Trishikhi-brahmana upanishad

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Trisikhi Brahmana Upanishad

Shuklayajurveda, group of Upanishads - yoga

Om! That (Brahman) is infinite, and this (universe) is infinite.
The infinite comes from the infinite.
(Then) accepting the infinity of the infinite (universe),
She remains as the infinite (Brahman) one.
Om! Let there be peace in me!
May there be peace in my surroundings!
Let there be peace in the forces that act upon me!

Om! That (Brahman) is infinite, and this (universe) is infinite.

The infinite comes from the infinite.

(Then) taking the infinity of the infinite (universe),

She remains as the infinite (Brahman) one.

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. A Brahmin named Trishikhi ("three tufts/forelocks of hair on the head") went to the world of the Sun ("aditya-loka") and asked him: "O Lord, what is the body? What is the soul? What is the cause and what is Atma?"

The Sun God replied:

You must realize that all this is Shiva. For Shiva alone is eternally pure, devoid of any blemish, omnipresent, and for whom there is no second. He alone creates everything by his light, and like fire appearing in different forms on different pieces of steel, he appears in different forms. If you ask what he gives light to, the answer is: Brahman, which is denoted by the word "Sat" and which is merged with ignorance and illusion. This Brahman gave birth to the "unmanifest" (avyaktam). The "unmanifest" gave birth to "mahat (great)". "Mahat" gave birth to the ego (ahamkara). The ego gave birth to the 'five tanmatras' (tanmatra is an elementary or subtle element; there are five tanmatras, namely shabda (sound), sparsa (touch), rupa (visibility), rasa (presence of taste) and gandha (presence of smell), from which come the five maha-bhutas or great elements (ether, air, fire, water and earth); tanmatras are the properties of objects perceived by the five senses (hearing, touch, sight, taste and smell)). These 'five tanmatras' gave birth to the 'five bhutas', namely earth, water, fire, air and ether.

1. Ether is consciousness, namely mind, wisdom, self-will and ego.

2. Air (prana) is samana, udana, vyana, apana and prana, which are the airs in the body.

3. Fire is the ears, skin, eyes, tongue and nose.

4. Water is the senses of sound, touch, sight, taste and smell.

5. Earth is words, hands, feet and other physical organs.

6. Ether (akasha), which is the concept of wisdom, is decision, behavior and self-esteem.

7. Actions related to air are joining, changing place, taking, listening and breathing.

8. Actions related to fire are the sense of touch, sight, taste, sight and sound. They also depend on water.

9. Actions related to the earth are talking, giving, taking, leaving and coming.

10. The actions of the prana-tanmatra (symbolic soul) are the organs for doing work and the organs for acquiring wisdom.

11. Ahamkara ("inner instrument", "ego") is limited to (manifested in) the mind, brain and will to action.

12. The micro aspects of the symbolic soul (prana-tanmatra) are giving place, dispersal, vision, unification and steadfastness.

These twelve are aspects of philosophy, the early concept of divinity and the early concept of physical existence. Chandra, Brahma, the directions, air, sun, Varuna, Ashvini-devas (divine doctors), Agni (fire), Indra (king of the devas), Upendra, Prajapati and Yama (God of death) are the gods of the organs and senses who travel as the soul in these twelve aspects.

2. From the main (head) part, the eastern and northern parts of the universe are divided into four parts. In the past, they found refuge in the sky and are on Earth and other planets.

3. They are to be understood as being above the main part, and they do not know the following. Thus, part of the universe was created initially, and part of the universe was created from them.

4. From there the earth arose, embracing one another, interpenetrating with cross-links, step by step as a result of the pancha-bhutas (the five aspects of earth, air, water, fire and ether) coming into being.

5. In this land, plants, creepers, food, and the four types of pindas (centers of the body) arose. The root parts of the body are taste, blood, flesh, fat, bones, nerves, and semen.

6. Some pindas are created due to their own interaction and some pindas are created due to the interaction of pancha-bhutas. Here the pinda is called "anna-mayam (food region)" in the abdominal region.

7. In the middle of this body is the heart, which is like a lotus flower with a stem. The gods of control, ego and action are there.

8. The seed for this is the tamo-guna (base qualities) of the pinda, which is oriented toward passion and the dense (that which does not move or change). This is the world with its varied nature, and it is located in the neck.

9. The inward looking happy Atma (soul) is situated at the top of the head and is located in the parama-patha place. It has a form like the earth and shines with great power.

10. The awakening state is everywhere. The dream state is also in the waking state. The dream state and the state of supreme knowledge (turiya) do not exist in other states.

11. Like the flavors that permeate all parts of a good fruit, Shiva-Shakti permeates everything.

12. Similarly, all the koshas (sheaths of the human being, including the body and consciousness) are within the annamaya kosha. Similarly, within the koshas is the soul. Similarly, within the soul is Shiva.

13. A living being is one who has feelings and modifications. Shiva has no feelings and modifications. The koshas are the places where the feelings of a living being are located. And they give rise to states of existence.

14. Just as shaking a container of juice produces ripples and foam, shaking the mind produces many painful thoughts.

15. The doer is engaged in action and, renouncing it, attains peace (By performing duties, the living entity becomes a slave to those duties. By renouncing them, he attains peace.). When the moon reached the southern part of the universe, the Lord turned toward the universe (He becomes the seer of the world on the southern path.).

16. Due to ego (ahamkara, the sense of "I") and self-esteem (pride), the living entity is Sadashiva. He is bewildered by the association of himself with nature (the material world) due to ignorance.

17. Due to his desires, he travels to a hundred different universes and incarnates through hundreds of yonis (female reproductive organs). Like a fish traveling between the banks of a river, he continues to travel until he achieves salvation.

18. In the course of time, due to the penetrating wisdom of the knowledge of the soul (atma-jnana-viveka), he turns to the northern path and ascends step by step.

19. When he is able to direct his soul power to the head and practice yoga constantly, he gains wisdom. Through wisdom his yoga works.

20. Once yoga and wisdom become established in him, he becomes a yogi. He will never perish ("disappear"). One should see Lord Shiva in a state of transformation, and the transformation carried out by Lord Shiva.

21. To get the results of yoga, one should meditate on the enlightener of yoga (Shiva) with a devoted mind. Without knowledge of yoga, perfection cannot be achieved.

22. Therefore, by the practice of Yoga, the mind and the vital force should be controlled. The Yogi should cut off the roots (of distractions) in Yoga, [just as he cuts material] with a sharp knife.

[Slokas 23–145 omitted.]

146. With the pure knowledge of Atma (soul) the sense organs should be controlled. We should always meditate on the transcendental (para) Vasudeva, who is the greatest Soul (Param-atman).

147-154. Kaivalya (salvation) is attained by meditation on the chosen form and image. If the yogi is able to meditate even for a short time on Vasudeva while in the stage of kumbhaka pranayama (the stage of holding the breath), the sins he has committed in seven births will be destroyed. You should understand that the part from the abdomen to the heart is the waking action. In the neck there is the dream action. Between the jaws there is sleep. (It should be understood that the waking state is the sleep state in the throat.) Turiya is located in the middle of the palate and between the eyebrows. This action of union with Parabrahman, which is much higher than turiya, exists in the upper middle of the skull, called Brahmarandra. There, in the front corner of turiya, the soul is called Vishnu. When one meditates in the very pure param-akasha (great ether), one should meditate on that Adhokshaja who is eternally shining with the light of crores (tens of millions) of suns, as if seated in the lotus of his own heart. Otherwise, one should meditate on that Vishva-rupi (one who has the form of the universe), who has many forms, many faces, who has many weapons, and who is adorned with many instruments, many eyes, who shine like crores of suns.

155. When a yogi meditates, all his mental instincts are destroyed. The inexhaustible radiance of consciousness resides in the lotus flower of the heart.

156-157. That yogi who meditates on that indestructible which shines as the grace of God in the centre of the heart, on that supreme truth which is beyond turiya, on that Sun which is the form of wisdom which is immeasurable and infinite, on that being which is like a shining lamp in a windless place, and on that being which is like the radiance of uncut gems, will attain speedy salvation ("liberation is in his palm").

158-159. For that yogi who is able to see and feel the effulgence of this deity (deva) with the universal macro or micro form or at least a small part of it in his lotus-like heart, all occult powers such as anima (the power to reduce the body and any other objects to any size) will be quite within his reach.

160-161. It should be understood that the realization of the universal truth of the unity of the jivatma (soul) and Paramatma (God), which is that "I am Brahman and Brahman am I," is the real state of samadhi (an enlightened state of meditation in which the transparent {i.e. without thoughts and fogginess} mind is turned towards God). Such a person becomes Brahman, and he does not take another birth.

162. He who investigates such principles with detachment becomes like a fire without wood and becomes one with himself.

163. Since his mind and soul have nothing to cling to (nothing to attach themselves to), he becomes stable in the form of wisdom, and his soul melts like a piece of salt, and he merges with the sea of pure consciousness.

164. He perceives the kaleidoscope of this world as a dream. He moves as if asleep, not moved by his own nature.

The Upanishads say that a yogi who takes refuge (is in a state of samadhi) at the moment of maha-nirvana attains liberation.

Thus ends the Trishikhi Brahmana Upanishad, which belongs to the Shuklayajurveda.