Sri Isopanisad Answers

Radha Charan Das { SURAT }

Ans. Veda means knowledge. Any knowledge you accept is veda, for the teachings of the Vedas are the original
knowledge. In the conditioned state, our knowledge is subjected to many deficiencies. The difference between a
conditioned soul and a liberated soul is that the conditioned soul has four kinds of defects. The first defect is that
he must commit mistakes. To err is human. This is one defect of the conditioned soul.
Another defect: to be illusioned. Illusion means to accept something which is not: mäyä. Mäyä means "what is
not." Everyone is accepting the body as the self. If I ask you what you are, you will say, "I am Mr. John; I am a rich
man; I am this; I am that." All these are bodily identifications. But you are not this body. This is illusion.
The third defect is the cheating propensity. Everyone has the propensity to cheat others. Although a person is fool
number one, he poses himself as very intelligent. Although it is already pointed out that he is in illusion and makes
mistakes, he will theorize: "I think this is this, this is this." But he does not even know his own position. He writes
books of philosophy, although he is defective. That is his disease. That is cheating.
Lastly, our senses are imperfect. We are very proud of our eyes. Often, someone will challenge, "Can you show
me God?" But do you have the eyes to see God? You will never see if you haven't the eyes. If immediately the
room becomes dark, you cannot even see your hands. So what power do you have to see? We cannot, therefore,
expect knowledge with these imperfect senses. With all these deficiencies, in conditioned life we cannot give
perfect knowledge to anyone. Nor are we ourselves perfect. Therefore we accept the Vedas as they are.
The Vedas are not compilations of human knowledge. Vedic knowledge comes from the spiritual world, from Lord
Krishna. Another name for the Vedas is shruti. Shruti refers to that knowledge which is acquired by hearing. It is
not experimental knowledge. Shruti is considered to be like a mother. We take so much knowledge from our
mother. For example, if you want to know who your father is, who can answer you? Your mother. If the mother
says, "Here is your father," you have to accept it. It is not possible to experiment to find out whether he is your
father. Similarly, if you want to know something beyond your experience, beyond your experimental knowledge,
beyond the activities of the senses, then you have to accept the Vedas. There is no question of experimenting. It
has already been experimented. It is already settled. The version of the mother, for instance, has to be accepted
as truth. There is no other way. Vedic knowledge is most authentic source of knowledge.

Lesson 2
1. How is Bhagavan realisation the most complete understanding of transcendence?

Ans. The Complete Whole, or the Supreme Absolute Truth, is the complete Personality of Godhead. Realization of
impersonal Brahman or of Paramätmä, the Supersoul, is incomplete realization of the Absolute Complete. The
Supreme Personality of Godhead is sac-cid-änanda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1]. Realization of impersonal Brahman is
realization of His sat feature, or His aspect of eternity, and Paramätmä realization is realization of His sat and cit
features, His aspects of eternity and knowledge. But realization of the Personality of Godhead is realization of all
the transcendental features—sat, cit and änanda, bliss. When one realizes the Supreme Person, he realizes these
aspects of the Absolute Truth in their completeness. Vigraha means "form." Thus the Complete Whole is not
formless. If He were formless, or if He were less than His creation in any other way, He could not be complete.
The Complete Whole must contain everything both within and beyond our experience; otherwise He cannot be
complete.
1. How can the living entity realize its completeness?

All facilities are given to the small complete units (namely the living beings) to enable them to realize the Complete
Whole. All forms of incompleteness are experienced due to incomplete knowledge of the Complete Whole. The
human form of life is a complete manifestation of the consciousness of the living being, and it is obtained after
evolving through 8,400,000 species of life in the cycle of birth and death. If in this human life of full consciousness
the living entity does not realize his completeness in relation to the Complete Whole, he loses the chance to
realize his completeness and is again put into the evolutionary cycle by the law of material nature.
Because we do not know that there is a complete arrangement in nature for our maintenance, we make efforts to
utilize the resources of nature to create a so-called complete life of sense enjoyment. Because the living entity
cannot enjoy the life of the senses without being dovetailed with the Complete Whole, the misleading life of sense
enjoyment is illusion. The hand of a body is a complete unit only as long as it is attached to the complete body.
When the hand is severed from the body, it may appear like a hand, but it actually has none of the potencies of a
hand. Similarly, living beings are part and parcel of the Complete Whole, and if they are severed from the
Complete Whole, the illusory representation of completeness cannot fully satisfy them.
The completeness of human life can be realized only when one engages in the service of the Complete Whole. All
services in this world—whether social, political, communal, international or even interplanetary—will remain
incomplete until they are dovetailed with the Complete Whole. When everything is dovetailed with the Complete
Whole, the attached parts and parcels also become complete in themselves.

Lesson 3
1. Answer the following inquiry based upon Mantra 1: “If everything belongs to K• • Ša, can I
take your laundry soap without asking?”

Ans. Lord Krishna is the sole proprietor of everything, being His eternal past & parcel we are entitled to use those
things which are necessary and hence set aside as our quota, but no one should accept other things, knowing well
to whom they belong.
On the basis of above principle I can not take laundry soap or anything belonging to others. But if I really need
laundry soap or anything which belong to others I can humbly ask and on getting permission I am authorized to
use it. Similarly God has created everything and He is the sole proprietor & controller of everything if I need or use
anything I can with following His instructions and those which are set aside as my quota.

Lesson 4
1. Define karma, vikarma and akarma. How would you categorize work done in the isavasyam conception?

Ans. Other life forms are also subject to the cycle of birth and death, but when the living entity attains a human life,
he gets a chance to get free from the chains of karma. Karma, akarma and vikarma are very clearly described in
the Bhagavad-gétä.

KARMA: Actions that are performed in terms of one's prescribed duties, as mentioned in the revealed scriptures,
are called karma.
AKARMA: Actions that free one from the cycle of birth and death are called akarma.
VIKARMA: Actions that are performed through the misuse of one's freedom and that direct one to the lower life
forms are called vikarma.

Of these three types of action, that which frees one from the bondage to karma is preferred by
intelligent men. Ordinary men wish to perform good work in order to be recognized and achieve some higher
status of life in this world or in heaven, but more advanced men want to be free altogether from the actions and
reactions of work. Intelligent men well know that both good and bad work equally bind one to the material miseries.
Consequently they seek that work which will free them from the reactions of both good and bad work. Such
liberating work is described here in the pages of Çré Éçopaniñad.
 Factually, no one has to do anything more than render devotional service to the Lord. However, in the lower
stages of life one cannot immediately adopt the activities of devotional service, nor can one completely stop fruitive
work. A conditioned soul is accustomed to working for sense gratification—for his own selfish interest, immediate
or extended. An ordinary man works for his own sense enjoyment, and when this principle of sense enjoyment is
extended to include his society, nation or humanity in general, it assumes various attractive names such as
altruism, socialism, communism, nationalism and humanitarianism. These "isms" are certainly very attractive forms
of karma-bandhana (karmic bondage), but the Vedic instruction of Sri Ishopanishad is that if one actually wants to
live for any of the above "isms," he should make them God-centered. There is no harm in becoming a family man,
or an altruist, a socialist, a communist, a nationalist or a humanitarian, provided that one executes his activities in
relation with Ishäväsya, the God-centered conception

2. Who is a “killer of the soul?”

Ans. Intelligent human beings must always remember that the soul obtains a human form after an evolution of
many millions of years in the cycle of transmigration. The material world is sometimes compared to an ocean, and
the human body is compared to a solid boat designed especially to cross this ocean. The Vedic scriptures and the
äcäryas, or saintly teachers, are compared to expert boatmen, and the facilities of the human body are compared
to favorable breezes that help the boat ply smoothly to its desired destination. If, with all these facilities, a human
being does not fully utilize his life for self-realization, he must be considered ätma-hä, a killer of the soul. Sri
Ishopanishad warns in clear terms that the killer of the soul is destined to enter into the darkest region of ignorance
to suffer perpetually.

Lesson 5
1. Why can even the great demigods misunderstand Lord Krishna’s position?

Ans. In the Bhagavad-gétä (10.2) the Lord says that not even the great gyanis and suras {Demigods} can know
Him. The dominating demigods who are empowered to control and administer such natural phenomena as air,
light and rain are all classified within the marginal potency of the Absolute Person. Conditioned souls are
accustomed to reaching conclusions according to their capacity for understanding, but the Supreme Lord is not
subject to our limited capacity for understanding. It is for this reason that the Upaniñads warn us that no one can
understand the Lord by his own limited potency. Demigods are also conditioned souls like us, hence they also
misunderstand The Supreme Lord, as we find in Goverdhan Lila & Brahm Vimohan Lila also.
Krishna is the origin of everyone & everything and no one can know his/her origin at its own, covered by the
material illusory energy of the Lord.

1. What do contradictory qualities of the Lord prove?

Ans. Here is a description of some of the Supreme Lord's transcendental activities, executed by His inconceivable
potencies. The contradictions given here prove the inconceivable potencies of the Lord. "He walks, and He does
not walk. He is far away, but He is very near as well. He is within everything, and yet He is outside of everything."
Ordinarily, if someone can walk, it is illogical to say he cannot walk. But in reference to God, such a contradiction
simply serves to indicate His inconceivable power. With our limited fund of knowledge we cannot accommodate
such contradictions, and therefore we conceive of the Lord in terms of our limited powers of understanding. For
example, the impersonalist philosophers of the Mäyäväda school accept only the Lord's impersonal activities and
reject His personal feature. But the members of the Bhägavata school, adopting the perfect conception of the Lord,
accept His inconceivable potencies and thus understand that He is both personal and impersonal. The bhägavatas
know that without inconceivable potencies there can be no meaning to the words "Supreme Lord."

Lesson 6
1. How is the Madhyama Vaisnava different from the Kanistha?

Ans. The Supreme Lord's presence is realized in three stages. The kanishta-adhikäri is in the lowest stage of
realization. He goes to a place of worship, such as a temple, church or mosque, according to his religious faith,
and worships there according to scriptural injunctions. Devotees in this stage consider the Lord to be present at
the place of worship and nowhere else. They cannot ascertain who is in what position in devotional service, nor
can they tell who has realized the Supreme Lord. Such devotees follow the routine formulas and sometimes
quarrel among themselves, considering one type of devotion better than another. These kaniñöha-adhikärés are
actually materialistic devotees who are simply trying to transcend the material boundary to reach the spiritual
plane.
Those who have attained the second stage of realization are called madhyama-adhikärés. These devotees
observe the distinctions between four categories of being: (1) the Supreme Lord; (2) the devotees of the Lord; (3)
the innocent, who have no knowledge of the Lord; and (4) the atheists, who have no faith in the Lord and hate
those in devotional service. The madhyama-adhikäré behaves differently toward these four classes of person. He
adores the Lord, considering Him the object of love; he makes friends with those who are in devotional service; he
tries to awaken the dormant love of God in the hearts of the innocent; and he avoids the atheists, who deride the
very name of the Lord.

2. From Mantra 7, please explain two ways to understand how the soul and God are one.

Ans. The living entities are qualitatively one with the Supreme Lord, just as the sparks of a fire are qualitatively
one with the fire. Yet sparks are not fire as far as quantity is concerned, for the quantity of heat and light present in
the sparks is not equal to that in fire. The mahä-bhägavata, the great devotee, sees oneness in the sense that he
sees everything as the energy of the Supreme Lord. Since there is no difference between the energy and the
energetic, there is the sense of oneness. Although from the analytical point of view heat and light are different from
fire, there is no meaning to the word "fire" without heat and light. In synthesis, therefore, heat, light and fire are the
same.

To use another example, the quantity of salt present in a drop is never comparable to the quantity of salt present in
the complete ocean, but the salt present in the drop is qualitatively equal in chemical composition to all the salt
present in the ocean. If the individual living being were equal to the Supreme Lord both qualitatively and
quantitatively, there would be no question of his being under the influence of the material energy. In the previous
mantras it has already been discussed that no living being—not even the powerful demigods—can surpass the
Supreme Being in any respect. Therefore ekatvam does not mean that a living being is equal in all respects to the
Supreme Lord. It does, however, indicate that in a broader sense there is one interest, just as in a family the
interest of all members is one, or in a nation the national interest is one, although there are many different
individual citizens. Since the living entities are all members of the same supreme family, their interest and that of
the Supreme Being are not different.

Lesson 7
1. What is the value of understanding that the Lord has no veins?

Ans. Here is a description of the transcendental and eternal form of the Absolute Personality of Godhead. The
Supreme Lord is not formless. He has His own transcendental form, which is not at all similar to the forms of the
mundane world. The forms of the living entities in this world are embodied in material nature, and they work like
any material machine. The anatomy of a material body must have a mechanical construction with veins and so
forth, but the transcendental body of the Supreme Lord has nothing like veins. It is clearly stated here that He is
un-embodied, which means that there is no difference between His body and His soul. Nor is He forced to accept
a body according to the laws of nature, as we are. In materially conditioned life, the soul is different from the gross
embodiment and subtle mind. For the Supreme Lord, however, there is never any such difference between Him
and His body and mind. He is the Complete Whole, and His mind, body and He Himself are all one and the same.
 2. How can knowledge be considered worse than ignorance?
Ans. This mantra offers a comparative study of vidyä and avidyä. Avidyä, or ignorance, is undoubtedly dangerous,
but vidyä, or knowledge, is even more dangerous when mistaken or misguided. This mantra of Sri Ishopanishad is
more applicable today than at any time in the past. Modern civilization has advanced considerably in the field of
mass education, but the result is that people are more unhappy than ever before because of the stress placed on
material advancement to the exclusion of the most important part of life, the spiritual aspect.
As far as vidyä is concerned, the first mantra has explained very clearly that the Supreme Lord is the proprietor of
everything and that forgetfulness of this fact is ignorance. The more a man forgets this fact of life, the more he is in
darkness. In view of this, a godless civilization directed toward the so-called advancement of education is more
dangerous than a civilization in which the masses of people are less "educated."
In the language of the Bhagavad-gétä (7.15), people who are engaged in gross sense gratification are müdhas—
asses. The ass is a symbol of stupidity. Those who simply engage in the profitless pursuit of sense gratification are
worshiping avidyä, according to Çré Éçopaniñad. And those who play the role of helping this sort of civilization in
the name of educational advancement are actually doing more harm than those who are on the platform of gross
sense gratification. The advancement of learning by a godless people is as dangerous as a valuable jewel on the
hood of a cobra. A cobra decorated with a valuable jewel is more dangerous than one not decorated. In the Hari-
bhakti-sudhodaya (3.11.12), the advancement of education by a godless people is compared to decorations on a
dead body. In India, as in many other countries, some people follow the custom of leading a procession with a
decorated dead body for the pleasure of the lamenting relatives. In the same way, modern civilization is a
patchwork of activities meant to cover the perpetual miseries of material existence. All such activities are aimed
toward sense gratification. But above the senses is the mind, and above the mind is the intelligence, and above
the intelligence is the soul. Thus the aim of real education should be self-realization, realization of the spiritual
values of the soul. Any education which does not lead to such realization must be considered avidyä, or
nescience. And to culture such nescience means to go down to the darkest region of ignorance.

Lesson 8
1. What are some of the qualifications of a dhira?
Ans. 1.who is never disturbed by the changes of the material world,
2. The bona fide spiritual master, who has also heard the çruti-mantras, or Vedic knowledge, from his undisturbed
äcärya,
3. Never presents anything that is not mentioned in the Vedic literature.
4. The bona fide spiritual master i.e. dhira cannot say that all paths lead to the same goal and that anyone can
attain this goal by his own mode of worship of the demigods or of the Supreme or whatever. But the so-called
spiritual masters adhira say that any and all paths will take one to the supreme goal.
5. He does not manufacture self-invented method of spiritual realization.
6. He must be a devotee and friend of Lord Krishna,
7. He does not interprets or translate message of Bhagwad Gita in his own fashion.
8. He is a surrendered soul to Lord Sri Krishna as Lord has advised in Bhagwad Gita.
9. He clearly understand difference between Sambhuti ( absolute) and asambhuti (relative truths) hence not
confused or misguided about it and hence takes shelter of Sri Krishna and neither worships demi-gods or
impersonal feature nor encourages others for same.

2. What is the value of Vedic activities of religious sense gratification?

Ans. The problems of life cannot be solved simply by going to the moon planet or to some other planet above or
below it. Therefore Çré Éçopaniñad advises us not to bother with any destination within this dark material
universe, but to try to get out of it and reach the effulgent kingdom of God. There are many pseudo worshipers
who become religionists only for the sake of name and fame or for various sort of gross or subtle forms of sense
gratification. Such pseudo religionists do not wish to get out of this universe and reach the spiritual sky. They only
want to maintain the status quo in the material world under the garb of worshiping the Lord. The atheists and
impersonalists lead such foolish pseudo religionists into the darkest regions by preaching the cult of atheism.

Lesson 9

1. Briefly explain why one cannot know what the Absolute Truth is by negation.

Ans. Many philosophers and great gyanis, or mystics, try to distinguish the Absolute from the relative by their tiny
brain power. This can only help them reach the negative conception of the Absolute without realizing any positive
trace of the Absolute. Definition of the Absolute by negation is not complete. Such negative definitions lead one to
create a concept of one's own; thus one imagines that the Absolute must be formless and without qualities. Such
negative qualities are simply the reversals of relative, material qualities and are therefore also relative. By
conceiving of the Absolute in this way, one can at the utmost reach the impersonal effulgence of God, known as
Brahman, but one cannot make further progress to Bhagavän, the Personality of Godhead.

2. How would you counter someone who preached that “all paths lead to the same goal”?

Ans. Nowhere in authentic scriptures is it said that one will ultimately reach the same goal by doing anything or
worshiping anyone. Such foolish theories are offered by self-made "spiritual masters" who have no connection with
the paramparä, the bona fide system of disciplic succession. The bona fide spiritual master cannot say that all
paths lead to the same goal and that anyone can attain this goal by his own mode of worship of the demigods or of
the Supreme or whatever. Any common man can very easily understand that a person can reach his destination
only when he has purchased a ticket for that destination. A person who has purchased a ticket for Calcutta can
reach Calcutta, but not Bombay. But the so-called spiritual masters say that any and all paths will take one to the
supreme goal. Such mundane and compromising offers attract many foolish creatures, who become puffed up with
their manufactured methods of spiritual realization. The Vedic instructions, however, do not uphold them. Unless
one has received knowledge from the bona fide spiritual master who is in the recognized line of disciplic
succession, one cannot have the real thing as it is.

Lesson 10
1. What is the main theme of Manta 14 and purport?
Ans. One should know perfectly the Personality of Godhead Çré Kåñëa and His transcendental name, form,
qualities and pastimes, as well as the temporary material creation with its temporary demigods, men and animals.
When one knows these, he surpasses death and the ephemeral cosmic manifestation with it, and in the eternal
kingdom of God he enjoys his eternal life of bliss and knowledge.
By its so-called advancement of knowledge, human civilization has created many material things, including
spaceships and atomic energy. Yet it has failed to create a situation in which people need not die, take birth again,
become old or suffer from disease.
Material scientists and politicians are trying to make this place deathless because they have no information of the
deathless spiritual nature. This is due to their ignorance of the Vedic literature, which contains full knowledge
confirmed by mature transcendental experience. Unfortunately, modern man is averse to receiving knowledge
from the Vedas, Puränas and other scriptures.
Material scientists and politicians are trying to make this place deathless because they have no information of the
deathless spiritual nature. This is due to their ignorance of the Vedic literature, which contains full knowledge
confirmed by mature transcendental experience. Unfortunately, modern man is averse to receiving knowledge
from the Vedas, Puränas and other scriptures.

2. How does Mantra 15 prove the supremacy of the personal feature of Godhead?
Ans. "I am the basis of the impersonal Brahman, which is immortal, imperishable and eternal and is the
constitutional position of ultimate happiness." Brahman, Paramätmä and Bhagavän are three aspects of the same
 Absolute Truth. Brahman is the aspect most easily perceived by the beginner; Paramätmä, the Supersoul, is
realized by those who have further progressed; and Bhagavän realization is the ultimate realization of the Absolute
Truth. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gétä (7.7), where Lord Kåñëa says that He is the ultimate concept of the
Absolute Truth: mattah paratarah nänyat. Therefore Krishna in His personal form is the source of the brahmajyoti
as well as the all-pervading Paramätmä.
In the Bhagavad-gétä (6.46-47) there is a comparative analysis of the three types of transcendentalists—the
worshipers of the impersonal Brahman (jïänés), the worshipers of the Paramätmä feature (yogés) and the
devotees of Lord Çré Kåñëa (bhaktas). It is stated there that the gyänis, those who have cultivated Vedic
knowledge, are better than ordinary fruitive workers, that the yogés are still greater than the jïänés, and that
among all yogés, those who constantly serve the Lord with all their energies are the topmost. In summary, a
philosopher is better than a laboring man, a mystic is superior to a philosopher, and of all the mystic yogés, he
who follows bhakti-yoga, constantly engaging in the service of the Lord, is the highest. Çré Éçopaniñad directs us
toward this perfection.

Lesson 11
1. How are the Lord and the soul different according to the final verses of Sri Isopanisad?
Ans. In these mantras Jiva the soul is praying to the Supreme Lord means both are different one is dependant on
the other. One is maintainer and one is maintained.
One is weak and the other is almighty.
The jiva suffers due to being entrapped in material bondage under influence of illusory energy of The Lord but the
Lord is Supreme controller Who can by His will and causeless mercy can award liberation.
The Lord is like Sun and the jivas are like sunrays. The sun and its rays are one and the same qualitatively.
Similarly, the Lord and the living entities are one and the same in quality. The sun (GOD) is one, but the molecules
of the sun's rays (JIVA or SOULS) are innumerable.
The Lord is addressed as fire because He can burn anything into ashes, including the sins of the surrendered soul
And the jivas are like innumerable sparks of that fire.

2. How does the Lord assist His devotees in coming to Him?

Ans. The Lord fully maintains His unalloyed devotees, and He guides them progressively on the path toward
devotional perfection. As the leader of His devotees, He ultimately awards the desired results of devotional service
by giving Himself to them. The devotees of the Lord see the Lord eye to eye by His causeless mercy; thus the
Lord helps His devotees reach the super most spiritual planet, Goloka Vrindävana. Being the creator, He can
bestow all necessary qualifications upon His devotees so that they can ultimately reach Him.
The Lord always helps the pure devotees by imparting necessary knowledge within their hearts, and thus out of
His special favor He dissipates all the darkness of ignorance. The speculative philosophers and yogés cannot
imagine this, because they more or less depend on their own strength. As stated in the Katha Upanishad (1.2.23),
the Lord can be known only by those whom He favors, and not by anyone else. Such special favors are bestowed
upon His pure devotees only.

Lesson 12
1. What two ways does the Lord guide the devotee?

Ans. The Lord fully maintains His unalloyed devotees, and He guides them progressively on the path toward
devotional perfection.:
a. As the leader of His devotees, He ultimately awards the desired results of devotional service by giving
Himself to them. The devotees of the Lord see the Lord eye to eye by His causeless mercy; thus the Lord
helps His devotees reach the supermost spiritual planet, Goloka Våndävana. Being the creator, He can
bestow all necessary qualifications upon His devotees so that they can ultimately reach Him.
b. The Lord always helps the pure devotees by imparting necessary knowledge within their hearts, and
thus out of His special favor He dissipates all the darkness of ignorance. The speculative philosophers and
yogés cannot imagine this, because they more or less depend on their own strength. As stated in the Kaöha
Upaniñad (1.2.23), the Lord can be known only by those whom He favors, and not by anyone else.
Such special favors are bestowed upon His pure devotees only.

3. Is birthright a qualification for knowing Krsna?

Ans. It is not that one simply becomes proud of his high parentage. Just as being born the son of a big man
affords one a chance to become a big man, so being born the son of a brähmana gives one a chance to become a
brähmaëa. But such a birthright is not everything, for one still has to attain the brahminical qualifications for
himself. As soon as one becomes proud of his birth as the son of a brähmaëa and neglects to acquire the
qualifications of a real brähmaëa, he at once becomes degraded and falls from the path of self-realization. Thus
his life's mission as a human being is defeated.
A devotee automatically attains the qualifications of an expert brähmaëa authorized to perform sacrifices, even
though the devotee may not have taken his birth in a brähmaëa family. Such is the omnipotence of the Lord. He
can make a man born in a brähmaëa family as degraded as a lowborn dog-eater, and He can also make a lowborn
dog-eater superior to a qualified brähmaëa simply on the strength of devotional service.
Thus there is no birth right that can qualify one to know Krishna, but the sincere desire of the person and mercy of
the devotees are the only cause that can make anyone eligible to know Krishna irrespective of any birth.