Upanishads

DARSHANA-UPANISHAD

Jabala-darshana-upanishad

Samaveda,
group of Upanishads - yoga

May the limbs, speech, vital force, eyes, ears, as well as strength and all organs be well developed in my body.
Everything is Brahman, revealed in the Upanishads.
May I not reject Brahman; Let Brahman not reject me. Let there be no rejection (of me by Brahman); let there be no rejection (of Brahman) by me.
May all the virtues (discussed) in the Upanishads be in me, engaged in the search for the self; let them be in me.
Om! Peace! Peace! Peace!

Lord Dattatreya is the reincarnation of the four-armed Vishnu, and he is the ruler of the world. Sankriti is a great devotee and sage, an expert in yoga, and also a disciple of Dattatreya. He approached his teacher (Lord Dattatreya) with humility and folded hands, when his teacher was alone, and requested him: "O Lord, please tell me about the science of yoga, which has eight branches and five different sthanas (places), knowing which, I will attain salvation." Dattatreya said to him, "O Sankriti, I will tell you about yoga, which has eight limbs. The eight limbs are yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi.

1. Yama, which is the first, is the practice of non-violence, truth, non-possession of others' property, celibacy, mercy, honesty, patience, steadfastness, dietary discipline and cleanliness.

2. Niyama is the ten aspects of penance, joy, charity, worship of God, listening to philosophy, fear of evil deeds, clear intellect, chanting and austerity.

3. The nine important asanas (sitting positions) are swastika, gomukha (cow's head), padma (lotus), vira (valiant), simha (lion), bhadra (safe), mukta (free), mayura (peacock) and sukha (pleasant). O sage, that posture, whatever it may be, which is comfortable for you and enables you to practise yoga, is called sukhasana. People who do not have the strength to adopt other postures can use this. Victory in the sitting position is like victory over the three worlds. Once the asana is fixed, pranayama should be practiced.

4. Either on a mountain top or on the bank of a river or under a bilva tree in the forest, having selected a pure place acceptable to the mind and having established a place for performing tapas (ashram), sit in your most familiar asana, facing the east or north. Then sit with your body, neck and head in a straight line, close your face and concentrate your vision with the best possible attention on the nectar flowing from the fourth state of the moon as a point at the top (base) of the nose. Draw the air in through the lungs, store it in the stomach, meditate on the flame of fire within the body, and then shift the meditation to the root of fire with its sound and point. Then the intelligent man will exhale and draw in the prana through pingala (the nadi which is reddish in colour and is on the right side of sushumna nadi) and meditate on agni bija (the source-seed of fire). Again he should exhale and again inhale in the middle using ida (the nadi which is cool and is on the left side of sushumna). One should live in a secret place, practising this exercise six times for 3-4 days or 3-4 weeks at dawn, noon and dusk. This will help him to purify the nadis. Slowly the symbols will begin to manifest. The body will become light, the fire in the stomach will burn well and the voice will become clearer. These are the symbols of siddhi (attainment of mastery). Until you see this, you must practice.

5. Now I will talk about pratyahara. Using force and distracting the sense organs which usually travel according to their nature is pratyahara. Those who know Brahma say that seeing everything we see as the form of Brahman is pratyahara. Pratyahara also makes all pure or impure actions as those which belong to Brahman. Further performing daily religious actions after dedicating them to God and similarly performing the actions which we desire is also pratyahara. Apart from this, inhaling air (oxygen) and stopping it at different places is also pratyahara. A wise man sits in swastikasana, inhales air till it is filled from head to toe, and holds it in the two feet, the muladhara, the abdomen, the middle of the heart, the lower part of the neck, the jaw, the middle of the eyelids, the forehead and the top of the skull. Then he should give up the belief that the body is himself and make that thought nirvikalpa and unite it with the Paramatma. The Vedanta scholars say that this is true pratyahara. There is nothing that cannot be achieved by those who practice in this way.

Now I will tell you about the five types of dharana (steady hold - a stage in meditation - here we try to hold what we are meditating on without wavering). In the sky, which is in the middle of the body, one should make dharana of the sky outside. Similarly, in the breath, one should make dharana of the air outside. In the fire in the stomach, one should make dharana of the fire outside. In the liquid aspects of the body, one should make dharana of the water outside. In the earthly aspects of the body, one should do the dharana of the earth outside. Sage, one should also repeat the mantras of the pancha-bhuta (five elements), namely, Ham, Yam, Ram, Vam and Lam. This great dharana is said to destroy all sins. In the body up to the knee is the earth aspect, from there up to the thigh is the water aspect, up to the heart is the fire aspect, up to the middle of the eyelids is the air aspect and then up to the middle of the skull is the sky aspect. In the earth aspect Brahma should be placed, in the water aspect Vishnu should be placed, in the fire aspect Rudra should be placed, in the air aspect Ishvara should be placed and in the sky aspect Sadashiva should be placed. O great sage, I will also tell you another dharana. In the jivatma that Lord Shiva should be placed who rules over all and is the personification of wisdom. To get rid of all sins, the sage should suppress the gods like Brahma in the causal self and place the avyakta (that which is unclear), which is formless and is the root cause, within the entire soul with the chanting of pranava. He should control the sense organs with the mind and should unite them with the soul.

Now I will tell you about dhyana (meditation), which destroys sorrow. Dhyana should be done to that Maheshvara who is the cure for the problems arising due to birth, who is the discipline and fundamental basis of the world, who has the form of Parabrahma, who has the male power above, who has the form of the world, who is Virupaksha, and who is the head of all yogis as "I am He". Then continue doing dhyana of him who is beyond the reach of meditation, who is the personification of Satchidananda Brahman and who is the soul incarnate as "I am He" for attaining salvation. In the mind of that great Purusha who practices in this way, the science of Vedanta will automatically appear. There is no doubt about it.

Now I will tell you about samadhi (deep meditative state) which destroys the ailments of birth and death. Samadhi is a state in which there is knowledge that the jivatma and Paramatma are one. The atma (soul) is eternally filled and has no movement or spot. Although it is one, due to the effects of illusion it appears as different objects. In reality there is no difference between these so-called objects. When one sees all objects within oneself and oneself as part of all objects, one attains Brahman. When one is immersed in samadhi and does not see different objects as different, then one attains the only goal of salvation. When he sees only the true soul, and the whole world appears to him as an illusion, and he is cured of all sorrows.

Thus advised by Lord Dattatreya, the sage Sankriti completely lost all his fear and attained that blissful state, deep within himself.

May the limbs, speech, vital force, eyes, ears, as well as strength and all the organs be well developed in my body.
All is Brahman, revealed in the Upanishads.
May I not reject Brahman; may Brahman not reject me. May there be no rejection (of me by Brahman); may there be no rejection (of Brahman) by me.
May all the virtues (discussed) in the Upanishads be in me, engaged in the search for my self; may they be in me.
Om! Peace! Peace! Peace!

Thus ends the Jabala-darsana-upanishad, which belongs to the Samaveda.