Upanishads

KUNDIKA UPANISHAD

Samaveda
upanishad group – sannyasa

Om! Let my limbs and speech, prana, eyes, ears, life force
And all the senses grow in strength.
All existence is the Brahman of the Upanishads.
Let me never deny Brahman, nor Brahman deny me.
Let there be no denial at all:
Let there be no denial at least from me.
Let the virtues that are proclaimed in the Upanishads,
Who is devoted to the Atman; let them abide in me.
Om! Let there be peace in me!
Let there be peace in my surroundings!
Let there be peace in the forces that act upon me!

1-2. After studying the scriptures during an impeccable period of studentship, in which he devotes himself to the service of the teacher, the brahmachari, with the permission of the teacher, should marry a suitable wife. Then (at the end of household life) he should boldly light the sacred fire (for renunciation) and perform a sacrifice lasting day and night, in which Brahma, etc., are the deities.

3. Then, dividing his property among his sons in due order and renouncing all sense pleasures, he should travel to the sacred places as a vanaprastha.

4. Subsisting on air alone, or (air and) water alone, or with the addition (in case of extreme need) of approved bulbous roots (and fruits), he should find the whole of worldly life in himself alone. He should not (remembering his past comforts) let his tears fall on the ground.

5-7(a). How can a man in the company of his wife be said to have renounced (the worldly life)? How can one who is (merely) known by the name (of an ascetic) be said to have renounced? Therefore he should purify himself (first) by renouncing the result of his actions through self-control (vanaprastha); then he can take to renunciation. A man attains the stage of forest life (vanaprastha) after maintaining the sacred fire (as a householder). He goes to lead the forest life with self-control, accompanied by his wife, as if he were attached to her.

7(b)-8. "Why does he suffer (the life of a mendicant monk) in vain, having given up the happiness of worldly life? What is this (impending) misery, the thought of which should make him give up great pleasures? (Such is the question of the wife.) "I am afraid of (the miserable) life in the womb (of another mother), and also of suffering from heat, cold, etc. (Therefore) I wish to enter the cave (refuge) of renunciation, the means to the painless transcendental state (of Brahman)." Thus (he answers).

9. Having rejected the sacred fire, he will not return to it (even while mentally pronouncing the mantras relating to it).

10. "For I, (i.e. the mantra) (pertaining to that sacred fire), being extinguished (being incompatible with renunciation), shall be absorbed in the advancing (knowledge of Brahman)."

11. He may repeat the mantras pertaining to (the realisation of) the Self.

12. He should be initiated. (He should) wear (ochre) clothing. (He should remove) the hair except that of the armpits and the private parts. With his (right) hand raised (he should proceed as a mendicant), having given up the path of worldly life. He should proceed on without (a fixed) abode. Living on alms, he should reflect deeply on (the Vedantic texts) and meditate (on his identity with the transcendental Brahman). He should have pure knowledge (pavitram) for the protection of all beings.

13-14. (These) verses are there (or on the same subject): (A mendicant monk should have) a water pot, (an alms bowl), a belt (for carrying his belongings), sandals to cover long distances (literally, across the three worlds), a patched robe to withstand the cold, a loincloth to cover (his private parts), a purifying ring (pavitram of sacred grass), a bath towel and an upper garment; besides these the ascetic should give up everything else.

15. He should sleep on the sandy bottom of a river or outside a temple. He should not disturb his body too much with either pleasure or pain.

16. Pure water should be used for bathing, drinking and cleansing. He will not rejoice in praise, nor will he curse others when he is blamed.

17. His begging bowl should be (a bowl) of leaves, and his washing material should be the prescribed (fresh earth).

18. Thus provided with the means of subsistence, he should, with suppressed senses, always mutter (philosophical) mantras. The wise (ascetic) should realize in his mind (the identity of the individual Self with the universal Self), which is the meaning of Om.

19. (From Brahman arose ether); from ether air; from air fire; from fire water; from water earth. To (the root cause of all) these primordial elements. Brahman, I resort (in reverence); I resort to the ageless, immortal and indestructible Brahman.

20. In me, the ocean of unalloyed bliss, the waves of the universe rise and fall many times due to the winds of the whimsical play of illusion (maya).

21. I am not attached to my body, as the sky is not attached to the clouds. Therefore how can I have its (i.e. the body's) characteristics during (the stages of) waking, dreaming and deep sleep?

22. I am ever far beyond imagination, like the ether; I am distinct from it (the body), as the sun is distinct from the objects of illumination; I am ever changeless, like the changeless (i.e. Mount Meru), and like the ocean, I am limitless.

23. I am Narayana, I am the destroyer of (the demon) Naraka, I (Shiva), the destroyer of the three (aerial) cities, I am Purusha, I am the supreme Lord; I am the indivisible consciousness, the witness of everything; I am without a chief, I am devoid of 'I' (egoism) and 'mine' (possessiveness).

24-25. (The ascetic) should, by practising (Yoga), unite the vital forces Prana and Apana in the body. He should place (the palms of) both his hands on the perineum, lightly biting (the tip of) the tongue, which is protruded to the size of a barley grain. Similarly, directing his eyes, opened to the size of a black grain, towards (the ether of) the ear (and firmly resting his feet) on the ground, he should not allow the ear (to function) nor the nose to smell (i.e. the five senses should be controlled). (Thus he achieves the union of the vital currents of prana and apana).

26. (Therefore the vital current passing through kundalini and sushumna dissolves in the sahasrara chakra at the crown of the head. Then the vision, the mind, the vital current and the 'fire' of the body reach) the place of Shiva (and dissolve); this is Brahman; this is the transcendental Brahman. This (Brahman) will be realized by the practice (of Yoga), which is facilitated by the acquisition of practice in previous births.

27. With the help of the external and internal organs (knowledge of the qualified Brahman), called effulgence, reaching the heart and supported by the power of the vital air (to go upward, to pass through the sushumna-nadi) and piercing the skull at the upper part of the body, one realizes the indestructible (qualified Brahman).

28. Those (sages) who attain the transcendental state (through the passage) in the skull in the upper part of their body never return (to worldly life), for they realize both the lower and the higher (Brahman).

29. The attributes of visible objects do not affect the observer, who is different from them. The attributes of a householder do not affect him who remains unaligned without any mental change, like a lamp (which does not undergo any change from the objects exposed by it).

30. Let (I) be unaligned (a sage) rolling in water or on the earth; I am not affected by their characteristics, just as the ether (in a pot) is not affected by the attributes of the pot.

31-32. I am free (from the influence of) actions and changes, devoid of parts and form, I am without imagination, I am eternal, I am without support and I am devoid of duality. I am the form of all (beings), I am everything, I am beyond everything and without a second; I am the one indivisible knowledge and I am the compact bliss of the Self.

33. Seeing the Self everywhere, regarding the Self as without a second, enjoying the bliss of the Self, I remain without thought.

34. Walking, standing, sitting, lying down or otherwise, the sage, enjoying the Atman, will live as he wishes (in the performance of his duties; and, leaving the world, will attain final liberation). Thus (ends) the Upanishad.

Om! Let my limbs and speech, prana, eyes, ears, life force
And all the senses grow in strength.
All existence is the Brahman of the Upanishads.
Let me never deny Brahman, nor Brahman deny me.
Let there be no negation at all:
Let there be no negation at least from me.
Let the virtues that are proclaimed in the Upanishads,
Who are devoted to the Atman; let them abide in me.
Om! Let there be peace in me!
Let there be peace in my surroundings!
Let there be peace in the forces that act on me!

Thus ends the Kundikopanishad belonging to the Samaveda.