Overview

Kenopanishad is one of the major Upanishads containing the quintessence of the teachings of the ancient Indian seers. It represents their spiritual quest to apprehend the nature of the Ultimate Being and comprises the yearning for the wisdom that explains the relation of human life to the world and the reality. The beauty of this Upanishad is greatly enhanced by the dialogue between the disciple and the preceptor, through which it continues its quest. Swami Muni Narayana Prasad, the renowned scholar on the Upanishadic tradition, renders a superbly novel analysis of this difficult text in the light of the modern man's need for value and spiritual security making a strikingly beautiful synthesis between the ancient and the modern. Presenting the teachings of Kenopanishad in the backdrop of the recent developments in the area of physics, chemistry, biology and psychology is no mean task and constitutes the exclusiveness of this book. The disciplines of science in the pursuit of the basic truth stumble at some invisible and unconceptualisable Reality, which may be another name for mysticism. Through very cogent arguments the author has successfully vindicated that mysticism is a corollary to scientific investigation and not opposed to it. The authors prolonged association with the Upanishadic thought along with the insight he received from the works of his preceptors Narayana Guru and Nataraja Guru makes the commentaries of this text stimulating and unique. The original Sanskrit text along with the Roman transliteration and English paraphrasing enhance the value of this monumental commentary.

Meet the Author

Swami Muni Narayana Prasad

1938

Swami Muni Narayana Prasad is the Guru and Head of Narayana Gurukula, a guru-disciple foundation open to all, irrespective of caste, creed, gender, religion or nation, aimed at promoting the Science of the Absolute (Brahma-vidya) as restated by Narayana Guru. A disciple of Nataraja Guru and Guru Nitya Chaitanya Yati, he has travelled widely teaching Indian philosophy. He has authored around seventy-five books in the Malayalam language. His English books are: commentaries on the Isha Kena, Katha, Prashna, Mundaka, Mandukya Taittiriya, Aitareya and Chandogya Upanishads, Vedanta Sutras and Darshanamala of Narayana Guru, Three Acaryas and Narayana Guru, Karma and Reincarnation, Basic Lessons on India’s Wisdom, The Philosophy of Narayana Guru, Life’s Pilgrimage Through the Gita, Collected Works of Narayana Guru, Narayanasmritih, and Natural Philosophy for Youth.