The Kena Upanishad (, ) (also alternatively known as Talavakara Upanishad) is a Vedic Sanskrit text classified as one of the primary or Mukhya Upanishads that is embedded inside the last section of the Talavakara Brahmanam of the Samaveda.Johnston, Charles (1920-1931), The Mukhya Upanishads, Kshetra Books, (Reprinted in 2014)Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 207-213 It is listed as number 2 in the Muktikā, the canon of the 108 Upanishads of Hinduism.
The Kena Upanishad was probably composed sometime around the middle of the 1st millennium BCE. It has an unusual structure where the first 13 are verses composed as a metric poem, followed by 15 prose paragraphs of main text plus 6 prose paragraphs of epilogue. Paul Deussen suggests that the latter prose section of the main text is far more ancient than the poetic first section, and Kena Upanishad bridged the more ancient prose Upanishad era with the metric poetic era of Upanishads that followed.
Kena Upanishad is notable in its discussion of Brahman with attributes and without attributes, and for being a treatise on "purely conceptual knowledge". It asserts that the efficient cause of all the gods, symbolically envisioned as forces of nature, is Brahman. This has made it a foundational scripture to Vedanta school of Hinduism, both the theistic and monistic sub-schools after varying interpretations. The Kena Upanishad is also significant in asserting the idea of "Spiritual Man", "Self is a wonderful being that even gods worship", "Atman (Self) exists", and "knowledge and spirituality are the goals and intense longing of all creatures".Charles Johnston, The Mukhya Upanishads: Books of Hidden Wisdom, (1920-1931), The Mukhya Upanishads, Kshetra Books, (Reprinted in 2014), Archive of Kena Upanishad
Etymology Kena (Sanskrit: केन) literally means, depending on the object-subject context, "by what, by whom, whence, how, why, from what cause".Kena Monier-Williams' Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon, Germany This root of Kena, in the sense of "by whom" or "from what cause", is found the inquisitive first verse of the Kena Upanishad as follows,
The Kena Upanishad belongs to the Talavakara Brahmana of Sama Veda, giving the etymological roots of an alternate name of Talavakara Upanishad for it, in ancient and medieval era Indian texts.Kena Upanishad G Prasadji (Translator), Delhi, pages 1-34
The Kena Upanishad is also referred to as the Kenopanishad (, ).
Chronology The chronology of Kena Upanishad, like other Vedic texts, is unclear and contested by scholars.Stephen Phillips (2009), Yoga, Karma, and Rebirth: A Brief History and Philosophy, Columbia University Press, , Chapter 1 All opinions rest on scanty evidence, an analysis of archaism, style and repetitions across texts, driven by assumptions about likely evolution of ideas, and on presumptions about which philosophy might have influenced which other Indian philosophies.Patrick Olivelle (1996), The Early Upanishads: Annotated Text & Translation, Oxford University Press, , Introduction Chapter
Phillips dates the Kena Upanishad as having been composed after Brihadaranyaka, Chandogya, Isha, Taittiriya and Aitareya (pre-6th century BCE), but before Katha, Mundaka, Prasna, Mandukya, Svetasvatara and Maitri Upanishads, as well as before the earliest Buddhist Pali and Jaina canons.
RanadeRD Ranade, A Constructive Survey of Upanishadic Philosophy, Chapter 1, pages 13-18 posits a view similar to that of Phillips, with slightly different ordering, placing the Kena Upanishad's chronological composition in the third group of ancient Upanishads. Paul Deussen considers the Kena Upanishad to be bridging a period of prose composition and fusion of poetic creativity with ideas.S Sharma (1985), Life in the Upanishads, , pages 17-19 Winternitz considers the Kena Upanishad as pre-Buddhist, pre-Jaina literature.M Winternitz (2010), History of Indian Literature, Vol 1, Motilal Banarsidass,
The text is likely from about the middle of 1st millennium BCE. Many of the ideas found in the Kena Upanishads have more ancient roots. For example, the ideas in verse 2 of the Kena Upanishad are found in the oldest Brihadaranyaka Upanishad's chapter 4.4, as well as the second oldest Chandogya Upanishad's chapter 8.12.
Structure Kena Upanishad has three parts: 13 verses in the first part, 15 paragraphs in the second part, and 6 paragraphs in the epilogue. These are distributed in four khaṇḍas (खण्ड, sections or volumes). The first Khanda has 8 verses, the second has 5 verses. The third Khanda has 12 paragraphs, while the fourth khanda has the remaining 9 (3 paragraphs of main text and 6 paragraphs of the epilogue).
The first two Khandas of the Kena Upanishad are poems, the last two are prose, with one exception. Paragraph 9 is prose and structurally out of place, which has led scholars to state that the paragraph 9 was inserted or is a corrupted version of the original manuscript in a more modern era. Another odd structural feature of the Kena Upanishad's poetic Khandas is verse 3, which has 8 lines (typically marked as 3a and 3b), while all other poetic verses in the first two sections are only 4 lines of mathematical metric construction.
There are some differences in the positioning of the Kena Upanishad in manuscripts discovered in different parts of India. It is, for example, the ninth chapter of Talavakara Brahmana in south Indian manuscripts and as mentioned in the Bhasya (commentary) by Shankara,Max Muller, Talavakara Upanishad, The Sacred Books of the East, Volume 1, Oxford University Press, pages LXXXIX-XCI while the Burnell manuscript of sections of Sama VedaFirst published in Basel, Switzerland in 1878 places it in the tenth Anuvaka of the fourth chapter (inside Jaiminia Brahmana).Hanns Oertel, Extracts from the Jāiminīya-Brāhmaṇa and Upanishad-Brāhmaṇa, Parallel to Passages of the Çatapatha-Brāhmaṇa and Chāndogya-Upanishad, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 15 (1893), pages 233-251
The Kena Upanishad is accepted as part of Sama Veda, but it is also found in manuscripts of Atharva collection. The difference between the two versions is minor and structural - in Sama Veda manuscripts, the Kena Upanishad has four sections, while the Atharva manuscripts show no such division into sections.Eduard Roer, Kena Upanishad, in A Collection of Oriental Works, Bibliotheca Indica, Vol. XV, No. 41 and 50, Asiatic Society of Bengal, page 77
Contents
Nature of knowledge - First khanda The Kena Upanishad opens by questioning the nature of man, the origins, the essence and the relationship of him with knowledge and sensory perception. It then asserts that knowledge is of two types - empirical and conceptual. Empirical knowledge can be taught, described and discussed. Conceptual axiomatic knowledge cannot, states Kena Upanishad. Pure, abstract concepts are learnt and realized instead wherein it mentions that the highest reality is Brahman.
In verse 4, Kena Upanishad asserts that Brahman cannot be worshipped, because it has no attributes and is unthinkable, indescribable, eternal, all present reality. That what man worships is neither Atman-Brahman nor the path to Atman-Brahman. Rather, Brahman is that which cannot be perceived as empirical reality. It is that which "hears" the sound in ears, "sees" the view in eyes, "beholds" the words of speech, "smells" the aroma in breath, "comprehends" the meaning in thought. The Atman-Brahman is in man, not that which one worships outside.
Woodburne interprets the first khanda of Kena Upanishad to be describing Brahman in a manner that "faith" is described in Christianity. In contrast, Shankara interprets the first khanda entirely as monistic.Kena Upanishad with Shankara Bhasya and Anandagiri Tika, Anandashrama Sanskruta Grantavali, New Delhi (in Sanskrit), pages 1-94
Self-awakening is the source of inner strength - Second khanda The second khanda of Kena Upanishad starts with prose paragraph 9 that inserts a theistic theme, asserting that the worshipping of Brahman, described in the first khanda, is deception because that is phenomenal form of Brahman, one among gods. Verses 10 to 13, return to the poetic form, and the theme of what knowing Brahman is and what knowing Brahman is not.Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 210-211 Verses 12 and 13 of Kena describe the state of self-realization (moksha), stating that those who are self-awakened gain inner strength, see the Spiritual Oneness in every being, and attain immortality.Robert Hume, Kena Upanishad, Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Oxford University Press, page 337Max Muller, Talavakara Upanishad, The Sacred Books of the East, Volume 1, Oxford University Press, pages 148-149 Charles Johnston refers to the state as the "Spiritual Man".Charles Johnston, "By Whom" - Kena Upanishad , Theosophical Quarterly 1921-1922, pages 111-115 and 225-232, Kshetra Books, (Reprinted in 2014)
Allegory of three gods and one goddess - Third and Fourth khandas The third section of Kena is a fable, set in prose unlike the first two poetic sections. The fable is an allegory, states Paul Deussen.Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, , page 208 The allegory is, states the theosophist Charles Johnston, a "delicious piece of Sanskrit prose, fascinating in its simple style, and one of the deepest passages in all of Upanishads".Charles Johnston, The Mukhya Upanishads: Books of Hidden Wisdom, (1920-1931), The Mukhya Upanishads, Kshetra Books, (Reprinted in 2014), Archive of Kena Upanishad - Part 3, page 230
The fable begins by asserting that in a war between gods and demons, the Brahman won victory for the gods.Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 211-213Charles Johnston, Kena Upanishad in The Mukhya Upanishads: Books of Hidden Wisdom, (1920-1931), The Mukhya Upanishads, Kshetra Books, (Reprinted in 2014), Archive of Kena Upanishad - Part 3 as published in Theosophical Quarterly, pages 229-232 The gods, however, praised themselves for the victory, saying, "Of us is this victory, of us is this might and glory". The Brahman noticed this. It revealed itself before the gods, who did not recognize and know it. The gods said, "what is this wonderful being?" They delegated god Agni (fire) to go discover who this wonderful being is.
Agni rushed to Brahman. The Brahman asked, "who are you?". Agni replied, "I am Agni, knower of beings". Brahman asked, "if so, what is the source of your power". Agni replied, "I am able to burn whatever is on earth." The Brahman then laid a piece of grass before Agni, and said, "Burn this, then." Agni rushed to the grass and tried his best to burn it. He failed. He turned back and returned to the gods. Agni told the gods, "I am unable to discover what this wonderful being is". The gods then nominated god Vayu (air) to go, and "explore, O Vayu, what this wonderful being is".
Vayu rushed to Brahman. The Brahman asked, "who are you?". Vayu replied, "I am Vayu, I am Matarisvan (what fills the aerial space around mother earth, mover in spaceKena Upanishad Mantra 8, G Prasadji (Translator))". Brahman asked, "if so, what is the source of your power". Vayu replied, "I am able to carry or pull whatever is on earth." The Brahman then laid a piece of grass before Vayu, and said, "Carry this, then." Vayu rushed to the grass and tried his best to lift and carry it away. He failed. He turned back and returned to the gods. Vayu told his fellow gods, "I am unable to discover what this wonderful being is". The gods then turned to god Indra (lightning, god of might) to go, and "explore, O mighty one, what this wonderful being is". "So be it", said Indra.
Indra went to Brahman. There, in the place of Brahman, he found a beautiful woman with knowledge. Her name was Umã. Indra asked Uma, "what is this wonderful being?"