Kena Upanishad

01The Upanishad of the Samavedis

The Kena belongs to the Samaveda, inside the Upanishad Brahmana of the Talavakara or Jaiminiya shakha, which is why it is also called the Talavakara Upanishad. It takes its common name from its first word, kena, by whom. Like every Upanishad, it is Shruti, heard by the rishis and handed down unchanged. The Jaiminiya Samaveda is still chanted by a small number of families in Tamil Nadu and among the Nambudiris of Kerala. The Kena opens and closes with the Samavedic shanti mantra, apyayantu mamangani: may my limbs, speech, breath, eyes, ears and strength grow full, and may I never deny Brahman.

02Two in verse, two in prose

The four khandas hold thirty-five mantras. The first khanda has nine verses, the second five; together they make a short poem on the knower who cannot be known as an object. The third and fourth khandas, twelve and nine mantras, change to prose and tell a katha. So the student meets the idea in the poem before he meets its illustration in the katha, and the katha in turn explains why Agni, Vayu and Indra rank first among the devas.

03The ear of the ear

The first two khandas are in verse. What speech cannot express but by which speech is expressed, know that alone as Brahman, not what people worship here as this. The Upanishad turns the student round. He has been looking outward for an object called God. It points him to the one who looks. The second khanda adds a paradox: the one who thinks he knows it does not know it, and the one who knows he cannot grasp it as an object, knows.

04Five times the same refrain

Mantras five to nine of the first khanda are built on one refrain, tad eva brahma tvam viddhi, nedam yad idam upasate. What speech does not utter, but by which speech is uttered. What the mind does not think, but by which, they say, the mind is thought. What the eye does not see, but by which the eyes see. What the ear does not hear, but by which this hearing is heard. What breath does not breathe, but by which breath is led. Each time the answer is the same: know that alone as Brahman, and not this which people worship here. Students learn the five as a chant.

05Known in every awakening

The second khanda closes with three mantras that teachers quote often. It is known to the one to whom it is unknown; the one to whom it is known does not know it. It is unknown to those who know and known to those who do not. Then: pratibodha viditam, it is known in every act of awareness, and by that knowing one gains immortality. Strength comes from the Self, immortality from knowledge. And a warning with no softening: if one knows it here, there is truth; if one does not know it here, great is the loss. The wise who see it in every being pass beyond this world and become immortal.

06The Yaksha and Uma Haimavati

The third and fourth khandas are prose. After a victory over the asuras the devas grew proud. Brahman appeared before them as a Yaksha, a wondrous being. Agni went up and could not burn a single blade of grass placed before him. Vayu could not move it. When Indra approached, the Yaksha vanished, and in that very place stood Uma, the daughter of Himavat, shining with beauty. She told Indra that the Yaksha was Brahman, and that the victory had been Brahman's, not theirs. Shakta and Shaiva readers alike honour this as the first appearance of Devi in the Upanishads.

07Lightning, and the blink of an eye

Because Agni, Vayu and Indra came nearest to Brahman, the fourth khanda says, they stand above the other devas, and Indra above all, for he first knew it as Brahman. Then the Upanishad gives two pointers. Among the devas, Brahman is like the flash of lightning, like the blink of an eye. Within the body, it is what the mind seems to go towards and remembers again and again. Meditate on it as tadvanam, the one all long for, and all beings will long for the one who knows it. The student then asks for the Upanishad, and the teacher answers that he has already been given it.

08Two commentaries by Shankara

Adi Shankaracharya wrote two commentaries on the Kena, one on the words (pada bhashya) and one on the sentences (vakya bhashya), the only Upanishad he treated twice. He reads Uma Haimavati as Vidya herself, knowledge appearing in the form of a woman to teach Indra. The Kena closes by naming the supports of this knowledge: tapas, self-control and work are its feet, the Vedas its limbs, and truth its dwelling. It is studied by Samavedi families of the Talavakara line and taught in every Vedanta course after the Isha.

09Other schools, other readings

Madhvacharya wrote on it as the Talavakara Upanishad and reads the power behind every sense as Shri Hari, who moves the devas and is never moved by them; the pride of Agni and Vayu shows how every deva depends on him. Rangaramanuja Muni explained it for the Vishishtadvaita school of Ramanuja, where Brahman is the inner controller of the senses and of the devas who preside over them. For Shaktas, Uma Haimavati is Parashakti herself, the teacher who reveals Brahman to the king of the devas, and devotees of Devi still cite the third khanda for that reason.

What it contains

1. 1
   Khanda 1

   Nine verses. The disciple asks: by whom is the mind sent forth, by whom does breath move, who yokes the eye and the ear? The teacher answers that Brahman is the ear of the ear and the mind of the mind, beyond the reach of speech and sight. Five mantras close with the refrain: know that alone as Brahman, not this which people worship here.

2. 2
   Khanda 2

   Five verses on knowing and not knowing. The one who thinks he knows Brahman well knows little; Brahman is known by the one for whom it is not an object. It is known in every act of awareness, and knowing it here is the only gain that counts.

3. 3
   Khanda 3

   Twelve prose mantras. The devas, proud of a victory that was Brahman's, meet a Yaksha they cannot recognise. Agni cannot burn a blade of grass before it, Vayu cannot lift it, and when Indra comes the Yaksha vanishes. In its place Uma Haimavati appears.

4. 4
   Khanda 4

   Nine prose mantras. Uma tells Indra that the Yaksha was Brahman, and so Agni, Vayu and Indra stand foremost among the devas. Brahman is likened to a lightning flash and to the mind's remembering, and is to be meditated on as tadvanam. Tapas, self-control and work are named as the feet of this teaching, the Vedas its limbs and truth its home.

Famous verses

केनेषितं पतति प्रेषितं मनः केन प्राणः प्रथमः प्रैति युक्तः। केनेषितां वाचमिमां वदन्ति चक्षुः श्रोत्रं क उ देवो युनक्ति॥

Willed by whom, sent forth by whom, does the mind fall upon its object? Yoked by whom does the first breath go forth? By whose will do men speak this speech? What deva yokes the eye and the ear?Kena Upanishad 1.1

यद्वाचाऽनभ्युदितं येन वागभ्युद्यते। तदेव ब्रह्म त्वं विद्धि नेदं यदिदमुपासते॥

That which speech does not express, but by which speech is expressed: know that alone to be Brahman, not this which people worship here.Kena Upanishad 1.5

यस्यामतं तस्य मतं मतं यस्य न वेद सः। अविज्ञातं विजानतां विज्ञातमविजानताम्॥

It is known to the one to whom it is unknown; the one to whom it is known does not know it. It is not understood by those who understand, and understood by those who do not.Kena Upanishad 2.3

स तस्मिन्नेवाकाशे स्त्रियमाजगाम बहुशोभमानामुमाँ हैमवतीं ताँहोवाच किमेतद्यक्षमिति॥

In that very space he came upon a woman, shining with great beauty, Uma, daughter of Himavat. He asked her: what is this Yaksha?Kena Upanishad 3.12