2. The Concept of Mind in the Īśāvāsyopaniṣad

In the Upaniṣadic order, the Īśāvāsopaniṣad forms the 40^th adhyāya of the Vājasaneyi saṃhita and is therefore known as the Saṃhitopaniṣad, just as the Bṛhadāraṇyaka-upaniṣad which belongs to the same Vājasaneyi branch is known as the Brāhmaṇopaniṣad. This Upaniṣad embodies in its very opening verse the central theme of all the Upaniṣads namely, the spiritual unity and solidarity of all existence. It gives a valuable mystical description of the Atman, a description of the ideal sage who stands unruffled in the midst of temptations and sorrows and adumbration of the doctrine of Karmayoga as formulated later. Finally, there is a reconciliation of the claims of knowledge and works. This small Upaniṣad consisting of only eighteen verses is a compendium of almost all the teachings regarding Brahmavidya and the ways to realize it.

Īśāvāsyopaniṣad, a small Upaniṣads consisting only of eighteen verses, is the essence of almost all the Upaniṣadic teachings. This Upaniṣad gets the name from the first word of the first mantra -īśāvāsyamidaṃ sarvaṃ. It imparts a thrilling or fascinating inspiration on the mind of Upaniṣadic readers. This verse implicates that apart from the Brahman, the universe does not really exist. The Brahman thought pervades it. Mahatma Gandhi says about the great utterance of this verse that the first verse in the Īśāvāsyopaniṣad were left in the memory of Hinduism, Hinduism would live forever. The existence of Īśvara can be realized. Īśvara exists in all and all are embedded in Īśavra. Mind, vac or word act together with the Atman or Īśvara. The unique character of Brahman is that it reaches any distant object more speedily than the mind. Only in the fourth verse of the Īśāvāsyopaniṣad the explanation of the mind comes. In this verse the nature of Brahman is also described and this is compared to mind. Brahman is speedier than the mind. Then the Upaniṣad asserts that the Supreme Self or Reality is swifter than the mind which has the attributes of doubt.

Before the mind reaches anywhere, the Brahman is already there, as the Brahman is all pervading. So the mind can never advance it. It says;

anejadekammanaso javīyonainaddevā āpnuvalpūrvamarṣat |
taddhāvato anyānatyeti tiṣṭhat tasminnapo mātariśvā dadhāti || ^[1]

“The unvariated God is one who is more dynamic than the mind itself. He cannot be chased i.e., known to deities viz,. the senses. Irrespective of being stable, He goes ahead running to the dynamic bodies. Under His control the most dynamic air holds the “upa” (the principle component of the world). The modern science is discovering the more dynamic elements than the light so far and the velocity of mind could not still be measured. However, the saints had discovered and come across the more dynamic element than the mind.”^[2]

The human mind defines the objects and as a thing of the universe it is the aspect of time and space. It is eternal, spiritual and infinite, and it is beyond all the finite entities and events. This verse is described as the Atman which is one and which is everywhere. So the Atman is faster than the mind, which is motionless and steady.

Śrī Śankara comments on this verse thus:

manaso'ntakaraṇasyasaṅkalpavikalpalakṣaṇasyopādheranuvartanāt | iha dehasthasya manasobrahmalokādidūrastha saṅkalpana kṣaṇamātrād bhavatī ityataḥ manaso javiṣṭatvaṃ loke prāsaddham || tasminmanasi brahmalokādīndrutaṃ gacchati sati, prathamaprāpta ivātmacaitanyābhāso gṛhyate | ataḥ sanaso javīyaḥ ityahaḥ || ^[3]

It is that when the mind moves towards the next world such as Brahmaloka, it finds the Atman; it is the faster than the mind.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Īśāvāsya-upaniṣad-4

[2]:

112-Upanishads-Edited by K.L.Joshi, O.N.Bimali, Bindiya Trivedi, P-32

[3]:

Īśāvāsyopaniṣad Śānkarabhāṣya-4