from the
Upanishads
Translated by Swami Prabhavananda and Frederick Manchester
The Upanishads are the part of the Vedas that teach philosophy. The word upanishad means “sitting by devotedly,” as a student sits near his guru to learn. This excerpt is taken from the Kena Upanishad. It explains the nature of the Supreme God, called Brahman in Sanskrit.
AS YOU READ Try to sum up the meaning of each sentence in your own words.
Once the Gods won a victory over the demons, and though they had done so only through the power of Brahman, they were exceedingly vain. They thought to themselves, “It was we who beat our enemies, and the glory is ours.”
Brahman saw their vanity and appeared before them as a nature spirit. But they did not recognize Him.
Then the other Gods said to the God of fire, “Fire, find out for us who this mysterious nature spirit is.”
“Yes,” said the God of fire, and approached the spirit. The spirit said to him: “Who are you?”
“I am the God of fire. As a matter of fact, I am very widely known.”
“And what power do you wield?”
“I can burn anything on Earth.”
“Burn this,” said the spirit, placing a straw before him. The God of fire fell upon it with all his might, but could not consume it. So he ran back to the other Gods and said, “I cannot discover who this mysterious spirit is.”
Then said the other Gods to the God of wind: “Wind, can you find out for us who he is?”
“Yes,” said the God of wind, and approached the spirit. The spirit said to him: “Who are you?”
The Vedas and Upanishads are written in Sanskrit, a language that is thousands of years old
“I am the God of wind.
As a matter of fact, I am very widely known. I fly swiftly through the heavens.”
“And what power do you wield?”
“I can blow away anything on Earth.”
“Blow this away,” said the spirit, placing a straw before him. The God of wind fell upon it with all his might, but was unable to move it. So he ran back to the other Gods and said, “I cannot discover who this mysterious spirit is.”
Then said the other Gods to Indra, greatest of them all, “O respected one, find out for us, we pray you, who he is.”
“Yes,” said Indra and humbly approached the spirit. But the
spirit vanished, and in his place stood Goddess Uma, well adorned and of exceeding beauty. Beholding her, Indra asked:
“Who was the spirit that appeared to us?”
“That,” answered Uma, “was Brahman. Through Him it was, not of yourselves, that you attained your victory and your glory.”
Thus did Indra, and the God of fire, and the God of wind, come to recognize Brahman, the Supreme God.
1. Analyzing Hindus believe that the Supreme God is immanent. That means He exists everywhere in the universe, in everyone and everything. How does this belief appear in the story?
2. Comparing What is the difference between Brahman, the Supreme God, and the other Gods introduced here—Indra, the God of fire and the God of wind?
This verse says that the Gods were vain.
What test did the Supreme God put them through?
Indra took a different approach to finding out who the spirit was.
Why did he succeed when the others failed?
The sacred sound aum is chanted at the beginning and end of most prayers
Word Help
philosophy
a theory or attitude that guides behavior
vain
excessively proud
mysterious
unknown
consume
to destroy completely, as by fire
adorned
beautifully dressed
beholding
looking at something remarkable
attained
won; achieved