Chandogya Upanishad Book 4 Part 2
1. Upakosala Kamalayana lived as a brahmacarin with
Satyakama Jabala. For twelve years he tended his fires.
Satyakama let his other students return home, 
but he did
not let Upakosala return home.
2. Satyakama’s wife said to him, ‘The ascetic brahmacarin
has tended the fires well. Do not let the fires speak to him
first. You should teach him.’ But he went on a journey without having spoken to him.
3. Then, from grief, Upakosala resolved not to eat. His
teacher’s wife said. Tat, brahmacarin. Why do you not eat?’
He said, ‘In this person are many desires, sufferings of
all kinds. I am full of grief. I shall not eat.’
4. Then the fires spoke together: ‘The ascetic brahmacarin
has tended us well. Come, let us teach him.’ They said to
him:
5. ‘Breath is brahman; Ka is brahman; Kha is brahman.’
He said, I know that breath is brahman, but I do not
know Ka or Kha.’
They said, ‘What Ka is, Kha is, and what Kha is, Ka
is.’ They told him about breath, and then about space.
IV. 11
1. Then the Garhapatya fire taught him: ‘”Earth, fire, food,
the sun.” The person who is seen in the sun am I. I am
he.
2. ‘The one who knows and contemplates him in this way
wards off evil actions, becomes a possessor of worlds, attains
his full span, and lives long, and his descendants do not
perish. We protect, both in this world and in that, the one
who knows and contemplates him in this way.’
IV.12
1. Then the Anvaharyapacana fire taught him: ‘”The waters,
the directions, the constellations, the moon.” The person
who is seen in the moon am I. I am he.
2. The one who knows and contemplates him in this way
wards off evil actions, becomes a possessor of worlds, attains
his full span, and lives long, and his descendants do not
perish. We protect, both in this world and in that, the one
who knows and contemplates him in this way.’
IV.13
1. Then the Ahavaniya fire taught him: ‘”Breath, space,
fire, lightning.” The person who is seen in the lightning am
I. I am he.
2. ‘The one who knows and contemplates him in this way
wards off evil actions, becomes a possessor of worlds, attains
his full span, and lives long, and his descendants do not
perish. We protect, both in this world and in that, the one
who knows and contemplates him in this way.’
IV.14
1. They said, ‘Upakosala, good lad, you have knowledge
of us and knowledge of the self. But your teacher will tell
you where they go back to.’
His teacher came back. His teacher called him:
‘Upakosala!’
2. ‘Blessed one?’ he replied.
‘Good lad, your face shines like that of a knower of
brahman. Who taught you?’
‘Who could have taught me, sir?’ he said, seeming to
deny it. He paid respect to the fires, saying, ‘Now they look
like this, but then they looked different.’
‘So what did they tell you, good lad?’
3. ‘This . . .,’ he replied.
‘But did they tell you only about the worlds, good lad?
But I will tell you about that. When one knows that, evil
action does not stick to one, just as water does not stick to
a lotus-petal.’
‘Tell me, blessed one.’
And he told him:
IV.15
1. ‘The person who is seen in the eye is the self,’ he said.
‘It is the immortal, the fearless. It is brahman. Even if one
sprinkles ghee or water on it, it goes only as far as the
eyelids.
2. ‘They call him “Unifying the Beautiful”, for all beautiful
things come together to him. All beautiful things come
together to the one who knows this.
3. ‘He is also “Bringer of the Beautiful”, for he brings all
beautiful things. The one who knows this brings all beautiful
things.
4. ‘He is also “Light-Bringer”, for he shines in all worlds.
The one who knows this shines in all worlds.
5. ‘And whether they perform funerary rites for him or
not, they go into the light; from light 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 year; from the year into the sun; from
the sun into the moon; from the moon into the lightning:
then a person who is not human leads them to brahman.
This is the path of the gods, the path of brahman. Those
who travel by it do not whirl again in the whirlpool of
Manu. They do not whirl again.’
IV.16
1. The one who purifies is a sacrifice, for as it goes it
purifies all this. Since as it goes it purifies all this it is a
sacrifice. Mind and speech are ways to it.
2. Of the two, the Brahma consecrates one with his mind; the Hotr, the Adhvaryu and the Udgatr the other with speech. When the Brahma breaks the silence, once the morning
recitation has begun, before the closing verse,
3. He consecrates one of the ways, but the other is lacking.
As a person walking on one foot, or a chariot running on
one wheel, comes to harm, his sacrifice comes to harm.
When the sacrifice comes to harm, the patron of the sacrifice
comes to harm with it. By sacrificing, he becomes more evil.
4. But when the Brahma does not break the silence once
the morning recitation has begun, before the closing verse,
they consecrate both the ways, and neither of them is lacking.
As a person travelling on both feet, or a chariot running on
both wheels, remains steady (prati-stha-), his sacrifice remains
steady. When the sacrifice remains steady, the patron of the
sacrifice remains steady with it. By sacrificing, he becomes
better.
IV.17
1. Prajapati heated up the worlds. As they were heated
up, he extracted128 the essences from them: fire from earth,
air from middle-air, the sun from sky.
2. He heated up these three deities. As they were heated
up, he extracted the essences from them: reverses from fire,
yajus verses from air, saman verses from the sun.
3. He heated up this threefold knowledge. As it was heated
up, he extracted the essences from it: BHUH from the re
verses, BHUVAH from the yajus verses, SVAH from the
saman verses.
4. If it should come to harm from the re verses, one should
make an offering into the Garhapatya fire, saying BHUH
SVAHA. Then one repairs the harm to the sacrifice from the
re verses with the essence of the reverses, with the power
of the re verses.
5. And if it should come to harm from the yajus verses,
one should make an offering into the Daksinagni fire, saying
BHUVAH SVAHA. Then one repairs the harm to the sacrifice
from the yajus verses with the essence of the yajus verses,
with the power of the yajus verses.
6. And if it should come to harm from the saman verses,
one should make an offering into the Ahavaniya fire, saying
SVAH SVAHA. Then one repairs the harm to the sacrifice
from the saman verses with the essence of the saman verses,
with the power of the saman verses.
7. Just as one would repair gold with salt, silver with
gold, tin with silver, lead with tin, iron with lead, timber
with iron, or timber with leather,
8. One repairs the harm to the sacrifice with the power of
the three worlds, the three deities, the threefold knowledge.
The sacrifice is healed, where one who knows this is the
Brahma.
9. The sacrifice slopes to the north, where one who
knows this is the Brahma. There is a song about the Brahma
who knows this:
‘Wherever it turns back, There goes
10. Manu’s son.
The Brahma priest alone
Is the mare who protects the Kurus.’
The Brahma who knows this protects the sacrifice, the
patron of the sacrifice, and all the priests. So one should
choose as Brahma one who knows this, not one who does
not know this: not one who does not know this.