Upanishads

Garbha Upanishad

Krishnayajurveda
group of Upanishads – pure Vedanta

Hari Om Tat Sat!

The body is made up of five elements, hence it is called fivefold in nature. It is dependent on the five tastes of food, is related to the six qualities (kama, etc.), the seven Dhatas, the three impurities, the three Yonis (excretion), and the four types of food. Why is it said, "(The body) is fivefold in nature?" (Answer:) These five elements are: Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Ether. In this body, whatever is hard/rigid is made of Earth, (whatever is liquid) is made of Water, whatever is hot is made of Fire, whatever is mobile is made of Air, and whatever is spatial is made of Ether. The function of Earth is support, (the function of) Water is to bind (and facilitate digestion of food, etc.). Fire should facilitate vision, Air – locomotion, Ether should give space to the vital forces. The eyes see form, the ears hear sound, the tongue senses taste, the skin and nose are for touching and recognizing smells respectively; the sexual organ is made for pleasure, Apana – for cleansing the intestines. Man is conscious through the intellect, exercises his will (i.e., expresses his will) through the mind and speaks through the tongue. The six-fold support is the six tastes (of food): sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent.

1-7. Sadja, Risabha, Gandhara, Panchama, Madhyama, Dhaivata, Nisadha – these are the seven pleasant and unpleasant sounds. White, Red, Black, Smoky, Yellow, Yellow-brown and Pale-white – these are the seven colours of the seven Dhatus (primary Humours). Why is this so? Let us explain with an example: a certain person Devadatta (this is an arbitrary name) has a desire in his mind to enjoy some sensual objects (e.g. food). From food blood is generated, (then) flesh, fat, bones, marrow, sperm; the fetus is formed by the combination of sperm (of the father) and blood (of the mother). Vital heat is generated in the womb and abdomen. In a warm place bile and Prana flow – (but this happens exactly) in the way and at the time determined by the Creator.

8. The embryo, having lain in the womb day and night, is (at first) a certain mixture (i.e. like a porridge of) elements; after seven days it becomes like a bubble; after two weeks it becomes a clot, and after a month it hardens. After two months the head region begins to develop; after three months the legs; after four – the abdomen and buttocks; after five – the spine; after six – the nose, eyes and ears; after seven the embryo begins to rapidly develop its vital functions, and after eight – it is almost a finished/ready little man.

9. If the father’s seed predominates, then the child becomes a male; if the mother’s – then a female. When (the seed) is equal (i.e. the same amount), – then (then) it becomes a eunuch. If the parents are excited during conception, the child will be blind, deformed, hunchbacked or stunted. If the couple has problems with the pranas, then the semen/sperm is divided into two parts, which leads to the birth of twins.

10. In the eighth month, by uniting with the five vital forces (pranas), the Jiva gets the ability to know about his past deeds (i.e. past births), if he can realize the indestructible Atman as Om, through perfect knowledge and meditation. Having known Om, he sees in the body the eightfold divided prakriti consisting of the five elements, mind, intellect and ego, and sixteen (types of) changes (see Prashnopanishad).

11. The body becomes fit for life in the external world in the ninth month and remembers (its) past birth. The done and undoen deeds/actions, as it were, stick to it, and it tastes the good and bad nature of Karma.

12-17. "I have already passed through thousands of painful wombs, eaten many kinds of food, sucked many breasts; again and again being born and dying, I have been drowned in suffering, but I have not seen any remedy for this terrible state (i.e., samsara). If I get out of this, then I will resort to Sankhya Yoga, which destroys/stops sorrow and brings liberation; or I will resort to Maheshvara, who removes all sorrows. Or I will resort to Narayana, who removes all sorrows. If I have done good and bad deeds for the sake of my children and wife, then it is I (and not they) who will work off that karma; but my children and wife, who enjoyed the fruits of my labor, will go away untouched (by that karma, since it was I who begot the children and got myself a wife, i.e., I was the initiator of that karma)."

18. But man (coming out of the womb) is, as it were, scrolled through a meat grinder, comes into contact with the element of air and then forgets his previous births and deeds.

19. Why is this body called so? It has three fires: Kosthagni/Kosthagni contributes to the ripening of everything that is eaten; Darsanagni/Darshanagni helps a person to see colors, etc., and Jnanagni/Jnanagni/Jnanagni is the mind that pushes a person to commit good and bad deeds-karmas.

20. Daksinagni/Dakshinagni is in the heart; Garhapatya/Garhapatya is in the stomach, and Ahavaniya/Ahavanija is in the mouth; the intellect always accompanies the performer (of deeds); contentment is Diksha/Diksha; the sense organs are devices/instruments; the head is a jug; the hair is sacred grass; the mouth is the inner part of the altar, etc.

21. The heart is measured by 8 Palas, the tongue by 12, the bile by 1 Prastha, the phlegm by 1 Adhaka. Shukla is 1 Kudupa; fat by 2 Prasthas; urine and mala by 2 Prasthas each, according to what is taken (internally).

The Moksha-shastra expounded by Pippalada is complete.

Hari Om Tat Sat!

Thus ends the Garbha-upanishad of Krishnayajuryeda.