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Kathopanisad

Chapter 2 Valli 3 Mantra 3

Mantra

bha̱yād a̱sya agni̍s tapati bha̱yāt ta̍pati̱ sūrya̍ḥ |
bhayā̍d i̱ndraś ca̍ vāyu̱ś ca̱ mṛ̱tyur dhā̍vati̱ pañca̍maḥ ||

asya bhayāt = from fear of Him; agniḥ tapati = the fire burns; bhayāt = from fear; sūryaḥ tapati = the Sun gives heat; bhayāt = from fear; indraḥ ca vāyuḥ = Indra and Vayu; mṛtyuḥ ca = and Death; pañcamaḥ = the fifth; dhāvati = run, speed, move fast.

For fear of Him the Fire bums; for fear of Him shines the Sun; for fear of Him do Indra, Vayu, and Death, the fifth, proceed (with their respective functions).

by Swami Chinmayananda:

If Brahman, the Supreme Reality, were not there, not only to declare, by Its Will, the law of existence but also to control and govern it, and thus ultimately ensure its smooth functioning, we would not have had, to be sure, such a systematic and scientific consistency in the laws of Nature, had it not been for this eternal fear for the supreme authority of the Transcendental Reality, we could not have had any science textbooks; as for that matter, life itself would have been impossible. For example, supposing fire chooses to take a holiday from its nature and thus prove itself to be cold, the milk in the oven would probably remain colder than when it was put on the fire even after hours of waiting! No life would have been possible, then, in the sense of systematic and continuous living, for, the planets could then, at their will, stray away from their appointed paths in the heavens! Almost as frequently as we are having motor accidents, train collisions, and plane crashes these days in our ill-organized world, we could have had collisions between stars and planets!

But on the other hand, we are seeing that the universe is running smoothly and harmoniously in a perfect, orderly manner. Sun, Fire, Indra, Vayu and Death are all working with a beautiful team spirit.

This idea that nature strictly keeps herself within the word and spirit of the Eternal Law due to her fear of the Supreme, is repeated with almost the same vigor if not in the same words in Taittareya Upanishad.

Panchamah (fifth) — Death is considered the fifth in the direct numerical order. Previously the Mantra has already enumerated four different names as Fire, Sun, Indra and Vayu. So, naturally, Death is the fifth.

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