विजये देवा अमहीयन्त ॥ १॥
vijaye devā amahīyanta .. 1..
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.
This and next verse
From the passage that ‘It is not known to those who know,’ some fools may argue that whatever is, can be known by proofs, and whatever is not cannot be so known and is, therefore, non-existent, as the horns of a hare, and Brahman, being unknown, does not exist. In order that they may not fall into that error this parable is introduced; for, the subsequent passages clearly show the folly of thinking that that Brahman who is controller of all in every way, Deva, even superior to all Devas, Lord over lords, not easily known, the cause of the victory of the Devas and of the defeat of the Asuras does not exist. Or (it is related) for eulogising the knowledge of Brahman. How? By showing that it was, indeed, by the knowledge of the Brahman that Fire, etc., attained pre-eminence among the Devas; and Indra specially more than the rest. Or. it shows how difficult it is to know Brahman, because even Fire, etc, with all their great powers, and even Indra. lord of the Devas knew the Brahman only with considerable difficulty. It may be that the whole Upanishad to follow is intended to lay down an injunction (to know the Brahman) or the story may have been intended to show the fallacious nature of the notion of doer, etc., found in all living beings, by contrasting it with the knowledge of the Brahman—fallacious like the notion of the Devas that the victory was theirs. The Brahman already defined won a victory for the benefit of the Devas; the Brahman in a battle between the Devas and the Asuras defeated the Asuras, the enemies of the world and the violators of the limitations imposed by the Lord and gave the benefit of the victory to the Devas for the preservation of the world. In this victory of Brahman the Devas, Fire, etc., attained glory, and not knowing that the victory and glory belonged to the Paramatman, seated in then own Atman, the witness of all perceptions, Lord of the universe, omniscient, the dispenser of the fruits of all Karma, omnipotent, and desirous of securing the safety of the world, looked upon the victory and the glory, as achieved by themselves—the Atman enclosed within the limitations of their own forms, Fire. etc.; that the glory—their being Fire, Air, Indra and the like, resulting from the victory—was theirs and that neither the victory nor the glory belonged to the Lord, over all the Atman within them. So they cherished this false notion.
English Commentary By Swami Sivananda
Brahman obviously knew this false notion of the Devas as He is omniscient, and as He is the inner ruler and director of all beings, as He is the silent witness of all minds. In order to remove their false notion and bless the Devas, Brahman appeared before them in the form of a Yaksha or Great Spirit.
Kena Upanishad – Verse 1 – Kena-3-1-brahma ha – In Sanskrit with English Transliteration, Meaning and Commentary by Adi Shankaracharya (Sankara Bhashya) and Swami Sivananda – Kena-3-1