Kena upanishad (Madhva commentary)

by Srisa Chandra Vasu | 1909 | 11,760 words | ISBN-13: 9789332869165

This is Mantra 1.8 of the Kena-upanishad (Kenopanishad), the English translation and commentary of Madhva (Madhvacharya) called the Bhasya. The Kena Upanishad deals with topics such as Brahman and Atman (soul) and also discusses the symbolic representation of the Gods as forces of nature. It is an important text in the Vedanta schools of Hindu philsophy. This is Mantra 8 of section 1 called ‘Prathama-Khanda’.

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of Kena-upaniṣad mantra 1.8:

यत्प्राणेन न प्राणिति येन प्राणः प्रणीयते ।
तदेव ब्रह्म त्वं विद्धि नेदं यदिदमुपासते ॥ ८ ॥

yatprāṇena na prāṇiti yena prāṇaḥ praṇīyate |
tadeva brahma tvaṃ viddhi nedaṃ yadidamupāsate || 8 ||

yat—that which; prāṇena—by breath; Na prāṇiti—does not smell, does not work); yena—by whom; prāṇaḥ—breath; praṇīyate—is led, is controlled, directed.

8. He who is not enlivened through the functioning of the Chief Prāṇa, but who gives to the Prāṇa his power of enlivening all beings, and who fully controls the Prāṇa, know Him alone as Brahman, who is so near to thee as thy controller, and not this jīva.

Notes:

[The Lord is alive but not through the activity of Prāṇa, but independently of him. The Lord is not dependent an any thing for His activities. Even the Chief Prāṇa, the Highest among all beings, is controlled entirely by the Lord: what to say of beings lower in scale of creation].

That which does not work through Prāṇa, but by whom this Praṇa is (itself) led forth, Him alone as Brahman know thou. This (jīva is) not Brahman (but He) who stands nearest to thee (as thy Inner Controller).

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