Kena Upanishad 4.7-2

4.7-2

yujyate| sarvaviṣayavyāvṛttapratyagātmaviṣayaniṣṭhatvācca brahmavidyāyāstatphalasya ca niḥśreyasasya "mokṣamicchansadā karma tyajedeva sasādhanam| tyajataiva hi tajjñeyaṃ tyaktuḥ pratyakparaṃ padam||" tasmātkarmaṇāṃ sahakāritvaṃ karmaśeṣāpekṣā vā na jñānasyopapadyate| tato'sadeva sūktavākānumantraṇavadyathāyogaṃ vibhāga iti| tasmādavadhāraṇārthataiva praśnaprativacanasyopapadyate| etāvatyeveyam upaniṣaduktānyanirapekṣā amṛtatvāya ||

Concentration etc. are the means for the acquisition; tasyai, (should be tasyāḥ) of that secret teaching (Upaniṣad), regarding Brahman which I thus spoke before you. Tapaḥ, the concentration of the body, the senses, and the mind; damaḥ, cessation (from sense-objects); karma, rites, Agnihotra etc. (are the means); for it is found that the knowledge of Brahman arises in a man who has attained the requisite holiness through the purification of the heart. For it is a matter of experience that, even though Brahman is spoken of, there is either non-comprehension or mis-comprehension in the case of one who has not been purged of his sin, as for instance, in the case of Indra and Virocana (Ch. VIII. vii-xii). Therefore knowledge, as imparted by the Vedas, dawns on one whose mind has been purified by concentration etc., either in this life or in many past ones, as is mentioned by the Vedic verse: "These things get revealed when spoken to that high-souled man who has supreme devotion towards the Effulgent One, and the same devotion to his teacher as to the Effulgent One" (Śv. VI. 23). And this is borne out by the Smṛti, "Knowledge dawns on a man on the eradication of sinful acts" (Mbh. Śā. 204.8). The word iti is used to draw attention to a synecdoche; that is to say, by the word iti are suggested other factors, beginning with these, which are helpful to the rise of knowledge, such as "Humility, unpretentiousness," etc. (G. xiii. 7). (Concentration etc. are the) pratiṣṭhā, two legs, stands as it were, of that Upaniṣad; for when these exist, knowledge of Brahman stands firm and becomes active, just as a man does with his legs. Vedāḥ, the four Vedas; and sarvāṅgāni, all the six subsidiaries beginning with the science of pronunciation and euphony (śikṣā) (are also the legs). The Vedas are the legs because they reveal the rites and knowledge; and all the aṅgāni, subsidiaries, are so because they are meant for the protection of the Vedas. Or since the word pratiṣṭhā has been imagined to imply the two legs (of the knowledge), the Vedas are its sarvāṅgāni, all the limbs beginning with the head. In this case, the subsidiaries, such as the science of pronunciation and euphony, are to be understood to have been mentioned by the word Vedas; because when the principal factor is mentioned, the subsidiaries are mentioned ipso facto, they being dependent on the principal. Satyam āyatanam, satya is the āyatana, the dwelling place where the secret teaching resides. Satya means freedom from deceit and crookedness in speech, mind, and body; for knowledge abides in those who are free from deceit and who are holy, and not in those who are devilish by nature and are deceitful, as the Vedic text says, "those in whom there are no insincerity, falsehood, and deceit" (Pr. I. 16). Therefore Satya (truth) is imagined as the abode. Although by implication, truth has already been mentioned as legs, along with concentration etc., still its allusion again as the abode is for indicating that as a means (for the acquisition of knowledge) it excels others, as the Smṛti says. "A thousand horse sacrifices and truth are weighed in a balance: and one truth outweighs a thousand horse sacrifices" (Viṣṇu Smṛti, 8).

end of a sacrifice, is quite inappropriate. Hence it is proper to say that the question and the answer are meant for fixing a limit thus: "The secret teaching that has been imparted extends thus far only; it is adequate for the attainment of knowledge without depending on anything else."