Isopanishad Text 6
Back to 'Books' Page	English page
Back Home	Translate page to German French Italian Norwegian Portugese Spanish

yas tu sarvani bhutany
atmany evanupasyati
sarva-bhutesu catmanam
tato na vijugupsate

yah--he who; tu--but; sarvani--all; bhutani--living entities; atmani--in relation with the Supreme Lord; eva--only; anupasyati--observes in a systematic way; sarva-bhutesu--in every living being; ca--and; atmanam--the Supersoul; tatah--thereafter; na--not; vijugupsate--hates anyone.

TRANSLATION

He who sees everything in relation to the Supreme Lord, who sees all entities as His parts and parcels and who sees the Supreme Lord within everything, never hates anything nor any being.

PURPORT

This is a description of the maha-bhagavata, the great personality who sees everything in relation to the Supreme personality of Godhead. There are three stages to realization of the Supreme Lord's presence. The kanistha-adhikari is in the lower stage of realization. He goes to one place of worship, such as a temple, church or mosque, according to his religious faith, and worships there according to scriptural injunctions. Such a devotee considers the Lord to be present at the place of worship and nowhere else. He cannot ascertain who is in what position in devotional service, nor can he tell who has realized the Supreme Lord. Such devotees follow the routine formulas and sometimes quarrel amongst themselves, considering one type of devotion better than another. These kanistha-adhikaris are actually materialistic devotees who are simply trying to transcend the material boundaries in order to reach the spiritual plane.

Those who have attained the second stage of realization are called madhyama-adhikaris. These devotees observe four principles, which are: 

(1) They see, first of all, the Supreme Lord. 
(2) They see next the devotees of the Lord. 
(3) They see the innocent, who have no knowledge of the Lord. 
(4) They see the atheists who have no faith in the Lord and who hate those in devotional service. 

The madhyama-adhikari behaves differently according to circumstances. He adores the Lord, considering Him to be the object of love, and 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, but he does not approach the atheists who deride the very name of the Lord.

In the third stage of realization is the uttama-adhikari, who sees everything in relation to the Supreme Lord. Such a devotee does not discriminate between an atheist and a theist but sees everyone as part and parcel of God. He knows that there is no difference between a vastly learned brahmana and a dog in the street because both of them are of the Lord, although they are embodied differently according to the qualities of material nature. He sees that the brahmana particle of the Supreme Lord has not misused his little independence given him by the Lord and that the dog particle has misused his independence and is therefore punished by the laws of nature by being encaged in an ignorant form. Not considering the respective actions of the brahmana and the dog, the uttama-adhikari tries to do good to both. Such a learned devotee is not misled by material bodies but is attracted by the spiritual spark within the respective entities.

Those who imitate an uttama-adhikari by flaunting a sense of oneness or fellowship but who behave on the bodily platform are actually false philanthropists. The conception of universal brotherhood must be learned from an uttama-adhikari and not from a foolish person who does not properly understand the individual soul and the Supersoul expansion of the Supreme Lord who dwells everywhere.

It is clearly mentioned in this sixth mantra that one should observe, or see. This means that one must follow the previous acharya, the perfected teacher. Anupasyati is the exact Sanskrit word used in this connection. Pasyati means to observe. This does not mean that one should try to see things as he does with the naked eye. Due to material defects, the naked eye cannot see anything properly. One cannot see properly unless he has heard from a superior source, and the highest source is the Vedic wisdom which is spoken by the Lord Himself. Vedic truths are coming in disciplic succession from the Lord to Brahma, from Brahma to Narada, from Narada to Vyasa, and from Vyasa to many other disciples. Formerly there was no need to record the messages of the Vedas because people in earlier ages were more intelligent and had sharper memories. They could follow instructions simply by hearing once from the mouth of a bona fide spiritual master.

At present there are many commentaries on the revealed scriptures, but most of them are not in the line of disciplic succession coming from Srila Vyasadeva, who originally taught the Vedic wisdom. The final, most perfect and sublime work of Srila Vyasadeva is Srimad-Bhagavatam, which is the authorized commentary on the Vedanta-sutra. There is also Bhagavad-gita, which is spoken by the Lord Himself and which was recorded by Vyasadeva. These are the most important revealed scriptures, and any commentary which contradicts the principles of the Gita or Srimad-Bhagavatam is unauthorized. There is complete agreement amongst the Upanisads, Vedanta, the Vedas, Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam, and no one should try to reach any conclusion about the Vedas without receiving instructions from members of Vyasadeva's disciplic succession, or at least from those who believe in the personality of Godhead and His diverse energies.

According to Bhagavad-gita (Bg. 6.9), only one who is already on the liberated platform can become an uttama-adhikari devotee and see every living being as his own brother. This vision cannot be had by politicians who are always after some material gain. When one imitates the symptoms of an uttama-adhikari, he may serve his outward body for the purpose of fame or material reward, but he does not serve the spirit soul. Such an imitator can have no information of the spiritual world. The uttama-adhikari sees the living entity's spirit soul and serves him as spirit. Thus the material aspect is automatically served.

(c) 1991 by Bhaktivedanta Book Trust

HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada 
---Jai Srila Prabhupada!---

Back Home | Back to 'Books' Page | Next >>