Mantra 4.8

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of Kena-upaniṣad mantra 4.8:

&न्ब्स्प्;तसै तपो दमः कर्मेति प्रतिष्ठा वेदाः सर्वाङ्गानि सत्यमायतनम् ॥ ८ ॥

 tasai tapo damaḥ karmeti pratiṣṭhā vedāḥ sarvāṅgāni satyamāyatanam || 8 ||

tasyai—(tasyā prāpti-upāyabhūtāni[?]) for that (in order to obtain that Upaniṣad or realise that secret teaching); tapaḥ—penance or austerity, like Cāndrāyaṇa (the equilibrium of body, the senses and the mind: the one-pointedness of mind and senses, according to one’s inner nature, in order to purify the dense and the astral bodies); damaḥ—restraint, control of the senses; karma—sacrifice like aśvamedha or action according to one’s caste and life-stage; iti—and so on (like humility, etc); pratiṣṭhāḥ—basis, or foundations; feet (on which the Brahma-vidyā rests or stands); This knowledge has firm basis in those persons only who possess tapas, etc; vedāḥ—the Vedas (1. Ṛk, 2. Yajus, 3. Saman, 4. Atharvan, 5. the Pañcarātra, 6. the Bhārata, 7. the Rāmāyaṇa, and 8. the Bhāgavata Purāṇa). sarvāṅgāni—all the aṅgas, like the Phonetics, the Ritual, the Grammar, the Prosody; etc. satyam—truth or the true (which remains unchanged through all times) i.e., Brahman, hence the Mīmāṃsā, by which the True is determined; āyatanam—abode.

8. (Of this Brahma-Vidyā,) austerities, subduing of senses and the performance of works ordained for one’s particular occupation and social status, are the foundation. And the Vedas, with all their Aṅgas and the Mīmāṃsā are its superstructure or abode.

Commentary: The Bhāṣya of Madhva (Madhvācārya):

(English translation of Madhva’s 13th-century commentary called the Īśāvāsyopaniṣadbhāṣya or Īśopaniṣadbhāṣya)

“This science resides permanently in those who are well established in tapas (penance) and dama (control of conduct) and who discharge the duties of their order and stage in life. The sources or books from which this science may be learnt are the Vedas, the Vedāṅgas and the Mīmāṃsā. He who knows these thoroughly, abides in Viṣṇu.”

The whole of the above commentary is from Brahma-Sāra.

(In mantra 4 “yad etad vidyutaḥ vyadyutad ā3” was explained as referring to the visible lightning and the letter “ā” was taken as a separate word meaning Brahman: and the meaning of the verse then given was—this visible lightning is the supreme Brahman analogically. Now the commentator gives another meaning, and takes the letter “ā” as an adverb (āṅ) or upasarga meaning fully, completely.)

The word vidyutaḥ means literally lightning, but here luminaries like the sun and the rest. The word “ā-vyadyutad[?]” means “illumines thoroughly all round.” The verse would then mean “He who fully illumines all luminaries like the sun, etc., even.”

As we find in the Gītā (XV.12):—That splendour issuing from the sun that enlighteneth[?] the whole world, that which is in the moon and in fire, that splendour know as from me.

And in the Upaniṣad (Katḥ., V. 15):—When He shines forth, all shine after Him, by His Light all this world becomes illumined.

Similarly “ā” may be joined with nyamimīṣat, then it would mean “who closed his eyes to everything, i.e., wont to deep sleep.”

(The authority for holding that the Supreme Brahman also closes His eyes is next given.) As says a text:—

“He verily is this Ancient Person who alone existed in His own unsurpassed Self—the Īśvara, when even the Guṇas like Sattva etc. had not become separate and manifest. He, the Self of the Universe, the Lord, existed in His own self, with eyes closed, in that Great Night of Pralaya when all the Powers were asleep.”

The letter “ā” has been explained as denoting the Supreme Brahman: because “ā” means ‘full’, and Brahman is fall.

The words abhīkṣṇam saṅkalpaḥ qualify the word manas in verse 5: the meaning being “Mind which is full of many multitudes of imaginings or determinations.”

(Now an objector might say—Saṅkalpa or formative Will is only one of the faculties of the mind, how do you define mind as saṅkalpa? To this the commentator answers.)

The Saṅkalpa here means saṅkalpakaḥ the maker of imagination or formative will. The mind is not merely will, but will-maker: or that which wills.

On being asked “tell me the Upaniṣad with all its basis and its abode,” the answer is “I have told you fully the essential form of the Upaniṣad, that is, the Brahman, about that there is nothing more to be said. But the knowledge or the science so learnt requires certain helps to strengthen it. Austerity, self control and performance of action go to strengthen the knowledge. They are the foundation of such knowledge or Vidyā. Those who possess these qualities are the recipients of such knowledge and it remains in them firmly,

The word “satyam” in Mantra 8 means the science of determining the truth, the science of interpretation or the Mīmāṃsā. Thus in Śabda-Nirṇaya we read: “Through Mīmāṃsā the meanings of the Śruti and the Smṛti become determined and rightly settled. Therefore the Mīmāṃsā is called Satyam, because it leads to the right or true determination as to Brahman.” Similarly in Vidyā-Nirṇaya we are told:—“The Vedas mean according to the Good People, the Ṛk, the Yajus the Saman, the Atharvan, the-Pañcarātra, the Mahābhārata, the original Rāmāyaṇa, and the Bhāgavata Purāṇa. The Smṛtis and the six aṅgas called phonetics, etc., are all generally styled aṅgas. While the sciences of Reasoning and Interpretation, namely, the Tarka Śāstra and the Mīmāṃsā are called the Satya [satyam]. Thus the abodes of Vidyā are three-fold: namely, (1) the Vedas, (2) the Aṅgas, and (3) The Satya.”