12. MAITRAYANA-BRAHMANA-UPANISHAD
MAITRAYANA-BRAHMANA-UPANISHAD
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1. The laying of the formerly-described sacrificial fires is
indeed the sacrifice of Brahman. Therefore let the sacrificer, after
he has laid those fires, meditate on the Self. Thus only does the
sacrificer become complete and faultless.
But who is to be meditated on? He who is called Prana (breath). Of
him there is this story:
2. A King, named Brihadratha, having established his son in his
sovereignty, went into the forest, because he considered this body
as transient, and had obtained freedom from all desires. Having
performed the highest penance, he stands there, with uplifted arms,
looking up to the sun. At the end of a thousand (days), the Saint
Sakayanya, who knew the Self, came near, burning with splendour,
like a fire without smoke. He said to the King: 'Rise, rise! Choose
a boon!'
The King, bowing before him, said: 'O Saint, I know not the Self,
thou knowest the essence (of the Self). We have heard so. Teach it
us.'
Sakayanya replied: 'This was achieved of yore; but what thou
askest is difficult to obtain. O Aikshvaka, choose other pleasures.'
The King, touching the Saint's feet with his head, recited this
Gatha:
3. 'O Saint, What is the use of the enjoyment of pleasures in this
offensive, pithless body- a mere mass of bones, skin, sinews,
marrow, flesh, seed, blood, mucus, tears, phlegm, ordure, water, bile,
and slime! What is the use of the enjoyment of pleasures in this
body which is assailed by lust, hatred, greed, delusion, fear,
anguish, jealousy, separation from what is loved, union with what is
not loved, hunger, thirst, old age, death, illness, grief, and other
evils!
4. And we see that all this is perishable, as these flies, gnats,
and other insects, as herbs and trees, growing and decaying. And
what of these? There are other great ones, mighty wielders of bows,
rulers of empires, Sudyumna, Bhuridyumna, Indradyumna, Kuvalayasva,
Yauvanasva, Vadhryasva, Asvapati, Sasabindu, Hariskandra, Ambarisha,
Nahusha, Ananata, Saryati, Yayati, Anaranya, Ukshasena, &c., and kings
such as Marutta, Bharata (Daushyanti), and others, who before the eyes
of their whole family surrendered the greatest happiness, and passed
on from this world to that. And what of these? There are other great
ones. We see the destruction of Gandharvas, Asuras, Yakshas,
Rakshasas, Bhutas, Ganas, Pisachas, snakes, and vampires. And what of
these? There is the drying up of other great oceans, the falling of
mountains, the moving of the pole-star, the cutting of the
wind-ropes (that hold the stars), the submergence of the earth, and
the departure of the gods (Suras) from their place. In such a world as
this, what is the use of the enjoyment of pleasures, if he who has fed
on them is seen to return (to this world) again and again! Deign
therefore to take me out! In this world I am like a frog in a dry
well. O Saint, thou art my way, thou art my way.'
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SECOND PRAPATHAKA
1. Then the Saint Sakayanya, well pleased, said to the King:
'Great King Brihadratha, thou banner of the race of Ikshvaku,
quickly obtaining a knowledge of Self, thou art happy, and art
renowned by the name of Marut, the wind. This indeed is thy Self.'
'Which, O Saint,' said the King.
Then the Saint said to him:
2. 'He who, without stopping the out-breathing, proceeds upwards
(from the Sthula to the Sukshma Sarira), and who, modified (by
impressions), and yet not modified, drives away the darkness (of
error), he is the Self. Thus said the Saint Maitreyi.' And Sakayanya
said to the King Brihadratha: 'He who in perfect rest, rising from
this body (both from the Sthula and Sukshma), and reaching the highest
light, comes forth in his own form, he is the Self (thus said
Sakayanya); this is the immortal, the fearless, this is Brahman.'
3. 'Now then this is the science of Brahman, and the science of
all Upanishads, O King, which was told us by the Saint Maitreyi. I shall
tell it to thee:
'We hear (in the sacred records) that there were once the
Valakhilyas, who had left off all evil, who were vigorous and
passionless. They said to the Prajapati Kratu: "O Saint, this body
is without intelligence, like a cart. To what supernatural being
belongs this great power by which such a body has been made
intelligent? Or who is the driver? What thou knowest, O Saint, tell us
that."' Prajapati answered and said:
4. 'He who in the Sruti is called "Standing above," like passionless
ascetics amidst the objects of the world, he, indeed, the pure, clean,
undeveloped, tranquil, breathless, bodiless, endless, imperishable,
firm, everlasting, unborn, independent one, stands in his own
greatness, and by him has this body been made intelligent, and he is
also the driver of it.'
They said: 'O Saint, How has this been made intelligent by such a
being as this which has no desires, and how is he its driver?' He
answered them and said:
5. 'That Self which is very small, invisible, incomprehensible,
called Purusha, dwells of his own will here in part; just as a man who
is fast asleep awakes of his own will. And this part (of the Self)
which is entirely intelligent, reflected in man (as the sun in
different vessels of water), knowing the body (Kshetrajna), attested
by his conceiving, willing, and believing, is Prajapati (lord of
creatures), called Vishwa. By him, the intelligent, is this body made
intelligent, and he is the driver thereof.'
They said to him: 'O Saint, if this has been made intelligent by
such a being as this, which has no desires, and if he is the driver
thereof, how was it?' He answered them and said:
6. 'In the beginning Prajapati (the lord of creatures) stood
alone. He had no happiness, when alone. Meditating on himself, he
created many creatures. He looked on them and saw they were, like a
stone, without understanding, and standing like a lifeless post. He
had no happiness. He thought, I shall enter within, that they may
awake. Making himself like air (Vayu) he entered within. Being one, he
could not do it. Then dividing himself fivefold, he is called Prana,
Apana, Samana, Udana, Vyana. Now that air which rises upwards, is
Prana. That which moves downwards, is Apana. That by which these two
are supposed to be held, is Vyana. That which carries the grosser
material of food to the Apana, and brings the subtler material to each
limb, has the name Samana. [After these (Prana, Apana, Samana) comes
the work of the Vyana, and between them (the Prana, Apana, and
Samana on one side and the Vyana on the other) comes the rising of the
Udana.] That which brings up or carries down what has been drunk and
eaten, is the Udana.
Now the Upamsu-vessel (or Prana) depends on the Antaryama-vessel
(Apana) and the Antaryama-vessel (Apana) on the Upamsu-vessel (Prana),
and between these two the self-resplendent (Self) produced heat.
This heat is the Purusha (person), and this Purusha is Agni
Vaisvanara. And thus it is said elsewhere: "Agni Vaisvanara is the
fire within man by which the food that is eaten is cooked, i.e.
digested. Its noise is that which one hears, if one covers one's ears.
When a man is on the point of departing this life, he does not hear
that noise."
Now he, having divided himself fivefold, is hidden in a secret place
(Budhi), assuming the nature of mind, having the Pranas as his
body, resplendent, having true concepts, and free like ether.
Feeling even thus that he has not attained his object, he thinks
from within the interior of the heart, "Let me enjoy objects."
Therefore, having first broken open these five apertures (of the
senses), he enjoys the objects by means of the five reins. This
means that these perceptive organs (ear, skin, eye, tongue, nose)
are his reins; the active organs (tongue (for speaking), hands,
feet, anus, generative organ) his horses; the body his chariot, the
mind the charioteer, the whip being the temperament. Driven by that
whip, this body goes round like the wheel driven by the potter. This
body is made intelligent, and he is the driver thereof.
This is indeed the Self, who seeming to be filled with desires,
and seeming to be overcome by bright or dark fruits of action, wanders
about in every body (himself remaining free). Because he is not
manifest, because he is infinitely small, because he is invisible,
because he cannot be grasped, because he is attached to nothing,
therefore he, seeming to be changing, an agent in that which is not
(Prakriti), is in reality not an agent and unchanging. He is pure,
firm, stable, undefiled, unmoved, free from desire, remaining a
spectator, resting in himself. Having concealed himself in the cloak
of the three qualities he appears as the enjoyer of Rita, as the
enjoyer of Rita (of his good works).'
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THIRD PRAPATHAKA
1. The Valakhilyas said to Prajapati Kratu: 'O Saint, if thou thus
showest the greatness of that Self, then who is that other different
one, also called Self, who really overcome by bright and dark fruits
of action, enters on a good or bad birth? Downward or upward is his
course, and overcome by the pairs (distinction between hot and cold,
pleasure and pain, &c.) he roams about.'
2. Prajapati Kratu replied: 'There is indeed that other different
one, called the elemental Self (Bhutatma), who, overcome by bright and
dark fruits of action, enters on a good or bad birth: downward or
upward is his course, and overcome by the pairs he roams about. And
this is his explanation: The five Tanmatras (sound, touch, form,
taste, smell) are called Bhutas; also the five Maha Bhutas (gross
elements) are called Bhutas. Then the aggregate of all these is
called Sarira, body. And lastly he of whom it was said that he dwelt
in the body, he is called Bhutatma, the elemental Self Thus his
immortal Self is like a drop of water on a lotus leaf, and he
himself is overcome by the qualities of nature. Then, because he is
thus overcome, he becomes bewildered, and because he is bewildered, he
saw not the creator, the holy Lord, abiding within himself. Carried
along by the waves of the qualities, darkened in his imaginations,
unstable, fickle, crippled, full of desires, vacillating, he enters
into belief, believing "I am he," "this is mine;" he binds his Self by
his Self, as a bird with a net, and overcome afterwards by the
fruits of what he has done, he enters on a good and bad birth;
downward or upward is his course, and overcome by the pairs he roams
about.'
They asked: 'Which is it?' And he answered them:
3. 'This also has elsewhere been said: He who acts, is the elemental
Self; he who causes to act by means of the organs, is the inner man
(antahpurusha). Now as even a ball of iron, pervaded (overcome) by
fire, and hammered by smiths, becomes manifold (assumes different
forms, such as crooked, round, large, small), thus the elemental Self,
pervaded (overcome) by the inner man, and hammered by the qualities,
becomes manifold. And the four tribes (mammals, birds, &c.), the
fourteen worlds (Bhur, &c.), with all the number of beings, multiplied
eighty-four times, all this appears as manifoldness. And those
multiplied things are impelled by man (Purusha) as the wheel by the
potter. And as when the ball of iron is hammered, the fire is not
overcome, so the (inner) man is not overcome, but the elemental Self
is overcome, because it has united itself (with the elements).
4. And it has been said elsewhere: This body produced from marriage,
and endowed with growth in darkness, came forth by the urinary
passage, was built up with bones, bedaubed with flesh, thatched with
skin, filled with ordure, urine, bile, slime, marrow, fat, oil, and
many impurities besides, like a treasury full of treasures.
5. And it has been said elsewhere: Bewilderment, fear, grief, sleep,
sloth, carelessness, decay, sorrow, hunger, thirst, niggardliness,
wrath, infidelity, ignorance, envy, cruelty, folly, shamelessness,
meanness, pride, changeability, these are the results of the quality
of darkness (Tamas).
Inward thirst, fondness, passion, covetousness, unkindness, love,
hatred, deceit, jealousy, vain restlessness, fickleness, unstableness,
emulation, greed, patronising of friends, family pride, aversion to
disagreeable objects, devotion to agreeable objects, whispering,
prodigality, these are the results of the quality of passion (ragas).
By these he is filled, by these he is overcome, and therefore this
elemental Self assumes manifold forms, yes, manifold forms.'
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FOURTH PRAPATHAKA
1. The Valakhilyas, whose passions were subdued, approached him full
of amazement and said: 'O Saint, we bow before thee; teach thou, for
thou art the way, and there is no other for us. What process is
there for the elemental Self, by which, after leaving this (identity
with the elemental body), he obtains union with the (true) Self?'
Prajapati Kratu said to them:
2. 'It has been said elsewhere: Like the waves in large rivers, that
which has been done before, cannot be turned back, and, like the
tide of the sea, the approach of death is hard to stem. Bound by the
fetters of the fruits of good and evil, like a cripple; without
freedom, like a man in prison; beset by many fears, like one
standing before Yama (the judge of the dead); intoxicated by the
wine of illusion, like one intoxicated by wine; rushing about, like
one possessed by an evil spirit; bitten by the world, like one
bitten by a great serpent; darkened by passion, like the night;
illusory, like magic; false, like a dream; pithless, like the inside
of the Kadali; changing its dress in a moment, like an actor; fair
in appearance, like a painted wall, thus they call him; and
therefore it is said:
Sound, touch, and other things are like nothings; if the elemental
Self is attached to them, it will not remember the Highest Place.
3. This is indeed the remedy for the elemental Self: Acquirement
of the knowledge of the Veda, performance of one's own duty, therefore
conformity on the part of each man to the order to which he happens to
belong. This is indeed the rule for one's own duty, other performances
are like the mere branches of a stem. Through it one obtains the
Highest above, otherwise one falls downward. Thus is one's own duty
declared, which is to be found in the Vedas. No one belongs truly to
an order (Ashrama) who transgresses his own law. And if people say,
that a man does not belong to any of the orders, and that he is an
ascetic, this is wrong, though, on the other hand, no one who is not
an ascetic brings his sacrificial works to perfection or obtains
knowledge of the Highest Self. For thus it is said:
By ascetic penance goodness is obtained, from goodness understanding
is reached, from understanding the Self is obtained, and he who has
obtained that, does not return.
4. "Brahman is," thus said one who knew the science of Brahman;
and this penance is the door to Brahman, thus said one who by
penance had cast off all sin. The syllable Om is the manifest
greatness of Brahman, thus said one who well grounded (in Brahman)
always meditates on it. Therefore by knowledge, by penance, and by
meditation is Brahman gained. Thus one goes beyond Brahman
(Hiranyagarbha), and to a divinity higher than the gods; nay, he who
knows this, and worships Brahman by these three (by knowledge,
penance, and meditation), obtains bliss imperishable, infinite, and
unchangeable. Then freed from those things (the senses of the body,
&c.) by which he was filled and overcome, a mere charioteer, he
obtains union with the Self.'
5. The Valakhilyas said: 'O Saint, thou art the teacher, thou art
the teacher. What thou hast said, has been properly laid up in our
mind. Now answer us a further question: Agni, Vayu, Aditya, Time
(Kala) which is Breath (Prana), Food (Anna), Brahma, Rudra, Vishnu,
thus do some meditate on one, some on another. Say which of these is
the best for us.' He said to them:
6. 'These are but the chief manifestations of the highest, the
immortal, the incorporeal Brahman. He who is devoted to one,
rejoices here in his world (presence), thus he said. Brahman indeed is
all this, and a man may meditate on, worship, or discard also those
which are its chief manifestations. With these (deities) he proceeds
to higher and higher worlds, and when all things perish, he becomes
one with the Purusha, yes, with the Purusha.'
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FIFTH PRAPATHAKA
1. Next follows Kutsayana's hymn of praise:
'Thou art Brahma, and thou art Vishnu, thou art Rudra, thou
Prajapati, thou art Agni, Varuna, Vayu, thou art Indra, thou the Moon.
Thou art Anna (the food or the eater), thou art Yama, thou art the
Earth, thou art All, thou art the Imperishable. In thee all things
exist in many forms, whether for their natural or for their own
(higher) ends.
Lord of the Universe, glory to thee! Thou art the Self of All,
thou art the maker of All, the enjoyer of All; thou art all life,
and the lord of all pleasure and joy. Glory to thee, the tranquil, the
deeply hidden, the incomprehensible, the immeasurable, without
beginning and without end.'
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2. 'In the beginning darkness (Tamas) alone was this. It was in
the Highest, and, moved by the Highest, it becomes uneven. Thus it
becomes obscurity (ragas). Then this obscurity, being moved, becomes
uneven. Thus it becomes goodness (Sattva). Then this goodness, being
moved, the essence flowed forth. This is that part (or state of
Self) which is entirely intelligent, reflected in man (as the sun is
in different vessels of water) knowing the body (Kshetrajna), attested
by his conceiving, willing, and believing, it is Prajapati, called
Vishwa. His manifestations have been declared before. Now that part
of him which belongs to darkness, that, O students, is he who is
called Rudra. That part of him which belongs to obscurity, that, O
students, is he who is called Brahma. That part of him which belongs
to goodness, that, O students, is he who is called Vishnu. He being
one, becomes three, becomes eight, becomes eleven, becomes twelve,
becomes infinite. Because he thus came to be, he is the Being (neut.),
he moves about, having entered all beings, he has become the Lord of
all beings. He is the Self within and without, yes, within and
without.'
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SIXTH PRAPATHAKA
1. He (the Self) bears the Self in two ways, as he who is Prana
(breath), and as he who is Aditya (the sun). Therefore there are two
paths for him, within and without, and they both turn back in a day
and night. The Sun is the outer Self, the inner Self is Breath.
Hence the motion of the inner Self is inferred from the motion of
the outer Self. For thus it is said:
'He who knows, and has thrown off all evil, the overseer of the
senses, the pure-minded, firmly grounded (in the Self) and looking
away (from all earthly objects), he is the same.' Likewise the
motion of the outer Self is inferred from the motion of the inner
Self. For thus it is said:
'He who within the sun is the golden person, who looks upon this
earth from his golden place, he is the same who, after entering the
inner lotus of the heart, devours food (perceives sensuous objects,
&c.)'
2. And he who having entered the inner lotus of the heart, devours
food, the same, having gone to the sky as the fire of the sun,
called Time, and being invisible, devours all beings as his food.
What is that lotus and of what is it made? (the Valakhilyas ask.)
That lotus is the same as the ether; the four quarters, and the four
intermediate points are its leaves.
These two, Breath and the Sun, move on near to each other (in the
heart and in the ether). Let him worship these two, with the
syllable Om, with the Vyahriti words (Bhur, Bhuvah, Svaha), and with
the Savitri hymn.
3. There are two forms of Brahman, the material (effect) and the
immaterial (cause). The material is false, the immaterial is true.
That which is true is Brahman, that which is Brahman is light, and
that which is light is the Sun. And this Sun became the Self of that
Om.
He divided himself threefold, for Om consists of three letters, a
+ u + m. Through them all this is contained in him as warp and woof.
For thus it is said:
'Meditate on that Sun as Om, join your Self (the breath) with the
(Self of the) Sun.'
4. And thus it has been said elsewhere: The Udgitha (of the
Sama-Veda) is the Pranava (of the Rig-Veda), and the Pranava is the
Udgitha, and thus the Sun is Udgitha, and he is Pranava or Om. For
thus it is said:
'The Udgitha, called Pranava, the leader (in the performance of
sacrifices), the bright, the sleepless, free from old age and death,
three-footed, consisting of three letters (a + u + m), and likewise to
be known as fivefold (five Pranas) placed in the cave.' And it is also
said:
'The three-footed Brahman has its root upward, the branches are
ether, wind, fire, water, earth, &c. This one Ashvatha by name, the
world, is Brahman, and of it that is the light which is called the
Sun, and it is also the light of that syllable Om. Therefore let him
for ever worship that (breath and sun, as manifestations of Brahman)
with the syllable Om.'
He alone enlightens us. For thus it is said:
'This alone is the pure syllable, this alone is the highest
syllable; he who knows that syllable only, whatever he desires, is
his.'
5. And thus it has been said elsewhere: This Om is the sound-endowed
body of him (Pranadityatman). This is his gender-endowed body, viz.
feminine, masculine, neuter. This is his light-endowed body, viz.
Agni, Vayu, Aditya. This is his lord-endowed body, viz. Brahma, Rudra,
Vishnu. This is his mouth-endowed body, viz. Garhapatya,
Dakshinagni, Ahavaniya. This is his knowledge-endowed body, viz.
Rik, Yajur, Saama. This is his world-endowed body, viz. Bhur,
Bhuvah, Svaha. This is his time-endowed body, viz. Past, Present,
Future. This is his heat-endowed body, viz. Breath, Fire, Sun. This is
his growth-endowed body, viz. Food, Water, Moon. This is his
thought-endowed body, viz. intellect, mind, personality. This is his
breath-endowed body, viz. Prana, Apana, Vyana. Therefore by the
aforesaid syllable Om are all these here enumerated bodies praised and
identified (with the Pranadityatman). For thus it is said:
'O Satyakama, the syllable Om is the high and the low Brahman.'
6. This (world) was unuttered. Then forsooth Prajapati, having
brooded, uttered it in the words Bhur, Bhuvah, Svaha. This is the
grossest body of that Prajapati, consisting of the three worlds. Of
that body Svaha is the head, Bhuvah the navel, Bhur the feet, the sun
the eye. For in the eye is fixed man's great measure, because with the
eye he makes all measurements. The eye is truth (Satyam), for the
person (Purusha) dwelling in the eye proceeds to all things (knows all
objects with certainty). Therefore let a man worship with the
Vyahritis, Bhur, Bhuvah, Svaha, for thus Prajapati, the Self of All, is
worshipped as the (sun, the) Eye of All. For thus it is said:
'This (the sun) is Prajapati's all-supporting body, for in it this
all is hid (by the light of the sun); and in this all it (the light)
is hid. Therefore this is worshipped.'
7. (The Savitri begins:) Tat Savitur Varenyam, i.e. 'this of
Savitri, to be chosen.' Here the Aditya (sun) is Savitri, and the same
is to be chosen by the love(r) of Self, thus say the Brahma-teachers.
(Then follows the next foot in the Savitri): Bhargo Devasya Dhimahi,
i.e. 'the splendour of the god we meditate on.' Here the god is
Savitri, and therefore he who is called his splendour, him I
meditate on, thus say the Brahma-teachers.
(Then follows the last foot): Dhiyo Yo Naha Prachodayat, i.e. 'who
should stir up our thoughts.' Here the Dhiyo are thoughts, and he
should stir these up for us, thus say the Brahma-teachers.
(He now explains the word Bhargas). Now he who is called Bhargas
is he who is placed in yonder Aditya (sun), or he who is the pupil
in the eye. And he is so called, because his going (Gati) is by rays
(bhabhih); or because he parches (bhargayati) and makes the world to
shrivel up. Rudra is called Bhargas, thus say the Brahma-teachers.
Or bha means that he lights up these worlds; ra, that he delights
these beings, ga that these creatures go to him and come from him;
therefore being a bha-ra-ga, he is called Bhargas.
Surya (sun) is so called, because Soma is continually squeezed out
(su). Savitri (sun) is so called, because he brings forth (su). Aditya
(sun) is so called, because he takes up (ada, scil. vapour, or the
life of man). Pavana is so called, because he purifies (pu). Apas,
water, is so called, because it nourishes (pya).
And it is said:
'Surely the Self (absorbed in Prana, breath), which is called
Immortal, is the thinker, the perceiver, the goer, the evacuator,
the delighter, the doer, the speaker, the taster, the smeller, the
seer, the hearer, and he touches. He is Vibhu (the pervader), who
has entered into the body.' And it is said:
'When the knowledge is twofold (subjective and objective), then he
hears, sees, smells, tastes, and touches (something), for it is the
Self that knows everything.'
But when the knowledge is not twofold (subjective only), without
effect, cause, and action, without a name, without a comparison,
without a predicate- what is that? It cannot be told.
8. And the same Self is also called Isana (lord), Sambhu, Bhava,
Rudra (Tamas); Prajapati (lord of creatures), Visvasrig (creator of
all), Hiranyagarbha, Satyam (truth), Prana (breath), Hamsa (ragasa);
Sastri (ruler), Vishnu, Narayana (Saattvika); Arka, Savitri, Dhatri
(supporter), Vidhatri (creator), Samrag (king), Indra, Indu (moon). He
is also he who warms, the Sun, hidden by the thousand-eyed golden egg,
as one fire by another. He is to be thought after, he is to be
sought after. Having said farewell to all living beings, having gone
to the forest, and having renounced all sensuous objects, let man
perceive the Self from his own body.
'(See him) who assumes all forms, the golden, who knows all
things, who ascends highest, alone in his splendour, and warms us; the
thousand-rayed, who abides in a hundred places, the spirit of all
creatures, the Sun, rises.'
9. Therefore he who by knowing this has become the Self of both
Breath and Sun, meditates (while meditating on them) on his Self,
sacrifices (while sacrificing to them) to his Self- this meditation,
the mind thus absorbed in these acts, is praised by the wise.
Then let him purify the contamination of the mind by the verse
Ukkhishtopahatam, &c.: 'Be it food left, or food defiled by left food,
be it food given by a sinner, food coming from a dead person, or
from one impure from childbirth, may the purifying power of Vasu,
may Agni, and the rays of Savitri, purify it, and all my sin.'
First (before eating) he surrounds (the offered food) with water (in
rinsing his mouth). Then saying, Svaha to Prana, Svaha to Apana, Svaha
to Vyana, Svaha to Samana, Svaha to Udana, he offers (the food) with
five invocations (in the fire of the mouth). What is over, he eats
in silence, and then he surrounds (the food) once more afterwards with
water (rinsing the mouth after his meal). Having washed let him, after
sacrificing to himself, meditate on his Self with these two verses,
Prano 'gnih and Visvo 'si, viz. 'May the Highest Self as breath, as
fire (digestive heat), as consisting of the five vital airs, having
entered (the body), himself satisfied, satisfy all, he who protects
all.' 'Thou art Vishwa (all), thou art Vaisvanara (fire), all that is
born is upheld by thee; may all offerings enter into thee; creatures
live where thou grandest immortality to all.' He who eats according to
this rule, does not in turn become food for others.
10. There is something else to be known. There is a further
modification of this Self-sacrifice (the eating), namely, the food and
the eater thereof. This is the explanation. The thinking Purusha
(person), when he abides within the Pradhana (nature), is the feeder
who feeds on the food supplied by Prakriti (nature). The elemental
Self is truly his food, his maker being Pradhana (nature). Therefore
what is composed of the three qualities (Gunas) is the food, but the
person within is the feeder. And for this the evidence is supplied
by the senses. For animals spring from seed, and as the seed is the
food, therefore it is clear that what is food is Pradhana (the seed or
cause of everything). Therefore, as has been said, the Purusha
(person) is the eater, Prakriti, the food; and abiding within it he
feeds. All that begins with the Mahat (power of intellect) and ends
with the Viseshas (elements), being developed from the distinction
of nature with its three qualities, is the sign (that there must be
a Purusha, an intelligent subject). And in this manner the way with
its fourteen steps has been explained. (This is comprehended in the
following verse): 'This world is indeed the food, called pleasure,
pain, and error (the result of the three qualities); there is no
laying hold of the taste of the seed (cause), so long as there is no
development (in the shape of effect).' And in its three stages also it
has the character of food, as childhood, youth, and old age; for,
because these are developed, therefore there is in them the
character of food.
And in the following manner does the perception of Pradhana (nature)
take place, after it has become manifest:- Intellect and the rest,
such as determination, conception, consciousness, are for the
tasting (of the effects of Pradhana). Then there are the five
(perceptive organs) intended for the (five) objects of senses, for
to taste them. And thus are all acts of the five active organs, and
the acts of the five Pranas or vital airs (for the tasting of their
corresponding objects). Thus what is manifest (of nature) is food, and
what is not manifest is food. The enjoyer of it is without
qualities, but because he has the quality of being an enjoyer, it
follows that he possesses intelligence.
As Agni (fire) is the food-eater among the gods, and Soma the
food, so he who knows this eats food by Agni (is not defiled by
food, as little as Agni, the sacrificial fire). This elemental Self,
called Soma (food), is also called Agni, as having undeveloped
nature for its mouth (as enjoying through nature, and being
independent of it), because it is said, 'The Purusha (person) enjoys
nature with its three qualities, by the mouth of undeveloped
nature.' He who knows this, is an ascetic, a Yogin, he is a
performer of the Self-sacrifice (see before). And he who does not
touch the objects of the senses when they intrude on him, as no one
would touch women intruding into an empty house, he is an ascetic, a
Yogin, a performer of the Self-sacrifice.
11. This is the highest form of Self, viz. food, for this Prana
(this body) subsists on food. If it eats not, it cannot perceive,
hear, touch, see, smell, taste, and it loses the vital airs. For
thus it is said:
'If it eats, then in full possession of the vital airs, it can
perceive, hear, touch, speak, taste, smell, see.' And thus it is said:
'From food are born all creatures that live on earth; afterwards
they live on food, and in the end (when they die) they return to it.'
12. And thus it is said elsewhere: Surely all these creatures run
about day and night, wishing to catch food. The sun takes food with
his rays, and by it he shines. These vital airs digest, when sprinkled
with food. Fire flares up by food, and by Brahma (Prajapati), desirous
of food, has all this been made. Therefore let a man worship food as
his Self. For thus it is said:
'From food creatures are born, by food they grow when born;
because it is eaten and because it eats creatures, therefore it is
called food (Annam).'
13. And thus it is said elsewhere: This food is the body of the
blessed Vishnu, called Visvabhrit (all-sustaining). Breath is the
essence of food, mind of breath, knowledge of mind, joy of
knowledge. He who knows this is possessed of food, breath, mind,
knowledge, and joy. Whatever creatures here on earth eat food, abiding
in them he, who knows this, eats food. Food has been called
undecaying, food has been called worshipful; food is the breath of
animals, food is the oldest, food has been called the physician.
14. And thus it has been said elsewhere: Food is the cause of all
this, time of food, and the sun is the cause of time. The (visible)
form of time is the year, consisting of twelve months, made up of
Nimeshas (twinklings) and other measures. Of the year one half (when
the sun moves northward) belongs to Agni, the other to Varuna (when
the sun moves southward). That which belongs to Agni begins with the
asterism of Magha and ends with half of the asterism of Sravishtha,
the sun stepping down northward. That which belongs to Soma (instead
of Varuna) begins with the asterism (of Aslesha), sacred to the
Serpents, and ends with half of the asterism of Sravishtha, the sun
stepping up southward. And then there (are the months) one by one,
belonging to the year, each consisting of nine-fourths of asterisms
(two asterisms and a quarter being the twelfth part of the passage
of the sun through the twenty-seven Nakshatras), each determined by
the sun moving together with the asterisms. Because time is
imperceptible by sense, therefore this (the progress of the sun,
&c.) is its evidence, and by it alone is time proved to exist. Without
proof there is no apprehension of what is to be proved; but even
what is to be proved can become proof, for the sake of making itself
known, if the parts (the twinklings, &c.) can be distinguished from
the whole (time). For thus it is said:
'As many portions of time as there are, through them the sun
proceeds: he who worships time as Brahman, from him time moves away
very far.' And thus it is said:
'From time all beings flow, from time they grow; in time they obtain
rest; time is visible (sun) and invisible (moments).'
15. There are two forms of Brahman, time and non-time. That which
was before the (existence of the) sun is non-time and has no parts.
That which had its beginning from the sun is time and has parts. Of
that which has parts, the year is the form, and from the year are born
all creatures; when produced by the year they grow, and go again to
rest in the year. Therefore the year is Prajapati, is time, is food,
is the nest of Brahman, is Self. Thus it is said:
'Time ripens and dissolves all beings in the great Self, but he
who knows into what time itself is dissolved, he is the knower of
the Veda.'
16. This manifest time is the great ocean of creatures. He who is
called Savitri (the sun, as begetter) dwells in it, from whence the
moon, stars, planets, the year, and the rest are begotten. From them
again comes all this, and thus, whatever of good or evil is seen in
this world, comes from them. Therefore Brahman is the Self of the sun,
and a man should worship the sun under the name of time. Some say
the sun is Brahman, and thus it is said:
'The sacrificer, the deity that enjoys the sacrifice, the
oblation, the hymn, the sacrifice, Vishnu, Prajapati, all this is
the Lord, the witness, that shines in yonder orb.'
17. In the beginning Brahman was all this. He was one, and infinite;
infinite in the East, infinite in the South, infinite in the West,
infinite in the North, above and below and everywhere infinite. East
and the other regions do not exist for him, nor across, nor below, nor
above. The Highest Self is not to be fixed, he is unlimited, unborn,
not to be reasoned about, not to be conceived. He is like the ether
(everywhere), and at the destruction of the universe, he alone is
awake. Thus from that ether he wakes all this world, which consists of
thought only, and by him alone is all this meditated on, and in him it
is dissolved. His is that luminous form which shines in the sun, and
the manifold light in the smokeless fire, and the heat which in the
stomach digests the food. Thus it is said:
'He who is in the fire, and he who is in the heart, and he who is in
the sun, they are one and the same.'
He who knows this becomes one with the one.
18. This is the rule for achieving it (viz. concentration of the
mind on the object of meditation): restraint of the breath,
restraint of the senses, meditation, fixed attention, investigation,
absorption, these are called the six fold Yoga. When beholding by
this Yoga, he beholds the gold-coloured maker, the lord, the person,
Brahman, the cause, then the sage, leaving behind good and evil, makes
everything (breath, organs of sense, body, &c.) to be one in the
Highest Indestructible (in the Pratyag Atman or Brahman). And thus it
is said:
'As birds and deer do not approach a burning mountain, so sins never
approach those who know Brahman.'
19. And thus it is said elsewhere: When he who knows has, while he
is still Prana (breath), restrained his mind, and placed all objects
of the senses far away from himself, then let him remain without any
conceptions. And because the living person, called Prana (breath), has
been produced here on earth from that which is not Prana (the thinking
Self), therefore let this Prana merge the Prana (himself) in what is
called the fourth. And thus it is said:
'What is without thought, though placed in the centre of thought,
what cannot be thought, the hidden, the highest- let a man merge his
thought there: then will this living being (Linga) be without
attachment.'
20. And thus it has been said elsewhere: There is the superior fixed
attention (Dharana) for him, viz. if he presses the tip of the
tongue down the palate and restrains voice, mind, and breath, he
sees Brahman by discrimination (Tarka). And when, after the
cessation of mind, he sees his own Self, smaller than small, and
shining, as the Highest Self, then having seen his Self as the Self,
he becomes Self-less, and because he is Self-less, he is without
limit, without cause, absorbed in thought. This is the highest
mystery, viz. final liberation. And thus it is said:
'Through the serenity of the thought he kills all actions, good or
bad; his Self serene, abiding in the Self, obtains imperishable
bliss.'
21. And thus it has been said elsewhere: The artery, called
Sushumna, going upwards (from the heart to the Brahmarandhra), serving
as the passage of the Prana, is divided within the palate. Through
that artery, when it has been joined by the breath (held in
subjection), by the sacred syllable Om, and by the mind (absorbed in
the contemplation of Brahman), let him proceed upwards, and after
turning the tip of the tongue to the palate, without using any of
the organs of sense, let greatness perceive greatness. From thence
he goes to selflessness, and through selflessness he ceases to be an
enjoyer of pleasure and pain, he obtains aloneness (Kevalatva, final
deliverance). And thus it is said:
'Having successively fixed the breath, after it had been restrained,
in the palate, thence having crossed the limit (the life), let him
join himself afterwards to the limitless (Brahman) in the crown of the
head.'
22. And thus it has been said elsewhere: Two Brahmans have to be
meditated on, the word and the non-word. By the word alone is the
non-word revealed. Now there is the word Om. Moving upward by it
(where all words and all what is meant by them ceases), he arrives
at absorption in the non-word (Brahman). This is the way, this is
the immortal, this is union, and this is bliss. And as the spider,
moving upward by the thread, gains free space, thus also he who
meditates, moving upward by the syllable Om, gains independence.
Other teachers of the word (as Brahman) think otherwise. They listen
to the sound of the ether within the heart while they stop the ears
with the thumbs. They compare it to seven noises, like rivers, like
a bell, like a brazen vessel, like the wheels of a carriage, like
the croaking of frogs, like rain, and as if a man speaks in a
cavern. Having passed beyond this variously apprehended sound, and
having settled in the supreme, soundless (non-word), unmanifested
Brahman, they become undistinguished and undistinguishable, as various
flavours of the flowers are lost in the taste of honey. And thus it is
said:
'Two Brahmans are to be known, the word-Brahman and the highest
Brahman; he who is perfect in the word-Brahman attains the highest
Brahman.'
23. And thus it has been said elsewhere: The syllable Om is what
is called the word. And its end is the silent, the soundless,
fearless, sorrowless, joyful, satisfied, firm, unwavering, immortal,
immovable, certain (Brahman), called Vishnu. Let him worship these
two, that he may obtain what is higher than everything (final
deliverance). For thus it is said:
'He who is the high and the highest god, by name Omkara, he is
soundless and free from all distinctions: therefore let a man dwell on
him in the crown of his head.'
24. And thus it has been said elsewhere: The body is the bow, the
syllable Om is the arrow, its point is the mind. Having cut through
the darkness, which consists of ignorance, it approaches that which is
not covered by darkness. Then having cut through that which was
covered (the personal soul), he saw Brahman, flashing like a wheel
on fire, bright like the sun, vigorous, beyond all darkness, that
which shines forth in yonder sun, in the moon, in the fire, in the
lightning. And having seen him, he obtains immortality. And thus it
has been said:
'Meditation is directed to the highest Being (Brahman) within, and
(before) to the objects (body, Om, mind); thence the indistinct
understanding becomes distinct.
And when the works of the mind are dissolved, then that bliss
which requires no other witness, that is Brahman (Atman), the
immortal, the brilliant, that is the way, that is the (true) world.'
25. And thus it has been said elsewhere: He who has his senses
hidden as in sleep, and who, while in the cavern of his senses (his
body), but no longer ruled by them, sees, as in a dream, with the
purest intellect, Him who is called Pranava (Om), the leader, the
bright, the sleepless, free from old age, from death, and sorrow, he
is himself also called Pranava, and becomes a leader, bright,
sleepless, free from old age, from death, and sorrow. And thus it is
said:
'Because in this manner he joins the Prana (breath), the Om, and
this Universe in its manifold forms, or because they join themselves
(to him), therefore this (process of meditation) is called Yoga
(joining).
The oneness of breath, mind, and senses, and then the surrendering
of all conceptions, that is called Yoga.'
26. And thus it has also been said elsewhere: As a sportsman,
after drawing out the denizens of the waters with a net, offers them
(as a sacrifice) in the fire of his stomach, thus are these Pranas
(vital airs), after they have been drawn out with the syllable Om,
offered in the faultless fire (Brahman).
Hence he is like a heated vessel (full of clarified butter); for
as the clarified butter in the heated vessel lights up, when touched
with grass and sticks, thus does this being which is called Not-breath
(Atman) light up, when touched by the Pranas (the vital airs). And
that which flares up, that is the manifest form of Brahman, that is
the highest place of Vishnu, that is the essence of Rudra. And this,
dividing his Self in endless ways, fills all these worlds. And thus it
is said:
'As the sparks from the fire, and as the rays from the sun, thus
do his Pranas and the rest in proper order again and again proceed
from him here on earth.'
27. And thus it has also been said elsewhere: This is the heat of
the highest, the immortal, the incorporeal Brahman, viz. the warmth of
the body. And this body is the clarified butter (poured on it, by
which the heat of Brahman, otherwise invisible, is lighted up).
Then, being manifest, it is placed in the ether (of the heart). Then
by concentration they thus remove that ether which is within the
heart, so that its light appears, as it were. Therefore the worshipper
becomes identified with that light without much delay. As a ball of
iron, if placed in the earth, becomes earth without much delay, and
as, when it has once become a clod of earth, fire and smiths have
nothing more to do with that ball of iron, thus does thought
(without delay) disappear, together with its support. And thus it is
said:
'The shrine which consists of the ether in the heart, the
blissful, the highest retreat, that is our own, that is our goal,
and that is the heat and brightness of the fire and the sun.'
28. And thus it has been said elsewhere: After having left behind
the body, the organs of sense, and the objects of sense (as no
longer belonging to us), and having seized the bow whose stick is
fortitude and whose string is asceticism, having struck down also with
the arrow, which consists in freedom from egotism, the first
guardian of the door of Brahman- (for if man looks at the world
egotistically, then, taking the diadem of passion, the earrings of
greed and envy, and the staff of sloth, sleep, and sin, and having
seized the bow whose string is anger, and whose stick is lust, he
destroys with the arrow which consists of wishes, all beings)-
having therefore killed that guardian, he crosses by means of the boat
Om to the other side of the ether within the heart, and when the ether
becomes revealed (as Brahman), he enters slowly, as a miner seeking
minerals in a mine, into the Hall of Brahman. After that let him, by
means of the doctrine of his teacher, break through the shrine of
Brahman, which consists of the four nets (of food, breath, mind,
knowledge, till he reaches the last shrine, that of blessedness and
identity with Brahman). Thenceforth pure, clean, undeveloped,
tranquil, breathless, bodiless, endless, imperishable, firm,
everlasting, unborn and independent, he stands on his own greatness,
and having seen (the Self), standing in his own greatness, he looks on
the wheel of the world as one (who has alighted from a chariot)
looks on its revolving wheel. And thus it is said:
'If a man practises Yoga for six months and is thoroughly free (from
the outer world), then the perfect Yoga (union), which is endless,
high, and hidden, is accomplished.
But if a man, though well enlightened (by instruction), is still
pierced by (the Gunas of) passion and darkness, and attached to his
children, wife, and house, then perfect Yoga is never accomplished.'
29. After he had thus spoken (to Brihadratha), Sakayanya, absorbed
in thought, bowed before him, and said: 'O King, by means of this
Brahma-knowledge have the sons of Prajapati (the Valakhilyas) gone
to the road of Brahman. Through the practice of Yoga a man obtains
contentment, power to endure good and evil, and tranquility. Let no
man preach this most secret doctrine to any one who is not his son
or his pupil, and who is not of a serene mind. To him alone who is
devoted to his teacher only, and endowed with all necessary qualities,
may he communicate it.
30. Om! Having settled down in a pure place let him, being pure
himself, and firm in goodness, study the truth, speak the truth, think
the truth, and offer sacrifice to the truth. Henceforth he has
become another; by obtaining the reward of Brahman his fetters are cut
asunder, he knows no hope, no fear from others as little as from
himself, he knows no desires; and having attained imperishable,
infinite happiness, he stands blessed in the true Brahman, who longs
for a true man. Freedom from desires is, as it were, the highest prize
to be taken from the best treasure (Brahman). For a man full of all
desires, being possessed of will, imagination, and belief, is a slave;
but he who is the opposite, is free.
Here some say, it is the Guna (i.e. the so-called Mahat, the
principle of intellect which, according to the Sankhyas, is the result
of the Gunas or qualities), which, through the differences of nature
(acquired in the former states of existence), goes into bondage to the
will, and that deliverance takes place (for the Guna) when the fault
of the will has been removed. (But this is not our view), because
(call it Guna, intellect, Budhi, Manas, mind, Ahankara, egotism, it
is not the mind that acts, but) he sees by the mind (as his
instrument), he hears by the mind; and all that we call desire,
imagination, doubt, belief, unbelief, certainty, uncertainty, shame,
thought, fear, all that is but mind (Manas). Carried along by the
waves of the qualities, darkened in his imaginations, unstable,
fickle, crippled, full of desires, vacillating, he enters into belief,
believing I am he, this is mine, and he binds his Self by his Self, as
a bird with a net. Therefore a man, being possessed of will,
imagination, and belief, is a slave, but he who is the opposite is
free. For this reason let a man stand free from will, imagination, and
belief- this is the sign of liberty, this is the path that leads to
Brahman, this is the opening of the door, and through it he will go to
the other shore of darkness. All desires are there fulfilled. And
for this they quote a verse:
"When the five instruments of knowledge stand still together with
the mind, and when the intellect does not move, that is called the
highest state."'
Having thus said, Sakayanya became absorbed in thought. Then Marut
(i.e. the King Brihadratha), having bowed before him and duly
worshipped him, went full of contentment to the Northern Path, for
there is no way thither by any side-road. This is the path to Brahman.
Having burst open the solar door, he rose on high and went away. And
here they quote:
'There are endless rays (arteries) for the Self who, like a lamp,
dwells in the heart: white and black, brown and blue, tawny and
reddish.
One of them (the Sushumna) leads upwards, piercing the solar orb: by
it, having stepped beyond the world of Brahman, they go to the highest
path.
The other hundred rays rise upwards also, and on them the worshipper
reaches the mansions belonging to the different bodies of gods.
But the manifest rays of dim colour which lead downwards, by them
a man travels on and on helplessly, to enjoy the fruits of his actions
here.'
Therefore it is said that the holy Aditya (sun) is the cause of
new births (to those who do not worship him), of heaven (to those
who worship him as a god), of liberty (to those who worship him as
Brahman).
31. Some one asks: 'Of what nature are those organs of sense that go
forth (towards their objects)? Who sends them out here, or who holds
them back?'
Another answers: 'Their nature is the Self; the Self sends them out,
or holds them back; also the Apsaras (enticing objects of sense),
and the solar rays (and other deities presiding over the senses).'
Now the Self devours the objects by the five rays (the organs of
sense); then who is the Self?
He who has been defined by the terms pure, clean, undeveloped,
tranquil, &c., who is to be apprehended independently by his own
peculiar signs. That sign of him who has no signs, is like what the
pervading heat is of fire, the purest taste of water; thus say some.
It is speech, hearing, sight, mind, breath; thus say others. It is
intellect, retention, remembering, knowledge; thus say others. Now all
these are signs of the Self in the same sense in which here on earth
shoots are the signs of seed, or smoke, light, and sparks of fire. And
for this they quote:
'As the sparks from the fire, and as the rays from the sun, thus
do his Pranas and the rest in proper order again and again proceed
from him here on earth.'
32. From this very Self, abiding within his Self, come forth all
Pranas (speech, &c.), all worlds, all Vedas, all gods, and all beings;
its Upanishad (revelation) is that it is 'the true of the true.' Now
as from a fire of green wood, when kindled, clouds of smoke come forth
by themselves (though belonging to the fire), thus from that great
Being has been breathed forth all this which is the Rig-Veda, the
Yajur-Veda, the Sama-Veda, the Atharvangirasa (Atharva-Veda), the
Itihasa (legendary stories), the Purana (accounts of the creation,
&c.), Vidya (ceremonial doctrines), the Upanishads, the Shlokas (verses
interspersed in the Upanishads, &c.), the Sutras (compendious
statements), the Anuvyakhyanas (explanatory notes), the Vyakhyanas
(elucidations)- all these things are his.
33. This fire (the Garhapatya-fire) with five bricks is the year.
And its five bricks are spring, summer, rainy season, autumn,
winter; and by them the fire has a head, two sides, a centre, and a
tail. This earth (the Garhapatya-fire) here is the first sacrificial
pile for Prajapati, who knows the Purusha (the Virat). It presented
the sacrificer to Vayu (the wind) by lifting him with the hands to the
sky. That Vayu is Prana (Hiranyagarbha).
Prana is Agni (the Dakshinagni-fire), and its bricks are the five
vital breaths, Prana, Vyana, Apana, Samana, Udana; and by them the
fire has a head, two sides, a centre, and a tail. This sky (the
Dakshinagni-fire) here is the second sacrificial pile for Prajapati,
who knows the Purusha. It presented the sacrificer to Indra, by
lifting him with the hands to heaven. That Indra is Aditya, the sun.
That (Indra) is the Agni (the Ahavaniya-fire), and its bricks are
the Rik, the Yajur, the Saama, the Atharvangirasa, the Itihasa,
and the Purana; and by them the fire has a head, two sides, a tail,
and a centre. This heaven (Ahavaniya-fire) is the third sacrificial
pile for Prajapati, who knows the Purusha. With the hands it makes a
present of the sacrificer to the Knower of the Self (Prajapati);
then the Knower of the Self, lifting him up, presented him to Brahman.
In him he becomes full of happiness and joy.
34. The earth is the Garhapatya-fire, the sky the Dakshinagni-fire, the
heaven the Ahavaniya-fire; and therefore they are also the Pavamana
(pure), the Pavaka (purifying), and the Suki (bright). By this (by the
three deities, Pavamana, Pavaka, and Suki) the sacrifice (of the three
fires, the Garhapatya, Dakshinagni, and Ahavaniya) is manifested. And
because the digestive fire also is a compound of the Pavamana, Pavaka,
and Suki, therefore that fire is to receive oblations, is to be laid
with bricks, is to be praised, and to be meditated on. The sacrificer,
when he has seized the oblation, wishes to perform his meditation of
the deity:
'The gold-coloured bird abides in the heart, and in the sun- a diver
bird, a swan, strong in splendour; him we worship in the fire.'
Having recited the verse, he discovers its meaning, viz. the
adorable splendour of Savitri (sun) is to be meditated on by him
who, abiding within his mind, meditates thereon. Here he attains the
place of rest for the mind, he holds it within his own Self. On this
there are the following verses:
(1) As a fire without fuel becomes quiet in its place, thus do the
thoughts, when all activity ceases, become quiet in their place.
(2) Even in a mind which loves the truth and has gone to rest in
itself there arise, when it is deluded by the objects of sense, wrongs
resulting from former acts.
(3) For thoughts alone cause the round of births; let a man strive
to purify his thoughts. What a man thinks, that he is: this is the old
secret.
(4) By the serenity of his thoughts a man blots out all actions,
whether good or bad. Dwelling within his Self with serene thoughts, he
obtains imperishable happiness.
(5) If the thoughts of a man were so fixed on Brahman as they are on
the things of this world, who would not then be freed from bondage?
(6) The mind, it is said, is of two kinds, pure or impure; impure
from the contact with lust, pure when free from lust.
(7) When a man, having freed his mind from sloth, distraction, and
vacillation, becomes as it were delivered from his mind, that is the
highest point.
(8) The mind must be restrained in the heart till it comes to an
end;- that is knowledge, that is liberty: all the rest are
extensions of the ties (which bind us to this life).
(9) That happiness which belongs to a mind which by deep
meditation has been washed clean from all impurity and has entered
within the Self, cannot be described here by words; it can be felt
by the inward power only.
(10) Water in water, fire in fire, ether in ether, no one can
distinguish them; likewise a man whose mind has entered (till it
cannot be distinguished from the Self), attains liberty.
(11) Mind alone is the cause of bondage and liberty for men; if
attached to the world, it becomes bound; if free from the world,
that is liberty.
Therefore those who do not offer the Agnihotra (as described above),
who do not lay the fires (with the bricks, as described above), who
are ignorant (of the mind being the cause of the round of births), who
do not meditate (on the Self in the solar orb) are debarred from
remembering the ethereal place of Brahman. Therefore that fire is to
receive oblations, is to be laid with bricks, is to be praised, to
be meditated on.
35. Adoration to Agni, the dweller on earth, who remembers his
world. Grant that world to this thy worshipper!
Adoration to Vayu, the dweller in the sky, who remembers his
world. Grant that world to this thy worshipper!
Adoration to Aditya, the dweller in heaven, who remembers his world.
Grant that world to this thy worshipper!
Adoration to Brahman, who dwells everywhere, who remembers all.
Grant all to this thy worshipper! I
The mouth of the true (Brahman) is covered with a golden lid; open
that, O Pushan (sun), that we may go to the true one, who pervades all
(Vishnu).
He who is the person in the sun, I am he.
And what is meant by the true one is the essence of the sun, that
which is bright, personal, sexless; a portion (only) of the light
which pervades the ether; which is, as it were, in the midst of the
sun, and in the eye, and in the fire. That is Brahman, that is
immortal, that is splendour.
That is the true one, a portion (only) of the light which pervades
the ether, which is in the midst of the sun, the immortal, of which
Soma (the moon) and the vital breaths also are offshoots: that is
Brahman, that is immortal, that is splendour.
That is the true one, a portion (only) of the light which pervades
the ether, which in the midst of the sun shines as Yajur, viz. as
Om, as water, light, essence, immortal, Brahman, Bhur, Bhuvah, Svah,
Om.
'The eight-footed, the bright, the swan, bound with three threads,
the infinitely small, the imperishable, blind for good and evil,
kindled with light- he who sees him, sees everything.'
A portion (only) of the light which pervades the ether, are the
two rays rising in the midst of the sun. That is the knower (the Sun),
the true one. That is the Yajur, that is the heat, that is Agni
(fire), that is Vayu (wind), that is breath, that is water, that is
the moon, that is bright, that is immortal, that is the place of
Brahman, that is the ocean of light. In that ocean the sacrificers are
dissolved like salt, and that is oneness with Brahman, for all desires
are there fulfilled. And here they quote:
'Like a lamp, moved by a gentle wind, he who dwells within the
gods shines forth. He who knows this, he is the knower, he knows the
difference (between the high and the highest Brahman); having obtained
unity, he becomes identified with it.
They who rise up in endless number, like spray drops (from the sea),
like lightnings from the light within the clouds in the highest
heaven, they, when they have entered into the light of glory
(Brahman), appear like so many flame-crests in the track of fire.'
36. There are two manifestations of the Brahma-light: one is
tranquil, the other lively. Of that which is tranquil, the ether is
the support; of that which is lively, food. Therefore (to the
former) sacrifice must be offered on the house-altar with hymns,
herbs, ghee, meat, cakes, sthalipaka, and other things; to the latter,
with meat and drinks (belonging to the great sacrifices) thrown into
the mouth, for the mouth is the Ahavaniya-fire; and this is done to
increase our bodily vigour, to gain the world of purity, and for the
sake of immortality. And here they quote:
'Let him who longs for heaven, offer an Agnihotra. By an
Agnishtoma he wins the kingdom of Yama; by Uktha, the kingdom of Soma;
by a Shodasin-sacrifice, the kingdom of Surya; by an
Atiratra-sacrifice, the kingdom of Indra; by the sacrifices
beginning with the twelve-night sacrifice and ending with the thousand
years' sacrifice, the world of Prajapati.
As a lamp burns so long as the vessel that holds the wick is
filled with oil, these two, the Self and the bright Sun, remain so
long as the egg (of the world) and he who dwells within it hold
together.'
37. Therefore let a man perform all these ceremonies with the
syllable Om (at the beginning). Its splendour is endless, and it is
declared to be threefold, in the fire (of the altar), in the sun
(the deity), in the breath (the sacrificer). Now this is the channel
to increase the food, which makes what is offered in the fire ascend
to the sun. The sap which flows from thence, rains down as with the
sound of a hymn. By it there are vital breaths, from them there is
offspring. And here they quote:
'The offering which is offered in the fire, goes to the sun; the sun
rains it down by his rays; thus food comes, and from food the birth of
living beings.'
And thus he said:
'The oblation which is properly thrown on the fire, goes toward
the sun; from the sun comes rain, from rain food, from food living
beings.'
38. He who offers the Agnihotra breaks through the net of desire.
Then, cutting through bewilderment, never approving of anger,
meditating on one desire (that of liberty), he breaks through the
shrine of Brahman with its four nets, and proceeds thence to the
ether. For having there broken through the (four) spheres of the
Sun, the Moon, the Fire, and Goodness, he then, being purified
himself, beholds dwelling in goodness, immovable, immortal,
indestructible, firm, bearing the name of Vishnu, the highest abode,
endowed with love of truth and omniscience, the self-dependent
Intelligence (Brahman), standing in its own greatness. And here they
quote:
'In the midst of the sun stands the moon, in the midst of the moon
the fire, in the midst of fire goodness, in the midst of goodness
the Eternal.'
Having meditated on him who has the breadth of a thumb within the
span (of the heart) in the body, who is smaller than small, he obtains
the nature of the Highest; there all desires are fulfilled. And on
this they quote:
'Having the breadth of a thumb within the span (of the heart) in the
body, like the flame of a lamp, burning twofold or threefold, that
glorified Brahman, the great God, has entered into all the worlds. Om!
Adoration to Brahman! Adoration!'
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SEVENTH PRAPATHAKA
1. Agni, the Gyatri (metre), the Trivrit (hymn), the Rathantara
(song), the spring, the upward breath (Prana), the Nakshatras, the
Vasus (deities)- these rise in the East; they warm, they rain, they
praise (the sun), they enter again into him (the sun), they look out
from him (the sun). He (the sun) is inconceivable, without form, deep,
covered, blameless, solid, unfathomable, without qualities, pure,
brilliant, enjoying the play of the three qualities, awful, not
caused, a master-magician, the omniscient, the mighty, immeasurable,
without beginning or end, blissful, unborn, wise, indescribable, the
creator of all things, the self of all things, the enjoyer of all
things, the ruler of all things, the centre of the centre of all
things.
2. Indra, the Trishtubh (metre), the Pankadasa (hymn), the Brihat
(song), the summer, the through-going breath (Vyana), Soma, the
Rudras- these rise in the South; they warm, they rain, they praise,
they enter again into him, they look out from him. He (the sun) is
without end or beginning, unmeasured, unlimited, not to be moved by
another, self-dependent, without sign, without form, of endless power,
the creator, the maker of light.
3. The Maruts, the Gagati (metre), the Saptadasa (hymn), the Vairupa
(song), the rainy season, the downward breath (Apana), Sukra, the
Adityas- these rise in the West; they warm, they rain, they praise,
they enter again into him, they look out from him. That is the
tranquil, the soundless, fearless, sorrowless, joyful, satisfied,
firm, immovable, immortal, eternal, true, the highest abode, bearing
the name of Vishnu.
4. The Vishve Devas, the Anushtubh (metre), the Ekavimsa (hymn),
the Vairaga (song), the autumn, the equal breath (samana), Varuna, the
Sadhyas- these rise in the North; they warm, they rain, they praise,
they enter again into him, they look out from him. He is pure
within, purifying, undeveloped, tranquil, breathless, selfless,
endless.
5. Mitra-Varunau, the Pankti (metre), the Trinavatrayastrimsa
(hymns), the Sakvara-raivata (songs), the snowy and dewy seasons,
the out-going breath (Udana), the Angiras, the Moon- these rise above;
they warm, they rain, they praise, they enter again into him, they
look out from him- who is called Pranava (Om), the leader,
consisting of light, without sleep, old age, death, and sorrow.
6. Sani (Saturn), Rahu and Ketu (the ascending and descending
nodes), the serpents, Rakshasas, Yakshas, men, birds, sarabhas,
elephants, &c.- these rise below; they warm, they rain, they praise,
they enter again into him, they look out from him- he who is wise, who
keeps things in their right place, the centre of all, the
imperishable, the pure, the purifier, the bright, the patient, the
tranquil.
7. And he is indeed the Self, smaller (than small) within the heart,
kindled like fire, endowed with all forms. Of him is all this food,
within him all creatures are woven. That Self is free from sin, free
from old age, from death and grief, from hunger and thirst,
imagining nothing but what it ought to imagine, and desiring nothing
but what it ought to desire. He is the highest lord, he is the supreme
master of all beings, the guardian of all beings, a boundary keeping
all things apart in their right places. He the Self, the lord, is
indeed Sambhu, Bhava, Rudra, Prajapati, the creator of all,
Hiranyagarbha, the true, breath, the swan, the ruler, the eternal,
Vishnu, Narayana. And he who abides in the fire, and he who abides
in the heart, and he who abides in the sun, they are one and the same.
To thee who art this, endowed with all forms, settled in the true
ether, be adoration!
8. Now follow the impediments in the way of knowledge, O King!
This is indeed the origin of the net of bewilderment, that one who
is worthy of heaven lives with those who are not worthy of heaven.
That is it. Though they have been told that there is a grove before
them, they cling to a small shrub. And others also who are always
merry, always abroad, always begging, always making a living by
handiwork; and others who are begging in towns, performing
sacrifices for those who are not allowed to offer sacrifices, who make
themselves the pupils of Sudras, and Sudras who know the sacred books;
and others who are malignant, who use bad language, dancers,
prize-fighters, travelling mendicants, actors, those who have been
degraded in the king's service; and others who for money pretend
that they can lay (the evil influences) of Yakshas, Rakshasas, ghosts,
goblins, devils, serpents, imps, &c.; and others who falsely wear
red dresses, earrings, and skulls; and others who wish to entice by
the jugglery of false arguments, mere comparisons and paralogisms, the
believers in the Veda- with all these he should not live together.
They are clearly thieves, and unworthy of heaven. And thus it is said:
'The world unsettled by the paralogisms of the denial of Self, by
false comparisons and arguments, does not know what is the
difference between Veda and philosophy.'
9. Brihaspati, having become Sukra, brought forth that false
knowledge for the safety of Indra and for the destruction of the
Asuras. By it they show that good is evil, and that evil is good. They
say that we ought to ponder on the (new) law, which upsets the Veda
and the other sacred books. Therefore let no one ponder on that
false knowledge: it is wrong, it is, as it were, barren. Its reward
lasts only as long as the pleasure lasts, as with one who has fallen
from his caste. Let that false science not be attempted, for thus it
is said:
(1) Widely opposed and divergent are these two, the one known as
false knowledge, the other as knowledge. I (Yama) believe Nachiketas to
be possessed by a desire of knowledge; even many pleasures do not move
thee.
(2) He who knows at the same time both the imperfect (sacrifice,
&c.) and the perfect knowledge (of the Self), he crosses death by
means of the imperfect, and obtains immortality by means of the
perfect knowledge.
(3) Those who are wrapped up in the midst of imperfect knowledge,
fancying themselves alone wise and learned, they wander about
floundering and deceived, like the blind led by the blind.
10. The gods and the demons, wishing to know the Self, went into the
presence of Brahman (their father, Prajapati). Having bowed before
him, they said: 'O blessed one, we wish to know the Self, do thou tell
us.' Then, after having pondered a long while, he thought, these
demons are not yet self-subdued; therefore a very different Self was
told to them (from what was told to the gods). On that Self these
deluded demons take their stand, clinging to it, destroying the true
means of salvation (the Veda), preaching untruth. What is untrue
they see as true, as in jugglery. Therefore, what is taught in the
Vedas, that is true. What is said in the Vedas, on that the wise
keep their stand. Therefore let a Brahman not read what is not of
the Veda, or this will be the result.
11. This is indeed the nature of it (the Veda), the supreme light of
the ether which is within the heart. This is taught as threefold, in
the fire, in the sun, in the breath. This is indeed the nature of
it, the syllable Om, of the ether which is within the heart. By it (by
the Om) that (light) starts, rises, breathes forth, becomes for ever
the means of the worship and knowledge of Brahman. That (light, in the
shape of Om), when there is breathing, takes the place of the internal
heat, free from all brightness. This is like the action of smoke;
for when there is a breath of air, the smoke, first rising to the
sky in one column, follows afterwards every bough, envelopes it and
takes its shape. It is like throwing salt (into water), like heating
ghee. The Veda comes and goes like the dissolving view of a
master-magician. And here they quote:
'Why then is it called "like lightning?" Because as soon as it comes
forth (as Om) it lights up the whole body. Therefore let a man worship
that boundless light by the syllable Om.'
(1) The man in the eye who abides in the right eye, he is Indra, and
his wife abides in the left eye.
(2) The union of these two takes place in the cavity within the
heart, and the ball of blood which is there, that is indeed the vigour
and life of these two.
(3) There is a channel going from the heart so far, and fixed in
that eye; that is the artery for both of them, being one, divided into
two.
(4) The mind excites the fire of the body, that fire stirs the
breath, and the breath, moving in the chest, produces the low sound.
(5) Brought forth by the touch of the fire, as with a
churning-stick, it is at first a minim, from the minim it becomes in
the throat a double minim; on the tip of the tongue know that it is
a treble minim, and, when uttered, they call it the alphabet
(stoicheia).
(6) He who sees this, does not see death, nor disease, nor misery,
for seeing he sees all (objectively, not as affecting him
subjectively); he becomes all everywhere (he becomes Brahman).
(7) There is the person in the eye, there is he who walks as in
sleep, he who is sound asleep, and he who is above the sleeper:
these are the four conditions (of the Self), and the fourth is greater
than all.
(8) Brahman with one foot moves in the three, and Brahman with three
feet is in the last.
It is that both the true (in the fourth condition) and the untrue
(in the three conditions) may have their desert, that the Great Self
(seems to) become two, yes, that he (seems to) become two.
OM - SHANTI - SHANTI - SHANTI