‘They are like the light of the morning, like the pure air of the mountains,----, so simple, so true, if once understood”.
Thus said Max Mueller about the Upanishads, the high point of the Indian Philosophy of Vedanta.
Being the essence of the Vedas, the Upanishads contain the distilled wisdom of the seers and sages of ancient India, as relevant today, if not more, as they were thousands of years ago. There are more than a hundred Upanishads, out of which ten are recognized as the main body of the Upanishadic treatises.
The Kenopanishad is one among these ten principal Upanishads, belonging to the Sama Veda.
It essentially deals with the nature of the highest reality (called Brahman) and establishes that this highest reality is not what can come within the scope of our ordinary knowledge. The opening prayer itself is like a ray of sunshine, being an appeal for a strong and vigorous body and senses, through a constant abiding in the Brahman and for peace through the dedication of all human efforts to the all pervading Brahman.
The Kenopanishad commences with a set of meaningful questions. “Urged by whom does the mind go towards the various objects of perception? Who directs the release of the first breath of the newborn? What makes men utter their words? Who directs the eye and the ear?
In the second stanza, comes the answer that the power behind all these is that which is within all these sense organs, within the body, and by extension, the same power within all bodies. The wise man understands this and attains immortality.
The Upanishad further says “ that highest state where the eye and power of speech cannot go, what cannot be expressed through words, what cannot be perceived through the ear or the breath, that is the Supreme reality”. If one thinks that he knows all about Brahman, then he knows nothing.
Only when it is contemplated through continuous effort, through the concentration of all the senses, only then does the truth reveal itself.
The idea here is that it is only knowledge of this kind that helps man to lead a life of righteousness and usefulness to society.
To drive home the truth that the highest reality is indeed the all powerful, a story is related wherein the gods of fire and wind have their egos punctured before Brahman, when they fail to perform their ordained functions of burning and blowing.
And thus realize their smallness and helplessness before this supreme power. The conclusion of the Kenopanishad holds forth the edifying message to mankind that worship, sense control and faith are the main supports and that the abode of all these values is the abode of truth.
He who knows this through the Upanishads shakes off all sin and gets established in purity. A message that is timeless in its relevance.