commentary of Isavasya Upanishad

Sudhasindhu

Harikrishnan had asked me to write on Upanishads.I would do a translation of my own work Sudhasindhu .This was a book on the major 12 upanishads which I finished in 1998 and was released in 2003 ,published by D.C.Books ,Kottayam.The bookrelease was on May 18th of 2003 in Amritheswari Hall by Dr .K.J.Yesudas and the first copy was received by Poojya Poornamrithaswami in the august presence of C.Radhakrishnan,Asha Menon ,and Prof D.M.Vasudevan..R.K Damodaran introduced the guests and D.C Ravi and administrator of Amritha institute of Medical sciences Mr Ron spoke a few words about the venture.

Sankara had done the commentary of the 10 upanishads(dasopanishad)I took these as the base for my work and added two more,The Thaithareeya and Swethaswethara Upanishads and thus made it the dwadasopanishad swadhyaya.
The 12 upanishads were grouped into six separate parts under 6 captions.The title of the book sudhasindhu goes to the 6th part .
The division is like this.

Part 1 Madhumathi

Thaithareeya Upanishad(Krishnayajurveda)
Kathopanishad(Krishnayajurvedam)
Aithareya Upanishad(Rgveda)

Part 2.Agneya

Swethaswethara Upanishad
Narayana Upanishad

Part 3 Krishnavairajam
Mundaka Upanishad
Prasnopanishad(both Atharvaveda)

Part 4.Pragnaavaisakham
Mandukya Upanishad and kaarika (Atharvaveda)

Part 5 Suvarnam Veda

Kena Upanishad
Chandogya Upanishad
(both saamaveda)

Part 6 Sudhasindhu

Isavasyaupanishad
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad ( both Suklayajurveda)

The preface is written by Dr Sukumar Azheekode.

Here I am translating the Isavasya Upanishad for Harikrishnan’s community.This is because ,there are a few writings on the translation of its verses/manthra by others in the community so that I need not waste my time for repeating them .Instead I can straight away start with the commentary or swadhyaya.I would request the readers to go to the verses given by the others in the community .


Sudhasindhu

Isavasya Upanishad.

Each particle or paramaanu behave in a particular way.There need not be a specific cause for its behaviour as understood by us.Similarly it is very difficult toassess the reason for a certain behaviour of a human being in certain situations.Have you heard of Schrodinger’s cat?Just like that the living and nonliving can be equal.Mathematics and truth sometimes baffle the minds .The understanding of kaala(time)and desa(space)of the ancients and of the modern men is teaching us this fact.Whenever something dies in this universe another thing is born in another universe like a schrodinger cat,and thus the contradictions of the experience is negated by mathematics and science.This rebirth into a new universe is a topic for discussion for ancient philosophers and scientists of India.But is very new for modern science and philosophy.Julius Robert Oppenheimer said “The general notions about human understanding ,which are illustrated by discoveries in atomic physics are not in the nature of things wholly unfamiliar,wholly unheard of or new.Even in our own culture they have a history,and in Budhist and Hindu thought a more considerable and central place.What we shall find is an exemplification,an encouragement,and a refinement of old wisdom..”
Minskousky considers his universe akin to an advaithin’s prapancha.Mitchell Talbot in “Mysticism and the new physics”considers thanthra as a old quantum physics theory.The naada,bindu and naadabindu concepts(vibrations)as wave ,particle and wave particle are being studied now.And the sphota as a big bang .What Is common for a schrodinger’s cat and a naadabindu or wave particle.The primordial substance of the universe appears to be these wave particles and quanta .But wave particles and quanta do not possess any reality ,at least in the terms we are accustomed to dealing with it in classical physics.They are both wave and particle ,two mutually exclusive types of entities and this complementarity places them ,in a category alalogous to a schrodinger’s cat.One can understand the nature of any object in its naada(wave state)avastha,Bindu (particle)avastha,and in naadabindu (wave particle)avastha depending upon one’s ability of cognizance .In Thanthra siva,sakthi and sivasakthi are also like this.When the vyomakesa spreads the kesa each hair forms a line expanding from the center in radiating energy waves.That is light or expansion.When the hair is shaved,in mundane ,siva is in a contracted or linga state and is avyaktha .The sakthi prakaasa state and the siva avyaktha state is only two states of existence of the same energy.When electric lines of energy(force)converge on a region of space ,they do not just criss-cross.But seem to converge and sink into the fabric of space like threads being pulled through a funnel or down a bath of drain.Wheeler suggested that that they must be passing into a wormhole.A classical geometro-dynamical electric charge is a set of lines trapped in the topology of space.This is very startling because the Thanthra also speaks of space as being permeated by lines of force known as the hairs of siva(saivathanthra)and of Kesava (Vishnu).In mysticism and the new physics page 118 you can see this comparison.The sivabindu is a blackhole into which the entire universes disappear in time of destruction(samhaara).The origin,sustenance and destruction of the universes is the topic of majority of the Upanishads.For a person living in the present century ,the upanishadic version and its comparison with the most modern scientific theories of the origin of universe ara therefore interesting.

Suklayajurveda has two major Upanishads in its credit.One is the exhaustive Brihadaranyaka and the other is the short Isavasya Upanishad. Sudhasindhu (6th part)deals with these two Upanishads.With this short introduction we will proceed with the Isavasya Upanishad.


Shaanthimanthra of this Upanishad is the famous Om Poornamada:Poornamidam
Poornaad poornam udachyathe
Poornasya poornam aadaaya poornam evaavasishyathe.

Om shanthi shanthi shanthi:

That and this are poornam.From poornam ,originated the poornam.From poornam ,poornam was taken,but poornam remained.

In Sidhanthasiromani Bhaskaracharya defines zero (Khahara)like this.Kha is the akaasa or spacetime in Indian astronomy.Hara is the process of division or taking away.Bhaskara says,like Achutha(Vishnu)who during the Pralaya(delusion )when all the Raasi(zodiacs)are withdrawn into him,and in prabhava(creation)all the raasis originate from him,remain the same all the time ,perfect and poorna,and endless,beginningless(anantha,anaadi)the zero has to be understood.Those who have heard that zero is the invention of the Indians might now understand how spiritually and mathematically the Indians had arrived at the definition of it,and how it is not an empty thing but a timespace continuum resplendent with energy so that everything ,multitudes of prapancha can be created out of it ,and withdrawn into it and sustained in it .It is not asat,but sath and from sath only sath can be created .(As the samkhya philosophy tells us)

Verse 1

The very first verse is important ,not only because the first two syllables give the Upanishad its name ,but it fully expresses what the Rishi wants to expound in detail.Isa or Iswara(God-the seat of all the Aiswarya )is in all this,in everything.The entire universe is God only.The word sarvam and Idam are used here.Idam means this.This universe which we are seeing,we being a part of it.But then he adds,Sarvam.Everything.Not only this seen and known universe but even the unseen,uninhabited multitudes of universes are God only.This is the concept of Ekeswara in India.The Ekeswaravaada of all other philosophies say.There is only ONE GOD.We need not worship or respect any other God.India said.Yes .There is only one God.But ,it added.There is nothing but God.Everything is God.This sarveswaravaada makes Indians see God in everything,seen ,known,unseen and unknown.Even in a tree,in birds,serpents and animals,in human beings etc God dwells and wherever you look,you are seeing God only.But ,unless you realize that,you will not be attaining perfect truth and wisdom.Because of this the gnaanayoga,bhakthiyoga and karmayoga of India can be carried out simultaneously without any contradictions.
Jagath is a term for the universe.Jagath also means that which is moving .The prakrithi.Prakrithi is always changing and moving and parinaami.But she is inhabited by the allpervading changeless, movementless,aparinaami Brahma .Therefore Brahma is and can be seen in prakrithi.Both are equivalent.Then the rishi shifts his focus from the theoretical explanation to practical life based on it.He says,[protect everything by the habit of sacrifice.Once we understand that God dwells in us as well as our neighbour,it becomes easy to love our neighbours and all other objects in nature and to protect them.If we don’t know the basic reason for love and protection ,we may not do it.Hence the rishi says,the entire creation is God.Therefore,love and protect it ,and sacrifice your ego for that.Do not desire what is in possession of others and create unpleasant feelings of hatred,envy etc .Thus the first two lines give a scientific explanation for the need of universal love and peaceful co-existence and the second half gives gives an account of how to practice it in life so that people live in harmony.This is the general message of the first verse.

God dwells in everything and is the one who determines everythings nature and behaviour.The growth of plants ,animals,birds,their cyclical behaviour and movements are all due to the forces of nature/God.Even the rotations and revolutions of the earth and other planets and stars is determined by an overall law of force which is equated to God .Movement of prakrithi is because prakrithi,though it looks like jada (dead inert)has an indwelling athma(jeeva or Brahma)in it.It is this indwelling force which we call the natural law.Therefore Indian ancestors thought the earth and the other celestial objects even as Jeeva with indwelling God.Earth was given special reverence because man ,dwells on its surface and without its sustaining food and water and the mandala of wind around,no one can live and think and act.Therefore she is the center of all human activity.She is thus given the status of mother.The originator and sustainer of all life.Jagathyaam jagath means whatever is moving in this universe.This includes not only birds ,animals and men and women but also the moving celestial spheres with earth as the center of activity of human life.

We can enjoy the fragrance of the sandalwood,when a piece of sandalwood is rubbed against a surface and it becomes lesser and lesser in mass and volume.Similarly,when we live in this world of samsaara,we come in contact with a hard surface,our ego and our love for the samsara become less and less and ,our Godliness become more pronounced .Till then ,the fragrance of God was hidden in us.To expose it,we have to sacrifice our ego,our desire for the worldly things and life.To sacrifice the worldly things is not that easy for a human being.So the rishi suggests a practical ethical dharma.Do not desire what is not yours.Sacrifice the desires in your neighbours possessions.You will be less and less of envy,less and less of hatred and anger and other base qualities by that sacrifice.Then you will be able to protect your neighbours possessions as your own,as God’s property.This cooperative and loving lifestyle is the essence of a harmonious existence on earth.The only possession worth having is the Athmavidya.All other worldly possessions are not worthy of possession.Therefore avoid desire and greed in such things.Both you and your neighbour will be saved .
The entire universe belongs to God.We are only trustees of it for a short period.Even our near and dear ones are belongings of God.We are just trustees .Hence sacrifice overattachment to all material objects and relations and see them as God and God’s property and resignedly protect them and respect them.God alone is absolute truth and energy.Every other thing is relative truths and matter with gathi(movement)Both are the same.Hence go for the absolute and not for the relative.But understand that even the relative truth is part of absolute and respect it.When absolute truth is there,the relative truths become lesser and hence equivalent to illusions(maaya)and this terminology is a comparative one in a scientific logical sense.

Verse 2

The questions Why should we love our neighbours?And how?Are answered in the first verse itself.If the whole world is safe in your hands and mind and words ,you have loved God properly.Now the second verse says :Live for a hundred years ,doing your karma in the best possible way.The karma will not bind those who do karma perfectly and without attachment.There is no other way for liberation.

This is a very practical advice for all of us.Because no one is expected to sit idle and meditate forever.Everyone has to do the karma.When we do a karma without the desire for its effect,people think that it would be having no initiative in it for the individual and thus would become imperfect.But the rishisays otherwise.When you are bound to the effects of the action you are frustrated when you do not get the desired effect,and when you get the desired effect yoou become proud and vainglorious.One leads to anger and frustration and the other to pride and boasting and both are not good for a perfect action.When you are having quiet and silent mind without desires,and a involvement in the work without desire for the fruits of it,your work become more fruitful and also for the entire benefit of the world.Because there is no selfish motive,and it is done for Lokakalyana.And it is done with a perfect peaceful mind which feels work itself is worship.This is what Krishna in his Geetha calles Nishkaamakarma.The modern management experts also will agree that a person with such a turn of mind would be an asset to any institution where he/she works.The first verse speaks of Nivrithidharmalakshana and the second verse of pravrithidharmalakshana.The first is called sanyasapatha(the way to renunciation)and the second is called the way to kriya(action)or kriyamarga.Kriyamarga is a preliminary step to nivrithimarga for those individuals having more of rajasic qualities in them as a preparation for the next step,the nivrithimarga ,or mokshamarga.They are actually having the same aim or goal.Only difference is in the individuals having more of sathwik and rajasic qualities respectively .The way is chosen by our own nature ,our own proportion of guna,and tendencies so that it suits us.

Verse 3

There are several worlds covered by darkness.They are names as Asurya(because the sunlight does not penetrate these areas of spacetime).One who kills the self,reaches these dark worldswhich is engulfed by thamas.In common parlance ,the sthavara world(the stones,mountains ,trees etc)are considered to be less bright because the vibrations of light and sound are less in these structures.The people who have more of thamoguna and less of rajas(for action)and satwa(for gnaana or knowledge)goes to such worlds due to their predominant thamoguna.But,it is a tree which gets the sunlight and makes annam(food)for itself and become selfsufficient and give food to animals ,and birds and human beings.It does not have the power of thought ,or the power of action by its own will.The action of making food is an unconscious act and the action of giving away food and shelter also is a natural action .It is therefore included under the classification of the sthavara world .And in the taxonomical category of asurya by the rishi.It means the people with more of thamas in them have to adopt such an existence.The Athmahana(suicide of self) reach such a state of darkness and therefore,the rishi asks us not to fall prey to such tendencies and live for hundred years and work ,do action without desire for its fruits.(as said in the second verse)This is also indicative of the ability for us to determine our future or our future life.

Avidya and attachment to worldly pleasures kills our self day by day.This bondage to avidya is a form of suicide.The thick dark curtain of avidya makes their minds and intellect dark and impenetrable to the sunlight of knowledge and wisdom.The eternal and ever youthful light of the self is not understood by them.And we wont be able to see this in such individuals(though it is in them too).In the first verse the rishi said God is everywhere.Now he explains why God is not revealed to all though He is everywhere.It is because of the darkness of avidya.The dirt of actions accumulated over the past has made a thick curtain and obscured the view of self. Such an existence in the world,though in human form is equivalent to the existence of a stone,plant or a worm.Because one does not know one’s self.And goes on repeating the cycle of samsaara as these jeeva.This according to the rishi is suicide or Athmahatya.

The people in the northern pole think I am facing the sun.I am in the world of lights.The people opposite to me(in the south pole)are in dark worlds.They are asura and I am sura.But,the people in the south pole also think the same.They think they are the sura and those in the north must be asura.In the earliest phase of astronomical knowledge,the eastern hemisphere(including India )was considered the sura or world of knowledge .The western hemisphere was named the Azorez(or asura)and the asura were thought to be living in the Athala(The present Athalantha)by the people of the east.Now,the western hemisphere thinks that the east is in dark ages and the west is the sura .This inversions of roles is due to the revolution,rotation and constant cyclical movement of the earth.Really all of us have periodical surya and asurya experiences of day and night .Thamas or sleep and rest is needed for the human brain at times .It should not be permanent ,but.The sleep of Kumbakarna is mere laziness and immersion in worldly pleasures.That is not good.Have everything in moderation.Never kill the spirit of knowledge of the self.

The Andhena Thamasaa avrutha Loka(The worlds engulfed in the darkness of thamas)called the asurya ,are also the blackholes at a cosmic level.This is a modern concept for the western science.And a very ancient concept for the ancisnt scriptures.The rishi says the pretha(the one who dies or commits suicide)goes to these dark holes where he/she has to cyclically rotate without any choice or willpower to regulate ones future.
Raajasa can regulate the future by sacrificing the fruits of action by own will,but the thaamasa since they have no willpower just rotate and repeat the cycle of existence in the darkness of samsaara without any choice or knowledge of their plight.

The actions or lack of action,the knowledge or lack of knowledge ,the willpower or lack of it all are thus due to the proportion of the three gunaas in us and the thriguna is a quality of the prakrithi .

Verse 4

After talking about the three types of human tendencies due to the predominant guna,and the nature or prakrithi in three verses,in the 4th verse the Rishi starts to talk about the nature of Brahma.

It is Eka,Achala,and has more sped than the mind.It is before (poorvam)everything.Therefore,the devathaas of the senses cannot reach it.It is movementless and speedier than the mind.It is before all lights and before all senses .And it is with its power (force or energy)alone that Mathariswa makes the jeeva move.

In this verse ,there is a definite change in the stream of consciousness and its flow .According to Gobilakaarika this is the third verse and the third verse mentioned above(strting with asuryaa)is the 12th.Ej means kampana.The one with the quality of vibration is Brahma.But it is also movementless.The movement or vibration is beyond the grasp of senses and therefore it looks movementless or vibrationless.The vibration is beyond the world of the lightrays and their speed.That is ,it is beyond senses,mind and the sunlight and its speed.Before all this,the achala(movementless one)expands and this expanding endless and spreading principle is considered as Vyoma.But this truth(satha)which is chith(energy)is felt as emptiness in the eyes of the mooda minds.And sometimes they mistake it for the samsaara and prapancha .(vikshiptha mind)And this illusionary feeling is the Maaya.

Mathariswa is the son ,Vaayu and it moves within the boundaries of its mother’s form (the spacetime expansion)and is equivalent to the nityavasthu (chith)from which it originated.It is the one which gives praana to all.And makes everything function.It is seen as the crisscross of threads in a cloth ,in everything and is called the soothraathmaa.In this form mathariswa wears the jagath which is moving.It is this praan athat divided the karma of the praani(living thing)into its signs of cheshta(function).Agni,Aditya,Parjanya etc with karma of jwalana,dahana,prakaasa and abhivarshana and its powers(forces) are given by Mathariswa.
This is a passage which shows that the Rishi knows the unification of all natural forces (A grand unification theory of forces of nature in modern physics) and its principles.
The nature of vibratory sound/light waves and its subtle nature so that the senses with grosser vibrations and the physical solar system and its vibrations cannot reach the first vibratory force etc are scientific truths and not mere fiction or myth.The inability of certain types of minds to comprehend the subtle truth also is mentioned showing the psychological acumen of the rishi.

Verse 5.

It vibrates and moves.But it does not move.It is far away.But it is very close too.It is within everything.But it is outside everything too.

Brahma vibrates and therefore it has movement .But gross senses and intellect cannot detect those most subtle vibrations and hence it is considered as movementless by the sense organs.Spacetime continuum is beyond solar system and the zodiac and is before everything too.But it exists within everything in the past ,present and future also.So it is far away as wellas most near.Even with crores of years a scholar cannot reach it .Therefore it is far away.It is beyond hundred crores of lightyears from even sunlight.And hence it is away.But this expanding universe and its cosmic energy is grasped by the heartspace of one who thinks or meditates upon it.It is revealed to such a yogic mind.And such a mind directly visualize it within him and in everything outside him too..Such a yogic mind see it as niranthara(without anthara or interval between)or as a continuum .This avastha is called Pragnaanaghana(dense with pragna or consciousness energy).Because of its vyaapakathwa(expansile and spreading nature)there is gross or very large spacetime continuity.But ,it is also subtle and its nirathisayasookshmatwa(the most subtle nature which cannot be surpassed by any other thing)is also explained in the commentary.Sankara thus visualizes both the modern cosmological worlds of relativistic astrophysics and the subtle quantum mechanics of it.Both these worlds _sookshma and sthoola exist inside the consciousness of a concentrated meditating mind and outside of it and he comprehends it as a whole .But a mind without the capacity for concentration (mooda,kshipta and vikshiptha)cannot realize this truth and for such minds the worlds of duality is real and the world of Advaitha is not approachable.Therefore it is most near and most far off.The power or force which is described in the 18th chapter of Bhagavad Geetha as near and far,moving and nonmoving is comparable.

What is the importance of Advaitha? Why should one be able to see Brahma as a single whole?The 6th verse answers this.

Verse 6

That person who see all the elements within his own self,That person who visualize his own self within all the elements,can never dislike or hate anything.

The liberated souls see “I”or Aham in everything,moving and nonmoving,in all living and nonliving things.And all these(sarvam)exists within him .Such a soul realize the oneness or Ekathwa of me and you,of me and the world ,and becomes compassionatye to all.The Bible asks us “Love thy neighbour as Thyself”.But ,does not give an explanation for the questions why should I and How should I practice it?This is the answer for that questions.We have to love our neighbour because there is God within him,as much as God is within you.Everything is Brahma.Everything is Athma.There is nothing else but Brahma.This vision gives us the oneness of the spacetime continuum,the oneness of the biological and inorganic energy,and the power which binds this world with the other worlds,this universe with other universes.That power which represents the vibratory waveparticle like pranava,is visualized as the power of wind or mathariswa which is the soothraathma that binds all elements together.

Then how can such a person hate anything?How can such a person kill or destroy anything?How cannot such a person show compassion and love to everything?This is the principle of Maithri,Karuna,Muditha etc which are signs of the great yogin in yogasoothra,and of the sthithapragna in the Bhagavad Geetha.And these develop due to the vision described above.See Thyself within everything and everything within Thyself.

In the modern age we know that this vision is not a myth but a scientific truth.Einstein has shown us that Energy is mc2.Or mass multiplied by its squared velocity.The different types of forces of nature including our bioenergy is One .But this remains a theoretical knowledge as far as the majority of the human beings are concerned.Noone has understood the fact that if we really understand this,we would be or we should naturally become compassionate and loving to nature and to our fellow beings.This body with its movements,is only a mass with movement which can stop at anytime,and can be destroyed at anytime,but the energy in it will not be destroyed (law of conservation of energy)and will recycle in a new shape and name (punarjanma in Sanskrit) and this continuity of existence of everything makes one more wise and compassionate to all.Without compassion what is the use of mere scholarship?

Since energy or the Chith (in sansckrit it means oorja or prakaasa)is the only sath(truth)and the only ananda(bliss)Brahma is given these thre attributes by the ancient Indians.Sath Chit Ananda is the definition of Brahma or the Godhead.

Energy is the only changeless truth and is the only blissful state and that energy is within us as bioenergy and is outside us as cosmic energy and there is a everlasting continuity between us and the universes and we are part of this entire multiverse,as the universe is part of us.It is a beautiful viswaroopadarsana,a beautiful dance of energy ,a beautiful vision of an ocean of everlasting energy and bliss and truth..This Brahma experience is the most coveted and sought after by all seekers of truth.Even the sthavaraloka(inorganic world)which is considered as the dark asura worlds where light cannot penetrate ,even the blackholes which are considered empty,become vibrating energy fields and the liberated scientist of ancient India see only chaithanya (energy)even in those thamoloka or thamogartha .The modern scientists also visualize it as photons and superstrings of energy in these dark spaces but does not connect it to the compassionate bioenergy level.The modern world is becoming more and more technological and mechanical with knowledge,it does not convert energy of scholarship into energy of compassion for all.If we can do this we also can someday reach the ancient Indian philosopher’s state of sath,chith,aananda .(Brahma and Aham as one.)We too can see Brahma in everything inside and outside and love and live harmoniously loving our neighbours as we love ourselves because in our neighbours reside the same Brahma .

This is the message of ancient India for ahimsa,love and compassion and for world peace and lokakalyaana.

Verse 7.

Once a human being understands and feels that every element is ones own Athma,for that person where is moha(desire)and soka(sorrow)?He has realized Ekathwa(Oneness )of creation.
The moment the oneness of all creation is visualized and felt,all desires of worldly existence,all the greeds for aquiring this and that ceases.Since desire is the cause of sorrow,by the visualization process both sorrow and its cause desire are uprooted.Such a person does not covet another person’s possessions because worldly possessions are nothing for him.This state has two effects for the person
1.He has lost all sorrows and desires and is perfectly happy and blissful which is what every being wants to be.
2.He/she does not covet anything from others or harm anyone for anything and thus aparigraha and ahimsa and karuna has become his nature.With this verse the rishi comes back to the first verse and its explanation fully.Everything is permeated by Isa(God)Therefore do not covet the possessions of others ,was the first verse’s message.Now the rishi has said the method to obtain that state .The privileges it offers to the one who practices it and to the society and institution where he/she lives and works.
Thus the rishi proves his point raised in the first verse.
The order in which the rishi does this is summed up like this.
In verse one he raises his statement and an advice ,how to live in the world peacefully
In verse two and three he describes the rajasic and thamasic predominant natures and the different methods through which they too can reach this state of perfect harmony by a gradual stage by stage process.In verse 4 he describes the nature of Brahma and of Mathariswa,the praana and the oneness of energy.In verse 5 he describes how this is visualized by the saadhaka .(both within and without)And how this changes his/her vision of the world totally and transforms him/her to the most compassionate individual.
And finally in verse 6 and 7 he tells us the advantages of such a transformation to the individual as well as to the society and the world.

Verse 8

The 8th verse says,Athma is omnipresent and expands to everything(sarvam).It is akaaya(without a physical body)Sukra(white)avrana(without any defect)asnaayu(without ligaments )sudha(pure)and sinless(paaparahitha)It is Kavi(rishi)maneeshi(pure intellectual wisdom)and swayambhoo(originated on its own)It is saparyagaa.(Paryaya or paryagaa means that which revolves in its own kakshya or spacetime)It gives birth to equally divided and eternal sama (equals )order(karma).

The stars and graham (graham means which makes us understand our laws of movement and laws of universes and not just planet) revolve in their kakshya(their orbits)and this is called Bhaganaparyaya.(revolution of the groups of bha or lights).The orbit of the Brahma is beyond all these orbits of known stars ,and includes several multiverses with an order of time of its own for each.In all these multiverses,just like an emperor inspecting and visiting the territories of his subordinate saamanthaas (kings)Brahma with its resplendent thejas,expands and reaches.It is thus sarvavyaapi and in this sense it moves.For sukra ,the meaning is not just white.Sankara says Sukram is sudham jyothishmadheepthimaanithyartha:It is respelendent as the jyothisha or stars in the sky and the whiteness is that .The Brahma thus is equivalent to the spacetime and the sama which are equally divided in the Brahma are Aswathy etc (Aswatheebhya samaabhya:)That is why the adjective Paryagaaschukra is equivalent to astronomical spacetime.Since it has no physical body,it is akaaya or asareeri and naturally this makes it avrana and asnaayu.One without a physical body cannot be cut or cannot have ligamental unions .Since it has no physical body it is not touched by sin or sorrow .It has no dualities of dharma or adharma.

Brahma is Kavi.Kavi is not just a poet who can make verses in rhymes.In Sanskrit the word means a kraanthadarsi and sarvadrik(one with a capability for subtle visions a visionary and one who can see everything).Maneeshi is the eeshithaa(darsaka,seer)of the mind ,the sarvagnapurusha whois the psychologist par excellance .Paribhoo is above everything .Swayambhoo is one who originated on his own without a mother and father and therefore not created by maithuna .The one who became without a prior cause.This power called Iswara or Brahma or Athma ,according to the karma performed divided the spacetime for the samaas equally.Sama are samvatsara and saman is samvatsaran in Jyothisha.And it is from sama ,the saama or music is heard(the music of the spheres).The sama like Aswathy are the prajapathy .Prajapathy as the sama existed in prior yugas and the Iswara or the power of Brahma allots them a karma according to the previous karma of them .This is said in the Rgveda as ,Brahma created the universe Yathaapoorvam(as before).At that time there was no human being to grasp the laws of universe .And ,the first human being who grasped it was termed the saman or samvatsaran ,a synonym for the Jyothishagnaani.The first human being who had a consciousness of spacetime is given a special status because he is understanding the origin of time.When this consciousness is born a vidya to give this to the coming generations(an educative system )also is born.
But,one must understand that all human beings cannot at any time ,will be able to understand such profound truths.Only an Einstein or a Stephan Hawking understands it too well even in this yuga.So the number of 18 jyothish Acharyas mentioned in the veda and Upanishads must be considered really great.

A very important verse comes after this.

Verse 9.Those who meditate on avidya reaches the dark universes (thamoloka)But those who meditate on vidya reaches greater darker lokaas.

This verse has been confusing to several scholars over the years.Many have tried to explain itwith more confusing thoughts.The question is if avidya leads to dark thamoloka,how can vidya lead to darker lokas?

Since the 8th verse is speaking about the astronomical division of zodiac after origin of spacetime and the first human being who had a consciousness developed to understand these laws of universe,we have to assume that this sloka is also about the astronomers.Then there is some meaning in it which is not contradicting each other.Those people who meditate on the avidya of samsaara ,are born and reborn in the thamoloka of the sthaavara and this pertains to the birth and rebirth cycles of Paryaya (revolution in different wombs in samsaarachakra).But those who meditate on vidya reaches far away universes which they cannot visualize with their naked eyes and these are the dark thamodwaaras.These thamogartha are areas where the sunlight cannot enter ,and where words cannot enter.Where intellect cannot enter.These are called the Krishnamandala where Krishna resides.And to these dark krishnamandala is the way through the kaalavidhaanasasthra(jyothisha)The paramapada of Vishnu(sarvavyapi)is even beyond these Krishnamandala .

In another way also a jyothishi can enter dark worlds.That is by using the science and art for moneymaking.Karma is avidya.And those who do this karma for money reach the dark worlds of avidya and not the dark worlds of vidya.Both types of people are in dark worlds.But how different are those dark worlds from one another !!One is arepeating cyclical series of births and deaths.And the other is an expansile and spreading out lightpath,reaching at a boundary of the boundary which appears as zero ,but is actually resplendent energy unseen to ordinary eyes and misinterpreted as emptiness.


Verse 10.The thamas one achieves due to Vidya,and thamas into which one falls due to avidya are different.We have heard so from the dheera(the wise people).

One reaches through vidya the worlds which are beyond ordinary knowledge and beyond those thamasaloka are the bright worlds of the Deva.With avidya one reaches the thamoloka of the pithru ,and both are avyaktha and dark.

Verse 11.One who grasps both vidya and avidya simultaneously,wins over mrithyu(death)with avidya ,and then achieves amrithathwa(eternity)by vidya.

The pithruyagna and prajapathyavratha are done by such people to satisfy the ancestral worlds of mrithyu,and the same people do sarvakarvatyaaga and with vidya attains amritha(deathless state)..Since pithrukarma is done only by householders this verse gives importance to Grihastha over sanyasa.

Verse 12.
The people who meditate upon the unborn,enter thamas.Those who meditate on things which are already born,reaches greater thamas.

In verse 8 we saw two types of thamas.One was vyakritha(vyaktha)and the other was avyakritha(avyaktha).How do people meditate upon these easily?

The seen world is sambhootha(already born .both past and present)There is a cause for this universe.This cause is avyaktha and is the seed for all desired actions.And this is called the moolaprakrithi.It is unknown and unseen.The astronomers are meditating on the moolaprakrithy the cause for all the known and seen universes.They plunge into darkness.But those people who meditate upon seen things with desire ,and with fruits of action which will be achieved later(in future)or what is asambhootha also enter dark worlds of repeating births and deaths.
Both are dark worlds.The dark world of the scholar is darker than the dark world of the common man.But,it is more selfless and more expanded and though with punaraavrithy(cyclical repetition)the time period between two births is prolonged and the vidwaan lives in the unknown worlds for more periods and comes back to earth only when it is needed to uphold dharma,and that toowith his own choice.The other people come and go repeatedly at shorter intervals and without any choice or remembrance of what had happened in their previous existence,just like inert objects.They have a world with sunlight ,because they come back to earth often,and so their darkness when compared to that of the scholar is less .But,less preferable than the greater darkness and free willand sarvavyapithwa of the vidwan who has overcome mrithyu with his actions of upaasana of both pithru and deva universes.

Verse 13.The born and the unborn are meditated upon.And the effect of these meditations are different .We have heard it from dheera.Those who meditate upon saguna and on objects of prakrithy gets animaadisidhi.But those who meditate on nirguna ,the absolute truth beyond prakrithi and her qualities and the most subtle principle only achieve amrithathwa.
Consider that Gobilakaarika reads the third verse (asuryanaama the loka)as the 12th verse.Read it as 12th and then read this sloka .Then it becomes clear that from the meanings about the thamasic guna in human beings .Those with pure sathwik intellect alone can attain Samadhi and wisdom of Samadhi.And among those who achieve Samadhi there are two groups sampragnatha and asampragnatha.Only asampragnathasamadhi experience will give amrithathwa.With others we achieve certain things or capabilities,but it is not perfect.The astronomical knowledge spoken about earlier is a knowledge or sidhi due to meditation of the sambhoova (past and present)worlds of existence and is thus a sampragnaathasamadhi knowledge.It is not the asampragnaathi state of existence.In asampragnathasamadhi one has already experienced sampragnathi and therefore he has both knowledge,both experience and has become sarvagna.While one with sampragnathasamadhi alone has no experience of asampragnatha and has to achieve something more.His karma is not over.But his way is cleared for liberation .

Verse14. Meditating on Brahma as one having origin and end(Saguna)and as one without these(Nirguna),we can cross death by the end(of saguna)and attain amrith(eternity)by asambhoothi(no birth).By meditating on the avyakritha(avyktha)which has no birth,nectar with the lakshana of Prakrithilaya is attained.(as mentioned in the pathanjalayoga)The position of a prakrithilaya is the greatest attainable by all the riches of humans and the devaas.Beyond that the samsaaragathi (the movement of the worldly life)does not cross.Beyond that exists the position of the sarvaathmabhava as explained in the 7th verse..In this way the meaning of the veda is revealed in two ways,the pravrithy and the nivrithy.We cen do this,we cannot do this etc are pravrithilakshanaroopa.This type of vedaartha(as commandments and do’s and do nots)is expressed in the pravargya.Brihadaaranyaka expresses the vedartha with nivrithilakshana.From the period of nisheka(the inception and union of sperm with egg)upto the funeral pyre ,for people who wants to do karma,the 11th sloka says you can cross death by avidya and attain amritha by vidya.

If vidya alone can give us amrithathwa,what Is that path of vidya to amrithathwa?Sankara says:-Sathyam asou sa aadityoya esha ethasmin mandale purushoyschaaya dakshino akshan purusha ethad ubhayam sathyam . Means sathya is surya.The purusha in the suryamandala or the solar field and his chaaya or shadow.Therefore the rishi who has done all the karmas according to satisfaction and perfection ,towards the end of life meditate on his own athma which is the swaroopa of sathyathma thus:

Verse 15.

Hiranmayena paathrena sathyasyaapihitham mukham
Thathwam chooshanapaavrinu sathyadharmaaya drishtaye.

The face of truth is hidden from view by a golden vessel.He,pooshaan,remove that covering.Let me ,who has made sathya my dharma,see it .

The one who has lived according to the injunction of sathyam vada and dharmam chara has made his word and deed same.Such a man is meditating.Therefore the words of confidence that I have made sathya into my dharma.And also that he has the right to see the face of truth and noone can deny him that.

Verse 16.He ,Pooshaan,Ekarshe,Yama,surya,Praajaapathyaa,Reduce your rays into thyself.Let me see your form which is resplendent(thejomaya)and auspicious(kalyanathama)Because I am that purush.

Sa asou purusha soham asmi .That purusha in the sun’s center is me.Aham brahma is experienced by this individual.By that adhikaara he asks his upaasanaamurthy,the sun,the energygiver of the world of existence ,to concentrate his rays to the center and allow him to see himself as the true self,as the solar purusha and enter him to become one with him.This is the prakrithilaya of yoga.

Synonyms of sun are used here.
1.pooshaa .The one who sustains and fills the jagath with anna and jeeva
2.Ekarshi.The one who travels alone as a rishi.
3 yama.The one who does samyama of all
4.prajaapathya.The son of prajapathi
5.surya.One who receives rasmi(ray)rasa(waters)and praana (life)and one who lets out these and creates and sustains and destroys these .The one who is responsible for the samsaarachakra on earth.The one who gives light to earth which is otherwise a thamograha .The human being as part of earth knows that he/she too is a thamograha by birth into the earth,but that is not the true nature and the true nature is energy or light from the sun.That is why one says I am you,to the sun.Iam energy.I am surya.Therefore,the rishi does not beg ,but rightfully asks surya to reduce the rays so that he can see and enter his own dhaama or swaroopa or prakrithi.The purusha with vyaahrithi as organs ,existing in the solar mandala,in the akaasa(spacetime)is existing within me (within my city or kshethra of this body)also as praana,budhi and athmaroopa.Therefore,I am naturally you.And,I have lived a life of satya and dharma,in words,thoughts and deeds and am having a right to see my swaroopa in you .

This is a very extraordinary confidence and the sense of own swaroopa and this is seen in the people who meditate on sagunabrahma as their own self.
The rishi is ready now to enter into the suns orb and leave his mortal body.Therefore he continues:

Verse 17.
Let my praana become one with the vaayu .Let my energy be one with the agni.Let my body become bhasma(ashes)And let the body be ended.OM.Kratho smarakritham smara kratho smara kritham smara.

Om.Kratho,remember.Remember the kritha(the deeds).Kratho,remember.Remember the deeds.

During the last rites let my biological praana which is cosmic vaayu become one with it.Similarly my energy and my body become one with cosmic energy and the elements of the earth.Let the panchabhootha of the physical body merge with that of the cosmic body.Let the subtle body(sookshmasareera)with only the gnaanasamskaara and its tendencies reach by uthkranthi(going upwards)into the sun and merge with energy there.(The jeevathma to the kaalaathma surya)Then the rishi requests the sookshmamanas to remember all the good deeds he had done from childhood upto the day of death .It is the satya and dharma and the gnaana which accompany the final journey of athma.Nothing else can accompany him.No riches,no relatives,sons or consorts or friends.Only the good deeds,word and thoughts.Only the satya and dharma and gnaana.Therefore the sookshmamanas is asked to remember them while merging with the self in the cosmic suryaNaraayana.The rishi is sathyasamkalpa.What he thinks becomes truth.Therefore his journey to his own self has been successful.

Verse 18.

Agne,You know all our deeds and all our gnaana.You,the light of the universes,Lead us through the path of vidya.Let us be free of all defects(sins).Our namaskaara to you again and again.

The dakshinamaarga is the way to the pithruloka under the moon’s control and under the attraction of the earth.And those who follow that comes back since it is having endless cycles of deaths and births.Therefore the rishi wants to enter the path of the sun and then from there to the path of the cosmic paramapurusha .The worship of agni (energy)within oneself and in the cosmos is a symbolic karma for worship of universal energy.Now,during his last breath,he says I am now unable to do the external worship,but by thoughts and words I remember and do obeisance to you again and again ,and you,who is knower of all the worlds knows my deeds and my words and thoughts.Therefore,lead me ,The light of the world,through the path of vidya to the paramapada which has no punaraavrithy,is the last wish.

This is a very short Upanishad with only 18 verses but in a nutshell it gives very profound thoughts which purify our minds and intellects and makes our athma resplendent .