ISAVASYA UPANISHAD : - Mantram - 4.

ISAVASYA UPANISHAD :

or


VAJASANEYI    SAMHITA    UPANISHAD


Mantram-4.



Discussion-5. "The  Devas  could  not  overtake  It; .....

It  ran  before  them."

This  is  a  statement   which  must  necessarily  confuse  even  an  itelligent  reader  of  ordinary  education.

It  is  such  statements  which,  when  an  unprepared  student  tries  to  understand  literally,  make  him  despair  at  his  inability  to  understand  the  great  scriptures.

The  scriptures  "being  the  science   of  religion,"  there  is  a  method  of  studying  it,  and  its  language  is  extremely  technical.



The  word  'Deva,'  in  its  etymological  derivation,  has  risen  from  the  root  "div"   indicating  "illumination."

Thus,  the  word  'deva'   indicates  " that  which  illuminates."

Therefore,  in  the  context  here,  'devas'  mean  the  "sense-organs."

In  the  scriptural  literature,  the  word  is  very  often  used  in  this  sense.




It  can  also  mean,  perhaps,  that  we  are,  ordinarily  in  our  life,  worshipping  our  sense-organs  as  though  they  are  the  gods.

Ordinary  men  are  devoted  seekers  striving  diligently  to  propitiate  the  sense-organs  for  their  blessings.



With  knowledge  of  this  background  of  the  word  'devas'  when  we  re-read  the  mantram,  its  meaning  becomes  amplyn  clear.

The  sense-organs  cannot  overtake  the  Self,  since  the  sense-organs  can  only  perceive  their  objects,  and,  the objects  themselves  can  remain  and  function  only  in  a  medium  of  Reality.

Whenever  the  sense-organs  perceive  their  objects,  they  function  only  in  the  field  of  'Consciousness.'

Take  away  the  'Consciousness,'  and  the  sense-organs  should  declare  theie  inability  to  act  or  function.

Next : Discussion-6. "Sitting,  It  goes  faster  than  those  who  run  after  It"  .......

To be continued  ....