Upanishads

Kaivalya Upanishad

Krishnayajurveda
group of Upanishads – Shaiva (Shaivite)

1. Then Ashvalayana, approaching the venerable Paramesthin, said:

"Teach [me], venerable sir, the knowledge of Brahman – the best, constantly revered by the good, the secret,

Through which the knower, having cast aside all evil, quickly ascends to the purusha that is higher than the high."

2. And the great father said to him: "Acquire [this knowledge] by faith, devotion and contemplation;

Not by action, not by progeny, [not] by wealth – [only] by renunciation have some attained immortality.

3. [It is] above the heavens, hidden in the recesses [of the heart], shining – [there] the ascetics penetrate.

4. Ascetics who have thoroughly comprehended the meaning of the Vedanta discrimination, having purified [their] being through renunciation,

At the end of time, all are liberated, [having achieved] the highest immortality in the worlds of Brahman.

5. In a secluded place, sitting in a free position, pure, [holding] straight the neck, head and body,

Located in the last ashrama, restraining all the senses, with devotion worshiping their teacher;

6. Meditating on the passion-free, pure lotus of the heart, in the center [of which] is brilliant, free from sorrow,

Inconceivable, unmanifested, infinite in [its] form, bringing happiness, peaceful, immortal source of Brahman;

7. [Mediating] on that which is devoid of beginning, middle and end, one, omnipresent, which is thought and bliss, devoid of form, wonderful,

Having Mind as a companion, the supreme lord, the master, three-eyed, with a blue neck, peaceful, -

Mediating [on it], the hermit reaches the source of beings, the universal witness beyond the darkness.

8. He is Brahman, he is Shiva, he is Indra, he is the imperishable, the supreme lord;

He is also Vishnu, he is the life breath, he is time, he is fire, he is the moon;

9. He is everything that was and will be, eternal, -

Having known him, [man] overcomes death. There is no other path to liberation.

10. Seeing Atman in all beings and all beings in Atman,

He goes to the highest Brahman [only by this, and] not by any other path.

11. Having made himself the [upper] arani and pranava the lower arani,

By the diligent friction of knowledge the learned one burns away the bonds.

12. This Atman, blinded by delusion, having established itself in the body, does everything:

Wakeful, it attains satisfaction in various pastimes – women, food, drink, and so on.

13. In the state of [light] sleep, the vital principle experiences joy and sorrow in the whole world created by [its] own illusion.

During deep sleep, when everything dissolves, shrouded in darkness, it appears in the form of joy;

14. And again by the power of actions [performed] in other births, this vital principle awakens and sleeps.

From the same vital principle that plays in the three cities, the diversity [of the world] is born;

[It] is the basis, bliss, indivisible comprehension, in which the three cities are dissolved.

15. From it are born breath, reason and all the senses,

Space, wind, light, water, earth – the universal basis.

16. [That] which is the supreme Brahman, the Atman of all, the great universal refuge,

Subtler than subtle, eternal, That is you, you are That.

17. [That] which reveals the phenomena of the world [in the forms of] wakefulness, [light] sleep, deep sleep, and so on.

That is Brahman [and That is] I. – Knowing this, [a person] is freed from all bonds.

18. [Everything] that in three states is tasted, taster, and tasted, –

I am different from that – the witness, consisting only of thought, eternally benevolent.

19. For in me everything is born, in me everything is established.

In me everything dissolves; I am this Brahman, non-dual.

20. I am smaller than the small and similar to the great, I am this whole diverse [world],

I am ancient, I am purusha, I am the golden lord, endowed with the form of Shiva;

21. I am without arms and legs, of inconceivable power, I see without eyes and hear without ears;

I discern, endowed with the property of discrimination, and no one knows me. I am always a thought.

22. I am known only through the various Vedas, I am the creator of Vedanta and the knower of the Vedas.

I have no merits and sins, no destruction, no birth, body, senses, the ability to comprehend;

23. I have no earth, water, fire; I have no wind, no air space. –

Thus, having known the form of the supreme Atman, residing in the secret place [of the heart], devoid of parts, non-dual.

The universal witness, free from existence and non-existence, – he moves towards the form of the pure supreme Atman.

24. He who recites Shatarudriya becomes purified by fire, becomes purified by wind, becomes purified by the Atman, becomes purified from drunkenness, becomes purified from killing a Brahmin, becomes purified from stealing gold, becomes purified from what should be done and what should not be done. Therefore he can take refuge with the unliberated. Let him who has risen above the ashramas recite [Shatarudriya] constantly or once [a day] –

25. By this means he attains the knowledge that destroys the ocean of the cycle of existence.

Therefore, knowing thus, he attains this state of supreme unity, attains the state of supreme unity."