Taittiriya Upanishad: Book II - Brahman


II.1

OM. Together may it protect us two:Teacher and student: the same as the invocation at end of Brhadaranyaka.
Together may it profit us two:
Together may we do a hero's work.
May we learn intelligently:
May we never hate one another.

OM. Peace, peace, peace.

1. OM. The knower of brahman wins the highest. This is said about it:

The one who knows brahman
As truth, as knowledge, as the endless,
Hidden in the secret place and in the highest heaven I.e. both within the heart and in the highest heavenly realm.
Wins all desires,
With brahman, the wise one.Viposrit

Space is bom from this self, air from space, fire from air, the waters from fire, earth from the waters, plants from earth, food from plants, a person from. food. The person is made of the essence of food. This is his head; this is his right wing; this is his left wing; this is his self. Here said to - body. But clearly the teacher is pointing to different parts of his body as he gives this teaching: I think that on the word atman he points to his heart. The comparison is to a brick fire-altar, which is symbolically both a man and a bird. This is his tail, his support. There is this verse about it:

II.2

1. 'Whatever creatures depend on earth
Are born from food.
By food they live,
And into it go in the end.

Food is the eldest of beings,
So it is called "the panacea". Sarvausadha, 'the (herbal) medicine of all'.
Those who worship food as brahman
Win all food.

'Food is the eldest of beings,
So it is called "the panacea".
Beings are born from food:
Born they grow by food.

'It is eaten and it eats {ad-) beings,
Hence it is called food (anna).'

Different from and inside the self that is made of the
essence of food is the self that is made of breath. This one is filled by it. It, too, is man-shaped. This, in its man-shape, matches the man-shape of that one. 'this person-shaped one is according to the person-shapedness of that one'. The being is conceived as a series of sheaths, each more subtle than the one outside it, but corresponding to it in form. The breath is its head; the diffused breath is its right wing; the lower breath is its left wing; space is its self; earth is its tail, its support. There is this verse about it:

II.3

1. 'Along with breath breathe gods,
Human beings and animals.
Breath is the life of beings,
So it is called "life of all".

"Those who worship breath as brahman
Reach their full life span.
Breath is the life of beings,
So it is called "life of all".

It is the bodily self of the previous one.Each successive sheath is to the one before as the atman is to the body.
Different from and inside the self that is made of the breath is the self that is made of mind. This one is filled by it- It, too, is man-shaped. This, in its man-shape, matches the man-shape of that one. The yajus verse is its head; the re verse is its right wing; the saman verse is its left wing; symbolic statement is its self; the hymns of the Atharvans and Angirases are its tail, its support. There is this verse about it:

II.4

1. 'The one who knows the joy of brahman
From which speech, along with mind,
Turns back without winning it, Is never afraid-'

It is the bodily self of the previous one. Different from and inside the self that is made of mind is the self that is made of knowledge. This one is filled by it. It, too, is man-shaped. This, in its man-shape, matches the man-shape of that one. Faith is its head; law is its right wing; truth is its left wing; yoga is its self; MAHAH is its tail, its support. There is this verse about it:

II.5

I. 'Knowledge spreads out the sacrifice;
It spreads out actions, too.
All the gods worship knowledge
As brahman, the eldest.

'If one knows knowledge as brahman
And is not neglectful of it,
Abandoning evils in the body
One attains all desires.'

It is the bodily self of the previous one.

Different from and inside the self that is made of knowledge is the self that is made of joy. This one is filled by it. It, too, is man-shaped. This, in its man-shape, matches the man-shape of that one. Deamess is its head; happiness is its right wing; delight is its left wing; joy is its self; brahman is its tail, its support. There is this verse about it:

II.6

1. 'One becomes not-being
If one knows brahman as not-being.
If one knows that brahman is,
Folk know one as being. Presumably, one becomes 'somebody rather than 'nobody' in society.

It is the bodily self of the previous one.
Now for further questions:

If someone departs, not knowing that world, does he go to it?
If someone departs, knowing that world, does he win it? Each question ends with an extended vowel suggesting that it is chanted.

He desired: 'Let me become many! Let me be born!' He raised heat. When he had raised heat, he created all this, whatever there is. He entered into it. When he had entered into it, he became the present and the beyond: he became the explained and the unexplained, the based and the unbased, the knowing and the unknowing, truth and falsehood. As truth (satya), he became whatever there is: folk call it 'reality' (satya). There is this verse about it;

II.7

1. 'In the beginning all this was not-being.
From not-being, being was born.
It made itself a self:
So it is called, "Well done."'

What was well done is essence, for by getting an essence, one becomes joyful. Who would breathe, who would draw breath if there were not this joy in space? It makes one joyful. When one finds the fearless, the support, in this invisible, selfless, unexplained, unresting, then one has reached the fearless. When one makes in it a cavity, a gap, one has fear. This is the fear of one who thinks himself a knower. There is this verse about it:

II.8

1. 'From this fear, wind blows.
From fear, Surya rises.
From this fear both Agni and Indra,
And Death, as fifth, run on.'

This is the enquiry into joy:

Let there be a young man, a good young man, one who Studies, very swift, very steadfast, very strong. Let the whole earth, filled with riches, be his. That is one human joy. A hundred human joys make one joy of the human gandharvas, and of one who is learned and not afflicted by desire. A hundred joys of the human gandharvas make one joy of the divine gandharvas, and of one who is learned and not afflicted by desire. A hundred joys of the divine gandharvas make one joy of the ancestors who long abide in their world, and of one who is learned and not afflicted by desire. A hundred joys of the ancestors who long abide in their world make one joy of the gods who are born there by birth, and of one who is learned and not afflicted by desire.

A hundred joys of the gods who are born there by birth make one joy of the gods by action, who reach the gods through action, and of one who is learned and not afflicted by desire. A hundred joys of the gods by action make one joy of the gods, and of one who is learned and not afflicted by desire. A hundred joys of the gods make one joy of Indra, and of one who is learned and not afflicted by desire. A hundred joys of Indra make one joy of Brhaspati, and of one who is learned and not afflicted by desire. A hundred joys of Brhaspati make one joy of Prajapati, and of one who is learned and not afflicted by desire. A hundred joys of Prajapati make one joy of Brahma, and of one who is learned and not afflicted by desire. This one who is in the person, and that one who is in the sun, are one: and the one who leaves this world knowing this goes up to the self made of food, goes up to the self made of breath, goes up to the self made of mind, goes up to the self made of knowledge, goes up to the self made of joy. There is this verse about it:

11.9

1. 'The one who knows the joy of brahman
From which speech, along with mind,
Turns back without reaching it,
Is afraid of nothing.'

The thought, 'Have I not done good? Have I done evil?'
does not burn him. The one who knows this saves himself
(atmanam) from these. The one who knows this saves himself
from both. This is the inner teaching.

OM. Together may it protect us two:
Together may it profit us two:
Together may we do a hero's world,
May we learn intelligently:
May we never hate one another.

OM. Peace, peace, peace.




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