Upanishads

VASUDEVA UPANISHAD

Samaveda
Upanishad group – Vaishnava

Hari Om Tat Sat!

1. Ohm. The godlike rishi Narada greeted Lord Vasudeva and addressed him thus: "O my Lord, please teach me the rules of urdhva-pundra (i.e., the vertical religious marking of the Vaishnavas)."

2. Lord Vasudeva told him the following:

A brahmachari (i.e., an unmarried person who studies the Vedas) and a grihastha (householder), after uttering the following prayer: "O Lord, who holds the chakra, mace, and conchshell, O Achyuta, lord of Dvaraka, O Govinda, O lotus-eyed one, please protect me, who have surrendered unto you!", should apply urdhva-pundra on his forehead and other 12 places with his clean finger (the one next to the little finger), repeating either the Vishnu-gayatri or the 12 names of God, namely: Keshava, Narayana, Madhava, Govinda, Vishnu, Madhusudana, Trivikrama, Vamana, Sridhara, Hrishikesha, Padmanabha, and Damodara.

3. The sannyasin should apply the urdhva-pundra with his fourth finger on the head, forehead and chest, while chanting the mantra Om (i.e., pranava).

4. The three Gods – Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva – are sthula (macrocosm), sukshma (microcosm) and karana (causal state); (they) are the three worlds: Bhu, Bhuva and Svaha; (they) are the three Vedas: Rig, Yajur and Sama; (they) are the three states of consciousness: wakefulness, sleep and deep-dreamless-sleep. The urdhva-pundra is triple, that is, A, U and M. These urdhva-pundras (in the form of separate A, U and M) are full of pranava and full of the syllable Om. But this pranava only appears to be divided into parts (A, U, and M), remaining always one. The Lord of AUM/OM will lift you up to His Abode. Therefore, wear the urdhva-pundra.

5. The sage who is endowed with four things: the cane/danda, courage, yoga, and the urdhva-pundra, attains supreme Liberation. A sannyasin filled with devotion/bhakti and possessing this firm Knowledge certainly comes to my Abode.

Hari Om Tat Sat!

Thus ends the Vasudeva Upanishad, which belongs to the Samaveda.