अन्धं तमः प्रविशन्ति येऽसम्भूतिमुपासते ।
ततो भूय इव ते तमो य उ संभूत्यां रताः ॥ १२ ॥
अन्यदेवाहुः संभवादन्यदाहुरसंभवात् ।
इति शुश्रुम धीराणां ये नस्तद्विचचक्षिरे ॥ १३ ॥
संभूतिं च विनाशं च यस्तद्वेदोभयं सह ।
विनाशेन मृत्युं तीर्त्वा संभूत्यामृतमश्नुते ॥ १४ ॥
andhaṃ tamaḥ praviśanti ye’sambhūtimupāsate |
tato bhūya iva te tamo ya u saṃbhūtyāṃ ratāḥ || 12 ||
anyadevāhuḥ saṃbhavādanyadāhurasaṃbhavāt |
iti śuśruma dhīrāṇāṃ ye nastadvicacakṣire || 13 ||
saṃbhūtiṃ ca vināśaṃ ca yastadvedobhayaṃ saha |
vināśena mṛtyuṃ tīrtvā saṃbhūtyāmṛtamaśnute || 14 ||
Translation:
Into a blind darkness they enter who worship only the unmanifested prakriti; but into a greater darkness they enter who worship the manifested Hiranyagarbha.
One thing, they say, is obtained from the worship of the manifested; another, they say, from the worship of the unmanifested. Thus we have heard from the wise who taught us this.
He who knows that both the unmanifested prakriti and the manifested Hiranyagarbha should be worshipped together, overcomes death by the worship of Hiranyagarbha and obtains immortality through devotion to prakriti.
Commentary:
(Commentary for Verses 12, 13 & 14)
When we consider the individual, we can clearly distinguish between the inner world of man and a world that is external to him. When we consider the world as a whole, we can similarly distinguish between two entities – Brahman and Shakti.
Hindus have spent a lot of time and energy in search of God. This search has been incredibly elaborate and has been wonderfully documented. One of the reasons for this search for God was to explain the existence of this world. In their journey for God, they found out that having only one generic term ‘God’ was not sufficient to denote the entity behind this phenomenon. They came up with a hierarchy of terms to denote a series of personality-transformations that ‘God’ undergoes for manifesting this world that we now have. Thus, we have terms like Hiranyagarbha, Sutratman, Paramatman, Avyakrita, Avyakta, Virat, Taijasa, Praajna, Saguna, Nirguna, Parabrahman, Shakti, Parashakti, Sambhuti, Vinasha, Asambhuti, Prakriti, Purusha, Tat, Saha, Rayi, etc. The details are mindboggling. During the period of Isha Upanishad, the evolution of these terms was perhaps not so elaborate. Nevertheless, they had some of these terms used in these three mantras, as we can see. The idea is something like this: The world we live in, has two distinct aspects – matter and energy on the one hand, with life and consciousness on the other. The Rishis of the Upanishads were able to resolve everything that exists, back into the primordial categories of Brahman and Shakti. Brahman is consciousness alone. Shakti is everything else – matter, energy and life. The people in this world can be seen devoting their time and energy to the pursuit of either consciousness alone to the exclusion of everything else, or, to the pursuit of everything else to the exclusion of consciousness. Both these pursuits have their own inherent benefits. Notwithstanding the benefits that these two studies showers on its votaries, when pursued exclusively, these three mantras say categorically that one should pursue both simultaneously.
Brahman alone does not explain this world. Shakti alone does not explain this world. We need to consider both. In the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, we find Sri Ramakrishna repeatedly state that Brahman and Shakti are identical. In our present state of consciousness, it is impossible to understand that pure consciousness and the dynamic energy running this world are the same. These two appear to be fundamentally different to us. That is the reason we feel the need to pursue their study separately. If we wish to reach pure consciousness, we feel that we have to utterly renounce everything that is manifested. If we wish to get acquainted with Shakti, we feel we have to ignore the higher call of the Atman and engage deeply with this world alone. Both paths lead us astray. It is like reaching the roof of a house by leaving the steps behind, one by one. But the Vijnani, who is more intimately acquainted with Brahman, realizes something more. He realizes that the steps are made of the same materials as the roof: bricks, lime, and brick-dust. That which is realized intuitively as Brahman, through the eliminating process of ‘Not this, not this’, is then found to have become the universe and all its living beings. The Vijnani sees that the Reality which is nirguna, without attributes, is also saguna, with attributes. A man cannot live on the roof a long time. He comes down again. Those who realize Brahman in samadhi come down also and find that it is Brahman that has become the universe and its living beings.
It is in these six mantras of the Isha Upanishad that we find the basis for the fundamental principles on which the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission are built. Swamiji never tired of enunciating these ideas among his disciples. He says: In this age, as on the one hand people have to be intensely practical, so on the other hand they have to acquire deep spiritual knowledge.[35] This statement is but a free-hand translation of these six mantras.
In his Belur Math address, Swamiji says: It is very good to have a high ideal, but don’t make it too high. A high ideal raises mankind, but an impossible ideal lowers them from the very impossibility of the case.[36] First, we have to understand that we must not have any impossible ideal. An ideal which is too high makes a nation weak and degraded. This happened after the Buddhist and the Jain reforms. On the other hand, too much practicality is also wrong. If you have not even a little imagination, if you have no ideal let guide you, you are simply a brute. So, we must not lower our ideal, neither are we to lose sight of practicality. We must avoid the two extremes. In our country, the old idea is to sit in a cave and meditate and die. To go ahead of others in salvation is wrong. One must learn sooner or later that one cannot get salvation if one does not try to seek the salvation of his brothers. You must try to combine in your life immense idealism with immense practicality. You must be prepared to go into deep meditation now, and the next moment you must be ready to go and cultivate these fields (Swamiji said, pointing to the meadows of the Math). You must be prepared to explain the difficult intricacies of the Shastras now, and the next moment to go and sell the produce of the fields in the market. You must be prepared for all menial services, not only here, but elsewhere also.[37] These ideas are the gist of the six mantras of the Isha Upanishad.
Notice how Swamiji brings in the Buddhist reformation when he speaks about the lopsided development in our society. Spirituality cannot be seen as divorced from daily life. It is most harmful to confuse ourselves in this regard. We live a daily life of compromise and guilt, and then isolate ourselves from society and practice spirituality – this is most detrimental to man and society. The beliefs of religion have to be practiced while living with others in society. In order to reorient Hindu society along these Upanishadic lines, Swamiji instituted that the monks too should live in society and not isolate themselves, as has been the tradition in India since Buddha.
Hence Swamiji says: There is a great opening for the Vedanta to do beneficent work both here and elsewhere. This wonderful idea of the sameness and omnipresence of the Supreme Soul has to be preached for the amelioration and elevation of the human race here as elsewhere. Wherever there is evil and wherever there is ignorance and want of knowledge, I have found out by experience that all evil comes, as our scriptures say, relying upon differences, and that all good comes from faith in equality, in the underlying sameness and oneness of things. This is the great Vedantic ideal. To have the ideal is one thing, and to apply it practically to the details of daily life is quite another thing. It is very good to point out an ideal, but where is the practical way to reach it?
This is teaching on the practical side. Believe, therefore, in yourselves, and if you want material wealth, work it out; it will come to you. If you want to be intellectual, work it out on the intellectual plane, and intellectual giants you shall be. And if you want to attain to freedom, work it out on the spiritual plane, and free you shall be and shall enter into Nirvana, the Eternal Bliss. But one defect which lay in the Advaita was its being worked out so long on the spiritual plane only, and nowhere else; now the time has come when you have to make it practical. It shall no more be a Rahasya, a secret, it shall no more live with monks in caves and forests, and in the Himalayas; it must come down to the daily, everyday life of the people; it shall be worked out in the palace of the king, in the cave of the recluse; it shall be worked out in the cottage of the poor, by the beggar in the street, everywhere; anywhere it can be worked out. Therefore, do not fear whether you are a woman or a Shudra, for this religion is so great, says Lord Krishna, that even a little of it brings a great amount of good. Therefore, children of the Aryans, do not sit idle; awake, arise, and stop not till the goal is reached. The time has come when this Advaita is to be worked out practically. Let us bring it down from heaven unto the earth; this is the present dispensation. Ay, the voices of our forefathers of old are telling us to bring it down from heaven to the earth. Let your teachings permeate the world, till they have entered into every pore of society, till they have become the common property of everybody, till they have become part and parcel of our lives, till they have entered into our veins and tingle with every drop of blood there.[38]
We specially draw the attention of the reader to the following words of Swamiji quoted above: Believe, therefore, in yourselves, and if you want material wealth, work it out; it will come to you. If you want to be intellectual, work it out on the intellectual plane, and intellectual giants you shall be. And if you want to attain to freedom, work it out on the spiritual plane, and free you shall be and shall enter into Nirvana, the Eternal Bliss. But one defect which lay in the Advaita was its being worked out so long on the spiritual plane only, and nowhere else; now the time has come when you have to make it practical. It shall no more be a Rahasya, a secret, it shall no more live with monks in caves and forests, and in the Himalayas; it must come down to the daily, everyday life of the people; it shall be worked out in the palace of the king, in the cave of the recluse; it shall be worked out in the cottage of the poor, by the beggar in the street, everywhere; anywhere it can be worked out. The defect with Vedanta has been that it was restricted only to the spiritual plane. India reaped the benefits of doing so. Religion was protected, despite untold assaults on it. Despite everything that happened to India, the civilisation survived, only because Vedanta was restricted to the spiritual plane and the land kept on producing saints, generation after generation. But, is that the only function of Vedanta? No. Vedanta can be made to operate on any plane we like. If you want material wealth, work it out; it will come to you. If you want to be intellectual, work it out on the intellectual plane, and intellectual giants you shall be. And if you want to attain to freedom, work it out on the spiritual plane, and free you shall be and shall enter into Nirvana, the Eternal Bliss. Vedanta must come down to the daily, everyday life of the people.
When Swamiji proclaimed these ideas, they seemed to be blasphemous, outlandish, and fancy ideas to Indians. His own brother disciples had some trouble making sense of these ideas of Swamiji. And since he proclaimed them after his visit to the West, many thought these ideas were the result of his exposure to the foreign lands. But, these six mantras of the Isha Upanishad show clearly that these ideas of Swamiji are actually there in our own spiritual literature. We had forgotten them. And now, we can revive those ideas again. Hence Swamiji exhorted to Indians, repeatedly: Go back to your Upanishads. There you will find ideas to rejuvenate the whole land.[39]
And what is the way to practicalize these ideas?
Sister Nivedita says: It is a grand gospel – this doctrine of fearlessness, of courage, of self-conquest. Arise, thou Great Divinity that liest hidden within us! In Thy name, all things are possible to us! Making victory and defeat the same, plunge we into battle! But how are we to fight? Most of us, by work. The world’s work is the great Sadhana, wherein we accumulate character, by which, when the time comes, we can rise even into the Nirvikalpa Samadhi itself. Character is self-restraint. Self-restraint is self-direction. Self-direction is concentration. Concentration when perfect is Samadhi. From perfect work to perfect Mukti. This is the swing of the soul. Let us then be perfect in work.[40] We must imbibe the love of hard work in our younger generation. Sincere, moral, hard work lies at the root of everything grand in life. The honest, sincere, hard-working student of today will become the saint of the future, even while living and working in society, contributing to the national economy, and not necessarily by isolating himself from society as a recluse.
Today, spirituality is associated with visions and ecstasies. The Upanishadic conception of spirituality is something very grand. Character formation is much more valuable than all the divine visions and the most intense ecstasies taken together. True spirituality has nothing to do with marriage or monasticism. True spirituality has nothing to do with outlandish practices. It is today a matter of prestige in the religious world. If we have a person who claims to have visions of gods and goddesses, millions will believe him and revere him as a saint. At the same time, if we have another person, who doesn’t claim to have visions of gods and goddesses, but is a sincere, heart-whole person, deeply sympathetic to fellow human beings, supremely collected, and constantly in a prayerful attitude, we don’t give him the same respect and adoration as we do to the former. This state of affairs will change very soon, due to the impetus given by Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda. The crux of character-formation is selflessness. Swamiji said, “Unselfishness is God”. The inscrutable identification we now have with this individuality can be broken down and the real vision enshrined in our consciousness only by being utterly unselfish. The beginning of this amazing process is by being true to our duty. Special, esoteric, secret bizarre spiritual practices are not necessary. Any work that is our duty will suffice. Any karma (or activity) will suffice. This very karma (or activity) will become Karma-Yoga by means of Prayer.
Swami Brahmananda used to say: Pray, pray, pray – pray to God. Work intensely and repeat the name of the Lord unceasingly. Pray to God in the midst of all work. Do this and see; all your suffering will come to an end. [41] Notice how Swami Brahmananda says, “Work intensely and repeat the name of the Lord unceasingly. Pray to God in the midst of all work.” Not work alone, nor prayer alone; work and prayer will go hand-in-hand. Then it becomes a powerful transformative tool.
Hence the next two mantras are about Prayer.