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Amritanada Upanishad
Krishnayajurveda
group of Upanishads – yoga
OM! May the Mighty One protect us!
May the Mighty One guide us!
May we be filled with his power!
May there be no limit to that power!
May we not be hostile!
OM! Shanti! Shanti! Shanti!
Having studied the Shastras and repeated them many times, the wise one,
Having recognized the Supreme Brahman, then discards them,
like a torch at dawn.
Then, on the chariot of Pranava 1,
following in the footsteps of Brahma ,
making Vishnu the charioteer,
reveres Rudra as the highest 2.
But having reached the desired place,
the charioteer stops the chariot
and the rider, leaving the chariot, goes away.
Also depriving (the mantra) of size, gender, position 3,
with a soundless "M", devoid of the signs of sound,
one truly attains the subtlest state.
(Leaving) sound and other objects of the five senses,
as well as the too fickle mind,
one should think of the Light –
this is called pratyahara.
Pranayama, then dharana, pratyahara and dhyana,
also tarka and samadhi – are called the six-limbed yoga 4.
As when gold is melted, the impurity is burned away –
so the obscuration produced by the senses
is burned away in Prana-dharana 5.
Pranayama balances the doshas 6 in the body,
dharana – cleanses the body of impurities 7,
and pratyahara together with dhyana – of negative qualities.
Since the impurity that needs to be removed is destroyed,
this practice should be done.
Exhalation, inhalation with the attraction of two winds 8 and retention –
three acts of breathing, it is said.
Exhalation, inhalation and retention with three times the pronunciation of OM,
salutations 9 and gayatri 10 together with the sira-mantra 11 –
this is called pranayama.
(When) space filled with air,
emptied, brought to complete emptiness
- this, they say, is a sign of rechaka.
When a person sucks in air,
Like a blue lotus with its stem water,
- this is a sign of puraka.
When neither the inhalation nor the exhalation of the body parts move,
this is a sign of kumbhaka.
Like a blind man, he does not see forms, like a deaf man, he does not hear sounds,
like a block of wood, he does not feel the body – this is a sign of peace.
Thoughts, mind and intention, intertwined with Atman
and holding Atman – this is dharana,
is proclaimed wise.
Thinking about the source is called tarka,
the acquired equanimity of thought is known as samadhi.
Sitting on the ground, on a seat made of darbha grass 12,
in a pleasant place, devoid of all defects,
having created mental protection 13, pronouncing the mantra many times,
Staying in Padmasana, or Swastikasana, or Bhadrasana,
facing the north, motionless,
closing the nostril with one finger
and drawing in the air, let him retain it,
perceiving only fire and sound.
By pronouncing the syllable OM repeatedly,
You will achieve good with this wondrous mantra.
Then you should expel the air.
You should do this,
until you are freed from impurity.
Afterwards, thinking as said before 14,
the wise one, knowing the mantra,
will first pass through the gross, and then the subtle body,
from the navel to the very top.
Let, without wandering his gaze to the sides, up and down,
being motionless and not trembling,
always practice yoga the great hermit.
Thus dharana is maintained for seven or eight measures of time,
but yoga requires 12 measures.
From below appears the soundless sound,
devoid of vowels, consonants, guttural, nasals,
labials, both types of final "h", –
an indivisible syllable that cannot be broken up in any way.
Whoever attains this skill, prana is realized.
One should always move along this path, which passes
(through) the gate of the heart, the gate of the air and the gate of the head,
then the highest gate of liberation:
the hollow and the round opening 15.
Let the practitioner always avoid
fear, anger, laziness, oversleeping,
overeating and undereating.
By these rules, constantly practiced for three months,
self-knowledge will undoubtedly arise.
On the fourth – the vision of the Devas,
on the fifth – success in practice is obvious,
and in six months, undoubtedly,
the sought-after state of Kaivalya is found.
Five measures for the Earth, four for Water,
three measures for Fire, two for Wind,
one measure for Space, but let him think of the immeasurable,
having accomplished unification with the mind, let him comprehend the Atman in himself 16.
(The area of distribution) of prana is 30 fingers,
where prana, conditioned by pranas, is called prana 17.
This is the external field of prana, while the internal field of prana
spreads day and night over 19 billion
300 million 100 thousand and one finger, according to sources 18.
The first is prana, its place is in the heart, apana is near the anus,
samana is in the navel area, udana is in the throat,
vyana is spread throughout the body.
(Now) – the five colors of prana and others (will be) named in order:
prana is bloody in color, similar to a precious ruby,
apana is in its middle, similar to the color of yellow carmine.
In the middle of those two is samana, beautiful,
white, like cow's milk,
udana is yellowish, and vyana is like fire.
Raising the prana to the head 19, he broke the cycle of birth and death.
Wherever he dies, he will not be born again.
This is the Upanishad.
1 The mystical syllable Om
2 The speech is obviously about Brahma-granthi (corresponds to Manipura-chakra), Vishnu-granthi (corresponds to Anahata-chakra), and Rudra-granthi (corresponds to Ajna-chakra), in the context of the practice of Shatchakra-bhedan (piercing the six chakras).
3 That is, moving from the physical reproduction of the mantra to its subvocal pronunciation, in which there is not even minimal tension in the vocal cords.
4 Shatanga-yoga, or rather one of its variants. The Maitri Upanishad and Dhyanabindu Upanishad consider a slightly different version: with asana, but without tarka. The sequence of elements is rather arbitrary, which is connected with the poetic form of presentation.
5 Literally – “holding the breath”, but in meaning it is more likely “concentration on breathing”.
6 Regulatory systems of the body: vat a (vayu) – wind, nervous regulation; pita (agni) – bile, humoral regulation; kapha (shlesma) – mucus, local tissue regulation.
7 Apparently, we are talking about Ama – unexcreted metabolic waste.
8 Prana-vayu and Apana-vayu
9 The traditional introduction to the Gayatri Mantra is “Bhur, Bhuva, Svaha”, meaning Earth, Air and Heaven respectively.
10 One of the sacred hymns of the Rigveda. In general, it consists of 24 mantras, each of which is dedicated to a specific deity and is intended to achieve specific goals. The most famous is Savitri-gayatri – solar: "Tat Savitur varenyam bhargo devasya dhimahi dhiyo yo nah prachodayat . Om." However, there is also a lunar one, Chandra-gayatri.
11 The main mantra is "Apo jyotir, apo mritam."
12 A herb used in Vedic rituals. A good heat insulator.
13 Usually, the practice of nyasa was used for these purposes – specific "sealing" gestures in combination with mantras.
14 Verse 2
15 Here the process of kundalini passing through the gates – open granthis is described: Vayu- or Vishnu-grantha, Visma- or Nabhi-grantha, Aham- or Rudra-granthi and Mahamgranthi.
16 This obviously refers to the practice of Panchadharani-mudra, consistent unity with the elements (tattvas).
17 Here, Prana in the aspect of Vayu (the vital wind of the body), consisting of prana, apana, vyana, samana and udana.
18 This probably refers to the total length of blood vessels.
19 The technique of consciously leaving the body, described in the Bhagavad Gita. It has survived to this day in several schools of Tibetan Buddhism.
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