Mantras 9 to 11

Into dense darkness they enter, who worship avidya, into greater darkness, as it were, they enter, who worship vidya. The results achieved through the worship of vidya and avidya are different from each other. One who knows vidya and avidya together crosses over death through avidya and becomes immortal through vidya. Avidya is lack of knowledge of the Self, giving rise to desire and action. It is ignorance which extends through various degrees in the world of manifestation. Absence of Self-knowledge always expresses itself as a desire or a wish for something external, whether seen or unseen. The experiences of those who believe in the reality of these phenomenal worlds are always negative and objective. They try their best to develop relationships and contacts with the objects of these worlds, thinking that they can acquire perfect happiness thereby. All contacts end in sorrow, all actions give rise to perishable fruits. Nothing that is the result of the struggle of the ego is long-lasting. Therefore, people who worship and love the world and its contents enter into dense darkness, viz., death after death. Their experiences are painful because of the lack of the light of knowledge. But, there is one advantage in this state of ignorance, viz., the absence of egoism. There is opportunity for these ignorant ones to rise to higher states, if only they get proper guidance. They have no egoism because their intellect is not developed. They follow merely the instincts of nature.

Those who worship vidya, i.e., the knowledge of different divinities or celestial beings, appear to fall into greater darkness. They have knowledge, and hence egoism, too. Here knowledge does not mean the knowledge of Brahman, but lower, relative knowledge. Those who worship a celestial being, a divinity or God himself with form are led to the belief that their state is the all. Because what they aspire for is superior to the human region it appears as though it is good and worth coveting. In fact this knowledge is imperfect, capricious and perishable, because it is objective and not absolute. There is no hope of further rising up in the case of those who are satisfied with the present lot. This vidya is worse than avidya, because avidya at least produces pain and makes one understand that the present condition is unsatisfactory, while vidya deceives a person into the belief that he is perfect and there is no need for further progress. A little knowledge is more dangerous than no knowledge. Those who are satisfied with the celestial region have to be reborn as individuals performing action for the attainment of happiness, because the effect of upasana or this lower knowledge has an end. One cannot rejoice in heaven eternally.

In this mantra and in the following two a combination of vidya and avidya is advised. This, however, does not mean that the knowledge of the Absolute can be combined with desires and actions that are the effects of ignorance. Action, being relative in its character, can be combined with relative knowledge and not with Absolute Knowledge. Relative knowledge means the effect of the upasana of a deity. Both karma and upasana require body-consciousness, without which they have no value. They cannot be combined with a knowledge that is all-pervading and therefore transcends the body. Objects belonging to the same class join together but not those belonging to different classes. Action therefore should be performed with the knowledge of its causes and effects with respect to one’s progress in the path to perfection. The egoless state of ignorance and the illumination of knowledge combined together give rise to true knowledge which is egoless consciousness.

Performance of actions with the full knowledge that it is the law of life that manifests itself as action and therefore without any reason for the desire for the results of such actions makes one get disgusted with the world of actions, frees him from attachment and liberates him from the trammels of death. Through the knowledge of the divine being, viz., the divinity whose upasana is performed, one attains to that divinity, and opens the door to immortality. Upasana of any divinity, when it is performed with a desire to attain that divinity alone, gives one the temporary freedom of the attainment of that divinity, and later makes one take birth as an individual; but when action is combined with this knowledge, action becomes selfless. Action has got a quality of producing pain, and knowledge by nature is illuminating. When action is illuminated by knowledge, it becomes the source of the experience of pain born of viveka, not pain born of ignorance. Motiveless action combined with the knowledge of divinity does not cause one to revert to the mortal world, but allows one to attain krama-mukti or gradual liberation through the passage of that divinity of upasana. The highest divinity of upasana is hiranyagarbha, the Cosmic Being, and the result of this upasana is the attainment of hiranyagarbha. The upasaka reaches this state, and from there he passes onward to the Absolute, provided his upasana is not restricted to the region of hiranyagarbha alone.

Therefore, a combination of karma and upasana is beneficial; it leads to krama-mukti; but when they are performed separately, they lead to their respective specified limited results, and make one take birth as an individual.

Mantras 12 to 14

Into dense darkness they enter, who worship the Unmanifest; into greater darkness, as it were, they enter, who worship the Manifest. The results of these two Upasanas are different from each other. When the knowledge of the Manifest and of the Unmanifest are combined, one crosses over death through the Unmanifest and becomes immortal through the Manifest. The Unmanifest is the original condition of equilibrium of gunas, viz., sattva, rajas and tamas. This condition is the primordial matter that is the substance of the universe in its causal condition. This is the same as maya or prakriti. It is also called avyakrita or the undifferentiated. One who worships or adores this Unmanifest gets dissolved in the Unmanifest and becomes unified with that dark equilibrium where there is no consciousness and hence no effort is possible. When this Unmanifest manifests itself, those who are dissolved in the Unmanifest are reborn as individuals. This Unmanifest is the origin of both the causes and effects of all actions and hence, it is concerned only with the universe and not with Brahman.

The Manifest is that which is produced from this Unmanifest. This is the same as hiranyagarbha. One who worships Him enters into greater darkness, as it were, because he is tempted by the glory of the region of hiranyagarbha, and does not attempt at the higher salvation. The eight siddhis and all possible greatness come to one who attains this hiranyagarbha; but there is the danger of being satisfied with this state, and hence it is worse than getting dissolved in the Unmanifest which at least gives rise to the pain of birth and death and makes one realise the unsatisfactory condition one is in. Knowledge that is not perfect and is within the ken of prakriti is productive of egoism. Vikshepa or distraction is worse than Avarana. The state of hiranyagarbha is one of vikshepa, because there is universal objective consciousness and cosmic enjoyment in it. But even hiranyagarbha gets dissolved in the Absolute and hence his state is less than the Absolute. The state of getting dissolved in the Unmanifest is called prakriti-laya, which is not the same as moksha, but a temporary winding up of all activities. The word prakriti-laya has got a special meaning. All beings are dissolved in prakriti at the end of the universe, but these cannot be called prakriti-layas, because they have got the potentiality of reverting to ordinary individuality, since, even in this state of dissolution, their individualistic samskaras are not destroyed. A prakriti-laya is one who does not once again become an ordinary individual, but being reduced to the fundamental finest essence of the omnipresent prakriti becomes the omnipresent Lord of the universe.

The worship of the Unmanifest gives one knowledge of everything of the universe. One understands the nature of the essential constituents of life. The pain of death is the result of not having this understanding. Pain is the result of the belief in the reality of a centralisation of certain aspects of prakriti by the consciousness of desire. The pain of death is not felt when there is the knowledge that death is a change of the constituents of personality which get reduced to their fundamental units. Even as water flows in a river, life flows in existence. Every moment there is fresh life, even as every moment there is fresh water in a river. Not being able to bear this flaw or change is called pain, but the knowledge of all the essential constituents of this flow negates all pain, because knowledge is the opposite of attachment to particular forms taken by these constituents. Knowledge of the essence of prakriti, therefore, gives a full knowledge of the entire life of the universe and thus pain and the consciousness of change which are the characteristics of the individual are not felt. Hence one crosses over death through the worship of the Unmanifest.

Through the worship of the Manifest or hiranyagarbha one attains relative immortality and thence krama-mukti. The meaning of these mantras is that one should combine the worships of the Manifest and the Unmanifest, because an exclusive worship of hiranyagarbha considering Him as distinct from the universe will not allow one to proceed to the Absolute, since that aspect of the Absolute, viz., the prakriti, which is rejected and not meditated upon, shall pull one dawn to individual life. No distinction should be made between God and the world; otherwise the meditation would be partial and liberation would not be possible because of lack of completeness.

The negation of death through the worship of prakriti is not the cessation of becoming, but the non-experience of the pain of becoming. The change is there, but the change is not felt as something destructive and undesirable. The attainment of immortality through the worship of the Manifest is not resting in the Absolute but the absence of the pain caused by defects like poverty, vice and craving, as a consequence of the attainment of universal wealth, power and knowledge. Therefore, these two conditions are different from the realisation of the Absolute.

Mantra 15

The face of Truth is covered by a golden vessel. O Sun! Remove that for me whose law is to behold the Truth. The results achieved by human means and heavenly means end in the state of prakriti-laya. This is the end and the highest achievement in samsara. moksha is, however, different from and beyond this. It requires the total destruction of desires. Those who cannot attain moksha immediately attain it gradually through the passage of the Sun. This mantra and the next mantra are a prayer to the Sun for allowing one passage across to the Divine Being. Truth is veiled over by a vessel of gold. The essential consciousness within the Sun is hidden by the external disc which dazzles the eyes of the beholder. That which we see in the Sun is not what is within the Sun. That which is outside covers what is inside. Brahman within the Sun is covered over by the golden disc that alone is seen. It also means that the whole universe of creation with all its names and forms is a golden vessel. Gold shines and attracts the beholder. The world of names and forms attracts the mind, and the Truth within is not seen. My law is this Truth. My vision is based on Truth; it is the perception of Truth. This perception is not sense-perception but perception whose law is Truth, i.e., spiritual perception free from the processes of the seer, seeing and seen. Withdraw your rays, O shining God; do not tempt me with what you are not, allow me to pass through the present experiences to the true experience of the Spirit; let me behold what you are really.

Mantra 16

O All-sustaining Lord! O Wise One! O Controller of all! O Absorber of everything! O Son of Prajapati! Collect and remove your rays; let me behold that most auspicious luminous form of yours, for I am that purusha within you. The prayer implies that the realisation of the Self is not attained as a result of begging or borrowing, but it is the attainment of what belongs to oneself. It is the inheritance of one’s right and becoming what truly befits oneself and in fact what oneself is. However much one may beg or pray, one cannot get what is not one’s. Hence Self-realisation is knowing oneself.

Mantra 17

Let the breath go to the immortal prana. Let the body be reduced to ashes. O mind, remember your deeds. This is a prayer for the dissolution of the individual principle of breathing, i. e., the individual prana, in the cosmic immortal prana or hiranyagarbha. The body is burnt and goes to the earth. The meaning is that the effects shall go to the causes. The subtle body purified by karma and upasana rises to the Sun in order to pass through it. The word kratu means sacrifice or the divinity of the sacrifice or upasana or the divinity of upasana or the mind that performs the upasaria. Kratu is a sacrifice, and upasana also is a sacrifice, because it is an act. The actions done by a person are witnessed by the divinity presiding over the sacrifice. The prayer is to this divinity so that He may remember what fate is to befall this person after death in accordance with his actions. Here Agni is prayed to as the chief priest of the sacrifice and the witnessing divinity of the sacrifice. It may also be a prayer to the mind to remember its deeds like upasana, etc., for the time of remembering has now come. 

Mantra 18

O Agni! Lead us along the right path for the sake of the attainment of the Supreme. O God! You possess universal knowledge; destroy our crooked sins. We offer to you our best salutations. This is a prayer to the witness of all actions done by an individual, for taking him along the bright path of the gods, after passing along which there is no return to mortality. Agni here stands, for the principle of intelligence which guides all thoughts and actions; it is the gateway to universal knowledge. Agni is like a torch that illuminates the path of krama-mukti. There are several guardians of this path, who become greater and superior as one advances along, until at last an immortal person guides the soul. Agni is one of the guides on the path.

Salutation to Agni means the offering of the best tribute and homage to Agni. Salutation to another signifies the desire to unite with another. Salutation is that which pleases one the best. Instead of offering physical objects, that which gives immediate satisfaction is offered. 

Conclusion

The Isavasyopanishad advises the combination of action with objective knowledge and not with Absolute knowledge. The Absolute is always opposed to objectiveness. Action and Absolute knowledge differ from one another in their causes, natures and results. Action is caused by the sense of imperfection. Its nature is distraction and its result is perishable. Knowledge is caused by perfection. Its nature is peace and its result is eternal. Hence action and knowledge are different from one another. It is not possible to say that action can be combined with knowledge in the beginning, though not is the end, because the moment there is the dawn of knowledge there is the cessation of action. It is not possible for fire to be hot and cold at the same time. Knowledge cannot co-exist with its opposite, viz., action that is characterised by motion. Knowledge is motionless. When the cause of action, viz., ignorance, is removed, all its effects also are removed.

Further, if the Upanishad had propounded the combination of action with Absolute knowledge, there would be no meaning in the aspirant’s asking for a passage through the Sun after the attainment of Absolute knowledge. Absolute knowledge gives rise to immediate realisation or Sadyo-mukti. The fact that the prayer is for passing through a passage shows that the dying person has not yet attained Absolute knowledge. Hence the combination of action is only with relative knowledge, for, in Absolute knowledge there is no passing to any region, and there is no motion, whatever. Absoluteness means existence merely, and not changing or moving.