What Cannot Be Known by Works

The Kaivalya Upanisad is one of the shortest and most direct of the minor Upanisads. It teaches that liberation - kaivalya, absolute aloneness - is not attained by any external means. Not by works, not by wealth, not by family, not by learning - but by renunciation alone, by turning inward, by knowing the Self as the one reality that appears as all gods and all worlds.

The Question

The sage Asvalayana approached the Lord Parames thin - the Creator, Brahma himself - and asked:

“Teach me, O Lord, the knowledge of Brahman - the highest knowledge, cultivated always by the good, secret, and by which a wise man drives away all sins instantly and reaches the Absolute, higher than the high.” (KU 1)

It is the same question that seekers have asked since the beginning of time: what is the highest knowledge? What leads to liberation?

Brahma answered with a single verse that has echoed through the ages:

“Not by works, not by progeny, not by wealth, but by renunciation alone some attained immortality. That which is higher than heaven, seated in the cave of the heart, shines resplendent - that do the seekers enter.” (KU 3)

This is the radical teaching of the Kaivalya Upanisad. Every external means of attaining liberation - good works, family life, wealth, learning - is insufficient. They may purify the mind, they may prepare the ground, but they do not themselves confer liberation. Only renunciation - the inward turning from all that is not the Self - opens the door.

Brahman is All

The teaching then reveals the nature of the one reality that the renunciate seeks:

“He is Brahma, He is Siva, He is Indra, He is the imperishable, the supreme Lord. He alone is Visnu, He is Prana, He is Time, He is Fire, He is the Moon.” (KU 8)

All the gods that human beings worship - Brahma the creator, Siva the destroyer, Indra the king of heaven, Visnu the preserver - are not separate beings. They are manifestations of the one Brahman, appearing in different forms for different purposes. The fire that burns, the moon that shines, the time that passes - all are Brahman.

“He is everything that was and everything that will be - eternal. Having known Him, one overcomes death. There is no other path to liberation.” (KU 9)

The Self in the Three States

The Upanisad then gives the method of realisation - the analysis of the three states of consciousness:

“The Self, deluded by Maya, identifies with the body and performs all actions. In the waking state, the Self experiences gross objects; in the dream state, subtle objects. In dreamless sleep, the Self remains as pure consciousness, blissful, though covered by ignorance.” (KU 12-13)

The same Self that wakes, dreams, and sleeps - that Self is not any of these states. It is the witness that knows all three. By analysing the states, the seeker discovers the witness, and by discovering the witness, realizes:

“I am that Brahman - the Self of all, the abode of all, subtler than the subtlest, the supreme reality.” (KU 16)

“I am that Brahman which illumines all the states of waking, dream, and deep sleep.” (KU 17)

The Liberated One

The Upanisad then describes the one who has realized the Self. Such a one - a jivanmukta, liberated while living - declares:

“In Me alone everything is born, in Me alone does everything exist, and in Me alone does everything dissolve. I am that non-dual Brahman.” (KU 19)

“I am subtler than the subtle, I am greater than the great, I am this manifold universe. I am the ancient Purusa, I am the Lord, I am the golden-hued One, I am Siva.” (KU 20)

“I am without hands and feet, of inconceivable power; I see without eyes, hear without ears. Assuming various forms, I know everything. There is no one who knows Me - I am the Self-luminous One.” (KU 21)

The liberated one sees all beings in the Self and the Self in all beings. He lives in the world but is not bound by it. He acts but is not the doer. He knows that he is not the body, not the mind, not the breath - he is the one reality that appears as all.

The Teaching

The Kaivalya Upanisad teaches:

1. Renunciation is the means. Not works, not wealth, not learning - but the inward turning away from all that is not the Self. This is the tyaga that leads to kaivalya.

2. All gods are one God. Brahma, Siva, Visnu, Indra - these are not competing deities but manifestations of the one Brahman. To worship any of them is to worship the one reality.

3. The Self is known through analysis of the three states. By examining waking, dream, and deep sleep, the seeker discovers the witness that is present in all three but identical with none.

4. The liberated one sees the Self in all. The jivanmukta lives in the world but knows that the world is not separate from the Self. All beings, all elements, all times - all are contained in the one reality.

5. I am that. The final realization is not “I know Brahman” but “I am Brahman.” The knower and the known become one.

Further study: The Self that is the witness of the three states is explored on the Atman page and the Avasthatraya page. Brahman as the one reality that appears as all gods is discussed on the Brahman page. The renunciation that the Upanisad teaches as the means to liberation is the direct application of Adhyasa discrimination.

Source citations: Kaivalya Upanisad, Verses 1-25. Key citations: KU 1 (the question), KU 3 (not by works, by renunciation), KU 8 (all gods are Brahman), KU 12-13 (the three states), KU 16-17 (I am that Brahman), KU 19-21 (the liberated one’s declaration). Translations consulted: K. Narayanasvami Aiyar, Swami Madhavananda, Swami Chinmayananda.