MantraOnNet.com: Brhadaranyaka Upanishad
1. The one who knows the eldest and best becomes the
eldest and best of his own people. Breath is the eldest and
best. The one who knows this becomes the eldest and best
of his own people, and of those of whom he wishes to
become so.
2. The one who knows the finest
becomes the finest of
his own people. Speech is the finest. The one who knows
this becomes the finest of his own people, and of those of
whom he wishes to become so.
3. The one who knows the support (pratistha) stands firm
(prati-stha-) on even ground, stands firm on rough ground.
The eye is the support, for the eye stands firm on even
ground, stands firm on rough ground. The one who knows
this stands firm on even ground, stands firm on rough
ground.
4. The one who knows prosperity attains whatever desire
he desires. The ear is prosperity, for all the Vedas are
attained in it. The one who knows this attains whatever
desire he desires.
5. The one who knows the dwelling-place becomes a
dwelling-place for his own folk, a dwelling-place for the
people. Mind is the dwelling-place. The one who knows this
becomes a dwelling-place for his own folk, a dwelling-place
for the people.
6. The one who knows procreation increases in offspring
and in animals. The seed is procreation. The one who
knows this increases in offspring and in animals.
7. The bodily functions (prana) were arguing about who
was the best. They went to brahman and asked it, ‘Who is
the finest of us?’
It said, ‘The finest of you is the one after whose departure
the body is thought to be worst off.’
8. Speech departed and stayed away for a year. When it
came back it asked, ‘How were you able to live without
me?’
They said, ‘We lived like the dumb, not speaking with
speech, but breathing with the breath, seeing with the eye,
hearing with the ear, knowing with the mind, procreating
with the seed.’
Then speech went back in.
9. The eye departed and stayed away for a year. When it
came back it asked, ‘How were you able to live without
me?’
They said, ‘We lived like the blind, speaking with speech,
breathing with the breath, not seeing with the eye, but
hearing with the ear, knowing with the mind, procreating
with the seed.’
Then the eye went back in.
10. The ear departed and stayed away for a year. When
it came back it asked, ‘How were you able to live without
me?’
They said, ‘We lived like the deaf, speaking with speech,
breathing with the breath, seeing with the eye, not hearing
with the ear, but knowing with the mind, procreating with
the seed.’
Then the ear went back in.
11. The mind departed and stayed away for a year. When
it came back it asked, ‘How were you able to live without
me?’
They said, ‘We lived like the simpletons, speaking with
speech, breathing with the breath, seeing with the eye,
hearing with the ear, not knowing with the mind, but
procreating with the seed.’
Then the mind went back in.
12. The seed departed and stayed away for a year. When
it came back it asked, ‘How were you able to live without
me?’
They said, ‘We lived like the eunuchs, speaking with
speech, breathing with the breath, seeing with the eye,
hearing with the ear, knowing with the mind, but not
procreating with the seed.’
Then the seed went back in.
13. The breath (prana), about to depart, dragged those bodily
functions (prana) together as a fine big stallion of Sindhu
might drag its tethering pegs.
They said, ‘Blessed one, do not leave. We will not be
able to live without you.’
‘Then make me an offering.’
‘We will.’
14. Speech said, ‘In that I am the finest, you are the finest.’
The eye said, ‘In that I am the support, you are the
support.’
The ear said, ‘In that I am prosperity, you are prosperity.’
The mind said, Tn that I am the dwelling-place, you are the dwelling-place.’
The seed said, ‘In that I am procreation, you are
procreation.’
‘Then what is my food, what is my clothing?’
‘Whatever there is, down to dogs, worms, insects and flying things, is your food: water is your clothing.’
Whoever knows in this way the food of the breath will
not come to eat anything that is not food, will not come to
receive anything. Knowing this, the learned
sip water when they are about to eat, and sip water after
they have eaten. They think that they are making the breath
(ana) not-naked (anagna).
VI.2
1. Vetaketu Aruneya came to an assembly of the PaftcSlas.
He approached Jaivali Pravahana, who was being waited on
by his entourage. Seeing him, the prince called, ‘Young
man!’
‘Sir?’ he called back.
‘Have you been educated by your father?’
‘OM,’ he said.
2. ‘Do you know,’ cried the prince, ‘how people, when
they depart, go in different directions?’
‘No,’ he said.
‘And do you know how they come back to this world
again?’
‘No,’ he said.
‘And do you know how that world does not become
full with the many people who depart to it again and again?’
‘No,’ was all he said.
‘And do you know how many offerings have to be
offered before the waters take on a human voice, rise up
and speak?’
‘No,’ was all he said.
‘And do you know how to reach the path that leads to
the gods or the one that leads to the ancestors?what they
do to reach the path that leads to the gods or the one that
leads to the ancestors? For we have heard the saying of the
Rsi:
“I have heard of two ways for mortals, To the ancestors and to the gods: By them goes everything that moves Between the father and the mother.”
‘I do not know a single one of these things’ he said.
3. The prince invited him to stay with him, but the young
man, not honouring his hospitality, ran away. He came to
his father and said, ‘Now, father, you said before that we
had been educated!’
‘What of it, clever one?’
‘A princeling asked me five questions, and I do not
know a single one of them.’
‘What are they?’
‘These’?and he told him the subjects.
4. He said, ‘You should know me, son: whatever I know,
I have taught you. But come, we two will go to him and
live with him as his students.’
‘You go, father.’
Gautama went to Pravahana Jaivali’s house. The prince
offered him a seat, had water brought for him, and welcomed
him as an honoured guest. He said, ‘We grant a boon to
the blessed Gautama.’
5. He said, ‘I accept the boon. Tell me the words you
spoke in the presence of the young man.’
6. He said, ‘Gautama, that falls among boons for the gods.
Name something that belongs to human beings.’
7. He said, ‘It is well known that I have plenty of gold,
cows and horses, slave-women, coverings and clothing. Sir,
do not stint me of what is great, endless, unlimited.’
‘Then, Gautama, you should ask for it in the proper
way.’
The ancients used to go to their teachers by saying, ‘I
come to you, sir’: and so Gautama became his student by
announcing that he was going to him.
8. He said, ‘Gautama, may you not be displeased with us,
nor your grandfathers either, but this knowledge has never
before lived in any Brahmana. But I will teach it to you: for
who could refuse you when you ask in this way?
9. ‘That world is a fire, Gautama. The sun is its fuel;
the rays its smoke; the day its flame; the directions its
embers; the intermediate directions its sparks. In that fire
the gods offer faith (sraddha). From that offering King Soma
arises.
10. ‘Parjanya is a fire, Gautama. The year is his fuel; the
clouds his smoke; the lightning his flame; the thunderbolt
his embers; the hailstones his sparks. In that fire the gods
offer King Soma. From that offering rain arises.
11. ‘This world is a fire, Gautama. The earth is its fuel;
fire its smoke; the night its flame; the moon its embers; the
constellations its sparks. In that fire the gods offer rain.
From that offering food arises.
12. ‘A man (purusa) is a fire, Gautama. The open mouth
is his fuel; breath his smoke; speech his flame; the eye his
embers; the ear his sparks. In that fire the gods offer food.
From that offering the seed arises.
13. ‘A young woman is a fire, Gautama. The loins are her
fuel; the body-hairs her smoke; the vagina her flame; what
one does inside, her embers; the pleasures her sparks. In
that fire the gods offer the seed. From that offering a person
arises. He lives as long as he lives, and when he dies?
14. ‘They carry him to the fire. Then his fire becomes the
fire; his fuel the fuel; his smoke the smoke; his flame the
flame; his embers the embers; his sparks the sparks. In that
fire the gods offer the person. From that offering a person
of the colour of light arises.
15. ‘Those who know this, and those who in the forest
worship faith as truth, go into the flame, from the flame
into the day, from the day into the waxing fortnight, from
the waxing fortnight into the six months in which the sun
goes northward, from the months into the world of the
gods, from the world of the gods into the sun, from the
sun into that which is made of lightning. The person of
mind goes to those beings of lightning and leads them to
the world of Brahma. Exalted, far above, they dwell in
the worlds of Brahma. For them there is no returning.
16. ‘But those who win worlds by sacrifice, giving and
asceticism go into the smoke, from the smoke into the night,
from the night into the waning fortnight, from the waning
fortnight into the six months in which the sun goes
southward, from the months into the world of the ancestors, from the world of the ancestors into the moon.
‘Reaching the moon, they become food. There the gods
partake of them, as they do of King Soma, saying, “Grow
full!” “Wane!”
‘When that passes away for them, they enter into space,
from space into the air, from the air into the rain, from the
rain into the earth.
‘Reaching the earth, they become food. They are offered
again in the fire of a man, and from that are bom in the
fire of a young woman, rising again to the worlds. So they
circle around. But those who do not know the two paths
become worms, flying things, and everything that bites.’
VI.3
1. If someone desires to achieve greatness, then in the
northward passage of the sun, on a lucky day of the waxing
fortnight, he takes an upasad vow lasting twelve days. Then
he puts together all the herbs called ‘fruits’ in a cup or dish
made of pippala-wood. He sweeps up and smears around
builds a fire and covers it with grass. He prepares the
clarified butter in the usual way. Then, under a masculine
constellation, he prepares the stirred mixture and makes
an offering:
‘As many gods as there are in you, Jatavedas,
Who, crossing them, thwart a person’s desires,
I offer them all a share.
May they be pleased, and please me with all desires.
SVAHA!
‘And you who cross our desires,
Saying, “I am the Separator”,
With a stream of ghee
I sacrifice to you as the Reconciler.
SVAHA!’
2. Saying, ‘To the eldest, SVAHA! To the best, SVAHA!’,
he makes an offering into the fire and pours the remainder
into the stirred mixture.
Saying, ‘To breath, SVAHA! To the finest, SVAHA!’,
he makes an offering into the fire and pours the remainder
into the stirred mixture.
Saying, ‘To speech, SVAHA! To the support, SVAHA!’,
he makes an offering into the fire and pours the remainder
into the stirred mixture.
Saying, ‘To the eye, SVAHA! To prosperity, SVAHA!’,
he makes an offering into the fire and pours the remainder
into the stirred mixture.
Saying, ‘To the ear, SVAHA! To the dwelling-place,
SVAHA!’, he makes an offering into the fire and pours the
remainder into the stirred mixture.
Saying, ‘To the mind, SVAHA! To procreation, SVAHA!’,
he makes an offering into the fire and pours the remainder
into the stirred mixture.
Saying, ‘To the seed, SVAHA!’, he makes an offering
into the fire and pours the remainder into the stirred mixture.
3. Saying, ‘To Agni, SVAHA!’, he makes an offering
into the fire and pours the remainder into the stirred mixture.
Saying, ‘To Soma, SVAHA!’, he makes an offering into
the fire and pours the remainder into the stirred mixture.
Saying, ‘BHUH, SVAHA!’, he makes an offering into the
fire and pours the remainder into the stirred mixture.
Saying, ‘BHUVAH, SVAHA!’, he makes an offering into
the fire and pours the remainder into the stirred mixture.
Saying, ‘SVAH, SVAHA!’, he makes an offering into the
fire and pours the remainder into the stirred mixture.
Saying, ‘BHUH, BHUVAH, SVAH, SVAHA!’, he makes
an offering into the fire and pours the remainder into the
stirred mixture.
Saying, ‘To priesthood (brahman), SVAHA!’, he makes an
offering into the fire and pours the remainder into the stirred
mixture.
Saying, ‘To royalty (ksatra), SVAHA!’, he makes an
offering into the fire and pours the remainder into the stirred
mixture.
Saying, ‘To the past, SVAHA!’, he makes an offering
into the fire and pours the remainder into the stirred mixture.
Saying, ‘To the future, SVAHA!’, he makes an offering
into the fire and pours the remainder into the stirred mixture.
Saying, ‘To the universe, SVAHA!’, he makes an offering
into the fire and pours the remainder into the stirred mixture.
Saying, ‘To all, SVAHA!’, he makes an offering into the
fire and pours the remainder into the stirred mixture.
Saying, ‘To Prajapati, SVAHA!’, he makes an offering
into the fire and pours the remainder into the stirred mixture.
4. Then he touches it, saying, ‘You are the wandering, you
are the blazing, you are the full, you are the rigid, you are
the one meeting-place, you are the sound hm, you are
the sounding of hin, you are the Udgtha, you are the chanting
of the Udgttha, you are what is recited, you are what is
recited back, you are what bums in what is wet, you
are the all-pervading, you are the powerful, you are food, you are light, you are the ending, you are the drawing together.’
5. Then he lifts it up, saying, ‘Amamsy amamhi te mahi.
He is the ruler of kings, the overlord: may the ruler of kings
make me the overlord!’
6. Then he sips it and says:
‘We meditate on the lovely?
Sweetly the winds blow for the good,
Sweetly the rivers flow.
Sweet be the herbs for us.
BHUH SVAHA!
‘Glory of the god Savitr?
Sweet be the night and the dawns too,
Sweet-filled be the dust of the earth,
Sweet be the sky our father.
BHUVAH SVAHA!
‘That he may stimulate our minds?
Sweet-filled be the lord of the wood,
Sweet-filled be the sun,
Sweet be the cows to us.
SVAH SVAHA!’
He recites the whole of the Savitri and all the
‘Sweet-filled’ verses. Then: ‘May I become all this! BHUH,
BHUVAH, SVAH, SVAHA!’ Finally, when he has sipped it,
he washes his hands and lies down behind the fire-altar
with his head towards the east.
In the morning he worships the sun, saying: ‘You are
the one white lotus of the directions: may I become the one
white lotus of humankind!’ He goes back by the way he
came, sits down behind the fire-altar and recites the
lineage.
7. Uddalaka Aruni taught this to his student Vajasaneya
Yajnavalkya, and said: ‘If one were to sprinkle this even on
a dried-up stump, branches would grow, and leaves would
sprout.’
8. And Vajasaneya Yajnavalkya taught this to his student
Madhuka Paihgya, and said: ‘If one were to sprinkle this
even on a dried-up stump, branches would grow, and leaves
would sprout.’
9. And Madhuka Paingya taught this to his student Cula
Bhagavitti, and said: ‘If one were to sprinkle this even on
a dried-up stump, branches would grow, and leaves would
sprout.’
10. And Cula Bhagavitti taught this to his student Janaki
Ayasthuna, and said: ‘If one were to sprinkle this even on
a dried-up stump, branches would grow, and leaves would
sprout.’
11. And Janaki Ayasthuna taught this to his student
Satyakama Jabala, and said: ‘If one were to sprinkle this
even on a dried-up stump, branches would grow, and leaves
would sprout.’
12. And Satyakama Jabala taught this to his students, and
said: ‘If one were to sprinkle this even on a dried-up stump,
branches would grow, and leaves would sprout.’ One should
not teach this to anybody who is not a son or a student.
13. Four things are made of pippala-wood. The spoon
is of pippala-wood; the bowl is of pippala-wood; the fuel is
of pippala-wood; the two chuming-sricks are of pippala-wood.
There are ten cultivated grains: rice, barley, sesamum,
beans, millet, panic seed, wheat, lentils, peas and vetch.
He sprinkles them, ground, on yoghurt, honey and ghee,
and makes an offering of melted butter.