The Kena Upanishad forms part of the Sama Veda. It takes it's name from the first word with which it opens, "Kena" meaning "By whom ?". The Upanishad starts with the seeker's question, "By whom is the mind directed to dwell on an object ?"
This is
a profound question, the
starting point of an inquiry
into the ultimate basis of
perception. The eye registers
an image of the object
and transmits it to the
mind. The mind receives the
signals from the eye, and
records them. But what faculty
directs themind
to do this and later
makes sense of the signals
so received ? The eye and
the mind are obviously physical
instruments directed by and serving
a higher faculty of understanding.
It is clear then, that
it is not the eye,
but a higher "I" that
sees. The Upanishad thus starts
with the question "Who is
that I ?"
The Upanishad
presses this inquiry to
it's logical conclusion, which
points to an ultimate Consciousness
which is not to be
identified with any physical
component of the body, something
that is beyond physical limitations
of any kind.
Like all
the Upanishads, the Kena
quickly traverses the limited
ground covered by modern psychology,
and presses the inquiry further with
uncompromising logic, till
it leads to an ultimate,
eternal, all pervasive consciousness
that pervades all existence,
including our own.
It is the One that
pervades the many, and becomes
the "I" within each of
us, that directs the physical insruments
of which our bodies are
made. It is this
"I" that sees, hears, tastes,
feels, thinks and directs
whatever our bodies do.
The Kena
Upanishad is set in 35
slokas, spread over 4 Parts.
Despite it's brevity, it is
considered one of the more
important Upanishads, because of the
beauty and depth of it's content.
Indeed
the measure of it's
importance is the fact that
Sankara dealt with
it in, not
one, but two separate commentaries.