* The commentary carries the simile still further. The felloe, he says, holds to the spokes, the spokes to the nave. So do the bhfittamatras hold to the pragfidmatrds, and these to the praza.
* One who declares something that goes beyond all the declara- tions made before, beginning with the declaration that names are Brahman, and ending with the declaration that hope is Brahman;— one who knows that prdma, spirit, the conscious self, is Brahman. This declaration represents the highest point reached by ordinary people, but Narada wishes to go beyond. In the Mumdaka, III, I, 4, an ativadin is contrasted with one who really knows the highest truth.
Vii Prapathaka, 18 Khanda, I. 12]
art an ativadin, he may say, I am an ativddin; he need not deny it.’
SIXTEENTH KHAwpa},
1. ‘But in reality he is an ativadin who declares
the Highest Being to be the True (Satya, 7d dvrws
ov),’
‘Sir, may I become an ativadin by the True?’
‘But we must desire to know the True.’
‘Sir, I desire to know the True.’
1. ‘When one understands the True, then one
declares the True. One who does not understand
it, does not declare the True*. Only he who under-
stands it, declares the True. This understanding,
however, we must desire to understand.’
‘Sir, I desire to understand it.’
1. ‘When one perceives, then one understands,
One who does not perceive, does not understand.
Only he who perceives, understands. This percep-
tion, however, we must desire to understand.’
‘Sir, I desire to understand it.’
? As Narada asks no further, whether there is anything better, higher, truer than praza, he is supposed to be satisfied with his belief that praza is the Highest Being. Sanatkum4ra, however, wishes to lead him on to a still higher view; hence the paragraphs which follow from 16 to 26.
2 He would, for instance, call fire real, not knowing that fire is only a mixture of the three elements (cf. VI, 4), the rfipatraya, a mere variety (vikara), and name (naman),
122 KHANDOGYA-UPANISHAD.
1. ‘When one believes, then one perceives. One
who does not believe, does not perceive. Only he
who believes, perceives. This belief, however, we
must desire to understand.’
‘Sir, I desire to understand it.’
TWENTIETH KHANDA.
1. ‘When one attends on a tutor (spiritual guide),
then one believes. One who does not attend on
a tutor, does not believe. Only he who attends,
believes. This attention on a tutor, however, we
must desire to understand.’
‘Sir, I desire to understand it.’
1. ‘When one performs all sacred duties', then
one attends really on a tutor. One who does not
perform his duties, does not really attend on a tutor.
Only he who performs his duties, attends on his
tutor. This performance of duties, however, we
must desire to understand.’
‘Sir, I desire to understand it.’
TT WENTY-SECOND KHANDA.
1. ‘When one obtains bliss (in oneself), then one
performs duties. One who does not obtain bliss,
does not perform duties. Only he who obtains bliss,
performs duties. This bliss, however, we must
desire to understand.’ 7
‘Sir, I desire to understand it.’
* The duties of a student, such as restraint of the senses, concen- tration of the mind, &c.
VII PRAPATHAKA, 25 KHANDA, I. i233
1. ‘ The Infinite (bhiman)? is bliss. There is no
bliss in anything finite. -Infinity only is bliss. This
Infinity, however, we must desire to understand.’
‘Sir, I desire to understand it.’
TWENTY-FOURTH KHAwDa.
1. ‘Where one sees nothing else, hears nothing
else, understands nothing else, that is the Infinite.
Where one sees something else, hears something
else, understands something else, that is the finite.
The Infinite is immortal, the finite is mortal.’
‘Sir, in what does the Infinite rest ?’
‘In its own greatness—or not even in greatness ®.’
2. ‘In the world they call cows and horses,
elephants and gold, slaves, wives, fields and houses
greatness. I do not mean this,’ thus he spoke;
‘for in that case one being (the possessor) rests
in something else, (but the Infinite cannot rest in
something different from itself.)
TWENTY-FIFTH KHANDA.
1. ‘The Infinite indeed is below, above, behind,
before, right and left—it is indeed_all this.
‘Now follows the explanation of the Infinite as
1 Bhfiiman is sometimes translated by grandeur, the superlative, the akme. It is the highest point that can be reached, the infinite and the true.
* This phrase reminds one of the last verse in the No sad 4sid hymn, where, likewise, the expression of the highest certainty is followed by a misgiving that after all it may be otherwise. The commentator takes yadi va in the sense of, If you ask in the highest sense, then I say no; for the Infinite cannot rest in any- thing, not even in greatness.
124 KHANDOGYA-UPANISHAD.
the I: I am below, I am above, I am behind, before, right and left—I am all this.
2. ‘Next follows the explanation of the Infinite
as the Self: Self is below, above, behind, before,
right and left—Self is all this.
‘He who sees, perceives, and understands this,
loves the Self, delights in the Self, revels in the
Self, rejoices in the Self—he becomes a Svarag,
(an autocrat or Self-ruler); he is lord and master
in all the worlds.
‘But those who think differently from this, live
in perishable worlds, and have other beings for their
rulers.
TWENTY-SIXTH KHANDA.
1. ‘To him who sees, perceives, and understands
this}, the spirit (praza) springs from the Self, hope
springs from the Self, memory springs from the
Self; so do ether, fire, water, appearance and dis-
appearance’, food, power, understanding, reflection,
consideration, will, mind, speech, names, sacred
hymns, and sacrifices—aye, all this springs from
the Self.
2. ‘There is this verse, “ He who sees this,
does not see death, nor illness, nor pain; he who
sees this, sees everything, and obtains everything
everywhere.
‘“He is one (before creation), he becomes three
* Before the acquirement of true knowledge, all that has been mentioned before, spirit, hope, memory, &c., on to names, was supposed to spring from the Sat, as something different from one- self. Now he is to know that the Sat is the Self.
? In the preceding paragraphs appearance and disappearance (birth and death) are not mentioned. This shows how easy it was in these treatises either to omit or to add anything that seemed important.
Viii Prapathaka, I Khanda, I. 125
(fire, water, earth), he becomes five, he becomes
seven, he becomes nine; then again he is called the
eleventh, and hundred and ten and one thousand
and twenty ?.”
‘When the intellectual aliment has been purified,
the whole nature becomes purified. When the
whole nature has been purified, the memory becomes
firm. And when the memory (of the Highest Self)
remains firm, then all the ties (which bind us to
a belief in anything but the Self) are loosened.
‘The venerable Sanatkumara showed to Narada,
after his faults had been rubbed out, the other side
of darkness. They call Sanatkumaéra Skanda, yea,
Skanda they call him.’
EIGHTH PRAPA7AAKA.
First Kuawpa?,
1. HarizZ, Om. There is this city of Brahman (the body), and in it the palace, the small lotus (of
' This too is meant as a verse. The commentary says that the various numbers are intended to show the endless variety of form on the Self after creation. Cf. Mait. Up. V, 2.
* The eighth Prapashaka seems to form a kind of appendix to the Upanishad. The highest point that can be reached by specu- lation had been reached in the seventh Prapathaka, the identity of our self and of everything else with the Highest Self. This speculative effort, however, is too much for ordinary people. They cannot conceive the Sat or Brahman as out of space and time, as free from all qualities, and in order to help them, they are taught to adore the Brahman, as it appears in space and time, an object endowed with certain qualities, living in nature and in the human heart. The Highest Brahman, besides which there is nothing, and which can neither be reached as an object, nor be considered as
126 KHANDOGYA-UPANISHAD.
the heart), and in it that small ether. Now what
exists within that small ether, that is to be sought
for, that is to be understood. |
2. And if they should say to him: ‘Now with
regard to that city of Brahman, and the palace in it,
i.e. the small lotus of the heart, and the small ether
within the heart, what is there within it that deserves
to be sought for, or that is to be understood ?’
3. Then he should say: ‘As large as this ether
(all space) is, so large is that ether within the heart.
Both heaven and earth are contained within it, both
fire and air, both sun and moon, both lightning and
stars; and whatever there is of him (the Self) here
in the world, and whatever is not (i.e. whatever has
been or will be), all that is contained within it}.
4. And if they should say to him: ‘If everything
that exists is contained in that city of Brahman, all
beings and all desires (whatever can be imagined
or desired), then what is left of it, when old age
reaches it and scatters it, or when it falls to pieces ?’
5. Then he should say: ‘By the old age of the
body, that (the ether, or Brahman within it) does
not age; by the death of the body, that (the ether,
or Brahman within it) is not killed. That (the Brah-
an effect, seems to ordinary minds like a thing which is not. Therefore while the true philosopher, after acquiring the know- ledge of the Highest Sat, becomes identified with it suddenly, like lightning, the ordinary mortal must reach it by slow degrees, and as a preparation for that higher knowledge which is to follow, the eighth Prapa/haka, particularly the first portion of it, has been added to the teaching contained in the earlier books.
’ The ether in the heart is really a name of Brahman. He is there, and therefore all that comes of him when he assumes bodily shapes, both what is and what is not, i.e. what is no longer or not yet; for the absolute nothing is not intended here,
Viii Prapathaka, 2 Khanda, 2. 127
man) is the true Brahma-city (not the body’). In
it all desires are contained. It is the Self, free from
sin, free from old age, from death and grief, from
hunger and thirst, which desires nothing but what
it ought to desire, and imagines nothing but what it
ought to imagine. Now as here on earth people
follow as they are commanded, and depend on the
object which they are attached to, be it a country or
a piece of land,
6. ‘And as here on earth, whatever has been ac-
quired by exertion, perishes, so perishes whatever is
acquired for the next world by sacrifices and other
good actions performed on earth. Those who de-
part from hence without having discovered the
Self and those true desires, for them there is no
freedom in all the worlds. But those who depart
from hence, after having discovered the Self and
those true desires *, for them there is freedom in all
the worlds.
SEcOND KHANDA.
1. ‘Thus he who desires the world? of the fathers,
by his mere will the fathers come to receive him,
and having obtained the world of the fathers, he is
happy. 2. ‘And he who desires the world of the mothers,
by his mere will the mothers come to receive him,
? I translate this somewhat differently from the commentator, though the argument remains the same.
* True desires are those which we ought to desire, and the ful- filment of which depends on ourselves, supposing that we have acquired the knowledge which enables us to fulfil them.
* World is the nearest approach to loka: it means life with the fathers, or enjoying the company of the fathers.
128 KHANDOGYA-UPANISHAD.
and having obtained the world of the mothers, he is happy.
3. ‘And he who desires the world of the brothers,
by his mere will the brothers come to receive him,
and having obtained the world of the brothers, he is
happy.
4. ‘And he who desires the world of the sisters,
by his mere will the sisters come to receive him,
and having obtained the world of the sisters, he is
happy.
5. ‘And he who desires the world of the friends,
by his mere will the friends come to receive him,
and having obtained the world of the friends, he is
happy.
6. ‘And he who desires the world of perfumes and
garlands (gandhamalya), by his mere will perfumes
and garlands come to him, and having obtained the
world of perfumes and garlands, he is happy.
7. ‘And he who desires the world of food and
drink, by his mere will food and drink come to him,
and having obtained the world of food and drink, he
is happy.
8. ‘And he who desires the world of song and
music, by his mere will song and music come to him,
and having obtained the world of song and music,
he is happy.
g. ‘And he who desires the world of women, by
his mere will women come to receive him, and
having obtained the world of women, he is happy.
‘Whatever object he is attached to, whatever
object he desires, by his mere will it comes to him,
and having obtained it, he is happy.