ISAVASYA UPANISHAD : - 15. Swami Tejomayananda.
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Saturday, November 12, 2022. 09:30.
ISHAVASYA UPANISHAD
Wave 4: Mantras 15-17 (3 No.)
“The VISION of TRUTH”
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Mantram- 17: The Approach of Death
1 "Vaayuh anilam amritam atha idam 2 bhasmaantam shareeram;
3 om, krato smara kritam smara, 4 krato smara kritam smara."
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Translation :
1 Vaayuh anilam amritam atha idam = Let my Pranas merge into all-pervading air.
2 bhasmaantam shareeram; = Let this body be burnt to ashes.
3 om, krato smara kritam smara, = Om, O my mind, remember what you did!
4 krato smara kritam smara. = O my mind, remember what you did!
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Commentary :
Daily Prayer of a God-fearing Devotee :
This mantram is commonly interpreted as a prayer of a dying man to the Lord. Sri
Shankaracharyaji says that these verses, 15-17, are Upasaka Mantras, and do not arise from
a Jnani. A Jnani who has attained realization of the Self will not have such a prayer in mind.
It is a devotee’s prayer for enlightenment along his spiritual journey. They are, indeed,
verses that are truly rich in devotional fervour.
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1-2 For a sage who has beheld the Vision of Truth, death matters little; hence, if we
are talking of death in its conventional sense, we may safely deduce that this cannot be a
sage’s prayer. Also the prayer need not be of an ‘old dying man on his deathbed’, waiting for
death to come! It would and should be a prayer of any ardent, God-fearing devotee of any
age. Every striving devotee prays in this manner daily. Death’s arrival is certain – yet
uncertain in a way, for it could be on this very day. There is no actual ‘deathbed’ upon which
to welcome its arrival.
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3-4 Besides the above reason, there is another that confirms the same deduction.
The devotee addresses his mind, asking it to remember all its past deeds. Again, as above, a
sage is free from all his Karmic accounts – both Sanchita and Agama (past and future). Past
and future deeds only trouble the ordinary striving human soul.
The typical human soul is bound to the earth-plane by its Karmas or deeds. All
actions done with a selfish motive leave a scar of ‘Karma’ behind it which has to be paid for
when the time for it is ripe. The devotee of God knows this too well, and therefore prays to
his mind daily, “O mind! remember all those deeds you have done. Face them boldly, for
you cannot escape them.” By remembering this, the devotee makes a firm determination
daily not to commit any misdeed on that day. To remember death daily in this attitude is a
most effective way to stick to the path of Dharma or Righteousness.
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Spiritual Interpretation of Death:
Mantras 15-17 can be interpreted as being not about a dying man, but a dying “ego”.
The meaning of death need not be taken literally as above. It can be taken in its
spiritual sense also. There is a Vedantic interpretation of ‘death’. Spiritual Death is
considered to be the death of one’s ego-consciousness. Swami Chinmayanandaji used to say
that at the time when a devotee goes into meditation, the Ego gets terribly scared, for its
death could come in that session itself. So, at all costs it tries to prevent us from meditating,
for the sake of its own existence!
The great saint and follower of Gandhiji, Vinoba Bhave, gives a novel interpretation
to this mantram. His view may be paraphrased as follows: “Here is a meditator who has gained
the vision of the Truth. Is it by his own efforts alone that he reached there? No, only when
the Lord showers His Grace on him, does he behold the Divine Vision. Therefore, the
devotee says here ‘Remember, remember’ twice. The first time it means, ‘Remember the
Sadhana you did to get to this point.’ And the second time it means, ‘Remember what God
did for you”, showering you with His Grace, so that you could behold His vision!”
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Some devotees smear ashes on their forehead as a reminder that the body, too, will
one day turn to ashes only. We call the ashes ‘holy’ because the thought behind applying
them is a holy one. However, if we get attached to these ashes and use it as a symbol to
proclaim our spiritual leanings, then the ‘holy’ ashes can easily become ‘unholy’!
Nevertheless, they are traditionally chanted at the bedside of a dying man. The idea
is that when the dying man hears them, he will not be afraid of Death.
*****
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