Isha Upanishad

General Introduction

The Upanishads are called Vedanta, the Conclusion of the Vedas. Conclusion can mean the
last portion and also the last analysis or exposition.

The Mantras and The Brahmanas together are called the Vedas. The Samhita section, known as
the Mantras, is the oldest and the original base of the Vedas. The spiritual experiences of the
Rishis and the secrets of their sadhana have been elaborated in the The Brahmanas. The
Brahmanas consist of three parts the Brahmana, the Aranyaka and the Upanishads. The three
are linked and have a continuity amongst themselves. They are so intermingled, one with the
other, that at times it is difficult to ascertain where one ends and the other begins. This goes to
prove that the Vedas are the vehicle of an integral and whole Idea or Ideal, and any one part of
the Vedas is not contradictory to or a negation of the others. The intuitive experience in the
Mantras is elucidated rationally or intelligently in the Upanishads. One can say that the
Upanishads are truly the Vedanta, both as the last section of the Vedas as wel l as the final
analysi s of the Vedas.

Just as Vedanta is the final exegesi s of Vedism (Vedavada), so i s Siddhanta the final
elucidation of the experiences of the Siddhas. The propounders of Vedanta were the Rishi s,
those of Siddhanta were the Munis. We find in the Bhagawad Gita, The foremost amongst
the Siddhas is Kapila Muni.

The Samkhya propounded by Kapila is one of the oldest Indian philosophies. It is Munidhara
the Muni Tradition or Tarka Prasthan, whi ch is Reason, the way of the Rationalist. Vedanta, on
the other hand, is Ri shi dhara The Rishi Tradition or Mimansa Prasthan, the way of the
critical analysts. The one looks within himself, whereas the other looks without. The Muni
closing hi s eyes goes within and sees himself or the Atman, and the Rishi with eyes wide open
sees gods or Brahman everywhere. It i s this Rishi who proclaims aloud, The Purusha there and
there, I am He; The Purusha who is in me and the Purusha in that Sun, the Two are One indeed.
2

Thus, beginning these pilgrimages from two different viewpoints or different angles, the
Vedanta and the Siddhanta both merge in one Integral Reali sati on of the Supreme Truth . We
see in the older Upanishads these broad and vast flashes of Truth like the Sun shining in the
blue skies.

These flashes of Truth are the true meaning of the Vedas, of which the Upanishads are the
conclusion.

Just as Vedanta and Siddhanta are complementary to each other, so in Vedanta or Vedism,
Jnanakanda (Book Of Knowledge) and Karmakanda (Book Of Deeds) too are complementary to
one another. Pure Brahmanas detail the Karmakanda i .e. the section related to Deeds i.e. codes
of conduct, and sacrifices and their rituals; whereas the Upanishads give us the Knowl edge of
attaining Brahman. The Aranyakas whi ch are texts recited in forest hermitages gi ve us both. It is
but natural that Deeds and Knowledge are complementary and go together. Desire or Will is the
driving force behind all deeds. Behind will or desire is the knowl edge of the goal and its
impetus. The ambition of Vedic deeds is to attain Immortality, Vast Light, Great Il lumi nation,
Supreme Bliss or Union with the Divine. As a result of our deeds, this becomes very cl ear and
evident in ones consciousness. From the Brahmana to the Upanishad we see the ampl ification
of the Bhagawad Gitas dictum, 3 All deeds end in knowledge. The The Upanishads are part of
the Brahmanas, and do not contradict them.

The true meaning of the word Brahmana i s the Dialogue or Discussion of the believers or
followers of Brahman, i.e. questioning or enquiry, complete meditation upon it and the
conclusions arrived at regarding Brahman. In the Veda Brahman means the Inspired Divine
word or Mantra revealed that is in the hearts of the Rishis because of the explosion of their
consciousness. It has its bearing on both knowledge and works.

As an example, we can mention the Hiranyagarbha Sukta4 of the Rigveda. In its refrain we
have Kasmai devaya havisha Vidhem who is the God toward whom we will move and
dedicate our offerings. In the first three feet of the mantra, the particular God is introduced.
Here the offering and moving toward God i s the deed or work and the introductive passage i s
knowledge. Work is done for the sake of Knowledge (and attainment). The questioning is also a
part of the mantra. Questioning or enquiry is necessary for works as well as knowledge. The two
are complementary. There is no difference whatsoever between those who carry on dialogue
about Brahman whether in the Brahmanas or in the Upanishads. The hypothesis of the Western
scholars that the spirit of enquiry, of questioning, has appeared all of a sudden during the The
Upanishadic period as a result of aversion towards sacrifi ces is baseless. The performance of
knowledge-oriented works or rituals have always continued in our country, in spite of the great
opposition of powerful heretic Aryasects the non-believers in God or Sacrifi ce (adeva,
ayagna) we find criti cism of ignorant works even in the Veda. There are indications as to how
to transform sacrifi ces of Things into sacrifices of Knowledge. We see detailed discussions
regarding these in the beginning of the older Upanishads.

In short, however we see it, the The Upanishads are, in the truest sense, an integral and
complete vehicle of the knowledge of the Vedas the Vedanta, a great synthesis of Faith and
Reason, inspired Knowledge and rational Knowledge, of Works and Knowledge. It is not
accidental to describe Vedic Exegesis as Shodash-adhyay consisting of Sixteen Chapters.
Behind it lies the great effort of transforming a Shodash-kal a Purusha- one infinite Supreme
Divinity with sixteen qualities into an enlightening Book of Knowledge.

There has been a great deal of debate in the present age regarding the meaning of the term
Upanishad. The word is derived from upa-nisad (to sit). So the primal meaning of the word is,
To sit attentively near. From this, western scholars have come to the conclusion that The
Upanishad is the knowledge (Vidya) that is received while sitting near the Teacher or Acharya in
the solitude of the forest. But it is worth noting that though the fact that one has to go to a
Teacher to gather knowledge is mentioned at many places in the The Upanishads, the word
either upa-nisad or nisad in the sense of To sit is not used anywhere in the older
Upanishads! All knowledge had to be acquired by finding a teacher and serving him. Hence all
knowledge can be cal led Upanishad. So it can be said or understood that the root meaning is
not applicable here. The word is in fact used in a technical sense.

The oldest reference to the word Upanishad is found in a klvilo Sukta of Shakala The Samhita.
There we find the phrase Nishat Cha Upanishat cha.5 We al so find in the Mahabharata the
phrase Vaceshu anuVaceshu, nishatsu-upanishatsu6 whi ch means respectively The Mantra or
the Samhita, the Brahmana connected with it, the Aranyaka revealing the inner mystic
meanings and the Upanishad which elaborates the metaphysics or underlying philosophy. We
also find the word Nishat in its technical sense in both the Samhita and the Brahmana. It
means, To experience the inrush of the Divine in ones Being,7 The Brahmana and the
Aranyaka too give its meaning in a technical sense, The Truth or the Secret which is deeply
hidden or hidden within. Considering all these, we can come to the conclusions that the root
meaning of the word alludes not to man but to God. God descends and takes Hi s seat in the
heart of the teacher, and the enlightenment thus experienced by the teacher is The
Upanishad. Similarl y we see in the Buddhist Sastras that the illuminating word that is heard or
received in the ascending consciousness of a Buddha is called Udana. This meaning of an
Inspiring word is most natural and traditional. The meaning To receive knowledge by sitting
before (near) a teacher is secondary and incidental.

Modern scholars criti cise Shankaracharyas meaning of Upanishad, That which destroys
Ignorance. Hi s meaning may not be according to the rules of grammar, but it has a Vedic
background. There is a ritual, a special sacrifice cal led Upasad i n the Soma Sacrifice. The
Brahmanas state that the demons built three invincible forts one of iron on earth, one of
silver in the mid-regi ons and one of gold in the heavens. Upasad8 was the sacrifice that helped
the gods to destroy these three forts. We also find in The Rigveda that the word Upasad, li ke
Upasana, is the name for eternal oneness with the Divine.9 Putting together the two
meanings, Upani shad would mean, according to spiritual science, destroying the fort of
Ignorance. In The Upanishads it is called l oosening or cutting the knots of Ignorance. This
becomes possible onl y when the Divine reveals or establishes Hi mself in the devotees heart.
Both Upasad and Upanishad carry the same inner meaning. So, Shankaracharyas definition is
not altogether baseless.

Till now, more than two hundred Upanishads have been found. Most of these, of course, are
relativel y modern. The following are the Upanishads directly connected with the Aranyakas of
the Vedas Aitareya, Kaushitaki, Chhandogya, Kena, Taittiriya and Brihad Aranyaka.
Mahanarayana or Yagniki Upanishad though included in the Taittiriya Aranyaka is considered a
subsequent addition from ancient times. Thus the above six Upanishads, Aitareya etc. alone can
be called the oldest Upanishads, judging from the language and manner of expression. They are
written in prose, li ke the Brahmanas. Only the first two chapters of Kenopanishad are in verse.
According to scholars, all of them can be dated as pre-Buddha, or before the time of Buddha.
Though not connected with any Brahmana Katha, the Swetaswatara, Mundaka and Prasna
Upanishads too are most probably pre-Buddha. The first three are in verse, but the last is
mostly in prose. The Mahanarayanopanishad is like the Prasna Upanishad. The Maitrayani and
Mandukya Upanishads are also in prose but their prose is not the prose of the Brahmanas. We
can say that the lineage of the Vedic Upanishads ends here.

Apart from these thirteen Upanishads there is one exceptional Upanishad Isha or Ishavasya.
It is not a part of any Brahmana, but is directly a final portion of the Samhita. In short we can
say that these fourteen Upanishads are traditionally the representatives and carriers of Vedic
tradition.

The Vedic Tradition of the Upanishads became popular through Itihasa or Hi story and the
Puranas. It became then not shruti( ear or Veda, transmitted orally li ke a secret) but
smriti(memory), for all to know, l ike the Bhagawad Gita in the Mahabharata, which is both a
Smriti and an Upani shad. If The Upanishads are the inspired words revealed to the seers
through their supramental consciousness by the Divine, the Bhagawad Gita can equal ly claim
that epithet. That is why we find that the inspired and revealed sayings of the prophets of later
Vedic or Non-Vedic Sects are also designated as the Upanishad. In this way the term
Upanishad has helped in uniting in harmony the varied spiritual attainments of the country of
Bharat. Despite any sectarian differences, there is no one who can nullify, defy or denounce
another Shruti, and therefore there has been a tendency to synthesise ones own ideas with
those of others. Thus in every age the Upanishadic ideal has been an indispensable instrument
of bringing about cultural unity in India.

Let us now take up the Vedic Upanishads one by one and try to achieve some understanding
about them. We will begin with the Ishopanishad of the Shukla (white) Yajurveda. We have
already said that this Upanishad is not a part of any Brahmana, but is directly connected with
the Samhita. This is its uniqueness. It is a clarion call of the Truth that all actions or deeds are a
path to knowledge of the Divine. The light of the Isha Upanashad is a worthy bridge between
action and knowledge.


Ishopanishad

Preface


The Isha or Ishavasya Upanishad is the last of the forty chapters of the Shukla Yajurveda. Its
name is derived from the opening word of the first mantra, Purnamadah (the Perfect, the
Complete, the Absolute).

The Yajurveda is also called Karmaveda or Adhvaryu (Somayajna) Veda. Sacrifice is considered
as a true deed. Offering something to the gods is yagna or sacri fice. The person who offers is
called Yajamana. The articles offered represent the yajamana himself. Thus, to offer a thing is
in fact offering ones own self. The rituals of sacrifi ce have grown complex, and help is required
to carrym it out. The Priests, who perform the complex rituals on behalf of the yajamana are
called Ritwi ks. Somayajna (Adhvara), the paramount of the sacrifices, requires four types of
Ritwi ks. The chief of the Ritwi ks, who pours the oblations and performs the physical details, is
called Adhvaryu. According to The Rigveda, He is the creator of the body of the Sacrifice.1
The mantras with whose help he does so are called yajus. According to The Rigveda these
yajus were hidden in the causal-waters as secret Power Centres, through which pass ascending
and descending concentrated streams of consciousness, leading to spiritual realisation. In the
Yajus reside the mysteries of the unknown, the outpouring of the universal life force and
effulgent effusion of the individual consciousness.2 Yajurveda is the repository of all the yaju
mantras, with full details about their use and applications in different sacrifices.

The Krishna (The Black or the Traditional) and the Shukla (the White or the Purified) are the two
streams or schools of Yajurveda. General ly it is said that in Krishna Yajurveda, the Mantra and
the Brahmana portions are mixed, whereas in the Shukla Yajurveda they are separate. But this
seems to be elementary. at the end of the Shatapatha Brahmana of the Shukla Yajurveda, it is
stated that Aditya, the Sun God gave the Shukla Yajus to the great Vajasneya Yagnavalkya who
then revealed them to mankind.3 These yajus being effulgent with Aditya consciousness are
therefore called Shukla.

In the Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad of Shukl a Yajurveda, we find that there were two schools of
the Veda, Brahma and Aditya. After Aditya, the first two acharyas or teachers of the Aditya
school were Ambhini and her daughter Vac, the seer of the famous Devisukta of the Rig Veda.
The effusion of Universal Consciousness that we see in the Devisukta being the inspiration
behind the Yajurveda, there can be no doubt that the Yajurveda will be Shukla, shini ng and
purified by the light of Sun. This thought was behi nd the division of the two schools and so we
can say that unlike the Brahma school, the Aditya School i s definitely the propounder and
upholder of a revolutionary ideal. The acharyas of the school desired to keep the Veda mantras
Pure and Fresh i.e. Ayatayam,or that which is not kept overnight or not stale, by keeping
their knowledge radi ant like the Sun in their hearts. In the Jabala Samhita this school i s called
Ayatayama because it is the propounder or illuminator of Kritsna karma. We find the word
kritsna karma used in its technical sense in the Bhagawad Gita. The Yogi who sees Action in
Inaction and Inaction in Action is KitsnaKarma Krit. We find a great similarity with thi s ideology
of the Bhagawad Gita with the ideology of the Vajasneya Samhita or Shukla Yajurveda
propounded by Yagnavalkya. Later, we shal l see that it is founded on the synthesis of
Renunciation and Enjoyment, of Knowledge and Ignorance, of Becoming and Non-Becoming. It is
based on the ideal of detachment or unattachment even while doing all kinds or deeds. This is
the Sunlit whiteness or Purity of deeds as well as Love for life.

Ishopanishad is in verse form, short in length, having only eighteen mantras in the Kanva-
branch. But even in these few mantras we have an all comprehensive integral and harmonious
vision and philosophy of the Life Divine. It deals with the transformation of greed and lust
tainted black and evil deeds into unattached strong, white, pure and good deeds and its
culmination in the all-embracing Uni versal Consciousness. The Upanishadic Purusha is the
central theme of this Upanishad. It is worth noting that in this Upanishad there is no mention of
the word Brahma as mostly found in other Upanishads. In its place we find the non-relative
absolute term Tat and relative positive terms li ke isha and Purusha. We find also the use
of the word Atman. It is also worth noting that the highest Divinity appears here as Aditya,
The Sun. In the first portion of the Upanishad there is the synthesis of deeds and knowledge,
and at the end we have the outpouring of humble devotion. Thus we have the great synthesis of
Works, Knowledge and Devotion, Karma, Jnana and Bhakti as in the Bhagawad Gita revealed by
Lord Krishna.

While explaining on the Isha Upanishad, the great Acharya Shankaracharya has followed the
text of the Kanva Branch of Shukla Yajurveda. Here we shall do the same. Let us begin with the
Peace Invocation.

PEACE INVOCATION

Aum. That unmanifested Brahman is
perfect, and This manifested Brahman is
also perfect. Fullness emerges from fullness.
Taking fullness from fullness, all that
remains is fullness.
Aum Peace! Peace! Peace!

This peace invocation has been taken from one of the Brahmanas of the Brihadarnyaka
Upanishad. There, fol lowing this mantra we have Om Kham, i .e. Akasha Brahma. Akasha,
the Sky or Ether, is the Ancient One. Vayu or Prana, i.e. Air. i s in the Sky1. Infinite Sky or Void is
completely filled by i nfinite Air, and the Upanishad begins with the invocation of this directly
experiential mystery of the Infinite.

Perfect Fullness, about which the Peace Invocation speaks, i s not found through mental thought
but through Intuition. The mind is always speculati ve, ambi guous; it comes to a concl usion after
collecting and judging many pros and cons, fitting together pieces of knowledge garnered from
different sources, whereas intuitive knowl edge is li ke an illumination, like a sunri se dispelling
the dark. Such luminosity is a characteristic of the Ishopanishad. It is therefore made a part of
the Samhita rather than a Brahmana.

Fullness is the opposi te of Desire or Want. No suffering, sorrow, pain nor the agitation which
accompany desires or crop up when desires are unfulfilled, exist in Fullness. In the language of
the Upanishads the Chitta (the inner organ made up of mind, intellect and ego) of a person
who has achieved Full ness is then beyond all wants, unpierced by desires; he is calm and
tranquil, like a knower of Brahman. Fullness is full of Still Cal m without any waves of
attachment. If such peace and calm become normal in the walki ng consciousness, it brings
about the Vastness of Brahman in the outer consciousness and awakens greatness of self in the
inner consciousness. Putting together these qualities of Fullness the Chhandogya Upanishad
takes the Sky, the Akasha, as its symbol, and says, The Sky that is outside the person (Purusha)
has come down into the inner being, and the Sky that is inside him has consolidated i n the
heart. That Sky i s Full and Still, Motionless like the Unmoving Sea full to the brim3.

Nothing moves in the Sky. This is one aspect of the Sky. But in this very Sky, the Sun rises, in
which the Force of Energy and Light quiver like mercury. In the Upanishads these are called
Brahmakshobha4, the disturbance in Brahman. This disturbance is at the root of Creation,
known as the mutation of the immutable5, the radiation in thousands of rays of Idam (This)
from That (adah). In this Oneness of the united presence of This and That is the total and
complete knowledge of the Sky.

That, something undetermined, unknown, far away, beyond everything, transcendent. A
pronoun, neither masculine He, nor feminine She but That like neuter It a pronoun
avoiding the duality of Purusha and Prakriti, God and Nature, connoting only pure Existence Sat.
That Adah is Brahman; where is this, Idam i s the field of self-consciousness. That is the support
of this. The fullness of our self-consciousness depends on the fullness of the Sky (Akasha). Like
crystal balls we are fl oating in the ocean of Light. Light outsideus is Adah; li ght inside us is
Idam. Both are Full. Fullness of That is gathered, concentrated in this; Fullness of This is
expanded in That. The Lights of both are intermingled, together they are One. What is That is
verily this.

On the transcendental level there is no differentiating between This and That. But on the
Universal Natural level difference exists. Were it not so, there would not have been this
efflorescence of Fullness. This efflorescent splendour takes the form of the efflux and
overflowing of one fullness (Thi s) from the other (That). A cosmi c play of interchanging and
inter-relatedness appeared between Adah and Idam, He and She, Purusha or God and Prakriti or
Nature. It is a dual play the Fullness of That flows out to the Fullness of This, whi le the
Fullness of This endeeavours to rise up and become one with the Fullness of That. This
descending and ascending play of mutual intermingling is nothing but a self-movement of an
all-round Total Fullness a Divine Dance. In the seas below and in the seas above reigns
Fullness of a supreme, Still Silence and Peace, whi le in the mid regions between, quiver subtle
oscill ations of a splashing full vessel in the bill owing waters of the Sea.
That Fullness whi ch completely pours itself in the being of This and makes it Full, suffers no
diminution in doing so. It is an Inexhaustible source whi ch al ways remains full to the brim
despite pouring forth in hundreds of Streams. The Limited Known manifests in the Unlimited
Unknown alone. We can talk of addition and deduction or increase and decrease regarding this
Limited Known alone, not about the Unknown.

Moreover, even this part is also Full and a vehicle of Infinity, just as our body though limited
can be a vehicle of infinite thought, feeling and power. The feeling and knowledge of Infinity
that the meditation on Tinier than the tiniest and Larger than largest (Greater than
Greatest) is three-di mensional. If another dimension is added to it, due to the efflorescence of
Power in the natural body-consciousness, that will be the realisation of a four-dimensional Full
Infinity. In the Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad, the son of Kauravyayani had called this the
Realisation of Brahman due to the complete Union of Akasha and Prana, Sky and Air(stillness
and the Life Force. To realise this experience in ones body is the highest achievement that the
Lust for Life can bestow by the Union of That and This. In That is the Fullness of Knowledge of
Realisation. vi sualisation of the Full of This i n the Full of That. Visualising the Full of This
in the Full of That, we see that at one end is the total melting of the Limited into the
Unlimited at the other end is the play and efflorescence of the Unlimited into the Limited.
While going through this Upanishad we should hold before our minds eye these great truths
proclaimed in the Peace Invocation.

Foreword

Modern Scholars think that the Ishopanishad was compiled during the last stage of the Shukla
Yajurveda. By that time, after many controversies, attacks and counter-attacks, the Vedic Ideas
had taken a definite form. There is no doubt, it is quite evident, in this Upanishad there is a
bold effort to reconcile and harmonize fundamental opposites; to synthesize many opposites
and contradictory ideas coming down from long ages past.

The first reconciliation of oppositions is between Enjoyment and Renunciation, between Action
and Non-action (Pravritti and Nivritti). Thi s opposition is eternal. Acti vity for enjoyment is
natural to man. At its root is the drive of life force, the Desire, the Lust for Life. It grows into a
quest for wealth (Vitteshna) whi ch is nothing but the desire to gather and hoard means and
materials for sai sfying desires, a Greed for wealth. But the unrestricted satisfaction of desires
and wealth is beset with many hindrances and troubles. Moreover, however powerful be the
attraction of pleasures, there is in the nature of man a latent attraction for the Good. So man
has to control his quest for desires and wealth by the rule of Dharma, The higher law of life. In
the Upanishads we fi nd mention of many pillars of Dharma such as Adhyayana (Study),Tapas
(Askesi s or severe sel f-discipline), Yagna (Sacrifi ce), Dana (Charity) and Brahmacharya (Cel ibacy
or Chastity).1 By the practice of such disci plines, discrimination and self-awareness i ncrease in
man which differentiates him from mere animal. When self awareness is strong, the witness-
consciousness, the spirit of detachment (non-attachment) grows in the depths of the inner
being, which makes a man voyager or pi lgri m towards Immortality, a Seeker of Liberati on. The
momentum for Action then changes direction towards Quietude or Jntroversion. The aspiration
for True knowledge arises in the heart of a novice, one who knows not (Na-chi keta).

From the aspiration or urge for knowledge another pair of opposites develops, the opposition
of Knowledge and Deeds, Prosperity and Salvation (Abhyudaya and Nihsreyas) i.e. Material
Good and Spiritual Good. When the inner attraction toward spi rituality is strong, the pleasures
of the outer world become tasteless. As Sri Ramakrishna says, Then by overdoing spiritual
practices, man immol ates himself, his ship then does not return from Kalapani (life
Imprisonment) nor does it wish to return. If it does not wish to return from that high state and
yet has to return, then another kind of opposition arises, the opposition between this worldly
life (Samsara) and Liberation (Moksha), between Bhava (World) and Nirvana (Total Extinction)
between the worldly Prosperity i.e. the attainment of the pleasant (Preyas) and the attainment
of the spiritual Good (Nihsreyas)-the Summum Bonum (Moksha, Nirvans or Kal val ya). Where lies
the solution?

If we control Wealth and Desire by the rule of Dharma, life can be prosperous, there can be
material success in the world as the duality between Action and Nonaction is solved, The urge
or quest for wealth (vitteshna) is satiated. Lokai shna (urge to attain higher worlds) is the inner
counterpart of vitteshna. It is the strong urge to attain, ascend to the worlds of the ever
illumined world of Brahman (Brahmaloka). Even greater than that is the all consuming, all
devouring call of the spiritual state that is beyond all illumined worlds. Beyond the dazzling
sunlit Akasha i s the formless farm of the deeply densely dark akasha of the starless New Moon
Day. Vitteshna had brought about the pleasant, lokai shna had brought about the Good ;
whereas this urge or guest for the Lokottara- that which is beyond all worlds brings about the
Summum Bonum, the highest Good. One who jumps into the bottomless depths of this Formless
Unknown, it is said, may not come back to the shores of the Sunlit worlds of Form.

Like the duality of the Pleasant and the Good, this is another duality of the Good and the
Summum Bonum. What is Summum Bonum? Is it Existence (Sat) or Non-Existence (Asat),
Fullness or Void, Day or Night? In the philosophies (Darshan Shastras) of Bharat-Varsha (India)
especiall y in the Mimamsas (the books whi ch examine or discuss ideas in integrativel y) and
Tarka (Books which follow anal ytical logi cal methods) this last duality has arisen and been
discussed thoroughly. Mimamsa is the philosophy (Darshana) of the Vedic Aryas, whereas Tarka
belongs to the non-Vedic Aryas. Both the streams of Mimamsa (Purva and Uttara i.e. East and
North) are mostly Positive (Those who beli eve in Sat, The Existence) and Life-lovers. In Purva
Mimamsa we get the ideal of the Rishis, the Seers of the Vedas. They accept life fully in all its
forms. The natural result of this acceptance is giving an honourable place to the Householders
life (Grihasthashram) and, without contradicting or superseding i t and yet going beyond it to a
higher life, to the life of a Vanaprastha (who retires to forest retreats) or a Sannyasin (who
renounces the householders life completely). These are the upholders of Uttar-mimamsa
which is based mainly on Vedanta, the Upanishads. Mimamsa, though, does not deny the
householders life; sl owly and steadil y it has been affected and sometimes heavi ly influenced by
the Tarka-prasthan (ways), whi ch are mostly Life-negating. When two different and powerful
ideologies li ve and work together in the same society, there is no wonder that they will
influence one another.

When Yagnaval kya appeared in the firmament of the Bharatiya Darshanas, we see clearly these
two streams, opposing one another. Looking at his life and discourses, we can see that he had
tried to harmonise these two streams and develop an integral philosophy of Life. It was a
mighty effort to bring back an intrinsi c yoga of the Shining Sun (Vaivaswata) whi ch was lost in
the flow of Time, as done later by Sri Krishna. However, l ike Krishnas, his effort too did not
take root in our lives.

Faith and intuition are the base of Mimamsa, whereas askesi s or severe self-discipline and
intellect are the base of Tarka or Meditation. Faith is effortless, natural, rises in the heart
automaticall y, through inner inspiration like sunlight; whereas effort is required in askesi s; the
fire is ignited by stirri ng up the firewood. Beyond Mind is Supermind (Vignana). Intui tion is the
outcome of Supermind; intellect is the result of Thinking by the Mind. The Mind doubts,
reasons; that is natural to it. Intuition does not reason; it gets to truth naturally. The
philosophy (darshana) is meaningful and fruitful, i f opulence of intellect follows intuition. It
happened so in Yagnavalkya. In him the ideology of the Upanishad reached an acme. After him,
slowl y the light of intuition began to diminish; wi th its reflection only the intellect kept awake.
If one tries to establish the absolute superworldl y state with the help of the intellect only, he
or she will definitely face opposition with the Worlds or the worl dly life. As a result, Gautam
Buddha succeeded Yagnaval kya. Following the same stream after a long time we get Adi
Shankaracharya whom we can call Yagnavalkya, influenced strongly by Buddha. Inspi te of much
opposition against (to) his ideali sm (ideol ogy) it has not been possible for Bharati ya Darshan to
completely overcome this opposition of the worldly l ife and the otherworldly life, between this
world (Loka) and the superworld (Lokottara). Therefore we can say, both Sri Kri shna and
Yagnaval kya have fail ed so far in our lives.

The integral or compl ete Life philosophy propounded by Yagnavalkya can only come through
Intuition, from the intuition of Fullness. This Ful lness i s both the Fullness of That (adah) and the
Fullness of This (idam). The smal l banyan tree will ri se higher and higher towards the Sky, at the
same time widening i tself all around with the help of the great and powerful Light of the Sun. It
will then be the Bodhi Tree or the overrising forest of Sambuddha (highly awakened)
consciousness. This is the Life-philosophy of Yagnaval kya and the basis of this Upanishad.