The Kena Upanishad crisp and short with only 33 verses is considered to be one of the most important. It is named Kena which is its opening word, a question. It encapsulates the running theme of the Upanishads, which is an awareness of the all pervasive Brahman and the necessity for us to discover the spark of that Brahman within ourselves, the Atman. It opens with a startlingly contemporary question by the student and ends with a memorable parable on how the pride of three Gods was shattered. Another special feature of this Upanishad is that it is the only one in which the Divine Mother appears and enlightens the Gods. While the Brahman, of course, transcends gender and other such differences. the Upanishads are spoken by a male teacher to male students except in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad where Gargi rises to question the great Yagvalkya.
About the Author's:
DR. KARAN SINGH apart from his unique record of 70 years in public life beginning from the age of 18 when he was appointed Regent of Jammu & Kashmir by his father Maharaja Hari Singh, is also well known as an intellectual and a patron of scholarship and cultural activities. He has written over 20 books, the latest of which is Shiva: Lord of the Cosmic Dance (Speaking Tiger) and Reflections (Shubhi Publications). He has been the Chancellor of the Jammu & Kashmir University, the Banaras Hindu University and the Jawaharlal Nehru University. Among his many activities is presiding over the Dharmarth Trust, Jammu & Kashmir. This Trust was set up by Maharaja Gulab Singh when he founded the State of Jammu & Kashmir in 1846, and manages over a hundred temples and shrines in the State including the famous Shankracharya and Kheer Bhawani temples in the valley and the Shri Ranbireshwar Shiva temple and the great Shri Raghunath Mandir complex in Jammu. A renowned temple builder, Maharaja Ranbir Singh (1857-1885) sent scholars around the country to collect rare manuscripts. These are now preserved in the Shri Ranbir Sanskrit Research Institute Library within the temple premises. It is from this great collection that the current unique publication has been produced. Like his ancestors Dr. Karan Singh has always been a great patron of Sanskrit. When he joined Parliament in 1967 he set up the Sansadiya Sanskrit Parishad which suggested two important measures, subsequently adopted by the Government of India. The first was the celebration of Raksha Bandhan every year as Sanskrit Diwas and the second was Sanskrit news bulletins on All India Radio. Earlier he was Chairman of the Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan. Deeply committed to the cultural and spiritual tradition of India, Dr. Karan Singh has, throughout his life, promoted the study of Sanskrit and research into Sanskrit texts. With his deep insight into the Indian cultural tradition, as well as his wide exposure to Western literature and civilisation, Dr. Karan Singh is recognised as an outstanding thinker and leader in India and abroad.
DR. KAMAL K MISHRA, HOD, the Department of Sanskrit, University of Calcutta. He earned his Ph.D in Sanskrit Epigraphy from University of Delhi, and thereafter completed his ICSSR Post Doctoral research at JNU, Delhi. He has been working in the field of Sanskrit studies, especially in epigraphy, palaeography and manuscriptology as well as indian disapoara. Under the patronage of the Dogra Royal family of J&K, he has several scholarly publications includes 11 Vols of Srimad Bhagavadgita Mss with 21 rare commentaries in the original calligraphy with paleographical features, Commissioned by Dharmarth Trust, J&K (MLBD, 2021), Descriptive Catalog of Oriental Manuscripts in Sri Ranbir Sanskrit Research Institute, Jammu, J&K in 3 volumes with Stein, Patkar and Shastri, Commissioned by Dharmarth Trust J&K (MLBD, 2022). Currently he is engaged in path breaking research on Who is the real author: Mahakavi Kalidasa or his wife Viddyotama the learned princess of Käsi? (Hindi MLBD). As a cultural diplomat, he also worked as Director, Indian Cultural Center, High Commission of India at Suva, and English both, Republic of Fiji.
