Kena Upanishad

1. Part 1

   1.1A student asks his teacher who makes the mind think, who starts our breathing, who makes us speak, and what god makes our eyes see and ears hear.
2. 1.2The teacher answers that it is the power behind the ear, mind, speech, breath and eye, the thing that makes them work at all. The wise who see this and stop identifying with the senses become immortal when they leave this world.
3. 1.3The teacher says our eyes, words and thoughts cannot reach this deepest reality. We do not even know how anyone could teach it.
4. 1.4This reality is different from everything we know, and it is also beyond what we don't know. The teacher says this is what the wise teachers of long ago passed down.
5. 1.5Brahman, the ultimate reality, cannot be described in words, yet it is what makes speaking possible. The teacher says that alone is Brahman, not the things people usually worship here.
6. 1.6The mind cannot think Brahman, yet Brahman is what lets the mind think at all. That alone is Brahman, not the things people usually worship.
7. 1.7The eye cannot see Brahman, yet Brahman is what lets us see. That alone is Brahman, not the things people usually worship.
8. 1.8The ear cannot hear Brahman, yet Brahman is what lets the ear hear. That alone is Brahman, not the things people usually worship.
9. 1.9Brahman does not breathe with breath, yet Brahman is what makes breathing happen. That alone is Brahman, not the things people usually worship.

10. Part 2

    2.1The teacher warns the pupil: if you think you know Brahman well, you really know very little. What you know is only a small form of it.
11. 2.2The pupil answers that he does not think he knows Brahman well, but he also cannot say he doesn't know it. Whoever understands this puzzle truly knows it.
12. 2.3The one who admits Brahman is beyond thought really understands it. The one who thinks he has figured it out does not know it.
13. 2.4Brahman is known in a kind of waking up, and through that we gain a life that never dies. The true Self gives us strength, and this knowing gives us immortality.
14. 2.5Knowing Brahman in this life is the true goal of living. If you don't, you face great loss and must be born again and again, but the wise who see the Self in all things become immortal after death.

15. Part 3

    3.1Brahman won a victory for the Devas, the gods. But the gods became proud and thought the victory and greatness were all their own.
16. 3.2Brahman saw their pride and appeared before them. The gods did not recognise it and asked, 'What strange spirit is this?'
17. 3.3The gods asked Agni, the god of fire, also called Jatavedas (the all-knowing), to find out what this spirit was. He agreed.
18. 3.4Agni rushed toward the spirit, and Brahman asked who he was. Agni proudly gave his names: 'I am Agni, I am Jatavedas.'
19. 3.5Brahman asked Agni what power he had. Agni boasted that he could burn everything on earth.
20. 3.6Brahman put a single straw in front of Agni and told him to burn it. Agni tried with all his strength but could not, so he went back and said he could not find out what the spirit was.
21. 3.7Next the gods asked Vayu, the god of wind, to find out what the spirit was. He agreed.
22. 3.8Vayu rushed toward the spirit, and Brahman asked who he was. Vayu proudly answered, 'I am Vayu, I am Matarisvan,' another name meaning the one who moves through the sky.
23. 3.9The mysterious being, which is Brahman (the one supreme reality behind everything), asks Vayu, the god of wind, what power he has. Vayu boasts that he could lift and carry off everything on earth.
24. 3.10Brahman puts a single straw in front of Vayu and tells him to lift it. Vayu tries with all his strength but cannot move it, so he goes back and admits he could not find out who this being is.
25. 3.11Next the gods ask Indra, their king (also called Maghavan, 'the generous one'), to find out who the being is. But when Indra comes near, the being disappears.
26. 3.12In that same space Indra meets a beautifully dressed woman, Uma, daughter of Himavat, the Himalaya mountain. He asks her who that being was.

27. Part 4

    4.1Uma tells Indra that the being was Brahman. She explains that the gods won their victory only because of Brahman's power, not their own. Then Indra understood it was Brahman.
28. 4.2Because Agni (fire), Vayu (wind) and Indra came closest to Brahman, they are honored above the other gods.
29. 4.3Indra is honored most of all, because he came nearest to Brahman and was the first to know it.
30. 4.4In nature, Brahman can be pictured like a flash of lightning: it shines out for a moment and then is gone again.
31. 4.5Inside us, Brahman is what seems to move as the mind. It is what lets us imagine and remember things again and again.
32. 4.6Brahman is called Tadvana, meaning 'the one everyone longs for,' and one should meditate on it by that name. A person who knows this is loved by all beings.
33. 4.7The teacher tells the student that he has now given the secret teaching that was asked for. This is the teaching about Brahman.
34. 4.8The teacher says this teaching rests on self-discipline, self-control and selfless giving. The holy books, the Vedas, support it, and truth is its home.
35. 4.9Whoever truly understands this teaching and leaves all wrongdoing behind reaches a heaven that is endless and can never be lost.