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ISAVASYA UPANISHAD
Those who follow work without concern for God enter into blind darkness. But those who worship other gods will go into still more deeper darkness.
MANTRA THIRTEEN
anyadevahuh sambhavadanyadahurasambhavat | iti susruma dhiranam ye nastadvicacaksire || 13 ||
One thing, they say, is obtained from the worship of Isa; another, they say, from the worship of the not-Isa. Thus we have heard from the wise who taught us this.
One thing, they say, is obtained from (knowledge of the cause; another, they say, from (knowledge of) what is not the cause. Thus we have heard from the wise who taught us this.(trans. Max Muller)
There are all sorts of beings in the cosmos with varying degrees of freedom and power. If one worships these beings, they do confer what they can. If you worship wealth (Lakshmi) you get wealth, if you worship Knowledge (Saraswathi) you get knowledge. But none of those will lead to redemption from decay and death - moksha. That comes only through the worship of Isa. Worship of devas (demigods) is condemned in favour of worship of Isa only, for worship of anything other than the Isa brings about different results. The reward for correct worship is given as a future life of eternity, bliss and knowledge.
MANTRA FOURTEEN
sambhutim ca vinasam ca yastadvedobhayam saha vinasena mrtyum tirtva sambhutya'mrtamasnute || 14
He who knows at the same time both Isa and the reason for the destruction of our body, obtains the eternal Kingdom of God and will enjoy it after death.
He who knows at the same time both the cause and the destruction (the perishable body), overcomes death by destruction (the perishable body), and obtains immortality through (knowledge of the true cause. (trans. Max Muller)
What is implied here is the temporal law of decay and death. the cause of pain and suffering has a reason. That reason lie in the knowledge of Isa itself and the redemption also lie in Isa. The shocking revelation here is that decay and death are not the normal order of Isa's creation. Decay and death was imposed on creation caused by promulgating Self as the Supreme, bringing harm to the rest of
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