Sannyasa Upanishad

ॐ

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SANNYASA UPANISHAD

Samaveda
upanishad group – sannyasa

Om! May my limbs and speech, prana, eyes, ears, life force
And all feelings grow in strength.
All existence is the Brahman of the Upanishads.
May I never deny Brahman, nor may 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 are devoted to the Atman; let them abide in me.
Om! Let there be peace within me!
May there be peace in my surroundings!
May there be peace in the forces that act upon me!

CHAPTER ONE

1. We shall now expound the Upanishad on renunciation. He who in the due order (of the stages of life) gives up (the basic propensities such as desire for wealth, etc.) becomes one who has renounced (worldly life). What is this renunciation? How does one renounce? He who has guarded himself by (the following) actions, who (for his renunciation) has obtained the approval of mother, father, wife, sons and relatives, should assemble all the priests known to him and, as before (with their approval), perform a Vaisvanara sacrifice (for the benefit of all people). He should (after division) distribute all his wealth to the priests. For the priests are the singers (of the Vedic hymns deserving gift). The (five) vital airs, prana, apana, vyana, udana and samana, should be (symbolically) placed in all the sacrificial vessels over the (five) sacred fires, ahavanija, garhapatya, anvaharyapachana, sabhya and avasatya. Having shaved his hair along with the topknot, having broken the sacred thread and having seen his son, he should sanctify (himself) with the mantras, "You are the god Brahma, you are the sacrifice, you are everything." If he has no son, he should sanctify himself in this way and, without caring (for anything), proceed on his mendicant's journey to the east or north.

He may receive alms from (people of) the four castes. He should eat from the vessel of his hands. He should regard food as medicine. He should take food as medicine (i.e. in great moderation). He should eat as much and when as he gets (food, without complaining and without asking more) for simple sustenance and in such a way that there is no increase of fat. When thin, he may spend one night in a country, five nights in a town; he may live for the four rainy months in a country or a town. (Interpreting) a fortnight as months, he may live (in a permanent dwelling) for two months. If he is unable to bear (heat or cold), he may accept as a gift a torn garment or a robe of bark. He should accept nothing else. For penance is to endure pain (with equanimity). What then are the sacred thread, the bundle, and the ceremonial swallowing of water to him who thus renounces in the prescribed manner and who thus regards it (in the right perspective)? For him (the inquirer) the answer is this. This is his sacred thread (viz.), that he meditates on the Atman; (the practice of) Brahma-vidya is the bundle; that he quenches his thirst with the vessel of his belly, performs (ceremonial) duty with water which is present everywhere. His residence is on the bank of (a reservoir of) water. When the sun has set, how can he (ceremonially) drink water? As (he touches water) by day, so by night; (for) he has neither night nor day. (The enlightened ascetic is above the limitations of time). It has been said by the Vedic sage (in the mantra): 'For him there is (only) one (time), the day.' He who knows thus realises the Atman through this (renunciation).

CHAPTER TWO

1. Only that person has the right to renunciation who has undergone forty purification rites (samskaras), has renounced all (worldly) things, has acquired purity of mind, has burned desires, envy, intolerance and egoism and is equipped with the four disciplines of spiritual life (sadhanas).

2. Having decided to renounce, he who does not accept it must perform penance (prajapatya) alone (as atonement); after this he has the right to renounce (the (world)).

3. He who (after deciding to renounce) condemns it, he who supports the fallen ascetic (as if he were sincere), and he who creates obstacles (in the path of those who desire renunciation) – these three (classes of people) should be called fallen.

4. Now these (people, although possessing dispassion, have no right to renunciation – the eunuch, the fallen man, the crippled man, women, the deaf man, the child, the dumb man, the heretic, the informer, the student (who has not completed his studies), the Vaikhanasa ascetic (belonging to the Vaishnava sect), the ardent Shaivite (haradvija), the hired teacher, the man without foreskin and without ritual fire. Even if they renounce the world, they have no right to the instructions of the great sacred texts (such as "You are That").

5. The son of one who has fallen from ascetic grace, one who has a disease of the nails, one who has brown teeth, a consumptive, as well as an ugly person – they never have the right to renunciation.

6. Renunciation should never be allowed to those who have just settled as householders, those who have committed great sins, those who have lost their caste due to failure to perform the basic purificatory rites (vratya) and the damned.

7. (Again) one should never allow renunciation to one who is deprived of religious rites, religious acts (yajna), penance, charity, offerings, sacrifices on the ritual fire, and study of the scriptures; and to those who have fallen away from truth and purity. They do not deserve renunciation; (and no one) can dispense with due order except one who is grievously suffering.

8. The person (who has the right to renounce) should throw off his tuft, uttering "Om Bhuh Swaha". Reciting the mantra "The sacred thread will not remain outside. Grant me glory, strength, spiritual wisdom, dispassion and intelligence", he should break the sacred thread and leave it in the water along with his robe and belt, muttering "Om Swaha"; then he should repeat thrice, "I have renounced".

9. Seeing a Brahmana who has renounced the world, the sun descends from his place (thinking): “This man will attain Brahman by breaking through my disc.”

10. The wise man who says, "I have renounced," exalts to glory sixty generations of his family before him and sixty generations after him.

11. All the faults born of bad sons, and all the faults born of bodily weakness, the fire (during renunciation) will burn away, just as the fire burns away gold.

12. (Reciting the mantra) "Friend, protect me," he (the renouncer) should take up the (symbolic) staff.

13. The ascetic should carry a staff, which should be made of bamboo, smooth, whole (with bark), with even joints, grown in holy land and cleansed of all defects;

14. It must be uneaten (by forest fire), uneaten by worms, shiny with joints, (the length of which) must reach the nose, head or eyebrows.

15. A close connection is always prescribed between the staff and the man; a wise man should not move without the staff for a distance three times greater than the throwing distance of an arrow.

16. Repeating the mantra, "Thou art the reservoir of the water that sustains the world; never say 'no' to me, thou who art ever pleasing to all," he should obtain a vessel for holding the water; and, donning the yogic dress (as an aid to meditation), he should walk in a pleasant frame of mind.

17. Abandon (the concepts of) righteousness and unrighteousness (dharma and adharma), abandon truth and untruth; having abandoned truth and untruth, abandon that by which you abandon (all this) (i.e. duality).

18. An ascetic by dispassion, an ascetic by spiritual wisdom, an ascetic by wisdom and dispassion, and an ascetic by renunciation of action; these are the four kinds (of ascetics) attained.

19. This is how it happens. An ascetic through dispassion is one who has become indifferent to the sense objects that he sees or hears, and who has renounced (the world) due to the influence of good deeds done previously.

20. An ascetic by Jnana is he who, being dead to worldly life by (true) knowledge of the scriptures and hearing the experiences of men in sin and goodness and who, having cast off lingering attachment to the body, scripture and world and considering all worldly actions as useless like vomit, has fourfold discipline in spiritual life and then renounces the world.

21. Having studied all (the scriptures) in the prescribed manner and having experienced all (the vicissitudes) of life, he is an ascetic through jnana and dispassion, granted only his body through meditation on the nature of the Self through jnana and dispassion, and then he renounces and becomes naked (as he was at birth).

22. Having completed the period of celibate studentship, having become a householder and then having accepted the stage of forest life (vanaprastha), one who renounces (the world) merely to observe the order of the stages of life, though without dispassion, is an ascetic who renounces action.

23. Renunciation is of six kinds: (and the ascetics are called) kuticaka, bahudaka, hamsa, paramahamsa, turiyatita and avadhuta.

24. The Kuticaka ascetic has a tuft and sacred thread, carries a staff and a water vessel, wears a loincloth and a patched robe, is devoted to the service of his father, mother and preceptor, is armed with a vessel, spade, sling, etc., is alone, is addicted to eating in one place, wears on his forehead the perpendicular mark of a white sandal and holds a triple (symbolic) staff.

25. The bahudaka ascetic wears a tuft of hair, etc., a patched garment, and three (horizontal) lines of sacred ash on the forehead, and is in all respects like the kutichaka ascetic (except that) he lives on eight mouthfuls of food collected (as alms from eight houses) like a bee (honey).

26. The Hamsa ascetic wears fair hair, wears on his forehead the mark of either a horizontal line of sacred ash or a perpendicular line of sandalwood, eats food collected as alms without restriction, and wears a piece of a loincloth.

27. The paramahamsa ascetic is bereft of the tuft and sacred thread, receives alms in the vessel of his hands, wears one loincloth, has one (patched) garment, one bamboo staff, either wears one garment or is smeared with sacred ashes and has renounced all (property and attachments).

28. The Turyatita ascetic lives on fruits, taking them in his mouth like a cow; if he eats boiled rice (he receives them as alms) from the three houses. His body is given to him (without any property and attachment), he is undressed (dressed according to the cardinal directions) and treats his body as a corpse.

29. The avadhuta ascetic has no fixed rules. He eats food, like a python, whenever and as soon as he gets it, from people of all castes except those who are fallen or damned, and is always intent on meditating on the nature of the Self.

30. I am certainly not of this world, consisting of trees, grass and mountains. How can I, the supreme Being, be this external (phenomenon), which is extremely inert? I am not the body, which is not intelligent and perishes in a short time.

31. I am not a sound that is not intelligent, that comes from emptiness and has the form of emptiness and that remains for a short period of time caught in the inert cavity of the ear.

32. I am not a touch that is not intelligent, but which is given life by the grace of consciousness and which can be perceived by the skin of instantaneous existence and in no other way.

33. I am not taste, which is not perceptible, depends on matter, is of short duration, is insignificant, and is brought into existence by the fickle tongue, aided by the fickle mind.

34. I am not the form (rupa) which is not perceptible, does not exist in the only Witness (Brahman), is transitory and which rests on sight and the object of sight, which have only a momentary existence.

35. I am not a smell that is not perceptible, subtle and indefinable in form and is called into existence by a changeable nose that is dead to smell.

36. I am only pure consciousness, which is devoid of parts, "mine" and thought, and which is at rest and beyond the delusions of the five senses.

37. I am the consciousness devoid of a place of worship, and I am the illuminator, omnipresent (externally and internally), devoid of parts and spots, the light of the indistinguishable consciousness, all-pervading and unique.

38. Only through me, consciousness, all things, such as pots and clothes up to the sun, are illuminated by self-radiance, like a lamp.

39. It is only through me, with my inner shining radiance, that the various senses are activated, like a mass of sparks shining from the fire that burns within.

40. That pure eye of consciousness which enjoys infinite bliss and which shines even when all others have faded, is triumphantly present in all eyes.

41. Salutations, salutations to me alone, who am present in all other beings and who consists of consciousness free from (the limitation of) the object to be known, and I in the form of the individual Self (consciousness).

42. The various clearly visible forces (such as the forces of the earth, etc.) (really) become diverse consciousness, which is free from change, one whole and free from the limitation of time and parts (kala).

43. From the consciousness which is beyond the three durations (past, present and future), which is devoid of the limitation of perceiving objects and which discards the individuality of the soul, only unity (of the Self and Brahman) remains.

44. Indeed, the same (consciousness), being beyond the reach of words, seems to remain as having attained the state of expressing the essence of the "I" (i.e. the state of non-duality), as if it were an eternal non-existence.

45. The same consciousness, slightly encumbered by the impurities of desires and disdesires, is unable to rise high, like a female bird tied with a rope.

46. People (overwhelmed by) the delusion (caused by) the pairs (of opposites), which is born of desire and hatred, become like worms that sink into the bowels of the earth.

47. Salutations to the Atman, to you who are non-different from consciousness. I am now possessed (by the truth), I am awakened, I have risen (above delusion).

48. I am lifted from doubt; I am what I am; greetings to you, yours and me, the eternal; you and me, consisting of consciousness.

49. Salutations to you, the Supreme Lord, and salutations to me, Shiva. Though seated (Atman), he does not sit, though walking, he does not walk. Though motionless, he is engaged in activity, though performing action, he is untainted.

50. He is supremely accessible, easily recognizable like a close relative; he is the bee within the lotus body of all.

51. I have no desire for either a state of enjoyment or a renunciation of enjoyment. Let it be what it will be, let it be what it will be.

52. When the mind is quieted in itself and has become free from egoism, and when ideation dissolves in itself, I remain alone, happy.

53. My enemy (duality) remains (i.e. is absorbed) in the pure Atman of vibration alone, without ideation, egoism, mind and desire.

54. Breaking the shackles of strong desires from the cage of my body, I do not know where the female bird of non-ego flew and went.

55. He who has no egoism, whose intellect is uncorrupted, and who is equal to all beings, his life shines brightly.

56. He who looks upon this (phenomenal world) as an (impartial) witness with his mind, being cold within, is freed from love and hatred, his life is blessed.

57. He who, understanding rightly, renounces both the undesirable and the desirable and places his mind in its peace, his life is blessed.

58. When the connecting thread between the object and the person (who grasps it) disappears, peace comes into being well. When peace is established, it is called liberation.

59. Like dried seeds, worldly birth no longer sprouts; hidden desires become pure in the heart of those who are liberated in life.

60. (The latent desire of the realized soul) purifies, is supremely correct, enters into the sphere of pure nature, consists of meditation on the Atman and is eternal; it remains as if in deep sleep.

61. Understanding without mind is indeed called individual consciousness. Since it is of the nature of a calm mind, there is no impurity of understanding (discriminations).

62. Where the mind becomes calm, there is truth and auspiciousness; this is the true state; this is omniscience and this is truly complete satisfaction.

63. When I speak, give, take, open and close my eyes, I am pure consciousness, the bliss (that comes from) the discarded thought process.

64. Having abandoned the impurity of things to be known, having made the mind completely calm, and having ceased the fire of the bonds of desire, I am pure consciousness.

65. I have calmed thoughts good and bad, I am without anxiety, freed from thoughts of pleasant and unpleasant; I am pure consciousness.

66. Having abandoned the idea of self and other, taking no side in worldly affairs and clinging to the Atman as an unshakable pillar, I am steadfast.

67. I remain in my consciousness, which is pure and hopeless, free from desires and undesirables, and devoid of both the unwanted and the desired.

68. When will I get inner joy while remaining in the state of self-luminosity? When will I be in the mountain cave with my mind at peace?

69. When will I attain the likeness of a stone, (practicing) indifferent deep meditation (nirvikalpa-samadhi), when, remaining dumb from the peace of indifferent meditation, will forest birds build their leafy nests on my head?

70. Having cut down the trees of ideation and the vines of strong desire of the forest of the mind and having reached the broad plains (of spiritual wisdom), I happily enjoy life.

71. I follow this path (of wisdom), I am alone (unencumbered by attachments), I am successful (in realizing the truth); I am liberated, I am without desires, I am unaffected and I desire nothing.

72-73. The states of purity, power, reality, cordiality, truth, truth, knowledge, bliss, tranquility, the arising of constant joy, fullness, true wealth, possession of radiance and true unity – the mendicant monk, thus reflecting on the true nature of his Self and realizing his true nature, freedom from doubt, truly became one who has no alternative (i.e. became one with Brahman).

74. If a seriously ill person recovers, one should take to renunciation in the prescribed manner. (The ascetic) should not associate with a woman of low caste, with one who has fallen from virtue, and with a woman in the current. The ascetic does not worship the gods and does not attend (temple) festivals. The goal of asceticism is not the same heaven. A seriously ill person and the kuticaka ascetics attain the worlds of bhuras and bhuvas respectively. The bahudaka ascetic (attains) heaven (svarga). The hamsa ascetic, the world of truth (satya-loka). The turiyatita ascetic and the avadhuta ascetic attain the highest bliss in themselves by deeply meditating on the true nature of the Self according to the maxim of the wasp.

75. The practice of scriptural study, which is different from meditation on the nature of the Self, is as useless as (wearing) saffron flowers, which are but a burden to a camel. An ascetic should not practice the science of Yoga or Sankhya; he has no rituals with mantras and tantras, or study of any other religious treatise (shastra); if there is, it is like decorating a corpse. (Such an ascetic) is as far from spiritual knowledge as a cobbler. A mendicant should not mention his name (in the previous stage of life). A man reaps the fruits of whatever action he does. (Therefore the ascetic) should give up everything, as he (discards) the foam on castor oil. There is no acceptance of offerings made to the deity. He should not worship the gods externally.

76. Renunciation of everything except the Self, subsisting on food received in alms from several houses (as a bee collects honey), being lean and avoiding the increase of fat (in his body), he should move. He should spend his time (eating food) received in alms from several houses, using his hand or mouth as a vessel.

77. The sage, established in the Self, should take food conducive to (realization of) the Self. Two-fourths (of the abdomen should be filled) with food and one-fourth with water; the fourth quarter should be left for the movement of air.

78. He should always live on alms; he should never eat food received as alms from only one house; he should go especially to those houses where the people are seen to be calm in mind (i.e. those who dine only after giving alms).

79. He may expect alms from four or seven houses (where the householder) performs religious rites; he may expect (alms) up to the time of milking the cows (during the day); when he has gone out (from the house without alms), he should not enter again.

80. Fasting is preferable to (receiving food from) devotees; unsolicited food is better than fasting; almsgiving is preferable to unsolicited food; therefore he should live by almsgiving.

81. He should never enter a house through a side entrance while begging; he should not, out of delusion, pass through a house where no harm is seen from it.

82. He should not beg alms from a Vedic scholar if it is (given) without faith and devotion; he may beg alms from the house of a twice-born who has lost caste when it is offered with faith and devotion.

83. Almsgiving from several houses without planning, planned, unsolicited, timely and offered (in a monastery) are declared to be the five kinds of almsgiving.

84. (The first kind), alms from several houses, is declared to be that which is received from there, from five or seven houses, without previous meditation, as in the case of the honey bee (from flowers).

85. (The second kind), alms, previously arranged, is that which is accepted after repeated requests made by the devotees this morning and the previous day; nevertheless he can subsist on it.

86. (The third kind), unsolicited alms, is that which one receives when he is invited to dinner by someone else, when he is ready to go begging; this should be eaten by ascetics (those desiring salvation).

87. (The fourth kind of) timely alms is known as that (food) which a Brahmana offers when he approaches (a house) for alms; this (food) should be eaten by ascetics.

88. The sages desiring liberation say that (the fifth kind of) alms, food offered (to an ascetic in a monastery), is the prepared food which a Brahmin brings to the monastery.

89. The ascetic must live on alms, begging from door to door, even if it may be from the houses of the outcasts. He must not dine in one house, even if (the owner) is equal to the teacher of the gods (in learning). He must live on alms, begged or unbegged.

90. Air is not spoiled by touching (any object); fire – by burning; water – by urine and feces (that fall into them); and a mendicant monk – by lack of food.

91. When the smoke (in the houses) has cleared, the pestle (for grinding rice) is at rest, the fire (in the oven) has gone out and the people have dined, (the ascetic) should go for alms towards evening.

92. He should accept alms, except from the damned, the fallen, the heretics, and the class of people who are exclusively engaged in temple worship; from all castes – in times of need.

93-94. (He should consider) ghee to be the urine of a dog, honey to be liquor, butter to be the urine of a pig, relish to be garlic, black-gram cakes to be beef, and milk to be urine. Therefore the ascetic should avoid, with all his might, ghee, etc.

95. A Yogi should never eat food mixed with ghee, condiments, etc.; using the hand as a vessel, he should not go for alms more than once (a day).

96. When an ascetic seeks food only with his mouth, like a cow, he becomes equal to everything; (therefore) he becomes worthy of immortality.

97. (The ascetic) should give up ghee as blood, eating in one house as flesh, using cosmetics as smearing himself with unclean things, salt and molasses as an outcast, clothes as dirty utensils, an oil bath as courting women, the pleasant company of friends as urine, desire as beef, familiar places as an outcast's hut, women as snakes, gold as deadly poison, the assembly hall as a graveyard, the capital (city) as hell, and eating in one house as rice-balls at a funeral. No worship of gods (for him). Having given up the worldly way of life, he becomes "liberated while alive."

98. Constantly staying (in one place), acquiring (a begging) bowl, collecting (a staff, etc.), gathering disciples, sleeping during the day (divasvapnah) and useless talk – these are the six sins of ascetics.

99-103. Residing (constantly in one place), except during the rainy season, is called staying (asana, literally "sitting posture"). The acquisition of even one vessel, such as the above-mentioned gourd, etc., for the daily use of the ascetic is called "acquiring vessels" (patralopah). Gathering (samcaya) is declared to be the taking up of a second staff, etc., for the future use of one who already has it. Accepting disciples for one's own service, profit, dignity, or fame, and not out of compassion (to help them), is called gathering disciples (shishyasamgraha). (Vedantic) learning (is called) day because it illumines; ignorance (avidya) is called night. Negligence in learning is called "sleeping in the daytime" (divasvapnah). Except talk pertaining to the Self and while accepting alms, (giving) blessings and inquiring (regarding the Self), all other talk is considered useless talk (vrithajalpah).

104. Eating from one house, pride, envy, adorning with cosmetics and flowers, chewing betel, oil bath, sports, desire for enjoyment, medicines for prolonging life and slowing down old age (rashayana);

105. Boasting, abusive speech, pronouncing blessings, astrological prediction, buying and selling, ritual, debate on ritual, violation of Guru and scripture;

106-107. Pacifying, fighting, vehicle, bed, white clothes, emission of semen, sleeping during the day, begging vessel (alms bowl), gold, myrrh, weapons, seed (for growing or the mystic letter that forms an essential part of the mantra of the deity), harming, austerity, copulation, what is given up by the yoga of renunciation, vows such as the duties of a householder;

108. Family, etc., the branch of the Veda (of his early days), all the families of the father and mother, and wealth – all these are forbidden to the ascetic. If he resorts to them, he falls (from the state of renunciation).

109. A wise man, though very old, should not trust women, though very old. Even in very old patched clothes, the old cloth will stick (when sewn).

110. Immovable property, movable things (servants), seeds (for cultivation), gold, myrrh and weapons – these six the ascetic should not take, as (even if they were) urine and faeces.

111. The ascetic should not take even a little food with him for a journey, except in times of danger; in times of trouble he may obtain ripe grain when cooked food is not available.

112. A mendicant monk who is not ill and a young monk should not stay in any house (of a householder); he should neither accept nor give anything to another at any time.

113. With a sense of humility the ascetic should strive for the welfare of beings; by asking for cooked or uncooked food (for another), he falls (from asceticism).

114-115. The ascetic, zealous in his desire to feed others, who accepts clothes, etc., and woollen clothes or others, and also good clothes, certainly falls (from virtue). Having taken refuge in the ship of non-duality, he will attain liberation in life.

116. For restraint in speech he should observe silence; for control of the body he should fast; for control of the mind, breath control (pranayama) is prescribed.

117. The being is bound by (worldly) action; he is liberated by spiritual knowledge. Therefore far-sighted ascetics do not perform (worldly) action.

118. (Torn) garments are scattered on the roads; alms are obtained everywhere; the earth is a broad bed; how (then) are ascetics subject to sorrow?

119. The ascetic who offers the whole world as a sacrifice in the fire of spiritual wisdom, (symbolically) transferring the ritual fires to his Self – that great ascetic is the (true) Agnihotrin (initiator and keeper of the sacred fire).

120. Progress on the spiritual path is twofold – the path of the cat and the path of the monkey. Those who practice spiritual wisdom (jnana) are (like) cats; the secondary path (apara-Brahmana) is (like) the path of the monkey.

121. An ascetic should not speak to anyone unless spoken to; nor to one who asks wrongly. An intelligent man, though knowledgeable, should behave in the world as if he were dull.

122. When he is confronted with a mass of sins (i.e. when the flesh becomes weak, overpowering the injunctions of wisdom), he should practise (intelligent) repetition of Taraka (Om) twelve thousand times (daily); for that cuts (the sins).

123. The Supreme Brahman shines for him for twelve months who silently repeats the Pranava twelve thousand times every day. Thus (ends) the Upanishad.

Thus ends the Sannyasopanishad belonging to the Samaveda.