Kena Upanishad 3.2

3.2

1.3.2
ta aikṣantāsmākamevāyaṃ vijayo'smākamevāyaṃ mahimeti| taddhaiṣāṃ vijajñau tebhyo ha prādurbabhūva tanna vyajānata kimidaṃ yakṣamiti ||

appear. They could not make out about that thing,footnote{Could not solve this riddle about the Brahman, appearing in the form of Yakṣa.} as to what this Yakṣa (venerable Being) might be.

Then not knowing that this victory and this glory belonged to God who sits in the hearts as the indwelling Self—omniscient, dispenser of the fruits of all works of all creatures, omnipotent, and desirous of encompassing the stability of the world— te, they, those gods; aikṣanta, thought; “Ayam Vijayaḥ, this victory, achieved by those who identify themselves with such limited beings as Fire etc.; is asmākam eva, ours indeed. Asmākam eva, ours indeed, and not of God who is our indwelling Self; is ayam mahimā, this glory evidenced by such states as of Fire, Air, Indra, etc., which are experienced by us as the result of victory. This has not been achieved by God who is our indwelling Self.” Brahman ha, surely; vijajñau, knew; tat, that, that deliberation of those whose thoughts were being directed by a false self-conceit; for Brahman is omniscient by virtue of being the director of the senses of all creatures. Noticing this false pride of the gods, and thinking, “In order that the gods may not be thus defeated like the devils, as a consequence of their vain-glory, I shall, out of grace for them, favour the gods by removing their presumptuousness”; tebhyaḥ, to the gods, for their sake; ha, indeed; through an unprecedentedly wonderful and astonishing form created by Brahman’s own power of Māyā;footnote{“The yoga, or the combination, of attributes—Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas is Māyā. Through the power of that.”—A.G.} prādurbabhūva, appeared as an object of perception to the senses of the gods. The gods na vyajānata, did not comprehend; tat, that, the Brahman, as appearing; kim iti, as to what; idam yakṣam, this venerable great Being, might be.

After hearing the text, "unknown to those who know well, and known to those who do not know" etc. (Ke. II. 3), some people of dull intellect may have this kind of delusion: "It is seen that whatever exists is known through the valid means of cognition; and whatever does not exist remains unknown, is like the horns of a hare, and is absolutely non-existent. Similarly, this Brahman, being unknown, is certainly non-existent"; lest there be this delusion, this story is begun. For the subsequent passages are seen to be leading to this conclusion: "Since that very Brahman is the ruler in every way, the supreme Deity of even the deities, the supreme Lord over the lordly beings, inscrutable, the cause of victory of the gods, and the cause of the defeat of the devils, therefore, how can It be non-existent?" Or the story is meant to eulogise the knowledge of Brahman. How? By saying that it was surely by virtue of the knowledge of Brahman, that Fire and other gods attained supremacy over the gods, and Indra got greater pre-eminence still. Or (through the story) it is shown that Brahman is inscrutable, inasmuch as Fire and others, powerful though they are, knew Brahman with sheer difficulty, and so also did Indra, even though he is the ruler of the gods. Or the whole thing is meant to enjoin an injunction regarding the secret teachings (about meditations) that will followfootnote{"The realisation of the Self as Brahman, which is meant for the most advanced ones and which is not an object of knowledge, has been spoken of earlier. Later will be stated the meditation on the qualified Brahman which is for the less advanced people. The following passages present that meditation, for the injunction for it is clearly to be seen (in IV. 6-7). So the real significance lies in this. As for the other interpretations (advanced by Śaṅkara), they are merely by way of showing possibilities."—A.G.} (Ke. IV. 4-7). Or the story is meant to show that apart from the knowledge of Brahman all notions of agentship etc. that creatures possess, as for instance the conceit of the gods with regard to victory etc., are false.

Brahman, the supreme Brahman already spoken of; ha, verily; devebhyaḥ, for the sake of the gods; vijigye, achieved victory. In a fight between the gods and the devils, Brahman, after conquering the devils, the enemies of the world and transgressors of divine rules, gave to the gods the victory and its results for ensuring the stability of the world. Tasya ha Brahmaṇaḥ vijaye, in that victory which was, indeed, Brahman's; devāḥ the gods, Fire etc.; amahīyanta, became elated.