Fear: Ignorance is the Cause
…fear alone has kept the sun, air and death in their respective places and functions, allowing none to escape from their bounds. Therefore the Shruti says (Katha Upanishad, II. iii, 3) says:[Source]
भयादस्याग्निस्तपति भयात्तपति सूर्यः ।
भयादिन्द्रश्च वायुश्च मृत्युर्धावति पञ्चमः ॥ ३॥
bhayādasyāgnistapati bhayāttapati sūryaḥ .
bhayādindraśca vāyuśca mṛtyurdhāvati pañcamaḥ .. 3..
From terror of Brahman, fire burns; from terror of It, the sun shines; from terror of It, Indra and Vayu and Death, the fifth, run.
Commentary:
Due to the fear of this terrible law, the sun seems to be rising in the east and setting in the west precisely. Fire burns, Indra and Vayu perform their functions, and death itself does its duty because of fear of this Being. Even death is afraid of this great law. It is the central authority ruling the whole cosmos. The idea is that everything appears to be what it is, and everything seems to be functioning in the manner it does because of the law that is there at the back of the constitution of things, and the order that is behind the performance of actions through these constitutions.
We are human beings with a body and mind, with a personality, and we behave in a particular way. We do not behave like insects, and we do not behave like trees; trees do not behave like animals, and animals do not behave like human beings. Why is it that certain species behave only in that way, and do not behave in any other way? The reason is that the concentrated force is exerted by this cosmic power in a particular channel for the purpose of manifesting a particular intention, the intention being a desire or the necessity for a species to grow, to act, and then to perish in the course of time.
There is a diversified action of this universal Prana. One alone it is, as a central authority in a government, for instance, but it has diversified actions. The power of the government works in different ways in different departments, though it is the same power operating. Similarly, by the fear of this energy, as it were, by the legality, the force, the energy and the compulsion of this universal Prana, all the gods work systematically. Even the gods are afraid. Even death itself is afraid of that. Bhayād asyāgnis tapati: For fear of Him, fire burns; otherwise, fire will not burn. Bhayāt tapati sūryaḥ: For fear of Him, the sun shines. Bhayād indraś ca vāyuś ca: For fear of Him, the gods Indra, Vayu, and Mrityu, death itself, all perform their functions. We all live and behave in the manner we do because of the compulsion from the Universal Will. We cannot lift a single finger if that Will is not to be there at the back of this lifting. One leaf cannot fall on our head. As they say, a sparrow cannot sit on us unless the will of the Father is there behind it. Even a breeze cannot touch our body unless the Original Will dispenses the order that it should touch us. Such is the tremendous control that this cosmic Prana exercises on everything that is visible and invisible.
Swami Vivekananda Says —
Through fear of this, fire burns, the sun heats; through fear Indra and Vâyu are carrying on their functions, and Death stalks upon this earth.”
When the gods Indra, Chandra, Vayu, Varuna will attain to fearlessness, then will they be one with Brahman, and all this phantasm of the world will vanish.[Source]
At the head of all … laws, in and through every particle of matter and force, stands One “by whose command the wind blows, the fire burns, the clouds rain, and death stalks upon the earth.”And what is His nature? He is everywhere, the pure and formless One, the Almighty and the All-merciful.[Source]