Namaskar Mahatmas!
This week we will meditate on sloka 4 of the Isha Upanishad. The distinction between the two types of men (spiritual and unspiritual) has been discussed in the previous two slokas. Now, what is the nature of the Atman, by knowing which one is saved from spiritual suicide? This is discussed from here upto the 8th sloka.
Anejad ekam manaso javiiyo
Nainad devaa aapunvan poorvam arshat
Tad dhaavatonyaan atyeti tishthat
Tasminn apo maatarishva dadhaati (4)
tat – that Atman; ekam – one; anejat – motionless (immutable); manasah – than mind; javiiyah – faster; devaah – the senses; enat – this; na aapnuvan – could not reach; poorvam arshat – went befor the mind; tat – it; tishthat – being steady; dhaavatah – running (changeable); anyaam – other objects; atyeti – outstrips. Tasmin sati – It being present; maatarishva – the cosmic energy, the Prana; apah – all the activity (of the living beings); dadhaati – sustains.
The self is one without a second. It is unmoving. It is faster than the mind. Having preceded the mind, It is beyond the reach of the senses. Ever steady, It outstrips all that run. By Its mere presence, it enables the cosmic energy to sustain the activities of the living beings.
The sloka has explained at the magnificence and greatness of the Supreme Atman. It is explained in great detail in Gita 2nd chapter also. The sloka describes the Supreme Atman saying: anejat ekam. The word tat (that) is added to it and then it means: “That Self is ekam – One. The Self is the highest and beyond that there is nothing. It is the highest, the Supreme. The Self is one without the second. It is anejat – unmoving, motionless – because it is One alone, infinite, non-dual. In the infinite (beyond the time and the space), movement or mobility is beyond supposition. The sloka at the same time adds: manasah javiyah – yet, It is swifter, faster than the mind. How can the unmoving Supreme Atman be swifter than the mind?
It is the experience of every one that the mind reaches places, countries and worlds seen or heard instantaneously, there is no hindrance. But the Supreme Atman, being omnipresent and beyond the mind, is already there before even the mind reaches there.
Being highly subtle and a spark of the Supreme Atman, the mind is also all pervading. We know that the mind is subtler and infinitely faster than the senses. The Atman is beyond the grasp of the senses and the mind. Like we perceive all other objects using our senses and the mind, the Atman cannot be perceived.
Chinmayanandaji says: ‘The telescope is used to see all other objects with a great clarity. But it can be never used to view the eye of the viewer’. It is in the light of the Self, we are able to perceive things. In this sloka, therefore, in order to explain the all-pervasiveness of the Supreme Consciousness, it has been explained in a comparative way using the phrase: manasah javiyah – it is swifter than the mind.
In order to further clarify this idea, it is stated: enat devah na apnuvan. The word devah has primarily been used for the deities like Indra, Agni, Vayu, the directors of the functions of the universe. Bhagavatham says that every sense organ has an ‘ati devata’ – a presiding deity. This declaration means: even all these deities have not been able to achieve Him or know Him.
The story in the Kenopanishad makes this very clear. Devas won the war with Asuras and became proud of their individual powers. The Supreme Lord appeared before them disguised as a Yaksha and asked them to show their capabilities and prowess. The Lord kept a small straw before them and asked them to move that straw. All of them failed to exhibit their individual powers when called upon to exercise them on a mere straw. Divine Mother Uma, the Goddess of Brahmavidya, then appeared before them and revealed to Indra on request that be it known to all of you that you have no power of your own, it is because of the Supreme Lord that you are powerful.
In the Upanishads, the word devah has also been used for the senses of knowledge. It is through the five senses of knowledge, the mind and the intellect that the entire world of objects is perceived. These sense devatas have also not been able to reach Him or know Him. They are only an effect and the effect cannot know its cause. The effect can at best give an indication to the presence of its cause. The speech by itself shows the presence of the tongue.
The last word purvam arshat has been used in the sense of Aadi – the origin The Supreme Lord is the origin of all, is the forerunner of all. Lord Krishna has said in the Bhagawad Gita: – Neither the hosts of devas nor the great rishis know My origin and boundless supernatural powers and influence, for in every respect I am the initial Cause of all (Gita 10.2).
The second half of the sloka says: tad dhavato’nyanatyeti tisthat tat.
Though it remains stationary (sitting), it outstrips, goes past all that run. It seems an impracticable possibility, but it explains a perfect truth. It has been said: He goes past all which run. Who are those runners whom He leaves behind? The Veda points to the Devatas. A brief list of these devatas are: Agni, Vato, Suryo, Chandrama, Vasvo, Rudro, Aditya, Maruta, Varuna etc. The Veda says that all these devatas, such as Vatah – air, are in constant state of flux and moving at their fastest speed. They cannot even touch Him and He, though stationary, sitting as it were, outruns all these swift runners. This declaration of the Veda conveys to us that the Supreme Atma is omnipresent.
tasmin apah matarishva dadhati: Matarishva is the lord of atmosphere, cosmic energy. The vital air – oxygen, is the main essence of our lives. This life-giving power is vested in the air we breathe. The Upanishads call it Rasa – divine essence. If that Rasa was not inherent in the Akasha – infinite space, the creatures on earth will not be able to breathe and remain alive. That divine essence is the vital air that is the vital life force is called Apasa.
Water is another source of this divine essence. Water is oxygen and hydrogen combined in a definite proportion. We assimilate oxygen through the medium of water. The same oxygen, the source of vital energy, is called Apah in this sloka. The power that acquires and holds all this divine essence – Apasa and Apah, and releases it duly nurtured and fortified, is called Matarishva – the controller of cosmic energy. It operates with its life giving potency under the power of the Supreme Atma only. The truth is that the Supreme Lord Himself manifests and operates as the Matarishva. The Self – the changeless is the support of all the changes like the anvil which shapes everything but it remains as it is.
SUMMARY:
The Sloka, by singing the glory and majesty of the Lord/the Self in many different ways makes us conscious of the Lord’s supremacy above everything and thus inspires us to realise Him. This is the greatest wealth to be gained.
