Maitri Upanishad

1. Agni, the Gayatra, the Trivrt, the Rathantara,
spring, the breath, the constellations and the Vasus rise in
the east: they give heat, they rain, they praise, they go back
inside, they look out through an opening. He is
unthinkable, unshaped, profound, hidden, irreproachable,
dense, deep, without strands, pure, radiant, enjoying the
strands, fearsome, unceasing, lord of yogins, all-knowing,
mighty, immeasurable, without beginning or end, glorious,
unborn, meditative, indescribable, all-creating, self of all,
all-enjoying, ruler of all, within the inner part of all.

2. India, the Tristubh, the Pahcada^a, the Brhat, summer,
the diffused breath, Soma and the Rudras rise in the
south: they give heat, they rain, they praise, they go back
inside, they look out through an opening. He is without
beginning or end, unlimited, not cut off, not to be used by
another, independent, without distinguishing mark,
unshaped, of endless power, Dhatr, the radiant.

3. The Maruts, the Jagati, the Saptadasa, the Vairupa, the
rains, the lower breath, Sukra and the Adityas rise in the
west; they give heat, they rain, they praise, they go back
inside, they look out through an opening. It is peaceful,
soundless, fearless, sorrowless, bliss, contented, firm,
immovable, immortal, unfallen, constant, known, as Visnu,
the foundation beneath everything.

4. The Visvedevas, the Anustubh, the Ekavimsa, the
Vairaja, the autumn, the central breath, Varuna and the
Sadhyas rise in the north: they give heat, they rain, they
praise, they go back inside, they look out through an opening.
He is pure within, cleansed, void, peaceful, without breath,
selfless, endless.

5. Mitra-and-Varuna, the Pankti, the Trinava and
Trayastrimsa, the 6akvara and Raivata, winter and the cold
season, the up-breath, the Ahgirases and the moon rise
above: they give heat, they rain, they praise, they go back
inside, they look out through an opening. It is called the
OM (pranava), the leader-forth (pranetr), with light as its form,
free from sleep, free from old age, free from death, free
from sorrow.

6. Sani, Rahu, Ketu, serpents, ogres, yaksas, men,
birds, sarabhas, elephants etc- rise below: they give heat,
they rain, they praise, they go back inside, they look out
through an opening. He is the one who is wise, the
separator,255 within all, imperishable, pure, cleansed,
illuminated, patient, peaceful.

7. He is within the heart, subtler, kindled like a fire that
takes all forms. All this is food for him. All creatures are
woven on him. The self is free from evil, ageless, deathless,
without hunger or thirst, of true resolve, of true desire.256
He is the supreme lord. He is the overlord of beings. He
is the protector of beings. He is the separating dam.257 He
is Isana, Sambhu, Bhava, Rudra, Prajapati, creator of all,
golden embryo, truth, breath, the goose, teacher, unfallen,
Visnu, Narayana. The one who is in fire, the one who is
in the heart and the one who is in the sun are one. Homage
to you, the one who takes all forms, who are set in truth,
in heaven.

8. Now the diseases of knowledge:

‘Your majesty, the net of delusion has its source when
those who are bound for heaven are defiled by those who
are not bound for heaven. There are those who are always
jolly, always abroad, always begging, always living by crafts;
others who beg in cities, sacrificing for those for whom one
should not sacrifice, students of Sudras, 6udras who know
the sciences; others who are vagabonds, wearers of matted
locks, dancers, mercenaries, who have gone forth yet
appear on the stage, renegades who work for kings, and
so on; others who pay reverence to yaksas, ogres, ghosts,
imps, vampires, serpents, ghouls, etc., saying that they will
placate them; others who falsely wear saffron robes and
earrings, or carry skulls; and others who by false logic,
examples, jugglery and conjuring seek to find status among
those who know the Vedas. One should not live with them.
They are patently thieves, and not bound for heaven.’

Someone has said:

‘With juggleries of the non-self doctrine,
With false examples and causes,
Going astray, the world does not know
The difference between knowledge and ignorance.’

9. Becoming Sukra, Brhaspati created this ignorance for the
safety of Indra and the destruction of the demons. By it
folk teach the auspicious (Siva) as inauspicious and the
inauspicious as auspicious: they say, ‘Let there be meditation
on dharma which is destructive of the Vedas and the rest of
the sciences.’ So one should not meditate on that. On the
contrary, it is like a barren woman: pleasure is its only fruit,
as it is of one who has fallen from the course. It is not
to be undertaken.

Someone has said:

‘These two are far apart, disparate,
Ignorance and what is called wisdom.
I think Nadketas is a seeker of wisdom:
Many desires do not distract you.

‘Whoever knows knowledge and ignorance?
Both of them, together?
By ignorance crosses over death
And by wisdom reaches immortality.

‘Entwined in the midst of ignorance,
Wise in their own view, thinking themselves learned,
The foolish rush about,
Like blind men led by one who is blind,

10. The gods and demons once approached Brahma
seeking the self. They paid homage to him and said, ‘Blessed
one, we seek the self: teach us.’

After meditating for a long time, he thought, ‘The demons
seek for a different self.’ So a different one was taught to
them. So these foolish ones live with great attachment,
destroying their raft, praising falsehood: because of the
conjuring, they see falsehood as truth. What is set out in
the Vedas is truth. Those who know live by what is taught
in the Vedas. Therefore a Brahmana should not meditate on
what is not Vedic.

11. The very own form of the sky is the supreme brightness
that exists within space. It is disposed in three forms: in
fire, in the sun, and in the breath. The very own form of
the sky that exists within space is the syllable, OM. So by
OM one should worship the limitless brightness. By it one
wakes up, rises up, and recovers one’s breath.

There is a constant support through meditation on
brahman. Here, in the stirring of breath, it has its place
in the heat which scatters light. In a stirring like that of
smoke, going up into the sky along a branch it moves from
limb to limb. It is like the casting of salt in water, or the
heat of ghee, or me range of the meditator. On this, folk
say;

‘So why is called “lightning-like”?’ Because, even as
it goes up, the whole body lights up. So by OM one should
worship the limitless brightness.

The eye-person, who rests
In the right eye
Is Indra. His wife
Rests in the left eye.

Their meeting place
Is in the channel that enters the heart.
The clot of blood here
Is the energy of them both.

Reaching to the eye
And firmly set there
That vein is a stream for the two,
Single, while being double.

Mind strikes the fire of the body;
That sets in motion the wind;
But the wind, moving in the chest,
Produces a soft sound.

By joining with fire from space, it is harnessed in the heart,
Subtler (anu) than an atom (anu): twice an atom in the region of the throat;
On the tip of the tongue know it to be three atoms’ size.
It comes forth as the alphabet, they say.

Seeing, one does not see death,
Nor disease, nor suffering:
Seeing, one sees everything,
Wins everything, everywhere.

The one with sight, the mover in dreams,
The deeply asleep, and the one who is beyond sleep?
These are the four divisions.
The greatest of them is the fourth.

In three of them, brahman goes on one foot;
In the last, it goes on three feet.
In order to experience truth and falsehood,
The great self takes on duality?
The great self takes on duality.

OM. May my limbs, speech, breath, eye, ear, strength and all
senses grow strong. Everything is the brahman of the Upanisads.
May I not reject brahman. May brahman not reject me. May
there be no rejecting. May there be no rejecting of me. May all
the dharmas which are in the Upanisads be in me, who delight
in the self. May they be in me.

OM. Peace, peace, peace.