Upanishads

Brahma Upanishad

Krishnayajurveda
group of Upanishads – sannyasa

1. Om! Shaunaka, the famous householder, once asked Bhagavan Pippalada of the Angira family: How is the divine city of Brahman created in this body? Whose glory is it? Who is he who has become all this glory?

2. To him (Shaunaka) he (Pippalada) imparted the supreme Wisdom of Brahman: Prana (Life) is Atman. It constitutes the glory of Atman, the life of the gods. It is both the life and death of the gods. That Brahman which shines in the divine Brahmapura (or body) as immaculate, devoid of manifest effects, effulgent, omnipresent, He (who) governs (the Jiva) like a spider governing the queen bee. As the spider with one thread spreads and withdraws its web, so does Prana (which) goes away taking its creation with it. Prana is related to the Nadis or subtle nerve strings as their Devata or indwelling deity. In dreamless sleep, man proceeds through that state to his own Abode – like a falcon and the sky – like a falcon flying (to its nest) in the sky. This Devadatta (in dreamless sleep) does not run away even when struck with a stick, even then he does not become attached to the good or bad consequences of the action determined (by his) destiny; as a child takes pleasure (spontaneously) without cause or desire for the result, so Devadatta (the subject of dreamless sleep) enjoys happiness in that state. He knows how to be the Supreme Light. Desiring Light, he enjoys Light. In the same way he returns to the state of sleep, like a snail: as a snail carries itself to a subsequent point, stopping (at first) at the previous one. And that state which he does not leave for the subsequent one is called the state of awakening. (He carries all these states within himself) as the (Vedic) deity holds eight sacrificial bowls at once. He is the source of the Vedas and the gods. In that state of awakening the shining entity (i.e. the Self of man) knows good and evil as predestined. This essence or Self is fully expressed (in worldly forms), it is the inner ruler in things and beings, it is the bird, the cancer, the lotus, it is the Purusha, the Prana, the destroyer, the cause and effect, the Brahman and the Atman, it is the Devata, the knower of all things. He who knows this will attain the transcendental Brahman, which is the main support and the subjective principle.

3. Now this Purusha has four centres – the navel, the heart, the throat and the head. In these shines the four-aspected Brahman: in the state of waking, sleep, dreamless sleep, and the fourth or transcendental. In the waking state He is Brahma; in the state of sleep He is Vishnu; in dreamless sleep He is Rudra; and in the fourth state the Supreme Imperishable; and He again is the Sun, Vishnu, Ishvara, He is Purusha, He is Prana, He is Jiva or the animate entity, He is Fire, Ishvara and the Shining One; in all these shines the transcendental Brahman! In Himself He has no mind, ears, hands or feet, not even light. There are no existing or non-existent worlds, no Vedas or existing or non-existent gods or sacrifices, no existing or non-existent mother, father or daughter-in-law, no existing or non-existent son of Chandala (dog-eater) or Pulkashi, no existing or non-existent mendicants, no creatures or ascetics; thus only the Supreme Brahman shines there. In the recess of the heart is the Akasha (space) of consciousness with many revelations, the goal of knowledge, the heart space in which all this (external universe) evolves and revolves, in which all this appears and disappears. (Who knows this) knows the entire universe completely. Neither gods nor Rishis nor Pithas have power there, for the fully awakened one knows the Truth in its entirety.

4. In the heart the gods reside, in the heart the Pranas are established, in the heart the supreme Prana and Light as the immanent Cause of the three constituents exist, and also the origin of the Mahats.

5. It exists within the heart, that is, in the consciousness. “Wear the sacred thread of supreme holiness, which came into existence long ago with Prajapati (the first created being) himself, embodying longevity, holiness and purity, and may strength and power be with you!”

6. The enlightened one should discard this outer thread along with the sacred topknot on the head; the all-pervading Supreme Brahman is his thread, and he should wear Him as a thread.

7. The Sutra (or thread) is so called because it is threaded and (the process of becoming) is begun. This Sutra constitutes the truly supreme state. He to whom this Sutra is known is a Vipra (sage) and has gone beyond the Vedas.

8. This whole (universe) is permeated by it, like pearls on a thread. The Yogi who has mastered all the Yogas and sees the Truth should wear this thread.

9. The sage established in the state of the highest Yoga should put aside the external thread. He who is truly self-realized should wear the thread of understanding Brahman.

10. By wearing this Sutra or thread he can never become polluted or impure, he who has this thread in himself is he with this sacred thread of knowledge.

11. They among men (really) know the Sutras, they (really) wear the sacred thread (in themselves), they who devote themselves to Jnana (the highest knowledge), for whom this Jnana is instead of the sacred topknot or sacred thread.

12. For them Jnana is the greatest means of purification. Those for whom this Jnana is in place of a topknot are as non-different from it as fire is from its flame. Of such a sage they say that he is (really) a Shikhi (wearing a topknot), while others merely grow hair (on their heads).

13. But those belonging to the three castes (Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas), who perform Vedic duties, are obliged to wear this (i.e. ordinary) sacred thread, since this thread is an indispensable part of their duties.

14. Those for whom this Jnana is in place of a topknot and in place of the sacred thread, have all that is necessary for the position of a Brahmana – so say the knowers of the Vedas!

15. This sacred thread (Yajna, i.e., the all-pervading Reality) is (self-) purification and the end of all (Vedic duties); the wearer of this thread is a sage, the Yajna itself, and the knower of the Yajna.

16. The one Lord (self-luminous) is latent in all beings, governs and watches over all actions (good or bad), lives in all creatures, He is all-pervading and the Self of all beings, the Witness (i.e., neither the doer of actions nor the enjoyer), the Supreme Intelligence, without a second, without attributes.

17. One Intelligent (active) Entity among many inactive ones, He Who produces many from one – the sages who have discovered this very One have eternal peace, and not others.

18. Making yourself the Arani and the Pranava the upper Arani and the practice of meditation by rubbing them together, see the Lord in His hidden reality.

19. As oil in sesame seeds, butter in milk, water in flowing waves and fire in wood, so the Atman can be found in the self by those who seek Him through rigorous practice and the search for truth.

20. As the spider weaves and coils its web, so the Jiva enters and emerges from the waking and sleeping states.

21. The heart (i.e. the inner chamber of the heart) is like the calyx of the lotus, turned downwards and full of voids. Know this to be the great receptacles of the entire universe.

22. The seat of the waking state is in the eyes; the dream state is to be referred to the throat; the dreamless sleep state to the heart; and the transcendental state to the crown of the head.

23. Due to the individual's holding his self by Prajna or spiritual understanding in the Supreme Self, we have what is called Sandhya and Dhyana; besides the Sandhya rite of worship.

24. In Sandhya meditation there is no offering of water or even straining of body or speech; this meditation is the unifying principle for all creatures, it is the real Sandhya for Ekadandi (with the single staff).

26. On attaining Her, the mind and speech recede, She is the transcendental Bliss of that embodied entity, knowing which the sage is liberated (from all bondage).

26. (And this Bliss is verily) that Self which pervades the entire universe, like butter spread in milk.

This is the Brahmopanishad or the highest wisdom of Brahman, in the form of the unity of the universal Atman, based on spiritual discipline (Tapas), which is Vidya or the science of the Atman.

Thus ends the Brahma Upanishad of the Krishnayajurveda.