Importance of Upasana for Self Realization according to Vidyaranya

There is no greater attainment than the attainment of the self, which is within us and which is the basis of all.

Upasana is a meditative work which is helpful for the realization of this self as it makes the mind fit to acquire self knowledge in the later stages. Sankara explains the word Upasana as the total engrossment or complete absorption in the object. “Upasana nama tatparyam”. The great Vidyaranya giving importance to Upasana for self realization explains it in his excellent work, Panchadasi. After presenting the Advaitic truth marvelously in the previous chapters, he expresses the importance of meditation for supreme attainment in Chapter IX named Dhyanadeepa or the lamp of meditation.

Vidyaranya explains about two types of errors which either give correct or incorrect knowledge about the desired thing. The error which gives rise to incorrect knowledge or which does not lead to the goal is called misleading error or Bisambadi Bharama. But the error which gives rise to true knowledge or which leads to fruitful activities (Arthakriya ) is named as Sambadi Bhrama. Mistaking the gleam of a lamp for a gem is called a Bisambadi Bhrama or misleading error. But mistaking the gleam of a gem for a gem is called Sambadi Bhrama or leading error. Though both are the cases of delusion, the later is a fruitful one. Vidyaranya compares Upasana to Sambadi bhrama which is an indirect approach to enlightenment. According to him, by worshipping Brahman, one may get realization, the desired goal just like somebody, by chance obtains any desired object by following a wrong path. According to Vidyaranya, Upasana or the worship of Brahman can lead one to emancipation even though the form of Brahman worshipped is illusory, as Brahman cannot be the object of worship. “Nedam jadidam upasate”.
When the attribute-less Brahman is meditated upon, though the content of meditation is not itself Brahman, the contemplation leads one to Brahma realization. So, those who are fickle minded and are not able to gain true knowledge through the practice of enquiry, for them, great Vidyaranya swami recommends the path of meditation, that is Upasana.

“The leading error leads to the desired goal when it is knowledge. Similarly, meditation on Brahman, when ripened, leads to liberation and becomes real knowledge.” “Jatha sambadi bibhrantih phalakale pramayate, vidyayate tathopastirmuktikale atipakatah”
Panchadasi (IX – 123)

Upasana of udgitha : The Exalted Singer

The highest result of all vedic rites and upasana is the attainment of the state of Prajapati. But there are also different limited results such as wealth,offspring, heaven, etc obtained through some vedic rites and upasana. These limited results can only be obtained through limited knowledge and action and this limitation is due to attachment towards the sense objects of the world which are due to primordial sins etc which are to be overcome for the attainment of the unlimited result ie- the state of being one with Prajapati. With a view to destroy the obstructions to gain the highest result, the upasana of Udgitha is being introduced.

The offspring of Prajapati are of two types, the gods and the demons among which the gods are lesser in number and demons more. They vide with each other for supremacy. The udgitha brahmana of B.U upanisad begins with a parable, the symbolic war between the gods, the forces of truth and righteousness and the demons, the evil forces. These forces are said to be the offsprings of Prajapati, the creator, since everything is his creation. This is a perpetual warfare going on from the beginning of the creation. According to Sankara and Sureswara, this is an inner warfare that goes on between all the individuals. The senses with speech and mind are here designated either as devas (gods) and asuras (demons). Being steeped in knowledge and action prescribed by the scriptures, they become deva (literary meaning lumious) , when they become steeped in worldly knowledge and actions, which have only worldly desires at their ends, they are termed asuras (demons)
As the demonic forces in the individuals outnumber the good, they are termed as the elders. When the evil forces take hold of the individuals, it is the victory of the demons, and when they diminish, it is the victory of the gods.

The gods wanted to surpass the demons by the help of Udgitha in sacrifice. Here the word udgitha neither signifies the act of udgana (recitation in a high pitched voice) nor the middle part of saman but it signifies the karta of the udgitha act or the udgata himself.


In their search for udgitha the gods first approached Vak (speech). They said to Vak “chant for us”. “All right”, said Vak and chanted for them. Vak (speech) chanted for the gods (senses) so far it was useful for them. It is to be noted that without the help of Vak, knowledge activities cannot be performed properly. So the coordination of Vak with the other senses is inevitable. But Vak retained the primary capacity of speech for itself.

The demons came to know that through the singer, the gods would surpass them. So, they approached her and hit her with sins. It is that sin which is expressed when she speaks something improper. The selfish attachment of speech to her own benefit is the loophole through which the demons hit her with sin. This is the primordial sin for which the Vak speaks what is improper.

Likewise, the gods requested the sense of smell, eye,ear and mind gradually but the demons knowning their loopholes hit them with sin for which all the senses including mind grasp both good and evil.

Then the gods requested prana to chant for them and it chanted accordingly. The demons tried to hit her with sin but as soon as they struck it they all were destroyed. As a piece of earth striking against a stone gets destroyed, the demons were crushed into pieces, and scattered to different directions when they struck against the chief prana. This chief prana is the live spirit Jivatma which is the basis of the bodily existence.

Becoming hostile to prana, they were turned powerless. Those who are hostile to such a worshiper become powerless alike.

Thus, the gods regained their divine glory through the help of mukhya prana.
Likewise the worshipper of prana as udgitha conquers death, goes beyond all the sins and attains the state of Prajapati. (God)

Where there is Knowledge there is Happiness

From the very ancient period, our great seers have been trying to find out the ways by which one can realize the ultimate aims of life. They all agree on the point that lack of true knowledge is the cause of all miseries.

Everybody in the world wants to get happiness. But desires cannot lead one to true happiness because the more our desires are fulfilled, the more we desire. So desires cannot give us true happiness and acquiring true knowledge should be our ultimate aim.

In the Upanishads, worldly knowledge is known as apara vidya or avidya (ignorance). But the knowledge of Brahman or Atman, by knowing which one becomes Brahman, the only reality is para vidya (supreme knowledge). Many seers have experienced this state of awareness by which they were able to visualize the one, limitless Brahman everywhere in the manifest world which is the self, the perceiver of everything.
The absolute, the all pervasive consciousness is termed as Atman from the individual point of view and Brahman from the cosmic standpoint. This all pervasive self supports the entire universe as the inner and outer basis of all.
This self cannot be expressed by speech, cognized by the five sense organs, and mind which are the instruments of all worldly knowledge because these sense organs are themselves powered by the self and cannot function without it.
These limited knowers are incapable of knowing the unlimited self. Like this, the finite things of the world are unable to give us the infinite happiness.
The desires of accumulation of wealth will not be able to fulfill the ultimate wealth that can give unending happiness.

Running after the path of pleasure (preyas) does not help anybody to get the endless peace (sreyas).

Like the water in the lotus leaf, life is very unstable. Wealth and youth cannot stand against time and will not be able to save anybody from the misery of death. So everybody should think that they have to reach the ultimate goal of life by attaining which there is nothing more to be attained.
Yam Labdhva Na param labhah – Upanishad.

The self revealing Self

The greatest discovery of man is the discovery of the Self. This self is the Absolute, the all pervasive Consciousness that is termed as Atman (soul) from the individual point of view and Brahman from the cosmic stand point. This Atman cannot be expressed by speech, cognized by the five sense organs and the mind, which are the instruments of all worldly knowledge, but are incapable of doing their work unless they are activated by Atma (self). This self is equally present in a fly,a mosquito and in an elephant. It can neither be illuminated by the sun nor the moon nor the fire.
It is eternal, omnipresent,immovable, constant, everlasting and free from birth and death. Even though the body perishes, the self (soul) doesn't.

Through many months, years, ages, world-cycles, past and future, it is always the same.
It is self revealing.

The Three Advices

The Upanisads contain the highest spiritual revelation of the ancient Indian mind. Among them, the Brihadaranyka Upanisad is the biggest one. In one of its chapters, it presents an interesting symbolic story, famed for its reference in the Waste Land of the great English poet, T.S.Eliot, which is intended to show the required qualities of different types of people with different attitudes and mindsets to pursue the highest spiritual truth . It is stated earlier that upasana (worship) being an intense mental activity of a higher order requires a change in ones attitude towards the objects he encounters. It also requires a special mindset that makes him capable of looking into the essential nature of the things. The three disciplines required for upasana are dama (self control), dana (giving charity or non-avarice) and daya (sympathy or mercy).

The story runs like this. The three types of sons of Prajapati (Lord of beings or God) lived a life of brahmacarya (the life of self control of a disciple) with their father. They are the gods (small divinities like angels), the men and the demons. First the gods approached him. After completing their term the gods requested Prajapati to instruct them to which he only uttered a letter ‘da’ and asked them if they understood what he told. The gods answered in the affirmative and said that the meaning of the letter ‘da’ is damyata ‘control your senses’. Thus the gods understood that Prajapati advised them self-control.

Then the humans went to Prajapati and asked him to instruct them to which he instructed the same letter ‘da’ and asked them if they understood what he taught. The humans, like the gods, thought that they too understood the meaning of the letter ‘da’, but they differed from the gods in its interpretation. They thought that Prajapati advised them to give, datta, or to give up greed.

At last the demons approached Prajapati and besought instruction. To them also he uttered the same letter ‘da’, which appeared to them to mean dayadhvam, ‘sympathise or have mercy’. So, they, the gods, the men and the demons, understood three different meanings from the same instruction. The gods or devas have all other qualities, but they lack self-control because of their craving for amusements and pleasures. For this, they interpreted ‘da’ to mean dama or self-control. The most obvious aim of men in life is to amass as much wealth as possible, since all their worldly fulfillments come out of wealth. So they interpreted the letter to mean non-avarice. The demons, on the other hand, are marked by their cruelty for which they understood ‘da’ to mean dayadhvam, ‘have mercy’. Thus the same word or letter meant different things to different persons.

After narrating this parable, the seer-narrator breaks into a cosmic vision and finds that this voice of the mighty Prajapati has not yet died; till now it reverberates in the thunderous voice of the cloud- “ That this divine voice what the cloud is still repeating (as thunder) da, da and da- damyata, datta, dayadhvam. Therefore, one should learn these three, self-control, charity and compassion.”

Upasana in the Upanisads

The sages know that there is no greater attainment than the attainment of the self, says Sureswara, the chief disciple of Sankara, in the Manasollasa, his commentary on the Daksinamurti Stotra- atmalabhat paro labho nastiti munayo viduh. The greatest discovery of man is indeed the discovery of the self. The ancient seers discovered that the mystery of the whole world remains hidden in one’s own self. They not only discovered this great truth for themselves but also led down some methods for the seekers following which anybody can discover this truth. The Upanisads show us the way of self inquiry intuited by the seers as the chief method of self knowledge. Yajnavalkya said to his wife-atma va are drastavyah srotavyo mantavyo nididhyasitavyah, “O Maitreyi, the self should be realized, should be heard of, reflected on and meditated upon.” Taking these lines from the Brhadaranyaka Upanisad, Acharya Sankara standardized sravana, manana and nididhyana as the chief method of self realization.

Apart from this, the Upanisads describe different forms of upasana through different symbols, names and forms. Though these upasanas have their specific results with reference to their forms and context, they also supplement the chief method of inquiry, i.e. sravana, manana and nididhyasana so far as they make the mind fit for atma-jijnasa. They also give rise to krama mukti even though mukti or emancipation can only be achieved through pure Brahma vidya. Krama mukti is a gradual process through which the individual attains higher and higher forms of life till he attains the status of Prajapati or Isvara as distinct from Brahman which is said to be free from all qualities and actions. All the upasanas as described in the Upanisads have krama mukti as their common goal, which reaches the final point with the attainment of identity with Prajapati (the stage of saguna Brahman). Those who attain this, they discover the true identity of the self at this stage, and get the final emancipation. But self inquiry unmixed with any upasana results in pure Brahma vijnana, which directly gives rise to mukti, direct and immediate, without any gradual process like karma mukti. This is the way Sankaracharya explains the importance and the necessity of the upasanas. Thus, upasana is conducive to the consummation of self knowledge and can be pursued even by those who follow self inquiry as the chief method for Brahma-realization. Even a person who is not capable of making self inquiry can be benefited by upasana which makes the mind fit to acquire knowledge in the later stages.

The ultimate reality known as Brahman in the Upanisads is conceived in two different ways. When it is conceived as free from all attributes, relations, names and forms, it is known as nirguna Brahman. It transcends the world and cannot be grasped by the mind. As such it cannot properly be made an object of upasana. But when it is described as having attributes, in association with maya or its products, cast in names and forms, it is known as saguna Brahman, Isvara or Prajapati in the Upanisads. Brahman which is itself Consciousness, Existence and Bliss, becomes omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent through maya. The Svetasvatara Upanisad says- mayam tu prakrtim vidyat mayinam tu mahesvaram. In the latter form, Brahman becomes the object of upasana. Thus the impersonal becomes personal, the Absolute becomes the God or the infinite number of gods accordingly as one perceives.

The word upasana is derived from the verbal root as with upa (prefix) and yuc (ana) (suffix) which literally means ‘to be near’. Thus, upasana is a sort of awareness when the upasaka comes near his upasya. It is roughly translated as worship. But it has a special significance. Reverence, devotion, engrossment, submission etc are generally the characteristics of worship which are basically emotional traits. But the upanisadic upasana is more than this. Though all these traits characterize the upanisadic upasana, it is more a cognitive and intuitive act than an emotional outburst. It is more meditative than ritualistic. When the worshipper comes closer to the object of worship he gradually becomes engrossed in it. So, upasana is a state of complete absorption in the upasya. This is why Sankaracharya says- upasanam nama tatparyam. It is an unbroken flow of consciousness through which the worshipper enters the very being of the object meditated upon. So, upasana as described in the Upanisads is not simply a passive meditative act, it is more a process of active involvement. Here both the cognitive and the emotive faculties of the mind are fused in a state of total absorption.

Upasana, Karma (Action) and Jnana (Knowledge)

The Veda has two kandas or parts namely, karma or action and jnana or knowledge. The first comprises the major portions of the Brahmanas, generally containing the previous chapters, and the second consists of the Upanisads, coming in the later half of the works though they may sometimes occur in the Samhita part of the Veda. Here, karma signifies the rituals such as the sacrifices as prescribed in the Brahmanas. These are performed with a view to attaining various fruits either in this life or after death in the heaven. Knowledge or jnana means Atma-vidya (Self-knowledge), knowing the Self as identical with Brahman. Apart from these two, there is a third kanda, the upasana kanda, which describes various methods of upasana in different forms of meditation. Sometimes it may be found to be mixed with a little bit of ritual. Different forms of upasana are mainly met with in the Aranyakas and the Upanisads. While the karmakanda aims at various worldly or otherworldly attainments, jnanakanda aims at the attainment of the knowledge of the Self, which gets fulfillment in liberation. But upasana enriches both knowledge and action, as the case may be with reference to the context.


After conceiving the nature of karma, jnana and upasana it is required to ascertain their relationship. As conceived by Sankara, knowledge, in the sense of self-realisation, is always antagonistic to karma. Karma is rooted in ignorance through which there is mutual superimposition between the body, senses, etc. and the self. When one performs karma, one has to feel himself identical with the body, mind and senses and the various worldly relationships and limitations owing to this identification. Since Self knowledge destroys this wrong identification with the body and takes away the various relations created out of this wrong identification, self knowledge and Karma cannot co-exist.


But it is to be noted that knowledge is directly opposed to the actions known as kamya karma which are performed with desires but not to actions intended for purification of the mind. Commenting on the line of B.U “The Brahmanas seek to know him (the self) through svadhyaya (study), yajna (sacrifices), dana (offering), and tapas (penance)”, he says that actions can be conducive to the attainment of knowledge as they purify the mind when they are performed without desire.


Coming back to the relevance of upasana, we notice that, in the Upanisads, it is held subservient to atma-vidya. It partakes both karma and jnana so far as it is employed for the enrichment of these two. According to Sankara, upasana is kartr-tantra which means to be dependent on the agent, the doer, like karma, where as knowledge is vastu-tantra which means to be dependent on the object. Knowledge arises out of inquiry which is direct and immediate. Like any other direct knowledge, viz, the knowledge of the pot, the knowledge of Brahman is also objectively determined. It cannot be prevented or be altered whether one likes it or not. But unlike direct knowledge, upasana is fully dependent on the will, likes, dislikes and the mental setup of the person who undertakes it. So, it can never be vastu-tantra like knowledge. However, upasana can be helpful for both knowledge and action as the case may be. In the case of action, such as the Vedic rites, upasana forms the essence without which actions become meaningless. So, upasana is the rationale behind the actions. But in the context of knowledge, upasana becomes conducive by redirecting the mind towards the Self.