternal while ignoring other duties of life. They forget that the goal of life is both material and spiritual perfection of an individual. True individuality is not exclusive but inclusive. An individual cannot advance either mentally or evolve spiritually in complete isolation. Society is his field of activity in affording him an opportunity to gain perfection. Then again, an individual is not merely an aggregate of Body Mind and Intellect, emotions and sentiments, ethical and aesthetical ideas but more than that. He is essentially divine. He has to live in humanity and humanity is manifest in the individual. Sambhoot generally means something blissful. It may be the contemplation on the Self or Samadhi-like station. Bliss can only be had when there is perfection and nothing is perfect without expansion of the Self. When one is absorbed in the Self, he finds the world also as real. and realised man does not see the world as different from himself. So it leads to elevation of humanity without the latter being aware of it. In the absence of such state, it can safely be presumed that the worshipper goes to darkness of ignorance.