By Jayaram V
1. He thought, "Now here are the worlds and the
controllers of the worlds. Let me create food for them."
2. He meditated upon waters and from the waters so
meditated upon, came forth a form which was verily food.
Food is the sustaining and nourishing aspect of the creation.
It is not just the food that we commonly eat. It is the desire
for enjoyment of life, and of sense objects. All
the sense objects are also a part of this food. Everything in
the material world on which man depends for his survival or
which he seeks to further his enjoyment can be construed as
food only for the purpose of understanding this Upanishad.
Even life is a form of energy which is sustained in the
body through breathing.
3. This form so created wanted to run away. It (the
being) tried to seize it with speech. But speech could not take
hold of it. Indeed if he could have seized it with speech, with
speech alone he would have had the satisfaction of eating
food.
4. It (the being) tried to seize it with breath. But
breath could not take hold of it. Indeed if he could have
seized it with breath, with breathing alone he would have had
the satisfaction of eating food.
5. It (the being) tried to seize it with sight. But sight
could not take hold of it. Indeed if he could have seized it
with sight, with seeing alone he would have had the
satisfaction of eating food.
6. It (the being) tried to seize it with hearing. But
hearing could not take hold of it. Indeed if he could have
seized it with hearing, with hearing alone he would have had
the satisfaction of eating food.
7. It (the being) tried to seize it with skin. But skin
could not take hold of it. Indeed if he could have seized it
with skin, with sensation alone he would have had the
satisfaction of eating food.
8. It (the being) tried to seize it with mind. But mind
could not take hold of it. Indeed if he could have seized it
with mind, with thought alone he would have had the
satisfaction of eating food.
9. It (the being) tried to seize it with reproductive
organs. But reproductive organs could not take hold of it.
Indeed if he could have seized it with reproductive organs,
with emission alone he would have had the satisfaction of
eating food.
10. Then It (the being) tried to seize it with out
breath. And he seized it. He who has grasped food thus is what
air is. This one who lives on food is verily of the nature of
air.
Food is verily here the desire for enjoyment.
Desire for the enjoyment of life cannot be satiated through
the functioning of any sense organ or the activity of the mind
or thought. Activity of these in fact strengthen the
desire to enjoy life further. Desires are put to an end,
though temporarily, only when a person dies or leaves his
corporeal body.
The outgoing breath which is referred here is but death.
Desire for enjoyment ceases only when a person dies, when the
outgoing breath departs from his body once and for all. Hence
the expression that the food which God created for man could
be seized only by the outgoing breath. ( Please refer to the
verse four of section 1 of this chapter where in we are
told that from the out going breath came death.)
The being that lives in the body is described to be of the
nature of air. The soul is compared to air because air moves
freely, it is invisible and has no particular form.
11. He pondered, "How can this food exist without me?" He
pondered, " Through what path should I enter into it?" He
wondered, "If speaking is through speech, if breathing is
through breath, if seeing is through the eyes, if hearing is
through the ears, if touching is through the skin, if thinking
is through the mind, if breathing out is through the out
breath, if emission is through the reproductive organs, then
who am I?"
The sense objects and the sense organs are useless, unless
there is an enjoyer inside the body. They cannot exist and
operate independently, unless there is an inner central
principle to coordinate their activities and give them a sense
of purpose. Hence the need for an inner self in the
creation of man.
12. Opening the very end of the head, He entered through
it. This is the opening, which is known by its name
vidrti. It is (the source of) delight. For that exist three
abodes, three kinds of dreams. This is the abode, this is the
abode, this is the abode.
This verse speaks about the location of the sahasra chakra,
the highest chakra or the divine center in the body. This
chakra exists at the tip of the head and is believed to be
connected to higher divinities and energies all the time.
Its three abodes are known only to the mystics. The three
kinds of dreams are probably the three states of
consciousness, the wakeful state, the dream state and
the deep sleep state. The composers of this Upanishad
seems to have decided to keep the three locations
of this chakra a secret and reveal them to qualified students
only. Hence the cryptic expression, "this is the abode, this
is the abode, this is the abode."
13. He, having born, perceived the created beings. He
perceived this very Person, the all pervading Brahman. "I have
seen this," he said. What else would one desire to speak here?
14. There is his name Idandra. Indeed Idandra is the
name. They speak of him indirectly who is Idandra as Indra.
Indeed God seems to be fond of speaking indirectly.
Indra is the lord of the sense organs in man and of divinities
in the heaven. He is the enjoyer. Man in his role as enjoyer
is also the lord of the senses (Indra) and rightly
described here as Idandra.
End of Chapter I
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