Summary:

Kena Upanishad, Chapter 4, Verse 2:

तस्मात् वा एते देवाः अतितराम् इव अन्यान् देवान् यत् अग्निः वायुः इन्द्रः
ते हि एनत् नेदिष्ठम् पस्पृशुः ते हि एनत् प्रथमः विदाम् चकार
ब्रह्म इति
tasmāt vā ete devāḥ atitarām iva anyān devān yat agniḥ vāyuḥ indraḥ
te hi enat nediṣṭham paspṛśuḥ te hi enat prathamaḥ vidām cakāra
brahma iti

Therefore, Agni, Vāyu and Indra, excel the other devas for, they came in touch with the yakṣa from the closest place. They first came to know this yakṣa to be Brahman.

• Indra passes on the knowledge to Agni & Vayu. Guru-sishya-parampara. Uma didn’t have to pass it to Agni/Vayu. In other words, Ishvara speaks through wise person (whether wise-jiva / Avatara). Even if sishya knows same reality as guru, the sishya continues to honour guru because without guru, the sishya could’ve not figured it out. It’s not like you put yourself above tradition after moksha.
• SYMBOLISM OF AGNI/VAYU RECEIVING THE KNOWLEDGE:
  • Fact that you heard it once (saw yaksha once – who represents Vedantic knowledge), through time, purified their minds, making them eligible.
• UNTIL ELIGIBLE, ONE EITHER…
  • Projects onto other: In case of Vayu/Agni, even if you’re given teacher and knowledge, if mind is not eligible, it’ll walk out, dismiss teacher or teaching. EG:
    • “Vedanta is talking about illusionary world of Awareness” – walks out!
    • Initial impression of guru doesn’t match likes/dislikes – walks out!
  • Projects onto self: Either project on yourself (“too tough”), then justifies “I just want simple things” OR “Can’t see how this knowledge can help My unique situation”.
• NEXT VERSE: Indra passed on knowledge, because indebted to tradition for what it’s done for him…

Kena Upanishad, Chapter 4, Verse 3:

तस्मात् वा इन्द्रः अतितराम् इव अन्यान् देवान्
सः हि एनत् नेदिष्ठम् पस्पर्श
सः हि एनत् प्रथमः विदाम् चकार
ब्रह्म इति
tasmāt vā indraḥ atitarām iva anyān devān
saḥ hi enat nediṣṭham pasparśa
saḥ hi enat prathamaḥ vidām cakāra
brahma iti

Therefore, Indra indeed is more exalted than the other (two) devas. He indeed came in touch with this (yakṣa) from the closest (place) and he indeed knew first this (yakṣa) to be Brahman.

• INDRA WAS MOST EXALTED:
  • Knowledge from Uma came first to Indra, because he was most exalted, because he asked a subtle question (which requires prior refinement of mind). So questions change per refinement of mind. Lesson is to ask a questions where your mind is at, rather then being seen as intelligent.
• AFTER INDRA GAINED KNOWLEDGE:
  • Indra took responsibility of passing it on. Because, “What I was before and am after, I am indebted to the tradition for helping me make quantum jumps!”.
  • Why do great traditions die?
    1. Kept secret: Knowledge isn’t passed on.
    2. Orthodox: Tradition isn’t adapting to modern times; thus not answering “WIIFM” in modern language. Nobody values it. Becomes outdated.
• NEXT VERSE: Story is brought down to individual level (adhyatma) & second interpretation of Devas…

Kena Upanishad, Chapter 4, Verse 5:

अथ अध्यात्मम् यत् एतत् गच्छति इव च मनः
अनेन च एतत् उपस्मरति अभीक्ष्णम् सङ्कल्पः
atha adhyātmam yat etat gacchati iva ca manaḥ
anena ca etat upsmarati abhīkṣṇam saṅkalpaḥ

Now follows (the teaching of Brahman) centred on the individual. The thoughts appear to move towards (reveal as it were) this Brahman and one recognises this Brahman through the thoughts and meditates repeatedly (on this Brahman).

• What is second interpretation of Vayu & Agni:
  • VAYU: If vayu devata (presiding deity of sense of touch) himself couldn’t reach Brahman (yaksha), then what to see of your sense of touch which is far less evolved.
    • Definition of Brahman: Can’t touch Brahman, but Brahman is because of which sensation of touching is known. Brahman is not an object available for touch. Brahman is the universal being to whom a sight/sensation/thought/emotions/smell/touch is known, whether from your body-mind’s standpoint or my body-mind’s standpoint.
  • AGNI: Same idea with agni devata (presiding deity of eyes). Thus can’t see Brahman as form.
  • SUMMARY: If five senses of devas/devatas (celestial beings whose senses are light years more sensitive then of human beings) can’t know Brahman, what to talk of your 5 senses.  Story shows, sensory-knowledge, no matter how sophisticated, is insufficient to know Brahman. You also need Indra, which symbolizes…
• What does Indra (king of devatas) symbolize at adhyatma level? Mind (king of all senses). What kind of mind? Humble, curious, open.  And that mind still needs Uma (teacher and methodology).  Because yaksha (possibility for knowledge) disappeared when Indra (mind) was exposed to it. Meaning mere solo exposure is insufficient. Need Uma.
• STILL FIGURING IT OUT? Until your recognize, without further doubts, that “I am Brahman”, recognize Brahman through thoughts and meditate upon Brahman’s features (such as what attributeless means / Awareness is same for you and everyone, etc).
  • Before knowledge takes place, it’s a growing clarity. For example, first listening sessions removes some notions. Second listening, removes more distortions. Each session adds more clarity that culminates to doubtless, effortless and permanent understanding, “I am Brahman”. If you put last puzzle (IE: Awareness), you still have to put other pieces (mind maturity), you still haven't put together the whole picture, even if Awareness is the reality of the whole picture. So meditation stands for preparation of the mind; helps you put the total picture together.
• NEXT VERSE: Proper attitude approaching Vedanta…

Kena Upanishad, Chapter 4, Verse 6:

तत् ह तत् वनम् नाम
तत् वनम् इति उपासितव्यम्
सः यः एतत् एवम् वेद अभि ह एनम् सर्वाणि भूतानि सम्वाञ्छन्ति
tat ha tat vanam nāma
tat vanam iti upāsitavyam
saḥ yaḥ etat evam veda abhi ha enam sarvāṇi bhūtāni saṁvāñchanti

Indeed that Brahman is well known as the adorable one among all the beings. (Therefore, Brahman) has to be meditated upon as the adorable one among all. All beings adore that person who meditates upon this Brahman in this manner.

• “Therefore Brahman has to be meditated upon…”:
  • Whether human, or Indra, for clarity to take place, need Pramana and proper relationship to it:
    1. INCORRECT: “Ishvara is not comfortable for me; let’s go straight to Brahman”.
       CORRECTION: Need to figure out what-is (doesn’t exclude anything).
    2. INCORRECT: “I’m limited, and I’ll do some action to gain total freedom from limitation”.
       CORRECTION: Limited action done by limited being, will always remain limited.  Can’t produce infinity with finite actions. Either you are infinite or finite; as there’s no connection between them. Starting point should be, “I am already free”. Then discover via Pramana.
    3. INCORRECT: Turning reality into another mental imagination.
       CORRECTION: Akhanda-akara-vrtti.
• “Person who engages to know Brahman, becomes adorable to others”: Because…
  1. Pleasing qualities: You become reasonable, lighter, mature, sensible, friendly. No agenda. Cheerful as there’s no burden to “Save the world”. More spontaneous (less rigid), and people enjoy this.
  2. You enjoy clarity at all levels of life:
     • All Levels Include: Awareness > knowledge-power > knowing what are the right decisions to take, doing what needs to be done, friendly.
  3. Example when clarity is lacking:
     • It’s not that Bhishma was indifferent to Draupadi’s His vision of dharma stopped at “It was Yudhisthir’s choice, he couldn’t backed out anytime”. And why didn’t Padavas intervene? Thought they are dasas (servants). In both cases, partial knowledge. Only Krishna was clear. Krishna’s logic for intervening: (1) Game was unfair; Shakuni was manipulating dice. You have no obligation to honour a game of deception. (2) Yuddhisthir made wrong judgement; Draupadi can’t be victim to this extent. Meaning nature of your decisions show your maturity, just as nature of questions does. Meaning when difficult situations arise, your mind doesn’t take you on tangent.
  4. Clarity with Relationship Between Jiva & Ishvara:
     • Relationship between Jiva & Isvara, is NOT a subject-object relationship, as is in case of Jiva and tree for example. IE: You can’t objectify Ishvara, just like can’t objectify Awareness.
     • Metaphor: Waves come and go. Ocean doesn't. Ocean doesn't exclude any wave. Thus it's not a subject-object relationship. Because there's only one entity. Meaning there's no Ishvara punishing/rewarding wave, as if there’s 2 entities. At same time, wave can't say “I'm Ocean”, as Ocean includes waves of past, present, future. 
     • If it’s a subject-object relationship, then:
       1. You'll try to objectify Ishvara. And since Ishvara’s truth is also Awareness, your mind will be equally objectifying Awareness. Like wave objectifying entire Ocean (thus the Water also). Impossible because Ocean includes waves of past/present/future.
       2. Since wave is small, it’ll want to become Ocean. Limited-knowledge-power wants to becomes All-knowledge-power. Any act of becoming involves an action, which is limited.
       3. Subject-object is Vishishtadvaita: Each wave is separate from another, but everyone is contained within One Ocean. They don't bring in Water.
     • When recognize there's only one entity (Ishvara), your interactions change, because:
       • Every entity is governed by same laws. Meaning it’s a fair world. Because feedback system is given to all, to recognize when out of harmony, and make a course correction.
       • You'll want to align more to dharma/laws, because it’s in your interest.
     • FINAL STEP:
       • Finally, since every wave is not outside Ocean, and Ocean's reality is water, then everything is water. Wave still continues to only see waves, as it's eyes are programmed like that.
       • So wave’s final understanding is: All that is here is Ocean (which includes forms and content of the Ocean/forms).
  5. NEO-VEDANTA: Suppose you discard Ocean, and only bring in H2O…
     • What will happen?  You'll need to mentally keep denying forms/difference/laws (Ocean). This will make you miss maturity development, which is needed for mind to capture the whole vision, without turning it into an object (like wave turning H2O into an image).
     • EG: There is one Neo-Vedanta teacher who says, “There’s nothing you can do about moksha. It just happens”. Advaita counters this statement with, “You’re endowed with free-will, which you can use to collapse possibility of moksha through methodology, self-effort and Ishvara’s grace.”
     • If want pramana to please your likes-dislikes (what I want to listen to or not), long way to go.  Like me saying “I understand E=MC2; so there's no need to study further, there's no difference between me and scientist who spent 10 years on it”. 
• NEXT VERSE: Someone from guru’s class (who didn’t get it at all), asks a question…

Kena Upanishad, Chapter 4, Verse 7:

उपनिषदम् भो ब्रूहि इति उक्ता
ते उपनिषत् ब्राह्मी वाव ते
उपनिषदम् अब्रूम इति
upaniṣadam bho brūhi iti uktā
te upaniṣat brāhmī vāva te
upaniṣadam abrūma iti

“O Teacher! Please teach (me) the upaniṣad,” (the student asked). (The teacher replied), “The upaniṣad has been taught to you (by me). (Till now) I have taught you the upaniṣad which reveals Brahman indeed.”

• “O teacher, this was all wonderful. When do we get to the real teaching of Upanishad?”. Teacher says, “You just heard it, its been taught”.
• In Advaita Vedanta, the Upanishadic knowledge revealing Brahman is considered complete once imparted, as jnana (self-knowledge) itself constitutes moksha (liberation). This means that the mere realization of one's true nature as Brahman is synonymous with freedom from the cycle of birth and death. Unlike ritual knowledge, which requires proper performance to yield results, self-knowledge is immediately effective upon realization. For instance, knowing how to perform a fire ritual doesn't produce results until the ritual is carried out, but knowing oneself as Brahman instantly liberates.A prepared mind is crucial for comprehending this knowledge, with maturity, objectivity, and compassion being key prerequisites. However, the presence of unconscious patterns or emotional pain doesn't disqualify one from attaining self-knowledge; these are seen as part of the human experience that can coexist with spiritual understanding. One needs an open “heart” capable of accommodating infinite Brahman. “Heart” specifically refers to an expansive, compassionate, mature mind, rather than the physical organ or an emotional personality. For this knowledge to take place, the student needs to distinguish between knowledge itself (jnana) and factors aiding knowledge (jnana-upayas). For example, meditation or self-inquiry are aids to knowledge, but they are not the knowledge itself. 
• NEXT SOLUTION: What should this student do?

Kena Upanishad, Chapter 4, Verse 8:

तस्यै तपः दमः कर्म इति प्रतिष्ठा
वेदाः सर्वाङ्गानि सत्यम् आयतनम्
tasyai tapaḥ damaḥ karma iti pratiṣṭhā
vedāḥ sarvāṅgāni satyam āyatanam

Self-discipline, restraint over the senses and performance of (one’s) duty are the support for that (knowledge of Brahman). The four Vedas are all the limbs (of it). Truth is (its) abode.

• Suppose you feel teaching is yet to begin; then need:
  1. Tapas: Tapas refers to self-discipline or religious discipline to help cultivate a mind conducive for knowledge, nuances and clarity in thought. Tapas is not a one-size-fits-all concept, but rather a personalized approach to spiritual discipline. They can include:
     1. Fasting or dietary restrictions.
        • EG: (a) Observing intermittent fasting, where one eats only within an 8-hour window each day. (b) Following a plant-based diet for a specified period.
     2. Meditation practices.
        • EG: (a) Practicing mindfulness meditation for 20 minutes each morning, focusing on the breath. (b) Engaging in a meditation, thinking about how Ishvara is present in your life.
     3. Regular prayer.
        • EG: (a) Reciting the Gayatri Mantra 108 times each morning. (b) Expressing gratitude for three things each night before sleep.
     4. Physical austerities.
        • EG: (a) Practicing yoga or Tai Chi Quan poses (b) Taking cold showers or brief ice baths to build mental resilience.
     5. Study of sacred texts.
        • EG: (a) Reading and reflecting on a chapter of the Bhagavad Gita each week, journaling insights. (b) Participating in a regular study group to explore the Upanishads or other spiritual texts.
     6. Vows of silence or other forms of sensory restraint.
        • EG: (a) Observing a “digital detox” by abstaining from social media and non-essential phone use for set periods. (b) Practicing silence for a few hours each day or for an entire day each week.
  2. Dama (restraint over senses): When situations arise, may invoke emotions, yet you still do what needs to be done. Don’t go entirely with your feelings; as they can take you away from dharma.
  3. Karma: Convert karma to karma-yoga. Karma is an action to engage with world for own sake; it's done for sake of performing one's duties. For ordinary karma (action) to become karma-yoga, I engage in world to refine my mind, specifically for sake of moksha. Meaning if you just cultivate a mind with positive qualities through personal development and for sake of becoming a more pleasing/intelligent person as the end goal of life — that is NOT considered karma-yoga. With karma-yoga, you attitude is that every challenge is an opportunity to retain your composure, bring in the scriptural knowledge, recognize the vast network of causes-effects, to know the whole thing is within Ishvara's order. So for a karma-yogi, Ishvara's order is in the mind.
• NEXT VERSE: For whom knowledge has taken place…

Kena Upanishad, Chapter 4, Verse 9:

यः वा एताम् एवम् वेद अपहत्य पाप्मानम् अनन्ते स्वर्गे लोके ज्येये प्रतितिष्ठति प्रतितिष्ठति
yaḥ vā etām evam veda apahatya pāpmānam anante svarge loke jyeye pratitiṣṭhati pratitiṣṭhati

Any one who gains the knowledge of Brahman in this manner, having destroyed all pāpas, gets established in the limitless and the highest svarga (that is Brahman).

• Suppose you have worked on your mind and assimilated the vision, all your punya/papa (unseen result of appropriate/inappropriate) is burnt. Because there’s no entity to claim it.
• Anante svarge loke (attain highest loka): Doesn’t mean “eternal heaven”. Because “eternal heaven” means, it has no beginning. To say “I’ll got to eternal heaven” means, eternity will begin in time. So no question of going, only discovering eternity.   Additionally, svarga (heaven) can’t be limitless, as it’s a different place from earth.

— This Is End of Kena Upanishad —

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Recorded 14 July, 2024