A Commentary on the Upanishads by Swami Nirmalananda Giri -22

A Commentary

on the Upanishads

by

Swami Nirmalananda Giri

Praying to Ishwara

How do we address this infinite Being? The upanishad gives us some examples.
“O Lord, clothed in thy most holy form, which is calm and blissful, and which destroys
all evil and ignorance, look upon us and make us glad.” (Shvetashvatara Upanishad 3:5)
Ishwara has taken on many forms through which we can approach Him. If a form,
whatever the spiritual tradition “is calm and blissful, and which destroys all evil and
ignorance,” then we can know it is a legitimate form of God, one which we can use to
commune with God. In this prayer the devotee is not asking for “things” but for the joy
(ananda) that is the essential nature of God. This is only attained when our own Self–
which also is of the nature of bliss–is revealed in the eternal Light of Ishwara.
Now we come to the practical means of approaching God. “O Lord, thou hast revealed
thy sacred syllable OM, which is one with thee. In thy hands it is a weapon with which to
destroy ignorance. O protector of thy devotees, do not conceal thy benign
person.” (Shvetashvatara Upanishad 3:6) To those who seek to know–and become one
with–God, Patanjali (1:28) simply says regarding Om: “Its repetition and meditation is the
way.” It is the direct means to dispel ignorance and reveal God to the devoted yogi.
Finally: “Thou art the supreme Brahman. Thou art infinite. Thou hast assumed the
forms of all creatures, remaining hidden in them. Thou pervadest all things. Thou art the

one God of the universe. Those who realize thee become immortal.” (Shvetashvatara
Upanishad 3:7)

The Upanishadic Seer Speaks of Ishwara
The sage whose name this upanishad bears, now speaks of his realization of Ishwara.
In his exposition he will speak of Ishwara in the same manner and in the same terms that
all the upanishads speak of Brahman. We should keep this in mind whenever reading of
Brahman or Ishwara: what can be rightly said of Brahman can be said of Ishwara, for
“they” are the same Being.
Shvetashvatara
“Said the great seer Shvetashvatara: I have known, beyond all darkness, that great
Person of golden effulgence. Only by knowing him does one conquer death. There is no
other way of escaping the wheel of birth, death, and rebirth.
“There is nothing superior to him, nothing different from him, nothing subtler or
greater than he. Alone he stands, changeless, self-luminous; he, the Great One, fills this
universe.
“Though he fills the universe, he transcends it. He is untouched by its sorrow. He has
no form. Those who know him become immortal. Others remain in the depths of
misery.” (Shvetashvatara Upanishad 3:8-10)
The only point that needs comment is the statement that Ishwara “has no form.”
Actually, all forms are Ishwara’s, for all things are He. What is meant here is that Ishwara
has no “native” form, that His nature is absolutely formless. It also means that there is no
form that confines Him, that can encompass His total Being, for no form is infinite.
Self-revealing
“The Lord God, all-pervading and omnipresent, dwells in the heart of all beings. Full of
grace, he ultimately gives liberation to all creatures by turning their faces toward himself.
“He is the innermost Self. He is the great Lord. He it is that reveals the purity within
the heart by means of which he, who is pure being, may be reached. He is the ruler. He is
the great Light, shining forever.” (Shvetashvatara Upanishad 3:11,12)
The sole purpose of this universe is the evolution and ultimate liberation of all sentient
beings within it. And it is Ishwara who guides and awakens those beings. The impulse to
enlightenment arises from him in cooperation with the innate impulse of each individual
Self to attain conscious and total union with God. From within the depths of each one of us
He reveals the possibility of enlightenment and shows us the way. That is why Patanjali
says: “He is Guru even of the Ancients.” (Yoga Sutras 1:26) We must ever be in attunement
with this guru, and that is accomplished through the japa and meditation of Om, as the
upanishad has already stated:
“Fire, though present in the firesticks, is not perceived until one stick is rubbed
against another. The Self is like that fire: it is realized in the body by meditation on the
sacred syllable Om. Let your body be the stick that is rubbed, the sacred syllable Om the
stick that is rubbed against it. Thus shall you realize God, who is hidden within the body
as fire is hidden within the wood.” (1:13,14)
“Sit upright, holding the chest, throat, and head erect. Turn the senses and the mind
inward to the lotus of the heart. Meditate on Brahman with the help of the syllable OM.
Cross the fearful currents of the ocean of worldliness by means of the raft of Brahman–the
sacred syllable OM.” (2:8)

“O Lord, thou hast revealed thy sacred syllable OM, which is one with thee. In thy
hands it is a weapon with which to destroy ignorance.” (3:6)
Wherefore the upanishad continues: “This great Being, assuming a form of the size of
a thumb, forever dwells in the heart of all creatures as their innermost Self. He can be
known directly by the purified mind through spiritual discrimination. Knowing him, men
become immortal.” (Shvetashvatara Upanishad 3:13)
Infinite
“This great Being has a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, and a thousand feet. He
envelops the universe. Though transcendent, he is to be meditated upon as residing in the
lotus of the heart, at the center of the body, ten fingers above the navel.
“He alone is all this–what has been and what shall be. He has become the universe. Yet
he remains forever changeless, and is the lord of immortality.
“His hands and feet are everywhere; his eyes and mouths are everywhere. His ears are
everywhere. He pervades everything in the universe.
“Without organs of sense, yet reflecting the activities of the senses, he is the lord and
ruler of all. He is the friend and refuge of all.
“He resides in the body, the city of nine gates. He sports in the world without in
innumerable forms. He is the master, the ruler, of the whole world, animate and inanimate.
“He moves fast, though without feet. He grasps everything, though without hands. He
sees everything, though without eyes. He hears everything, though without ears. He
knows all that is, but no one knows him. He is called the Supreme, the Great One.
“Subtler than the subtlest, greater than the greatest, the Self is hidden in the heart of
all creatures. Through his grace a man loses his cravings, transcends grief, and realizes
him as Brahman Supreme.” (Shvetashvatara Upanishad 3:14-20)
There is indeed such a thing as the grace of God, the grace of Ishwara, that is the
empowerment through which we attain liberation, the light that guides us to the Goal. To
gain this grace is a great blessing for the seeker.
This section of the upanishad is now concluded. The great lesson to be learned is that
we are depriving ourselves greatly if we think we should reject the personal, Ishwara
aspect of Brahman and engage only in various non-dual affirmations, disdaining the path
of the Personal God. For this upanishad assures us that it is through Ishwara that we
ascend to the ultimate truth of Brahman.

The Prayer of Liberation
This upanishad has a unique feature: it concludes with an ecstatic prayer-invocation
addressed to Brahman. It will not need much comment, as you will see.
Thoughts of Thee
“O Brahman Supreme! Formless art thou, and yet (though the reason none knows)
Thou bringest forth many forms; Thou bringest them forth, and then withdrawest them to
thyself. Fill us with thoughts of thee!” (Shvetashvatara Upanishad 4:1) This final petition is
the crux of the whole matter: our consciousness must be filled with the remembranceawareness
of Brahman, of Om.
Thou art all
“Thou art the fire, Thou art the sun, Thou art the air, Thou art the moon, Thou art the
starry firmament, Thou art Brahman Supreme: Thou art the waters–thou, the creator of
all.
“Thou art woman, thou art man, Thou art the youth, thou art the maiden, Thou art the
old man tottering with his staff; Thou facest everywhere.
“Thou art the dark butterfly, Thou art the green parrot with red eyes, Thou art the
thunder cloud, the seasons, the seas. Without beginning art thou, beyond time, beyond
space. Thou art he from whom sprang the three worlds.” (Shvetashvatara Upanishad
4:2-4)
Maya, the Mother
“Maya is thy divine consort–wedded to thee. Thou art her master, her ruler. Red,
white, and black is she, each color a guna. Many are her children the rivers, the
mountains, flower, stone, and tree, beast, bird, and man–in every way like herself. Thou,
spirit in flesh, forgetting what thou art, unitest with Maya–but only for a season. Parting
from her at last, Thou regainest thyself.” (Shvetashvatara Upanishad 4:5)
Maya, Mahashakti, Mulaprakriti, is the Divine Mother wedded to the Divine Father.
Formed of the three gunas, all are her “children.” This latter sentence is a very
unsatisfactory rendering of an very obscure passage whose meaning relates to the
individual Self, not Brahman the Absolute Self. The meaning is that when we unite until
with Maya, unlike Brahman we forget ourselves. Yet that forgetfulness is only temporary,
and when at last we evolve to the necessary level, we part from Maya and are released
back into Infinite Spirit.
The two “birds”
“Thou, Brahman Immortal, and thou, woven of clay (two beings, yet one)–like two
beautiful birds, golden of plumage, companions inseparable, perched high up on the
branches of the selfsame tree–as man thou tastest the sweet fruits of the tree, the sweet
and bitter fruits; but as Brahman, master of Maya, Thou remainest unseen, immobile,
calmly observing.
“Forgetting his oneness with thee, bewildered by his weakness, full of sorrow is man;
but let him look close on thee, know thee as himself, O Lord, most worshipful, and behold
thy glory–lo, all his heavy sorrow is turned to joy.” (Shvetashvatara Upanishad 4:6,7)

Knowing
“Changeless thou art, supreme, pure! In thee dwell the gods. The source of all
scriptures thou art; yet what shall scriptures avail if they be smooth on the lip but absent
from the heart? To him who knows thee comes fullness–to him alone!” (Shvetashvatara
Upanishad 4:8)
Scriptures and philosophical words that are glibly reeled of by the shallow and the
hypocrites mean absolutely nothing. Rather, the divine teachings of the the liberated sages
must be “written” in our hearts by our own experience through yoga. Those who know
about God are certainly fortunate, but only those who know God directly are fulfilled and
freed.
The glories of Brahman
“Thou art lord and master of Maya, man is her slave. With Maya uniting, thou hast
brought forth the universe. The source of all scriptures thou art, and the source of all
creeds. The universe is thy Maya; and thou, great God, her lord, wherever the eye falls,
there, within every form, thou dwellest.
“One thou art, one only. Born from many wombs, thou hast become many: unto thee
all return. Thou, Lord God, bestowest all blessings, thou the Light, thou the Adorable
One. Whoever finds thee finds infinite peace.
“Thou art Lord God of all gods, all the worlds rest in thee; thou art ruler of the beasts,
two-footed, four-footed: our heart’s worship be thine! Thou art the blissful Lord, subtler
than the subtlest. In thee alone is there peace.
“Thou, sole guardian of the universe, thou, lord of all, in the hearts of thy creatures
thou hidest thyself. Gods and seers become one with thee. Those who know thee die not.
“Of all religions thou art the source. The light of thy knowledge shining, there is nor
day nor night, nor being nor non-being–thou alone art.
“Thou alone art–thou the Light imperishable, adorable; great Glory is thy name. No
one is there beside thee, no one equal to thee. Invisible is thy form, invisible to mortal
eyes; the seers alone, in their purified hearts–they alone see thee. They alone are
immortal.
“Neither male nor female art thou, nor neuter; whatsoever form thou assumest, that
thou art.
“Thou dost pervade the universe, thou art consciousness itself, thou art creator of
time. All-knowing art thou.” (Shvetashvatara Upanishad 4:9-18; 5:4-6, 10; 6:2)
Reaching the Goal
“At thy bidding Maya, thy power divine, projects this visible universe, projects name
and form. Thou art the Primal Being. Thou appearest as this universe of illusion and
dream. Thou art beyond time. Indivisible, infinite, the Adorable One–let a man meditate
on thee within his heart, let him consecrate himself to thee, and thou, infinite Lord, wilt
make thyself known to him.” (Shvetashvatara Upanishad 6:3-5)
Meditation and dedication: when these are brought to perfection in the yogi and are an
unbroken state, then Brahman reveals Itself.
“Thou, womb and tomb of the universe, and its abode; thou, source of all virtue,
destroyer of all sins–thou art seated in the heart. When thou art seen, time and form
disappear. Let a man feel thy presence, let him behold thee within, and to him shall come
peace, eternal peace–to none else, to none else!

“Thou art the eternal among non-eternals, the consciousness of the conscious; though
one, thou fulfilllest the desires of many.
“Let a man devote himself to knowledge of thee, let him follow thy path, and he shall
know thee: all his fetters shall be loosed.
“Can a man roll up the sky like a piece of skin? Can he end his misery and know not thee?
“If the truths of these scriptures are meditated upon by a man in the highest degree
devoted to God, and to his teacher, they will shine forth. They will shine forth
indeed!” (Shvetashvatara Upanishad 6:6,13,18,19,23)
As you see from the references, a great deal has been skipped by Prabhavananda. That
is because all the subjects of the omitted verses have already been covered in the
preceding upanishads.
However, we have now come to the end of the major upanishads, whose glory cannot
be exaggerated. If anywhere in the world there are “words of life” they are found here in
the upanishads. To study and realize them is the supreme life endeavor.
Om. Tat. Sat.
Om.

Om Tat Sat

                                                        

(End) 

(My humble salutations H H Swami Nirmalananda Giri ji and   Hinduism online dot com for the collection)

(The Blog  is reverently for all the seekers of truth, lovers of wisdom and   to share the Hindu Dharma with others on the spiritual path and also this is purely  a non-commercial)