So, continuing the Keno Upanishad—finally the Gods approached Indra, the King of the Gods. You see, Indra also represents the Indriyas—the five senses which are helpful to us in collecting wealth and power, is also called Maghavan. They asked him to find out who the great Being was; because Agni, the God of fire and Vayu, the God of air had failed to do so.
In the practical context of sadhana, Agni is the fire of meditation. It also means the digestive fire. Vayu is prana or breath, and Indra represents the five senses. Since Agni and Vayu, tried to find the Supreme Being and could not. They said—now, let the Lord of the senses, Indra, try it. Indra agreed.
As he reached there, the Yaksha disappeared. Why? It is that the senses cannot perceive that which is beyond the senses. The conditioned cannot perceive the unconditioned, right? So, therefore, Indra came back and said, “I do not know, he just disappeared.” Now, it should not be understood from the sloka that the senses are being belittled. They have their own uses. The Upanishad only says, sharpen the senses and not cut them out. When Indra, who represents the senses in their usual form, tried to understand the supreme being, he could not. The Being simply disappeared.
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