ISAVASYA UPANISHAD : Mantram : 12.

ISAVASYA UPANISHAD :

or


VAJASANEYI    SAMHITA    UPANISHAD



Mantram-12.



Discussion-3. "Asambhuti" ( Unmanifest ) .... "Sambhuti" ( Manifest ) .....



The  pair  of  words  used  in  this  discussion  of  the  mantram  is  "Unmanifest ( asambhuti )  and  Manifest  ( sambhuti )."

The  'asambhuti'  would  be  easier  for  all  to  understand  as  the  'Impersonal  God' and  the  'sambhuti'  as  the  'Personal  God'.

Among  the  devotee  class  there  always  had  been,  and  there  is  a  lot  of  controversy  upon  the  relative  merits  of  worshipping  or  meditating  upon  the  Personal  God  and  the  Impersonal  God.

Even  in  the  'Vedic  period,'  there  were  the  personal  gods  like  Vayu, Agni,  Varuna,  just  as  we  have  'Puranic  Gods  as 'Rama, Krishna,  Siva,  Devi,  Ganesa,  etc.



This  controversy  has  now  come  down  to  our  own  times;  in  its  practical  application  in  life,  it  expresses  itself  as  the  great  controversy  on  whether  "Jnanam  or  Bhakti  is  supreme."


The Upanishad  here  is  giving  us  enough  thoughts  in  its  truth-declarations  to  make  us  understand  that  our  controversy  is  meaningless  and  baseless.

Just  as  we  have  seen  that  there  is  no  controversy  between  "Vidya  and  Avidya"  and  that  they
are  complementary  to  each  other,  so  too,  "Jnanam  and  Bhakti"   are  not  contradictory.

In  fact,  each  in  the  lap  of  other  grows  stronger  and  gets  more  established.
    

Discussions on this mantram ENDS.

Next : Mantram-13.

To  be  continued  ....