न चेदिहावेदीन्महती विनष्टिः ।
भूतेषु भूतेषु विचित्य धीराः
प्रेत्यास्माल्लोकादमृता भवन्ति ॥ ५॥
॥ इति केनोपनिषदि द्वितीयः खण्डः ॥
na cedihāvedīnmahatī vinaṣṭiḥ .
bhūteṣu bhūteṣu vicitya dhīrāḥ
pretyāsmāllokādamṛtā bhavanti .. 5..
.. iti kenopaniṣadi dvitīyaḥ khaṇḍaḥ ..
Kenopanishad Introduction
Kenopanishad Invocation
Chapter 1 – Verse 1
Chapter 1 – Verse 2
Chapter 1 – Verse 3
Chapter 1 – Verse 4
Chapter 1 – Verse 5
Chapter 1 – Verse 6
Chapter 1 – Verse 7
Chapter 1 – Verse 8
Chapter 1 – Verse 9
Chapter 2 – Verse 1
Chapter 2 – Verse 2
Chapter 2 – Verse 3
Chapter 2 – Verse 4
Chapter 2 – Verse 5
Chapter 3 – Verse 1
Chapter 3 – Verse 2
Chapter 3 – Verse 3
Chapter 3 – Verse 4
Chapter 3 – Verse 5
Chapter 3 – Verse 6
Chapter 3 – Verse 7
Chapter 3 – Verse 8
Chapter 3 – Verse 9
Chapter 3 – Verse 10
Chapter 3 – Verse 11
Chapter 3 – Verse 12
Chapter 4 – Verse 1
Chapter 4 – Verse 2
Chapter 4 – Verse 3
Chapter 4 – Verse 4
Chapter 4 – Verse 5
Chapter 4 – Verse 6
Chapter 4 – Verse 7
Chapter 4 – Verse 8
Chapter 4 – Verse 9
Kenopanishad Closing Prayer
English Translation Of Sri Shankaracharya’s Sanskrit Commentary By S. Sitarama Sastry
It is, indeed, hard to suffer birth, old age, death, sickness, etc., owing to ignorance, being one of the crowd of living beings, such as Devas, men, beasts. (pretas), etc., full of the miseries of Samsara. Therefore if a man, even in this world being authorised and competent, knows the Atman as defined, in the manner already explained, then there is truth; i.e., there is in this birth as a mortal, immortality, usefulness, real existence. But if one living here and authorised does not know the Brahman, then there is long and great misery for him, i.e., rotation in Samsara—one continuous stream of births and deaths. Therefore the Brahmins who know the advantages and the disadvantages as above pointed out, perceive in all things in the universe, immoveable and moveable, the one essence of the Atman, i.e., the Brahman, turn away with disgust from this world, the creature of ignorance consisting in the false notion of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ and having realised the principle of unity, the oneness of the Atman in all, become immortal, i.e., become Brahman itself; for, the Sruti says “He who knows that highest Brahman becomes Brahman itself.”
English Commentary By Swami Sivananda
The Devas entertained the false notion that the victory in the battle was their, though the Lord defeated the Asuras. They became proud and self-conceited.
This Section is generally represented as a later addition. Its prose style has more of a Brahmana character than the verses in the preceding Upanishad section.
From the verse ‘It is not known to those who know’ (Section II, 3), some may argue that whatever exists can be known by proofs, and whatever does not exist cannot be so known and is, therefore, non-existent, like the horns of a hare, a barren woman’s son, or the lotus in the sky. As Brahman is unknown, It does not exist. This parable is introduced in this Section in order that they may not entertain this erronious notion. Or, it is related in order to praise the knowledge of Brahman. Agni and Indra attained pre-eminence among the Devas on account of their knowledge. Or, it shows that it is very difficult to know Brahman, because even Agni and Indra knew Brahman with great difficulty. Or, it is introduced to remove the false notion ‘I am the doer’ in all beings.
The superiority of Brahman is brought out in this story. Brahman is the very life of all gods. The gods derive their power from Brahman only. The story teaches that Brahman should be worshipped.
There is real war inside between good tendencies (Subha Vasanas) and he evil tendencies (Asubha Vasanas), between Sattva and Rajas-Tamas, between virtuous Samskaras and evil Samskaras, between the lower impure mind and the higher pure mind. This is the real war between the Devas and the Asuras.
The senses, the mind and the Prana begin to fight saying ‘We hold together and support this body.’ Prana gains the victory. But Prana also is inert. The source for this prana also is Brahman. The senses, the mind and the prana derive their light and power from Brahman only. They cannot have the knowledge of Brahman. There are presiding deities for the organs, the mind and Prana, viz., Agni, Vayu, Surya, etc. They (the Devas) tried to attain the knowledge of Brahman but failed.
But the jivatman, the individual soul, the Indra, abandons pride, egoism and other faults and attains the knowledge of Brahman through the grace of Mother, Uma, the daughter of Himavan (the purified intellect). All dualities, distinctions, differences vanish for him now.
This is the esoteric significance of the parable of Devas and Asuras.
Kena Upanishad – Verse 5 – Kena-2-5-iha cedavedīdatha – In Sanskrit with English Transliteration, Meaning and Commentary by Adi Shankaracharya (Sankara Bhashya) and Swami Sivananda – Kena-2-5