ISAVASYA UPANISHAD: “The All-Pervading Reality”: 5 - Swami Gurubhaktananda.

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Sunday 26, October 2025, 19:15.          
ISAVASYA UPANISHAD:  
18 Mantras on: “The All-Pervading Reality” 

Reflections: Swami Gurubhaktananda 

on the 12 Lectures delivered: Swami Tejomayananda:  to the 15th Batch Vedanta Course:   at Sandeepany Sadhanalaya, Powai, Mumbai 

July 11th – July 16th, 2012

Post-5.

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ISHAVASYA UPANISHAD 
MEDITATIONS on the Self
Wave 2: Mantras 4-8 (5 No.) 

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Mantram 4:  The Elusive Self or Atman 

1 Anejat ekam = The Self is the motionless one,   

manasah javeeyah, = yet it is swifter than the mind. 

2 na enat devaah apnuvan = The Devas (senses) cannot overtake It, 

poorvam-arshat; = for It runs before them. 

3 

tat dhaavatah anyaan = Then others who run after It, 

atyeti tishthat, = It overtakes them while sitting! 

  4 

tasmin apah maatar = In It, as water by the air, all actions 

ishwaa dadhaati = of all living beings are supported. 

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The next five mantras (4-8) are Upasanas or meditations on the Self so that we understand what our spiritual goal, our true being, the Self, really is. These verses sound like riddles. The Self is who we are at the core of our heart. There must be something very special about the Self that frees people who realize It, and keeps in bondage those who live in forgetfulness of it. 

1

 The Self is motionless as it occupies everything in the universe. There is no place where it is not. If you were sitting in a local train in India, you would know exactly what this means. The local trains are full to capacity with passengers. Passengers hang out of the doorways. There is no standing space, even in the aisles. How does one move in a cramped situation like that? The Self is in such a situation with regard to the vast universe. Every cubic inch of it is occupied by It, so it has nowhere to move! In spite of being motionless, it is swifter than anything else.  

2

 The Devas are the mind and senses. The deluded mind, not aware of who the Self is, tries to catch it conceptually in so many different ways through different philosophies, and, of course, it never succeeds. The Self, as it were, is always ahead of the mind. It can never be reached even by the instruments of the mind, namely, the senses.  The senses are here depicted as police officers sent out by the mind with warrants to ‘arrest’ the Self. The Self eludes them all; they fail totally to catch it. The tongue fails to describe It. The eye cannot have even a glimpse of It. It is the same with the other senses. When they try finding It in the external world, they cannot find a trace of the Self. 

3

 So, the mind tries to search for the Self within. The mind is told that it is seated in the heart, that It is in the core of one’s being. Even this ‘sitting’ Self cannot be caught! Why? Even the mind that tries to concentrate and meditate is filled with thoughts running about everywhere. The thoughts draw its attention, and once that happens, how can the   mind settle on the Self? No matter how much it meditates, it seems a futile exercise to hunt down the Self. The Self simply cannot be arrested by any officers which the mind deploys, whether externally or internally. 

4

 The Self seems to have found a perfect hiding place. However, although it evades the officers hunting for It, it leaves Its scent everywhere. But the best sniffer dogs cannot seem to pick up this scent. There are umpteen clues that tell us that it is around somewhere. Most notable among them is Life itself! If the Self where not around, were does Life come from?  The Life-force enlivens our body and mind; by the signs of life, we infer the presence of the Self. The Prana or life-force supports all living beings. Without Prana, the body dies. All activity of the body is also an expression of this life-force, whether it is physical action or mental activity. Yet the Self is too subtle for us catch it! 

The scenario may be compared to this illustration: The secret police are hot on the heels of a serial murderer, but they just cannot pin him down. Every few days, a crime takes place which is a replica of all the previous crimes. So, the police know that the culprit is around, and that he is somewhere within their clutches. Yet he cannot be traced!  

The truth is that the instruments we have employed are not the right means to obtain Knowledge of the Self. The means are powerless to locate the Self. The mind is the Drishtha (the ‘seen’) while the Self is the Drishya (the ‘Seer’). The seen can never comprehend the seer. [Refer to Drg-Drishya Viveka, Text 13.] It is impossible for the mind to have knowledge of the Self. In fact, it is only when the mind’s activity ceases completely that the Self reveals itself fully. 

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Next
Mantram - 5: Finding the Correct Means 
Continues

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