ISAVASYA UPANISHAD - Wave 4: Mantra - 15-17 (3 No.) “The VISION of TRUTH” : Mantram-17.- Swami Gurubhaktananda ( Chinmaya Mission ).

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Tuesday, July 13,  2021. 8 : 43.  PM.
ISAVASYA UPANISHAD
18 Mantra-s on “The All-Pervading Reality”
Wave 4: Mantra - 15-17 (3 No.)
“The VISION of TRUTH”
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Mantram - 17 - The Approach of Death :

"Vayuh anilam amritam atha idam, bhasmaantam shareram;

om, krato smara kritam smara, krato smara kritam smara."  || 17||

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Translation :

1 Vayuh anilam amritam atha idam  =  Let my Pranas merge into all-pervading air.

2 bhasmantam 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 :
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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. 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 "
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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 verse. 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!”

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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End.

Next - ISHAVASYA UPANISHAD - Wave 5: Verse 18 (1 No.) - “The ASPIRATION of Devotees” - Mantram - 18: A Prayer World Peace :

To be continued ....

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