The Twelfth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth Mantras of the Isa Vasya Upanishad are structurally similar to the ninth, tenth and eleventh, with the terms Sambhuti and asambhuti replacing vidya and avidya.
The verb root ‘bhU’ means ‘to be”.
bhUti : is being, existence, prosperity, welfare, earth
The prefix sam : means good.
sambhUti : thus is used to refer to the created, manifested universe as we know it. (or think is knowable at any rate).
asambhUti : means not sambhUti. It is not in existence either because it is unmanifest or because it has been destroyed (back in to its non-manifest state).
These mantras tell us that devoting yourself to the manifest alone or to the unmanifest alone will lead you to darkness, though there are those who recommend one way over the other. You need to practice both, then crossing death with the unmanifest you will find immortality with the manifest.
(The hindu view of the world is that the universe manifests out of the undifferentiated unmanifest at srishti and unmanifests through dissolution at pralaya and that srishti and pralaya cycle).
andham tamah : Blinding darkeness
pravis’anti ye : enter those who
asambhUtim upAsatE : serve (are close to, adore, are engaged in ) asambhUti
tatah bhUya iva te tamah: they (enter) that darkness like state of being
ya u sambhUtyAgm ( sambhUtyAm) ratAh : who take pleasure in (are devoted to) sambhUti.
anyat eva Ahuh sambhavAt : Others (Some) only say by sambhava (existence)
anyat Ahuh asambhavAt : Others (Some) say by asambhava (un-existence)
iti s’us’ruma dhIrANAm : thus have we heard of (from) those intelligent people (dhI = thinking part of mind = intelligence)
yE nah tat vicacakshire : who to us have shown/demonstrated (told) “tat” (That – the Brahman)
sambhUtim : The manifest
ca vinAs’am ca : and the unmanifest
yah tat vEdah ubhayagm (ubhayam) sah : he who knows them both
vinAs’Ena mRtyum tIrtvA : having crossed death using the way of the unmanifest (pralaya)*
sambhUtyA amRtam as’nutE : savours (eats) immortality (the nectar of immortality), through the manifest.
What does Sankaracharya say?
He says that the fruit of sambhUti upAsanA are wealth etc, and of asambhUti are something else. vinAs’a is the destruction of adharma and desire of the fruits thereof, which helps you cross mRtyu.
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