Isa Upanisad [15]

By Paramahamsa Hariharananda

hiranmayena patrena satyasyapihitam mukham tat tvam pusann apavrnu satya-dharmaya drstaye

In this famous shloka of the Isha Upanishad the rishi is explaining that almost every human being is engrossed in delusion, illusion, and error, whether he is engrossed in sambhuti or osambhuti, whether he is engrossed in vidya or avidya, whether he is highly religious or only on the way to God.

Most People Are in Non-God State.

People are remaining mostly in a non-God stage. The rishi is telling them, hiranmayena patrena satyasyapihitam mukham. This means that the whole world is covered with hiranmaya patra, or a golden plate. Here the rishi wrote about a golden plate, because it is very costly, dazzling, attractive, and desirable, but the real meaning of the golden plate is delusion, illusion, and error. If you search the mind of every human being, you will see his mind is only absorbed with material things or absorbed in his activities or absorbed in family, wife and children. If he holds a high post, his mind is absorbed in pride, vanity, and self-arrogance. If he is an extreme philosopher, his mind is engrossed with educational ego. He thinks he is very intelligent, and his understanding is above all. Whatever he has understood, he thinks himself highly realized, all-knowing, and the best of other monks. Everywhere we find people's minds absorbed in delusion, illusion and error. A good physical culturist's mind is always full of vanity, as if he is the monarch of all. He surveys the beauty of man or woman, compares his health with that of others, and gets extreme vanity. He feels that the world is within his grip. That is also delusion. People Think They Know, But They Know Not.

No one knows the future, when death will come, when he is to leave the world. Each person is seeing death every day, but he does not feel that he may die just now. That is also delusion (golden plate). So the shloka means God-realization and salvation are covered with this golden plate, that is, the delusion, illusion, and error.

Life is very short, difficulties are many, monks are many. There are innumerable spiritual books. There are many gurus in the world, but there are very few disciples in the world who are true seekers. They should learn the shortcut technique. Madhu-lubdhayatha bhramrapuspat puspantaram vrajetjnana-lubdha tatha sisya guru-gurvantara vrajet. The bee is seeking honey from one flower after another. If it does not get honey immediately, it goes to another flower. Again if it does not get honey, it runs after another flower.

Human Beings Are Born For Self-Realization.

Man is born for Self-realization, and his life is very short. He should not make any delay for his Self-realization. He should go to a realized guru and should meditate nicely according to his guidance. He should get super-consciousness and the practical touch-sensation in the whole body. He should hear the talk of God the whole day. He should see light all over the universe, and he should feel balance of mind by which he can change his nature and character, habits, and behavior. If he does not get all of this, then he should run to another flower. That means he should go to another guru. If he fails to earn extreme calmness, which is godliness, then he should not remain on the same flower. He should change his guru to one from whom he can earn extreme calmness. Human heart, mind, and intellect are always fickle and are absorbed in worldly matters. Guru will transform the disciple's mind into divine consciousness where he will only perceive oneness, divineness, salvation, peace, and joy. In every moment we should ask our conscience whether we are advancing towards the divine goal. God made men with his own image, and He breathed into their nostrils His own breath, and they became human beings. So we should remain always conscious about our delusion and ask our conscience whether we are the image of God, whether God is breathing through our nostrils, and whether we are proceeding quickly towards God or not.

Everyday we chant this mantra from the fifteenth shloka of Isha Upanishad and pray, "O God, won't you remove the golden plate - delusion, illusion, and error, ego attachment, vanity, etc., and always open my third eye by which I will constantly feel that you made me with your own image, so my potency is divine potency, and I will be divine only."

The needle of the compass always points towards the north. Similarly, the compass of my mind is always on the "north," that is, to my pituitary and fontanelle, to His presence. Constantly I will feel that I am fortunate. I am a man in God, God in man.
Tat tvam pusann apavrnu satya-dharmaya drstaye. Here, pusann meansposanat itipusan. This refers to the air, the supra-electronic force of every human being, which is constantly creating, maintaining, and destroying us through our inhalation and exhalation. God is constantly inhaling through our nose, so we are alive. We are growing. We are evolving. Who is growing and evolving and giving divine mood? He is called pusan.

The sun is called pusana. Posanat itipusan. The Soul is abiding in the body. The Soul is also called pusana, because in every moment the Soul is inhaling. Through this we are alive and according to our inhalation and exhalation the Soul is giving us different dispositions. God has created passion, anger, avarice, greed, pride, delusion, illusion, suspicion and so many negative things. He has given this only for our evolution. It is why He has created the whole universe. All matter and objects are also the living presence of the Soul. This is given in the first shloka of Isha Upanishad where it is written, tena tyaktena bhunjitha magridhah kasya svid dhanam.

When you are a baby, you have no youthful stage. When you have attained youthful stage, you are attracted to a youthful girl. You want to marry her. That marriage sense is given by the Soul. God has given the desire for a wife, which is the union of Soul and Soul.

So you should feel that it is the desire of God. You should feel that it is the union of Soul with Soul. If you feel this, then it is your own property. You can remain detached and remember that if there is no inhalation in the wife, you will not touch her. The one Soul is merging with another Soul, and through this you are evolving. "

Ma gridhah kasya svid dhanam. " Passion is your own property. It is given by God, so it is the desire of God. You are not stealing your passion. It is automatically given by God to you, and accordingly you are mixing divinely with God. He is evolving you towards God through your desire. So your Soul is pusana. You will act as God has given you desire. The doer is God.

The sun is also called pusan because the sun is maintaining, growing, developing, and evolving all the food-grains and the human life. All life on earth is alive only due to the sun. If the sun is not in the sky, we cannot see anything. We do not get impetus to do any work. We cannot judge what is right and what is wrong. The sun is revealing everything in the universe.

So the rishi is humbly requesting the Sun, "O living Soul, I feel that you are the only living God in the universe. You are maintaining and evolving me and also you are leading me to the real path. I, therefore, wholeheartedly request: O Sun, please do not lead me in the evil path, the wrong path. You evolve me only by the royal road, so I can feel that you have created me only to perceive Thee and realize Thee within my life-span. You are abiding in every human being as Soul. So everyone should seek Thee within his body and even in the whole universe, because there is nothing in the universe without Thee. I bow to Thee."

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