Index…

Kathopanisad

Chapter 1 Valli 3 Mantra 8

Lecture

Mantra

yas tu̍ v̱ijñāna̍vān bhava̍ti sa̱mana̍skas sa̱dā śu̍ciḥ |
sa tu̍ ta̱t pada̍m āpno̱ti̱ ya̱smād bhū̍yo na̱ jāya̍te ||

yaḥ tu = but that [intellect]; bhavati = becoming; vijñānavān = skilfull, having insight and discrimination; sa-manaskaḥ = whose mind is controlled; sadā = always; śuciḥ = pure; saḥ = he, that person; tu = but, indeed; āpnoti = obtains; tat = that; padam = goal; yasmāt = whence; na = not, never; bhūyaḥ = again; jāyate = is born.

But he who is intelligent, ever pure and with the mind controlled reaches that goal from whence none is born again.

by Swami Chinmayananda:

In the previous stanza we were told of the tragic end of a man who does not try to control his sense appetite, but, like an unintelligent animal, ever lives the life of the sensuous excesses and voluptuous revelries. Had the Upanishad left the statement at that, some of us might have come to despair at the feeling that there is no hope of salvation after having been born for once as a man; for, don’t we see around us and is it not our own experience that the sense demands are very powerful and that they are not urges easy to be ignored or controlled: This stanza shows how logical and complete is the style of the Rishis; and the style represents the men and their head and heart personalities to us!!

The stanza under review asserts positively that one who, through steady practice, has come to have a large share of self-control, and therefore is naturally ever pure, reaches, through degrees of spiritual growth, that state of Perfection, which is Eternal and immortal and from which the Yogi, who has once reached it, never comes back.

Whence none is born again (ya̱smād bhū̍yo na̱ jāya̍te): A common doubt that often comes to the early Sadhakas as well as to the uninitiated students is being answered here. During life nobody can ever remain even for a moment without action: and actions have reactions: thus, at death there must surely be a fund of reactions yet to be experienced by every ego-center. And, naturally, the Jivas are born again into such embodiments and are placed in such circumstances where they can find the necessary field and the necessary instruments to reap the required reactions. A true devotee, having lived the life of the Upanishads and having thus reached the Supreme Padam (state) shall not return to this Samsaric whirl of birth and death. Why not?

And if man were to come back thus to the realm of Delusions again, what is the use of his having undergone such an amount of struggles and having practiced so much of self restraint and self-control: In what way is he then different from the sensuous, vicious, self indulgent animal man: This doubt generally dabs the enthusiasm of the Sadhaka. Kind Sruti here gives the answer that such an one reaches the Supreme Goal, “from whence none is born again”.

The Supreme Goal is the realization of our identity with the All Soul, the Brahman. With this true identification, the false identifications with the mind intellect equipment, the ego sense, totally ends. We cannot have the Knowledge of the rope and the serpent at one and the same time; so too, we cannot have at once the Knowledge of the Self and the false delusory identifications with matter, called the Ego, which is the Jiva. Birth and death belong to the ignorance created sense of ego; when the ego has once forever ended in the knowledge of our Real Nature, all dreams of birth and death also end!!

by Swami Gurubhaktananda:

1 Yah to vijnanavan bhavati      But he who is of a discriminating intellect,
2 samanaskah sada shuchih;   ever thoughtful and ever pure,
3 sah tu tat padam apnoti         he verily attains that Goal;
4 yasmad bhooyah na jayate.   whence he is not born again.

The Vijnanavan: The intellect has to be discriminative and thoughtful. With these two, the horses of the senses will certainly be strong and obedient. They cannot do any mischief if the reins are firmly held.

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