Śruti / The twelve Upaniṣads / Kena · 2 of 12
2. By what
Kena (केन)
The Kena (केन) belongs to the Sāmaveda, to the Talavakāra (तलवकार) branch, also called Jaiminīya (जैमिनीय). The name is the first word: by what? The opening verse sits below. Mind, breath, speech, eye, and ear are all at work. The question is what sends them. The teaching that follows is that the one by whom the mind is sent is not an object the mind can reach. What is not thought by the mind, and by which the mind is thought: that is Brahman. The ear of the ear, the mind of the mind.
Then the book tells a story so the abstraction has a face. Brahman won a victory for the gods. The gods boasted as if it were their own. Brahman appeared as a yakṣa (यक्ष), a strange being, and the gods did not know it. They sent Agni. The being set a straw in front of him and told him to burn it. Agni could not. They sent Vāyu, and Vāyu could not blow the straw away. They sent Indra. The being vanished. In that place Indra met Umā (उमा), daughter of the snow mountain, and she told him it was Brahman.
The story's point is the boast. Power that cannot burn a straw when the source has withdrawn is not the source. Indra comes closest because he stays long enough to be taught, and even he is taught by someone else. The breakthrough is the opening question, answered by the failure: the god you can send is not the one who sends.
केनेषितं पतति प्रेषितं मनः केन प्राणः प्रथमः प्रैति युक्तः ।
केनेषितां वाचमिमां वदन्ति चक्षुः श्रोत्रं क उ देवो युनक्ति ॥ keneṣitaṃ patati preṣitaṃ manaḥ kena prāṇaḥ prathamaḥ praiti yuktaḥ |
keneṣitāṃ vācam imāṃ vadanti cakṣuḥ śrotraṃ ka u devo yunakti ||
Sent by what does the mind fly, dispatched? Yoked by what does the breath go first? Sent by what do they speak this speech? And who is the god who yokes the eye and the ear?
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| kena (केन) | instrumental of kim (किम्) | By what. Heard keneṣitam with the next word. |
| iṣitam (इषितम्) | past participle of √iṣ (इष्) | Sent. |
| patati (पतति) | present, third person singular | Flies, falls, goes. |
| preṣitam (प्रेषितम्) | past participle of pra-iṣ | Dispatched. |
| manaḥ (मनः) | nominative singular | The mind. |
| prāṇaḥ (प्राणः) | nominative singular | The breath. |
| prathamaḥ (प्रथमः) | nominative singular | First. |
| praiti (प्रैति) | pra plus eti | Goes forth. |
| yuktaḥ (युक्तः) | past participle of √yuj (युज्) | Yoked. |
| vācam (वाचम्) | accusative singular | Speech. Heard inside vācam imām. |
| imām (इमाम्) | accusative singular | This. |
| vadanti (वदन्ति) | present, third person plural | They speak. |
| cakṣuḥ (चक्षुः) | accusative singular | The eye. |
| śrotram (श्रोत्रम्) | accusative singular | The ear. Heard śrotraṃ. |
| kaḥ (कः) | nominative singular | Who. Heard ka before u. |
| u (उ) | particle | And. Indeed. |
| devaḥ (देवः) | nominative singular | The god. Heard devo. |
| yunakti (युनक्ति) | present, third person singular, of √yuj | Yokes. |
नेपालीमा
केन सामवेदको तलवकार वा जैमिनीय शाखाको हो। पहिलो प्रश्न: केले पठाउँछ? मनले सोच्न नसकिने, जसले मनलाई सोच्न लगाउँछ, त्यो ब्रह्मन् हो। सुरुको ऋचा यो पृष्ठमा प्रस्तुत गरिएको छ।
कथामा देवताले जित आफ्नो भने। यक्षको अघि अग्निले पराल जलाउन सकेनन्। वायुले उडाउन सकेनन्। इन्द्रकहाँ उमा आइन् र भनिन्, त्यो ब्रह्मन् थियो। पठाउन सकिने देवता पठाउने होइन।
Where it sits
The melody this school sings is the Sāmaveda sitting. Naciketas is the next narrative.