1960 Back to Godhead vol 3 part 24 - Sri Ishopanisad
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DELHI, Friday 5th August, 1960
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SRI ISHOPANISHAD
world is compared with an ocean and this human body is compared with a sound boat for crossing over the ocean. The Vedic scriptures and the Acharyas are compared with the expert boatsman and the facilities of a human being than other animals are compared with a favourable breeze which can help the boat smoothly plying to the desired destination. And with all these facilities if a person does not fully utilize the human life for self realisation, such an Asura must be considered as an Atmaha or the killer of the soul. The Killer of the soul is destined to enter into the darkest region of ignorance to suffer perpetually and here is a warning by the Vedic instruction of Ishopanishad in clear terms.
There is the swine, dog, camel, asses etc. in front of us whose economic necessities are as much important as that of our. But the economic questions of these animals and others are solved under nasty conditions while the human being is given all the facilities of comfortable life by the laws of nature because the human form of life is more important than animal life.
And why a man is given better chance of living than the swine and other animals? And why a highly posted Government servant is given all the facilities of comfortable life, better than an ordinary clerk?
The highly placed responsible officer has to discharge duties of higher responsibility. Similarly the human being has to fulfill higher duties of life than the animals who are engaged always in the business of hungry stomach. The modern soul killing civilization has increased the problems of hungry stomach by the laws of nature. When we approach some polished animal of modern civilization he says that he wants to work for satisfaction of the stomach and there is no necessity of self realisation for the hungry man. But the laws of nature is so cruel that in spite of his eagerness to work hard for stomach satisfaction there is always the question of unemployment even by denouncing the necessity of self realisation.
We are given this human form of life not for hard work like the ass, swine and dog but to attain the highest perfection of life. If we do not care for this self realisation, it is the law of nature that we have to work very hard even though we do not want to do so. In this age the human being has been rendered to work hard like the asses and the bulls for pushing on hand carts. These are some of the samples of the regions where an Asura is sent up to work, revealed by this Mantra of the Ishopanishad. If a man fails to discharge his duties as a human being he is forced to transmigrate in the planets of the name Asurya in the degraded species of life to work hard in ignorance and darkness.
In the Bhagwat Geeta it is stated that the Yoga Bhrasta or the half-self-realised man who in the previous life could not complete the path of approaching Godhead but had sincerely and partly tried for it, or in other words persons who failed to achieve complete success in realising their relation with God, are given chance of appearing in the family of Suchi or Srimata. Suchi means spiritually advanced Brahmin and Srimata means spiritually advanced Vaishya or mercantile community. It means that such failed candidates are given better chance for culturing self realisation on account of their sincere efforts for self realisation in the past life. The failed candidates are given the chance of taking birth in respectable noble families and what to speak of those who have completely achieved success in the attempt. To make an attempt also for realising God or Ishavasya is a guarantee for the next birth in such noble families. But those who do not make such attempt at all and want to do everything without the spirit of Ishavasya realisation are considered to be covered by illusion. Such illusioned persons are too much materialistic and attached to the disposition of material enjoyment. As a result of this such men must enter into the darkest region of hell which is confirmed in all the Vedic literature.
Such materialistic Asuras sometimes make a show of religiosity with an ultimate aim of material prosperity and for them the Bhagwat Geeta rebukes them as "Atmabhavasambhabita" or self made great men on the strength of false perfectness empowered by votes of ignorant men and material wealth. Such Asuras devoid of self realisation and the conception of Ishavasya is sure to enter into the darkest region of the planets for the Asuras.
The conclusion is that we are not only meant for solving the economic problems on a tottering platform but also we are meant for solving the problematic life i.e. in which we are placed now by the conditions of nature.
Mantra 4
- Aneyjat ekam manaso jabieo na enat deva apnuban purvam arsat tad dhabato annyan attyeti tisthat tasmin apo matarishwa dadhati.
English Synonyms
Anejat—fixed up, ekam—one, manaso—more than the mind, jabieo—speedy, na—not, enat—this Supreme Lord, deva—the demigods like Indra etc., apnuban—cannot approach, purvam—the first of all, arsat—one who knows everything, tad—that, dhabato—those who are running, annyan—others, tisthat—although placed in one place, atyeti—surpasses, apo—water, matarishwa—the gods who control air and rains, dadhati—execute.
Translation
The Personality of Godhead although fixed up in His abode He is speedier than the mind and can overcome all others who are running. The powerful demigods also cannot approach Him and although He is placed in one place, He is executing the controls over the demigods who are supplying air and rains. He surpasses everyone in excellence.
Purport
The Supreme Lord who is the Absolute Personality of Godhead is not knowable even by the greatest philosopher simply by mental speculation. He can be known by His devotees only by His mercy. In the Brahma Samhita it is said that the nondevotee philosopher who can go ahead in the speed of the mind or that of the velocity of the air and that also covering a space for hundred and crores of years will find the Absolute still far and far away from him. As described in the Upanishads the Absolute Personality of Godhead has His transcendental abode known as the Krishna loka where the Personality of Godhead is fixed up with His Pastimes. But by His inconceivable potency He can simultaneously reach in every part of the creative energy. In the Vishnu Puran the potency is compared with the light and heat of the fire. The fire can distribute its light and heat from one place and similarly the Absolute Personality of Godhead although fixed up in His transcendental abode, He diffuses His different energies. Such energies are innumerable but principally they are classified into three namely the internal potency, the marginal potency and the external potency. And in each and every one of them, there are hundreds and crores of sub-headings. The dominating demigods who are empowered to have a control over the administration of the natural phenomenon such as distribution of air, light, rains etc. all of them are classified in the marginal potency of the Absolute Person. The living beings or the human being are also products of the marginal potency of the Lord. The material world is the creation of the external potency of the Lord and the spiritual sky where the Kingdom of God is situated is the manifestation of His internal potency. As such everywhere the different energies of the Supreme Lord is represented by His different potencies. Although there is no difference between Him and His energies, still one should not mistake energy as the Supreme Truth. So the Supreme Lord expands Himself by His different energies and one should not wrongly conclude that the Supreme Lord being thus distributed everywhere His very Personal existence has turned into Impersonal Brahma. Men are accustomed to conclude in the way of their own capacity of understanding. But the Supreme Lord is not subjected to such limited capacity of understanding. It is for this reason that the Upanishads warn us that nobody can approach the Lord by his limited potency. In the Bhagwat Geeta the Lord says that nobody even the great Rishis and Suras can know Him and what to speak of the Asuras who are already disqualified to understand the ways of the Lord. All these words mentioned in the 4th Mantra of the Ishopanisad suggest very clearly that the Absolute Truth is ultimately the Absolute Person otherwise there would have been no necessity of mentioning so many varied things in support of His Personal features. Individual parts and parcels of the potencies of the Lord although have all the symptoms of the Lord such parts and parcels have got limited spheres of activities and therefore they are all limited. The parts and parcels are never equal to the whole. Therefore the parts and parcel of the Lord cannot appreciate the full potency of the Lord. Foolish and ignorant living being who are parts and parcels of the Lord, under the influence of the material energy do try to make a conjecture in the transcendental position of the Lord. The Ishopanishad warns them not make any mental speculation to about the identity of the Lord. Try to know the Transcendence from the Superior source of the Vedas who is already in the know of the Transcendence. Every part is endowed with some particular energy to act accordingly and forgetfulness of this particular part of one's activities is called Maya. The Ishopanishad has therefore from the very beginning warned us that we should be careful to play the part designated by the Lord. This however does not mean the individual soul has no initiative of his own. Because he is the part and parcel of the Lord he must have the initiative part of the Lord. Proper use of the initiative part with good conscience to understand that everything is but the potency of the Lord Who is the Supreme of all other entities—can lead one to the revival of his lost consciousness originated on account of his association with Maya or the external energy. The power is obtained from the Lord and therefore such particular power must be utilized to execute the will of the Lord and not otherwise. The Lord can be known in such submissive service attitude and perfect knowledge means to know the Lord in all His features, to know about His potencies and how such potencies are working by His will. These things are exclusively described by the Lord in the Bhagwat Geeta the essence of all the Upanishad.
Mantra 5
- Tat ejati tat na ejati tad durey tad antike tat antarasya sarbasya tad sarvasya asya bahyatah.
English Synonyms
Tat—this Supreme Lord, ejati—do walk, tad—He, dury—is far away, tad—He is, antike—very near also, tad—He is, antarasya—within everything, sarvasya—all, tad—He is, sarvasya—of all things, asya—of this, bahyatah—externally.
Translation
The Supreme Lord Personality of Godhead does walk and does not walk also. He is far away but He is very near also. He is within everything and He is outside of everything too.
Purport
Here is an explanation of the Supreme Lord's transcendental activities by His inconceivable potencies. There are two sets of contradictory words mentioned herein to prove the inconceivable potency of the Lord. He does walk and He does not walk also. These two words are contradictory. If somebody can walk then it is improper to say that he cannot walk. These contradictions mean the inconceivable power of the Lord. In our limited fund of knowledge we cannot accommodate such inconceivable things and therefore the Lord is conceived in terms of our limited power of understanding. The impersonalist of the Mayavada school of philosophers do take one part of the Lord's impersonal activities and refute His personal feature. The Bhagwat school who are perfect in their mode of thinking do accept the Lord bothwise i.e. personal and impersonal and accept His inconceivable potencies. Without inconceivable potencies there is no meaning for the Supreme Lord. We should not take for granted that because we cannot see God before our eyes therefore there is no personal existence of the Lord. To refute this sort of argument, with poor fund of knowledge, the Upanishad warns us that the Lord is far away from us but He is very near to us also. The abode of the Lord is beyond the material sky. We have no means to measure even the material sky neither we have power to rise to the topmost part of the material sky which is just in front of us. When the material sky is far far away from us then what to speak of the spiritual sky which is beyond the material sky. The spiritual sky is situated far far away from the material sky is confirmed in the Bhagwat Geeta. But in spite of the Lord's being so far away He can at once within less than a second descend before us with a speed more powerful than the mind or the air. He can walk so fastly that nobody can surpass Him in to the speed. This fact is already described in the previous sloka. When the Personality of Godhead thus comes before us we neglect Him. This negligence on the part of the foolish people is condemned by the Lord in the Bhagwat Geeta. The Lord says that the foolish people deride at Him taking Him to be one of the mortal being. But He is not a mortal being neither does He come before us with a body manufactured by the material nature. There are many so-called scholars who consider that when the Lord descends at all He does so in the body of the material nature just like an ordinary living being. Such foolish men place the Lord on the equal level of the ordinary man without knowing His inconceivable power.
Because He is full of inconceivable potencies He can accept our service through any sort of medium and He can convert His different potencies according to His own Will. The unbelievers argue that the Lord cannot incarnate Himself or if at all He does so, He descends in the form of material energy. This argument is nullified if we accept His inconceivable potencies all through. Even if he may appear before us in the form of material energy, it is quite possible for Him to convert the material energy into spiritual energy. The source of the energies being one and the same the energies can be utilized suitably according to the will of the energetic source. The Lord appears in the Form of Archa or Deities supposed to be made of earth or stone. His forms engraved from wood or stone or any other matter is not an idol as it is conceived by the iconographer. In the present state of our imperfect material existence we cannot see the Supreme Lord on account of our imperfect material vision. But still such devotees who want to see Him in the capacity of one's material vision are favoured by the Lord by appearing Himself in the so-called material form to accept the devotees service. This does not mean that such devotees who are in the lowest stage of devotional service are worshipping an idol but in fact he is worshipping the Lord personally who has agreed to appear before the devotee in a particular style which is approachable by the devotee. This Form of Archa is not in terms of the order or whims of so-called devotee but it is eternally existed with all paraphernalia. This appreciation is actually felt by a sincere devotee but not by an atheist.
In the Bhagwat Geeta the Lord says that He treats His devotees in the proportion of the surrendering process made by the devotee. He reserves the right of not being exposed to anyone and everyone unless one surrenders unto Him. Therefore for the surrendered soul He is always within the devotee's reach whereas for the non-surrendered soul He is far and far away from being approached.
There are two words in the revealed scriptures called by the names Sagun and Nirgun. This sagun does not necessarily mean that the Lord becomes subjected to the laws of material nature and thus He appears in the Material Form. For Him there is no difference between material and spiritual energies because He is the source of such energies. He is the controller of the different energies and as such He cannot be at any time under the influence of the material energy as we are. The material energy works according to His direction and therefore He can accept the material energy also for His purpose and therefore He is never influence by any qualities of different energies and thus He is always Nirgun without being affected by the qualities of the energies. Neither for this purpose He becomes a Formless entity at any time. Ultimately He is the eternal Form of Primeval Lord and the impersonal representation of Brahman effulgence is the glow of His Personal rays as the sun ray is the glow of the Sun god.
When Prahlad Maharaj was in the presence of his atheist father, the latter asked him (Prahlad Maharaj) where was his God? The child Prahlad replied that God resides everywhere. The father retorted if his God was within the pillar. The child replied yes. At once the atheist king broke into pieces the pillar in front of him and the Lord appeared as Narasingha (half man and half lion) from within the pillar and thus killed the atheist king. This means that the Lord is within everything created by His different energies. And by His inconceivable power He can come out at any place in order to favour His sincere devotee. Lord Narasingha appeared from within the pillar not by the order of atheist king but by the wish of the devotee Prahlad. An atheist cannot order the Lord to appear anywhere and everywhere but to show mercy to His devotee the Lord can appear anywhere and everywhere. The Bhagwat Geeta confirms this statement that the Lord appears to vanquish the unbelievers and to protect the believers. To vanquish an unbeliever the Lord has sufficient energies and agents who can do the work but to favour the devotee is a pleasing task for him and therefore the Lord descends as incarnation, He does so to favour His devotees only and not for any other purposes.
In the Brahma Samhita it is said that Govinda the Primeval Lord enters everything by his plenary portion. He enters the Universe as well as the atom of the universe, He is outside in the Virat Form and He is within as Antaryami. As Antaryami he is witness of everything that we are doing and giving us the result of such actions as Karma Phal. We may forget what we might have performed in our previous life but because the Lord is the witness of our actions the result of our actions are there and we have to undergo the reactions of such work.
In fact there is nothing except Him within and without. Everything is represented by His different energies like the heat and light of the fire and that assumes the oneness of the diverse energies; and in spite of all this oneness of everything the Lord enjoys in His Personal Form all that is enjoyable in the little sense of the little parts and parcels the living entities.
Mantra No. 6
- Yas tu sarvani bhutani atmani eva anupasyati sarvesu bhutesu cha atmanam ato na vijugupsate.
English Synonyms
Yas—A person, tu—but, sarvani—all, bhutani—living entities, atmani—in relation with the Supreme Lord, eva—only, anupasyati—observes in a systematic way, sarvesu—in every living being, bhutesu—living entities, atmanam—the super soul, tato—thereafter, na—not, vijugupsate—hates anyone.
Translation
A person who observes systematically everything in relation with the Supreme Lord and all entities as His parts and parcels and see the Supreme Lord within everything, does not never hate anything or entity.
Purport
Here is an explanation of a Mahabhagwat or the great Personality who see everything in relation with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There are three stages of realising the presence of the Supreme Lord. The Kanistha Adhikari or the person who is in the lowest stage of realisation of the Supreme Lord—do go to the place of worship temple, church or mosque in terms of different types of religious faiths and worship there in terms of the scriptural injunctions. Such devotees of Lord think that the Lord is only there at the place of worship and nowhere else. Also such devotees cannot recognise who is in what position in devotional line or realisation of the Supreme Lord. Such devotees follow the routine formulas and sometimes quarrel between themselves estimating a particular type of worship better than the other or so many other ways. These Kanistha Adhikari or in the lowest stage of devotees are called materialistic devotee or the devotee who is just trying to transcend the material boundary for the spiritual plane. And next to these Kanistha Adhikaris there are the Madhyam Adhikaris or the devotees who are in the intermediate class of devotional service. These Madhyam Adhikaris are in the higher stage than the Kanistha Adhikaris and as such they can observe four principles in relation of the Supreme Lord. Such four principles are as follows. (1) He sees first of all the Supreme Lord. (2) He sees then the devotees of the Lord. (3) He sees also then the innocent persons who have no knowledge about the Supreme Lord, and at last (4) he sees the atheists who have no faith in the Lord but on the other hand atheists class of men hate others who are in the devotional line of the Lord.
The Madhyam Adhikari devotee behaves differently with the above mentioned four principles in relation with the Supreme Lord. He adores the Lord considering Him as the object of love and he makes friendship with those who are in the devotional line of the Lord. He tries to awake the dormant love of Godhead in the heart of the innocent people but he does not approach the atheist who deride at the very name of the Lord.
And above the Madhyam Adhikari there is the Uttam Adhikari devotee who sees everything in relation with the Supreme Lord. He does not make any particular discrimination between the atheist and the theist but sees in every one of them the part and parcels of the Supreme Lord. He knows that there is no difference between a vast learned Brahmin and the dog in the street because both of them are parts and parcels of the Lord now encaged in different embodiment on account of different qualities of action. The Brahmin particle of the Supreme Lord has not misused his little independence given by the Lord but the dog particle has misused his little independence and thus he is punished by the law of nature being encaged in the form of a dog. And without considering for the respective actions of the Brahmin and the dog the Uttam Adhikari devotee tries to do good both to the dog and the Brahmin in relation with the Supreme Lord. Such learned Uttam Adhikari devotee of the Lord is not attracted by the material body of the Brahmin or the dog but he is attracted there by the spiritual spark of the respective entities. Other who imitate such Uttam Adhikari in terms of the outward tabernacle of the dog and the Brahmin and behaves in terms of the bodily relation only are false philanthropists. Therefore the conception of universal brotherhood must be learnt from the Uttam Adhikari devotee of the Lord and not from a foolish person who has no vision proper of the individual soul and the Super Soul plenary part of the Supreme Lord.
In this Mantra of the Ishopanishad it is clearly mentioned that one should observe by following the previous Acharya. Anupasyati is the exact word used in this connection. Anu means by following and pasyati means to observe. One should not try to see things as he sees in the naked eye. The naked eyes cannot see anything and everything properly due to its material defectiveness. One cannot see properly unless one has heard about it from a Superior source. The highest Superior source is the Vedic statements spoken by the Lord Himself and the truth is coming down from the Lord to Brahmaji, Brahmaji to Narad, from Naradji to Vyasji and from Vyasji to many of his disciples. Formerly there was no necessity of recording the message of the Vedas in black and white because the predecessors were more intelligent with sharp memory and they could follow the instructions simply by hearing once from the speeches of the bonafide spiritual master. At present there are so many commentations on the revealed scriptures and most of them are not in the line of Sri Vyasdeva. The latest and experienced version of Srila Vyasdeva is the Sreemad Bhagbatam which is the natural commentation of the Brahma Sutra or Vedanta Sutra. Similarly there is the Bhagwat Geeta which is spoken by the Lord Himself and recorded by Sri Vyasdeva. So these are the revealed scriptures in nutshell and any commentation which does not conform to the principles of the Bhagwat Geeta or the Srimad Bhagabatam is not authorised. There is complete symmetry between the Upanishads, Vedanta, Vedas and the Bhagwat Geeta or the Srimad Bhagwatam. Nobody should therefore try to eschew any conclusion of the Vedas without being instructed from the line of the Vyasdeva or the Satwata Sampradaya who believe in the Personality of Godhead and His diverse energies as it is explained in the present Ishopanishad.
Only one who is already in the Brahmabhuta status according to the statements of the Bhagwat Geeta can become an Uttam Adhikari devotee as described above and can see everyone or every living being as his own brother and not the politicians who are always after some material gain. Imitation of this Brahmabhuta status is to serve the outward body but not to serve the spirit soul. Such imitators have no information of the spiritual world and whether they endeavour to do the limit of activities are within the purview of Uttam only. The Uttam Adhikari devotees see to the spirit soul of an entity and serve him in that relation of spirit which includes matter automatically.
Mantra No. 7
- Yasmin sarvani bhutani atma eva abhut vijanatah tatra ko mohah kah shoka ekatwam anupasyatah.
English Synonyms
Yasmin—in the situation, sarvani—all, bhutani—living entities, atma—the (citaka€a) spiritual spark, eva—only, abhut—becomes a fact, vijanatah—one who knows, tatra—therein, ko—what, moha—illusion, shoka—anxiety, ekatwam—of the same quality, anupasyata—one who sees through authority, or one who sees constantly like that.
Translation
One who sees constantly through authority all living entities as the spiritual spark of the same quality as that of the Lord as a matter of fact, in that situation he becomes a real knower of things and then what is there for him either as illusion or anxiety.
Purport
Except Madhyam Bhagwat and the Mahabhagwat as described above nobody can correctly see to the spiritual position of a living being. The living entities are qualitatively one with the Supreme Lord as the sparks of the fire are qualitatively one with the nature of the fire. But sparks are not the fire as far as the quantity is concerned. The quantity of heat and light exhorted by the fire are not equal to the quantity of heat and light disseminated by the sparks. The Mahabhagwat sees oneness in the sense that everything is none but the energy of the Supreme Lord and as there is no difference between the energy and the energetic there is the sense of oneness. Without heat and light there is no meaning of the fire and yet heat and light from the analytical point of view are different from the fire. But from the point of synthesis heat light and fire all the same are one thing.
Ekatwam anupasyata means to see oneness of the living entities from the viewpoint of the judgement of the revealed scriptures. Every individual spark of the Supreme Whole has almost more than eighty percent of the qualities of the Supreme Whole but yet they are not as good as the Supreme Lord. Eighty percent of the qualities of the Supreme Whole are present in the living being in the proportion of his existence. It means that such eighty percent qualities are present in minute quantity as the living entity is but a minute part and parcel of the Supreme Whole. It is like the drop of water of the ocean and the quantity of salt present in the drop is never comparable with the quantity of salt present in the complete ocean. But the quality of the salt present in the drop is equal in quality with that of the salt present in the ocean.
If the individual living being would have been equal in quality and quantity both then there was no question of the little living being sparks to be submerged by the influence of material energy. It has already been discussed in the previous mantras that no living being even the powerful demigods can surpass the Supreme Being in any respect. Therefore Ekatwam does not mean that a living being is equal in all respects with the Supreme Lord. Ekatwam means in a broader sense one interest. Just like in a family of a particular house the interest of all the members is one. In a nation, although different individual citizens are there the national interest is one. Therefore the living entities being parts and parcels of the same Supreme family the interest of the Supreme Being and that of the parts and parcels living beings is not different. Every living being is the son of the Supreme Being as it is said in the Bhagwat Geeta all living beings including the animals, the birds, the reptiles, the ants, the aquatics or the trees all over the universe they are all emanations from the marginal potency of the Supreme Lord and therefore all of them belong to the same family of the Supreme Being. There is no clash of interest. The spiritual entities are meant for enjoyment as it is said in the Brahma Sutra 'Anandamaya avbhyasat'. By nature or by constitution every living being be he the Supreme Lord or His different parts and parcels all of them are for enjoyment eternally. The living being who are encaged in the material tabernacle are also seeking enjoyment always but they are seeking the enjoyment at a platform which is not meant for them. There is the spiritual platform where the Supreme Being is enjoying with His innumerable associates without any trace of material qualities. That platform is called Nirguna. In the Nirguna platform there is no clash for enjoyment. Here in the material platform there is clash of enjoyment between different individual beings. Because here the centre of enjoyment is missed. The centre of enjoyment is the Supreme Lord who is the centre of Rasa dance. We are all meant for joining Him and enjoy life with one interest and without any clash. That is the highest platform of spiritual interest and as soon as such perfect form of oneness is realised, there is no question of Moha or illusion or Shoka or lamentation.
Moha or illusion means a Godless civilization and the result is Shoka or lamentation. A Godless civilization sponsored by the modern politicians is always full of anxieties because such civilization is meant for being crushed at any moment. A Godless civilization must always be full of anxieties and that is the law of nature. Nobody can surpass this law of nature as it is said in Bhagwat Geeta. Only those who surrender unto the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord can overcome the stringent laws of nature. If therefore we wish to get rid of all sorts of Moha and Shoka and also want to bring in Oneness of all diverse interests, we must bring in God or the Supreme Lord within all our activities. The result of our activities must go to serve the interest of the Lord and not for any other purpose and by serving the interest of the Lord only we can feel the Atmabhuta interest. Atmabhuta interest as mentioned here in the Ishopanishad and the Brahmabhuta interest mentioned in the Bhagwat Geeta both are one and the same thing. The Supreme Atma is the Lord Himself and minute Atmas are the living entities. The Supreme Atma or the Param Atma maintains alone all other individual minute Atmas, because the Supreme Lord wants to derive pleasure out of such affection. The father extends himself by his children and maintains them to derive a family pleasure. It is essential that the children of the father must be obedient to the will of the father and thus the whole family affairs run on smoothly in one interest of pleasing atmosphere. Exactly the same thing is transcendentally arranged in the Brahma family of the Param Brahma. The Param Brahman is as much a Person as the individual entities are. None of them are impersonal and such transcendental personalities are full of transcendental bliss, knowledge and life eternal. That is the real position of spiritual existence and as soon as one is fully cognised of this transcendental position at once such living being surrenders unto the lotus feet of the Supreme Being Sri Vasudeva; but such Mahatmas are very rarely seen because such transcendental realisation is achieved after many many births. But once attained, there is no more Moha or Shoka, there is no more miseries of material existence and there is no birth and death as we experience in the present status of our life. That is the information we get from the present Mantra of the Ishopanishad.
Mantra 8
- Sa paryagat shukram akayam abranam asnabiram suddham apapabiddham kavir manishi paribhuh saymbhu yathatatthyata arthan byadadhat saswatibhyah samabhyah.
English Synonyms
Sa—that person, paryagat—must know in fact, sukram—the omnipotent, akayam—unembodied, abranam—without any reproach, asnabiram—without any veins, suddham—antiseptic, apapabiddham—prophylactic, kavir—omniscient, manishi—philosopher, paribhu—the greatest of all, sayambhu—self-sufficient, yathatthyato—just in pursuance of, arthan—desirables, byadadhat—awards, saswatibhya—immemorial, samabhyah—time.
Translation
Such a (Atmabhuta) person must know in fact the greatest of all (Personality of Godhead) who is unembodied, omniscient, without any reproach, without any veins, antiseptic, prophylactic, self-sufficient philosopher is awarding everyone's desirables from time immemorial.
Purport
Here is the description of the transcendental and eternal Form of the Absolute Personality of Godhead. The Supreme Lord is not Formless but He has His own transcendental Form which is not all similar to that of the mundane world. Here the living entities have got their forms embodied by the material nature and works like any material machine. Physiological and anatomical structure of the body of a living being must have mechanical construction with veins and many poles in the embodiment. But here in the transcendental body of the Lord there is nothing like spots or veins. It is clearly stated here that He is Unembodied. That means there is no such difference like the body and soul. He does neither accept the body enforced by the law of nature as we the living entities are obliged to do. In the material conception of the body, the soul is different from the gross and subtle bodies namely gross embodiment and the subtle mind. The Supreme Lord is distinguished from such differential arrangement. There is nothing like different body or mind of the Supreme Lord but He is the complete Whole and His mind and body or He Himself all are the one and the same thing. In the Brahma Samhita there is a similar description of the body of the Supreme Lord. He is described there as the Sachidananda Vigraha. This means that He is the eternal Form fully representing transcendental existence, bliss and knowledge. He does not require a separate body or mind like us in the material existence. The Vedic literatures distinguish him clearly that He has completely a different kind of transcendental body or Form and as such He is sometimes described as formless. This formlessness means that He has not got a form like ours or He is devoid of a form which we can conceive. In the Brahma Samhita it is said that the Lord can work anything and everything with any one of the parts of His body. It is said there that each and every one of the parts of His body like the hand and legs etc., He can do the work of other senses. This means that the Lord can walk with His hands and He can accept a thing by His legs. He can see by His hands and legs and He can eat by eyes or legs as soon. In the Sruti Mantras it is said that He has no hands and no legs like us but He has got a different type of hands and legs by which He can accept all that we offer to give Him and He can walk faster than any one of us anywhere and everywhere. These things are confirmed in this Mantra of the Ishopanishad by using the words like omnipotent.
The Lord's Sri Vigraha which is installed in the temples by the authorised Acharyas who have realised the Lord in terms of the Mantra No. 7 is also non-different from the Original Form of the Lord. The Original Form of the Lord is the Form of Shri Krishna. Shri Krishna expands Himself by unlimited number of Forms like Valadeva, Rama, Nrishingha, Baraha, Kurma etc., and all of them are one and the same Personality of Godhead. Similarly the Archa Vigraha which is worshipped in the Temples is also like the forms of other expanded Vigrahas or Forms of the Lord. By worshipping the Archa Vigraha of the Lord one can at once approach the Lord who accepts the service of the devotee by His omnipotent energy without any reproach. The Sri Vigraha of the Lord descends by the requests of the Acharyas and works exactly in the original way by His omnipotent energy without the least difference. Foolish people who have no knowledge of these mantras of the Ishopanishad or any other Shruti Mantras consider that the Sri Vigraha Who is worshipped by the pure devotees is made of material elements. To the imperfect eyes of the foolish people or the Kanistha Adhikaris the Sri Vigraha Archa Murti is considered as Material. But such persons with poor fund of knowledge do not know that the Lord being omnipotent and omniscient He can transform matter into spirit and spirit into matter as He desires.
In the Bhagwat Geeta the Lord regrets the fallen condition of the men with poor fund of knowledge who consider the body of the Lord, as He descends like a man, with reproach. Such poorly informed person does not know the omnipotency of the Lord. To the mental speculators therefore the Lord does not manifest Himself in fullness. The Lord is appreciated in the proportion of surrender only because the fallen condition of the living being is made possible as soon as there is forgetfulness of the relation of the living being with the Lord. In this mantra as well as in many other Mantras of the Vedas it is clearly mentioned that from time immemorial the Lord is supplying