Upanishads

Aitareya Upanishad

Rigveda
group of Upanishads – 10 main Upanishads, pure Vedanta

THE FIRST PART

The First Chapter

1. Verily, this was Atman alone in the beginning. There was nothing else that twinkled. He thought: "Now I will create worlds."

2. He created these worlds: the heavenly waters, the particles of light, death, water. The heavenly waters are above the sky, the sky is [their] support, the air space is the particles of light, the earth is death; what is below is water.

3. He thought: "These are the worlds. Now I will create the guardians of the worlds." And, having brought out Purusha from the waters, he gave him external form.

4. He warmed him. The mouth of that warmed one opened like an egg; from the mouth [came] speech, from speech – fire. [His] nostrils opened; from the nostrils [came] breath, from the breath – wind. [His] eyes opened; from the eyes [came] sight, from sight – the sun. [His] ears opened; from the ears [came] hearing, from hearing – the cardinal directions. [His] skin opened; from the skin [came] hair, from the hair – grasses and trees. [His] heart opened; from the heart [came] mind, from the mind – the moon. [His] navel opened; from the navel [came] exhalation, from exhalation – death. [His] genital member opened; from the genital organ [came] semen, from semen – water.

The Second Chapter

1. Having been created, these deities plunged into this great ocean. [The Atman] subjected this [purusha] to hunger and thirst. [The deities] said to him: "Create for us a shelter, while staying in which we can eat food."

2. He brought them a cow. They said: "Verily, this is not enough for us." He brought them a horse. They said: "Verily, this is not enough for us."

3. He brought them a purusha. They said: "Yes, it is well done." Verily, therefore purusha is that which is well done. [Atman] said to them: "Enter each one into his own abode."

4. [Then] fire, becoming speech, entered the mouth. Wind, becoming breath, entered the nostrils. The sun, becoming sight, entered the eyes. The cardinal directions, becoming hearing, entered the ears. Grasses and trees, becoming hair, entered the skin. The moon, becoming mind, entered the heart. Death, becoming exhalation, entered the navel. Water, becoming semen, entered the genital organ.

5. Hunger and thirst said to him [the Atman], "Create [a haven for] us." He said to them, "I give you a share in these deities, I make you partners in them." Therefore, to whatever deity an offering is made, hunger and thirst are partners in it.

The Third Chapter

1. He [the Atman] thought: "Here are the worlds and the guardians of the worlds. I will create food for them."

2. He heated the water. From it, heated, he produced an embodied form. Verily, the embodied form which he produced is food.

3. Having been created, this [food] wanted to escape from him. He wanted to seize it with speech, he could not seize it with speech. If he had grasped it with speech, then one could have been satisfied with food, already speaking.

4. He wanted to grasp it with his breath, he could not grasp it with his breath. If he had grasped it with his breath, then one could have been satisfied with food, [already] inhaling [its smell].

5. He wanted to grasp it with his eye, he could not grasp it with his eye. If he had grasped it with his eye, then one could have been satisfied with food, already seeing [it].

6. He wanted to grasp it with his hearing, he could not grasp it with his hearing. If he had grasped it with his hearing, then one could have been satisfied with food, already hearing [about it].

7. He wanted to grasp it with his skin, he could not grasp it with his skin. If he had grasped it with his skin, he would have been satisfied with food just by touching it.

8. He wanted to grasp it with his mind, but he could not grasp it with his mind. If he had grasped it with his mind, he would have been satisfied with food just by thinking [about it].

9. He wanted to grasp it with his reproductive part of body, but he could not grasp it with his reproductive part of body. If he had grasped it with his reproductive part of body, he would have been satisfied with food just by pouring out [semen].

10. He wanted to grasp it with his breath, but he reached it. He who grasps food is the wind; he who lives by food is indeed the wind.

11. He thought: "How can this exist without me?" He thought: "By what [way] shall I enter [this body]?" He thought: "If one speaks with speech, if one breathes with breath, if one sees with the eye, if one hears with the ear, if one touches with the skin, if one reflects with the mind, if one exhales with the breath, if one pours out [semen] with the genital organ, then who am I?"

12. And, having cut the [cranial] suture, he entered through this gate. The name of this gate is vidriti. This is bliss. [There] he has three abodes, three [states] of sleep. Here is the abode, here is the abode, here is the abode.

13. Having been born, he began to look at beings [with the thought]: "What else would one want to talk about here?" He saw this purusha, the all-pervading Brahman, [and said], "I have seen this."

14. Therefore [his] name is Idandra, verily, [his] name is Idandra. And he, Idandra, is secretly called Indra, for the gods love the secret.

THE SECOND PART

1. Verily, this [Atman] first becomes an embryo in man. This seed - the force collected from all the limbs of the body - [man] carries within himself as Atman. When he pours it into a woman, then he gives birth to it. This is his first birth.

2. This [semen] becomes the Atman of the woman – as if it were part of her own body; therefore it does not harm her. She nourishes this Atman [of the man] that has entered there.

3. She, the nourisher, should be nourished. The woman carries it as an embryo. He nourishes the child before and after birth. By nourishing the child before and after birth, he nourishes himself for the sake of the continuation of these worlds, for in this way these worlds are continued. This is his second birth.

4. He, his Atman, takes the place [of the father] for the sake of [the performance of] good deeds. Then his other Atman, having done what is to be done, having reached [his] term, departs. Having departed [from this world], he is born again. This is his third birth. Thus have the rishis said:

5. "While still in the [mother's] womb,
I knew all the births of the gods.
A hundred iron fortresses protected me;
with the speed of a falcon I flew away from there."
- Thus spoke Vamadeva, while still lying in the [mother's] womb.

6. Knowing this and rising upward after the disintegration of this body, he attained in that heavenly world [the fulfillment of] all desires and became immortal, became [immortal].

THE THIRD PART

1. "Who is he [the one] whom we worship as Atman? Which of them is Atman?" - He by whom we see, by whom we hear, by whom we smell, by whom we speak, by whom we discern sweet and unsweet.

2. That which is the heart and mind, consciousness, understanding, discrimination, knowledge, wisdom, insight, fortitude, thinking, reasoning, aspiration, memory, imagination, intention, life, love, mastery - all these are the names given to knowledge.

3. He is Brahman, he is Indra, he is Prajapati and all these gods and the five great elements: earth, wind, air, water, light; and these small diverse beings from this or that seed - those born from the egg, and those born from the womb, and those born from sweat, and those born from the sprout; and horses, cows, men, elephants; and everything that breathes, and moves [on the earth], and flies, and does not move. All this is known by knowledge, established in knowledge. The world is known by knowledge, established in knowledge. Knowledge is Brahman.

4. [Endowed] with this knowing Atman and having risen from this world, he achieved in that heavenly world [the fulfillment of] all desires and became immortal, became [immortal].