Kena Upanishad – Chapter 1 – Verse 6   «   »

Kena Upanishad – Chapter 1 – Verse 6   «   »

यन्मनसा न मनुते येनाहुर्मनो मतम् ।
तदेव ब्रह्म त्वं विद्धि नेदं यदिदमुपासते ॥ ६॥
yanmanasā na manute yenāhurmano matam .
tadeva brahma tvaṃ viddhi nedaṃ yadidamupāsate .. 6..
6 That which cannot be apprehended by the mind, but by which, they say, the mind is apprehended-That alone know as Brahman and not that which people here worship. 

English Translation Of Sri Shankaracharya’s Commentary By Swami Gambirananda

Manas means the internal organs, mind and intellect being taken as one entity. The word manas, derived from the root man in the sense of that by which one thinks, is common to all organs, since, it embraces all objects. In accordance with the Vedic text, ‘Desire, deliberation, doubt, faith, want of faith, steadiness, unsteadiness, shame, intelligence, and fear-all these are but the mind’ (Br. I. v. 3), mind is that which has desire etc. as its functions. Yat, that-the light of Consciousness illumining the mind-, which; one na manute, does not think nor determine, with that mind, because It rules the mind by virtue of being the enlightener of the mind-. Since the Self, indeed, constitutes the essence of everything, therefore the mind cannot act with regard to its own Self. The mind can think only when it is illumined by the light of Consciousness within. That Brahman, yena, by which;-they, the knowers of Brahman, ahuh, say-; manas, the mind, together with its modes; matam, is tought of, encompassed-. Therefore viddhi, know, tat eva, that very one, the Self of the mind, the internal illuminator, as Brahman. Na idam, etc. is to be understood as before.

English Commentary By Swami Sivananda

He who cannot be comprehended by the mind, but who causes the mind to apprehend all objects, know Him alone as Brahman.

Manah-mind, that by which one thinks; not only Manas, the entire Antahkarana is meant here.

The mind is connected with all organs. It is the ?nder or the chief. The Sruti says: ‘Desire, volition, deliberation, faith, negligence, courage, timidity, shame, intelligence, fear-all these the mind.’

Mind is the Drik or seer, the objects are the Drisya (visible objects). The Atman or Brahman is the Drik or Seer, mind is the Drisya. The mind cannot approach Brahman. The mind is enlightened by the intelligence of Brahman shining within. The mind functions through the light and power of Brahman. The mind is pervaded by Brahman. So say the knowers of Brahman. The interior intelligence of the mind is Brahman. The mind comprehends the world or objects through the power or light or intelligence of Brahman.

The senses carry the sense-impressions or images of objects to the mind. The mind presents them to the Self or the Atman or Purusha. The Purusha beholds them, gazes and fixes His seal and returns them back to the mind, just as the king, or Raja puts his seal on papers and returns them back to the prime Minister or Dewan. Then only comprehension of objects becomes perfect or complete.

Brahman is the silent witness of the activities of the mind.


Kena Upanishad – Verse 6 – Kena-1-6-yanmanasā – In Sanskrit with English Transliteration, Meaning and Commentary by Adi Shankaracharya (Sankara Bhashya) and Swami Sivananda – Kena-1-6