Upanishads

Jabali Upanishad

Sama Veda
a group of Upanishads - Shaiva (Shaivite)

Jabali Upanishad is the source of the essence of the Vedas.

I worship the lotus feet of Lord Ramachandra, whose splendor is beyond measure.

May the limbs, speech, the vital force, the eyes, the ears, and also the strength and all the organs will 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!

Hari Om!

The sage Paippalada along with other sages came to Lord Jabali, they bowed down to him and he asked, "Lord, please tell me the secret (rahasya) of the Supreme Absolute Truth (parama-tattva)." What is tattva (principle)? Who is jiva (entity)? What is pasu (living entity, animal)? Who is Ishvara (Lord)? And what is the method of salvation/liberation (moksha)?" Thus asked the sage Jabali, and he explained everything to him as follows and told him, "Okay, I will tell you everything you asked about as it is known." He (Paippalada) again asked him where he came from (how he knew all this).

Again [Jabali] told him, "From the six-faced one" (in Hinduism, the six-faced one is Karttikeya/Murugan, the son of Shiva and Parvati, the elder brother of Ganesha).

Again he asked him,

"Where did he know this?" And again he told him, "From the Lord."

He again asked him where he knew this. And again, he told him, "Because of this [worship]." And again he told him, "O Lord (Bhagavan), please tell me all the secrets." He asked him everything. And he told him.

The jiva (living entity) is none other than the Lord Himself (the Lord of all living entities - Pasupati), who plays the role of ahamkara (awareness, ego and will in beings). This jiva (being) is Pasupati. Pasupati is one who knows everything, who performs the five activities like creation and who is the Lord of all beings. Pashu (in common parlance) are those animals who eat grass, who have no viveka (knowledge to discriminate), who are driven by others, who are forced to work in jobs like agriculture and who undergo many sufferings. Like the master of such animals is Lord Pashupati, who rules over all beings.

To the question: "This knowledge - how is it born?" he (Jabali) replied: "By wearing sacred ash." He further said: "Take the sacred ash in your hands, pronouncing the five mantras of Brahma, beginning with "Sadyo-jatam" (the "Shiva-upasana" mantra), and chanting the mantra "Agniriti-bhasma" (fire is ash, air is ash, water is ash...), mix it with water, chanting "Manas-toka" (the mantra for graha-homa, worship of the planets), and then apply the sacred ash on the head, forehead and shoulders in patterns of three lines, chanting the three mantras beginning with the words "trayusham" and the mantra "Tryambakam." This is called the penance of Shambhava. Those who know the Vedas say that this has been said in all the Vedas. He who desires liberation should do this and not be reborn.

Among the three lines, the first is Garhapatya (home fire), the letter Aa, the quality (guna) of rajas, the earth, jivatma (the soul of beings), the power of creation, Rigveda, the time of dawn, and its God is Lord Brahma. The second line is Dakshinagni (the fire of the south), the letter Uu, the quality of sattva, the atmosphere, the soul within the body, the power of desire, Yajurveda, the time of midday, and its God is Lord Vishnu. The third line is Ahavaneya-agni (the fire of the Sun), the letter Ma, the quality of tamas, the place of the gods, Paramatma, the power of knowledge, Samaveda, the time of sunset, and its God is Shiva. That person who wears the sacred ash, whether he is a brahmachari or a sannyasi, becomes freed from both major and minor sins. He becomes fit for the worship of all the gods; he becomes one who has bathed in all the holy waters and one who has repeated all the mantras of Rudra. He is not reborn. This Upanishad truly says that he is not reborn.

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!

Hari Om Tatsat!

Thus ends the text of the Srijabali Upanishad, which belongs to the Samaveda.