Maitrâyana Brâhmana Upanishad
point 34 sixth chp
(1) As a fire without fuel becomes quiet in its
place, thus do the thoughts, when all activity ceases, become quiet in their place.
(2) Even in a mind which loves the truth and has gone to rest in itself there arise, when it is deluded by the objects of sense, wrongs resulting from former acts.
(3) For thoughts alone cause the round of births ; let a man strive to purify his thoughts. What a man thinks, that he is: this is the old secret .
(4) By the serenity of his thoughts a man blots out all actions, whether good or bad. Dwelling within his Self with serene thoughts, he obtains imperishable happiness.
(5) If the thoughts of a man were so fixed on Brahman as they are on the things of this world, who would not then be freed from bondage?
(6) The mind, it is said, is of two kinds, pure or impure; impure from the contact with lust, pure when free from lust.
(7) When a man, having freed his mind from sloth, distraction, and vacillation, becomes as it were delivered from his mind 8, that is the highest point.
(8) The mind must be restrained in the heart till it comes to an end;--that is knowledge, that is liberty: all the rest are extensions of the ties (which bind us to this life).
(9) That happiness which belongs to a mind which by deep meditation has been washed clean from all impurity and has entered within the Self, cannot be described here by words; it can be felt by the inward power only
(10) Water in water, fire in fire, ether in ether, no one can distinguish them; likewise a man whose mind has entered (till it cannot be distinguished from the Self), attains liberty.
(11) Mind alone is the cause of bondage and liberty for men; if attached to the world, it becomes bound; if free from the world, that is liberty
point 30 chp 6
'There are endless rays (arteries) for the Self who, like a lamp, dwells in the heart: white and black, brown and blue, tawny and reddish 5.
One of them (the Sushumnâ) leads upwards, piercing the solar orb: by it, having stepped beyond the world of Brahman, they go to the highest path.
The other hundred rays 1 rise upwards also, and on them the worshipper reaches the mansions belonging to the different bodies of gods.
But the manifest rays of dim colour which lead downwards, by them a man travels on and on helplessly, to enjoy the fruits of his actions here.'
Therefore it is said that the holy Âditya (sun) is the cause of new births (to those who do not worship him), of heaven (to those who worship him as a god), of liberty (to those who worship him as Brahman) .
point 18-22 chp 6
18. This is the rule for achieving it (viz. concentration of the mind on the object of meditation): restraint of the breath, restraint of the senses, meditation, fixed attention, investigation, absorption, these are called the sixfold Yoga . When beholding by
this Yoga, he beholds the gold-coloured maker, the lord, the person, Brahman, the cause, then the sage, leaving behind good and evil, makes everything (breath, organs of sense, body, &c.) to be one in the Highest Indestructible (in the pratyagâtman or Brahman). And thus it is said:
'As birds and deer do not approach a burning mountain, so sins never approach those who know Brahman.'
19. And thus it is said elsewhere: When he who knows has, while he is still Prâna (breath), restrained his mind, and placed all objects of the senses far away from himself, then let him remain without any conceptions. And because the living person, called Prâna (breath), has been produced here on earth from that which is not Prâna (the thinking Self), therefore let this Prâna merge the Prâna (himself) in what is called the fourth. And thus it is said:
'What is without thought, though placed in the centre of thought, what cannot be thought, the hidden, the highest--let a man merge his thought there: then will this living being (liṅga) be without attachment .'
20. And thus it has been said elsewhere: There is the superior fixed attention (dhâranâ) for him, viz. if he presses the tip of the tongue down the palate and restrains voice, mind, and breath, he sees
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Brahman by discrimination (tarka). And when, after the cessation of mind 1, he sees his own Self, smaller than small, and shining, as the Highest Self 2, then having seen his Self as the Self, he becomes Self-less, and because he is Self-less, he is without limit, without cause, absorbed in thought. This is the highest mystery, viz. final liberation. And thus it is said:
'Through the serenity of the thought he kills all actions, good or bad; his Self serene, abiding in the Self, obtains imperishable bliss.'
2 1. And thus it has been said elsewhere: The artery, called Sushumnâ, going upwards (from the heart to the Brahmarandhra), serving as the passage of the Prâna, is divided within the palate. Through that artery, when it has been joined by the breath (held in subjection), by the sacred syllable Om, and by the mind (absorbed in the contemplation of Brahman), let him proceed upwards 3, and after turning the tip of the tongue to the palate, without 4 using any of the organs of sense, let greatness perceive greatness 5. From thence he goes to selflessness, and through selflessness he ceases to be an enjoyer of pleasure and pain, he obtains aloneness (kevalatva, final deliverance). And thus it is said:
'Having successively fixed the breath, after it had been restrained, in the palate, thence having crossed the limit (the life), let him join himself afterwards to the limitless (Brahman) in the crown of the head.'
22. And thus it has been said elsewhere: Two Brahmans have to be meditated on, the word and the non-word. By the word alone is the non-word revealed. Now there is the word Om. Moving upward by it (where all words and all what is meant by them ceases), he arrives at absorption in the non-word (Brahman). This is the way, this is the immortal, this is union, and this is bliss. And as the spider, moving upward by the thread, gains free space, thus also he who meditates, moving upward by the syllable Om, gains independence.
Other teachers of the word (as Brahman) think otherwise. They listen to the sound of the ether within the heart while they stop the ears with the thumbs. They compare it to seven noises, like rivers, like a bell, like a brazen vessel, like the wheels of a carriage, like the croaking of frogs, like rain, and as if a man speaks in a cavern. Having passed beyond this variously apprehended sound, and having settled in the supreme, soundless (non-word), unmanifested Brahman, they become undistinguished and indistinguishable, as various flavours of the flowers are lost in the taste of honey. And thus it is said:
'Two Brahmans are to be known, the word-Brahman and the highest Brahman; he who is perfect in the word-Brahman attains the highest Brahman .'
Prashna Upanishad
THIRD QUESTION.
1. Then Kausalya Âsvalâyana asked:'Sir, whence is that Prâna (spirit) born? How does it come into this body? And how does it abide, after it has divided itself? How does it go out? How does it support what is without 4, and how what is within?'
2. He replied: 'You ask questions more difficult, but you are very fond of Brahman, therefore I shall tell it you.
3. This Prâna (spirit) is born of the Self. Like the shadow thrown on a man, this (the prâna) is
spread out over it (the Brahman) 1. By the work of the mind 2 does it come into this body.
4. As a king commands officials, saying to them: Rule these villages or those, so does that Prâna (spirit) dispose the other prânas, each for their separate work.
5. The Apâna (the down-breathing) in the organs of excretion and generation; the Prâna himself dwells in eye and ear, passing through mouth and nose. In the middle is the Samâna 3 (the on-breathing); it carries what has been sacrificed as food equally (over the body), and the seven lights proceed from it.
6. The Self is in the heart. There are the 101 arteries, and in each of them there are a hundred (smaller veins), and for each of these branches there are 72,000 . In these the Vyâna (the back-breathing) moves.
7. Through one of them, the Udâna (the out-breathing) leads (us) upwards to the good world by good work, to the bad world by bad work, to the world of men by both.
8. The sun rises as the external Prâna, for it assists the Prâna in the eye . The deity that exists in the earth, is there in support of man's Apâna (down-breathing). The ether between (sun and earth) is the Samâna (on-breathing), the air is Vyâna (back-breathing).
9. Light is the Udâna (out-breathing), and therefore he whose light has gone out comes to a new birth with his senses absorbed in the mind.
10. Whatever his thought (at the time of death) with that he goes back to Prâna, and the Prâna, united with light 2, together with the self (the gîvâtmâ) leads on to the world, as deserved.
11. He who, thus knowing, knows Prâna, his offspring does not perish, and he becomes immortal. Thus says the Sloka:
12. He who has known the origin , the entry, the place, the fivefold distribution, and the internal state of the Prâna, obtains immortality, yes, obtains immortality.'
Mundaka Upanishad
THIRD MUNDAKA.
FIRST KHANDA.
1. Two birds, inseparable friends, cling to the same tree. One of them eats the sweet fruit, the other looks on without eating 1.2. On the same tree man sits grieving, immersed, bewildered by his own impotence (an-îsâ). But when he sees the other lord (îsâ) contented and knows his glory, then his grief passes away 2.
3. When the seer sees the brilliant maker and lord (of the world) as the Person who has his source in Brahman, then he is wise, and shaking off good and evil, he reaches the highest oneness, free from passions;
4. For he is the Breath shining forth in all beings, and he who understands this becomes truly wise, not a talker only. He revels in the Self, he delights in the Self, and having performed his works (truthfulness, penance, meditation, &c.) he rests, firmly established in Brahman, the best of those who know Brahman 3.
5. By truthfulness, indeed, by penance, right knowledge, and abstinence must that Self be gained; the Self whom spotless anchorites gain is pure, and like a light within the body.
6. The true prevails, not the untrue; by the true the path is laid out, the way of the gods (devayânah), on which the old sages, satisfied in their desires, proceed to where there is that highest place of the True One.
7. That (true Brahman) shines forth grand, divine., inconceivable, smaller than small; it is far beyond what is far and yet near here, it is hidden in the cave (of the heart) among those who see it even here.
8. He is not apprehended by the eye, nor by speech, nor by the other senses, not by penance or good works 1. When a man's nature has become purified by the serene light of knowledge, then he sees him, meditating on him as without parts.
9. That subtle Self is to be known by thought (ketas) there where breath has entered fivefold, for every thought of men is interwoven with the senses, and when thought is purified, then the Self arises.
10. Whatever state a man, whose nature is purified imagines, and whatever desires he desires (for himself or for others) 2, that state he conquers and
those desires he obtains. Therefore let every man who desires happiness worship the man who knows the Self 1.
SECOND KHANDA.
1. He (the knower of the Self) knows that highest home of Brahman 2, in which all is contained and shines brightly. The wise who, without desiring happiness, worship that Person 3, transcend this seed, (they are not born again.)2. He who forms desires in his mind, is born again through his desires here and there. But to him whose desires are fulfilled and who is conscious of the true Self (within himself) all desires vanish, even here on earth.
3. That Self 4 cannot be gained by the Veda, nor by understanding, nor by much learning. He whom the Self chooses, by him the Self can be gained. The Self chooses him (his body) as his own.
4. Nor is that Self to be gained by one who is destitute of strength, or without earnestness, or without right meditation. But if a wise man strives after it by those means (by strength, earnestness, and right meditation), then his Self enters the home of Brahman.
5. When they have reached him (the Self), the sages become satisfied through knowledge, they are conscious of their Self, their passions have passed
away, and they are tranquil. The wise, having reached Him who is omnipresent everywhere, devoted to the Self, enter into him wholly.
6. Having well ascertained the object of the knowledge of the Vedânta 1, and having purified their nature by the Yoga 2 of renunciation, all anchorites, enjoying the highest immortality, become free at the time of the great end (death) in the worlds of Brahmâ.
7. Their fifteen parts 3 enter into their elements, their Devas (the senses) into their (corresponding) Devas 4. Their deeds and their Self with all his knowledge become all one in the highest Imperishable.
8. As the flowing rivers disappear in the sea 5, losing their name and their form, thus a wise man, freed from name and form, goes to the divine Person, who is greater than the great 6.
9. He who knows that highest Brahman, becomes even Brahman. In his race no one is born ignorant of Brahman. He overcomes grief, he overcomes evil; free from the fetters of the heart, he becomes immortal.
10. And this is declared by the following Rik-verse: 'Let a man tell this science of Brahman to those only who have performed all (necessary) acts, who are versed in the Vedas, and firmly established in (the lower) Brahman, who themselves offer as
an oblation the one Rishi (Agni), full of faith, and by whom the rite of (carrying fire on) the head has been performed, according to the rule (of the Âtharvanas).'
11. The Rishi Aṅgiras formerly told this true (science 1); a man who has not performed the (proper) rites, does not read it. Adoration to the highest Rishis! Adoration to the highest Rishis!
YOGAṬAṬṬVA-UPANISHAḌ
"That breast from which one suckled before (in his previous birth) he now presses (in love) and obtains pleasure. He enjoys the same genital organ from which he was born before. She who was once his mother will now be wife and she who is now wife is (or will be) verily mother. He who is now father will be
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again son, and he who is now son will be again father. Thus are the egos of this world wandering in the womb of birth and death like a bucket in the wheel of a well and enjoying the worlds. There are the three worlds, three veḍas, three sanḍhyās, (morning, noon and evening), three svaras (sounds), three agnis, and guṇas, and all these are placed in the three letters (Om). He who understands that which is indestructible and is the meaning of the three (Om)—by him are all these worlds strung. This is the Truth, the supreme seat. As the smell in the flower, as the ghee in the milk, as the oil in the gingelly seed and as the gold in the quartz, so is the lotus situated in the heart. Its face is downwards and its stem upwards. Its binḍu is downwards and in its centre is situated manas. By the letter A, the lotus becomes expanded; by the letter U, it becomes split (or opened), by the letter M, it obtains nāḍa; and the arḍhamāṭrā (half-metre) is silence. The person engaged in yoga obtains the supreme seat, which is like a pure crystal, which is without parts and which destroys all sins. As a tortoise draws its hands and head within itself, so drawing in air thus and expelling it through the nine holes of the body, he breathes upwards and forwards. Like a lamp in an air-tight jar which is motionless, so that which is seen motionless through the process of yoga in the heart and which is free from turmoil, after having been drawn from the nine holes, is said to be Āṭmā alone."
Varaha Upanishad
"(The word) 'upavāsa' (lit., dwelling near) signifies the dwelling near (or union) of jīvāṭmā and Paramāṭmā and not (the religious observance as accepted by the worldy of) emaciating the body through fasts. To the ignorant, what is the use of the mere drying up of the body? By beating about the hole of a snake, can we be said to have killed the big snake within, A man is said to attain paroksha (indirect) wisdom when he knows (theoretically) that there is Brahman; but he is said to attain sākshāṭkāra (direct cognition) when he knows (or realises) that he is himself Brahman. When a yogin knows his Āṭmā to be the Absolute, then he becomes a jīvanmukṭa. To mahatmas, to be always in the state 'I am Brahman' conduces to their salvation. There are two words for bondage and moksha. They are 'mine' and 'not mine'. Man is bound by 'mine', but he is released by 'not mine'. He should abandon all the thoughts relating to externals and so also with reference to internals. O Ṛbhu having given up all thoughts, you should rest content (in your Āṭmā) ever.
What matters it to the ākāś in the pot, whether it (the pot) is destroyed now or exists for a long time. While the slough of a serpent lies cast off lifeless in its hole, it (the serpent) does not evince any affection towards it. Likewise the wise do not identify themselves with their gross and subtle bodies. If the delusive knowledge (that the universe is real) with its cause should be destroyed by the fire of āṭmajñāna, the wise man becomes bodiless, through the idea 'It (Brahman) is not this; It is not this.' Through the study of Śāsṭras, the knowledge of reality (of the universe) perishes. Through direct perception of truth, one's fitness for action (in this universe) ceases. With the cessation of prārabḍha (the portion of the past karma which is being enjoyed in this life), the destruction of the manifestation (of the universe) takes place. Māyā is thus destroyed in a threefold manner. If within himself no identification (of jīva) with Brahman takes place, the state (of the separateness) of jīva does not perish. If the non-dual one is truly discerned, then all affinities (for objects) cease. With the cessation of prārabḍha (arising from the cessation of
affinities), there is that of the body. Therefore it is certain that māyā perishes thus entirely.
"As, through the fluctuation of water, the sun (reflected therein) is moved, so Āṭmā arises in this mundane existence through its mere connection with ahaṅkāra. This mundane existence has chiṭṭa as its root. This (chiṭṭa) should be cleansed by -repeated effort. How is it you have your confidence in the greatness of chiṭṭa? Alas, where is all the wealth of the kings! Where are the Brahmās? Where are all the worlds? All old ones are gone. Many fresh evolutions have occurred. Many crores of Brahmās have passed away. Many kings have flitted away like particles of dust.
Even to a jñānī, the love of the body may arise through the asura (demoniacal) nature.
If the asura nature should arise in a wise man, his knowledge of truth becomes fruitless.
Should rajas and others generated in us be burnt by the fire of discriminative (divine) wisdom, how can they germinate again? Just as a very intelligent person delights in the shortcomings of another, so if one finds out his own faults (and corrects them) who will not be relieved from bondage? O Lord of munis, only he who has not āṭmajñāna and who is not an emancipated person, longs after siḍḍhis. He attains such siḍḍhis through medicine, 1 (or wealth), manṭras, religious works, time and skill. In the eyes of an āṭmajñānī, these siḍḍhis are of no importance. One who has become an āṭmajñānī, one who has his sight solely on āṭmā, and one who is content with Āṭmā (the higher self) through (his) āṭmā (or the lower self), never follows (the dictates of) aviḍyā. Whatever exists in this world, he knows to be of the nature of aviḍyā. How then will an āṭmajñānī who has relinquished aviḍyā be immersed in (or affected by) it. Though medicine, manṭras, religious work, time and skill (or mystical
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expressions) lead to the development of siḍḍhis, yet they cannot in any way help one to attain the seat of Paramāṭmā. How then can one who is an āṭmajñānī and who is without his mind be said to long after siḍḍhis, while all the actions of his desires are controlled?"
"(The Ṛshi) Śuka 1 is a mukṭa (emancipated person). (The Ṛshi) Vāmaḍeva is a mukṭa. There are no others (who have attained emancipation) than through these (viz., the two
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paths of these two Ṛshis). 'Those brave men who follow the path of Śuka in this world become saḍyomukṭas (viz., emancipated) immediately after (the body wears away); while those who always follow the path of veḍānṭa in this world are subject again and again to rebirths and attain krama (gradual) emancipation, through yoga, sāṅkhya and karmas associated with saṭṭva (guṇa). Thus there are two paths laid down by the Lord of Ḍevas (viz.,) the Śuka and Vāmaḍeva paths. The Śuka path is called the bird's path: while the Vāmaḍevā path is called the ant's path. 1 Those persons that have cognised the true nature of their Āṭmā through the mandatory and prohibitory injunctions (of the Veḍas), the inquiry into (the true meaning of) mahāvākyas (the sacred sentences of the Veḍas), the samāḍhi of sāṅkhya yoga or asamprajñāṭa samāḍhi 2 and that have thereby purified themselves, attain the supreme seat through the Śuka path. Having, through hathayoga 3 practice with the pain caused by yama, postures, etc., become liable to the ever recurring obstacles caused by aṇimā and other (siḍḍhis) and having not obtained good results, one is born again in a great family and practises yoga through his previous (karmic) affinities. Then through the practice of yoga during many lives, he attains salvation (viz.,) the supreme seat of Vishṇu through the Vāmaḍeva path. Thus there are two paths that lead to the attainment of Brahman and that are beneficent. The one confers instantaneous salvation and the other confers gradual salvation.
"To one that sees (all) as the one (Brahman), where is delusion? Where is sorrow? Those that are under the eyes of those whose buḍḍhi is solely occupied with the truth (of Brahman) that is the end of all experience are released from all heinous sins. All beings inhabiting heaven and earth that fall under the vision of Brahmaviṭs are at once emancipated from the sins committed during many crores of births."
Thus ten vāyus move in these nādis. A wise man who has understood the course of nādis and vāyus should, after keeping his neck and body erect with his mouth closed, contemplate immovably upon Ṭuryaka (Āṭmā) at the tip of his nose, in the centre of his heart and in the middle of binḍu, 1 and should see, with a tranquil mind through the (mental) eyes, the nectar flowing from there. Having closed the anus and drawn up the vāyu and caused it to rise through (the repetition of) praṇava (Om), he should complete with Śrī bīja. He should contemplate upon his Āṭmā as Śrī (or Parāśakṭi) and as being bathed by nectar. This is kālavañchana (lit., time illusion). It is said to be the most important of all. Whatever is thought of by the mind is accomplished by the mind itself. (Then) agni (fire) will flame in jala (water) and in the flame (of agni) will arise the branches and blossoms. Then the words uttered and the actions done regarding the universe, are not in vain. By checking the binḍu in the path, by making the fire flame up in the water and by causing the water to dry up, the body is made firm. Having contracted simultaneously the anus and yoni (the womb) united together, he should draw up Apāna and unite with it Samāna. He
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should contemplate upon his Āṭmā as Śiva and then as being bathed by nectar. In the central part of each spoke, the yogin should commence to concentrate Bala (will or strength). He should try to go up by the union of Prāṇa and Apāna. This most important yoga brightens up in the body the path of siḍḍhis. As a dam across the water serves as an obstacle to the floods, so it should ever be known by the yogins that the chhāyā of the body is (to jīva). This banḍha is said of all nādis. Through the grace of this banḍha, the Ḍevaṭā (goddess) becomes visible. This banḍha of four feet serves as a check to the three paths. This brightens up the path through which the siḍḍhas obtained (their siḍḍhis). If with Prāṇa is made to rise up soon Uḍāna, this banḍha checking all nādis goes up. This is called Samputayoga or Mūlabanḍha. Through the practising of this yoga, the three banḍhas are mastered. By practising day and night intermittingly or at any convenient time, the vāyu will come under his control. With the control of vāyu, agni (the gastric fire) in the body will increase daily. With the increase of agni, food, etc., will be easily digested. Should food be properly digested, there is increase of rasa (essence of food). With the daily increase of rasa, there is the increase of ḍhāṭus (spiritual substances). With the increase of ḍhāṭus, there is the increase of wisdom in the body. Thus all the sins collected together during many crores of births are burnt up.
"In the centre of the anus and the genitals, there is the triangular Mūlāḍhāra. It illumines the seat of Śiva of the form of binḍu. There is located the Parāśakṭi named kuṇdalinī. From that seat, vāyu arises. From that seat, agni becomes increased. From that seat, binḍu originates and nāḍa becomes increased. From that seat, Hamsa is born. From that seat, manas is born. The six chakras beginning with Mūlāḍhāra are said to be the seat of Śakṭi (Goddess). From the neck to the top of the head is said to the seat of Śambhu (Śiva). To the nādis, the body is the support (or vehicle); to Prāṇa, the nādis are the support; to jīva, Prāṇa is the dwelling place; to Hamsa, jīva is the support; to Śakṭi, Hamsa is the seat and the locomotive and fixed universe.
Mandala Brahmana Upanishad
The restraining of the mind from the objects of senses is praṭyāhāra (subjugation of the senses).
The contemplation of the oneness of consciousness in all objects is ḍhyāna.
The mind having been drawn away from the objects of the senses, the fixing of the chaiṭanya (consciousness) (on one alone) is ḍhāraṇā.
The forgetting of oneself in ḍhyāna is samāḍhi.
He who thus knows the eight subtle parts of yoga attains salvation.
Brāhmaṇa V
"The manas influenced by worldly objects is liable to bondage; and that (manas) which is not so influenced by these is fit for salvation. Hence all the world becomes an object of chiṭṭa; whereas the same chiṭṭa when it is supportless and well-ripe in the state of unmanī, becomes worthy of laya (absorption in Brahman). This absorption you should learn from me who am the all-full. I alone am the cause of the absorption of manas. The manas is within the jyoṭis (spiritual light) which again is latent in the spiritual sound which pertains to the anāhaṭa (heart) sound. That manas which is the agent of creation, preservation, and destruction of the three worlds—that same manas becomes absorbed in that which is the highest seat of Vishṇu; through such an absorption, one gets the pure and secondless state, owing to the absence of difference then. This alone is the highest truth. He who knows this, will wander in the world like a lad or an idiot or a demon or a simpleton. By practising this amanaska, one is ever contented, his urine and fæces become diminished, his food becomes lessened: he becomes strong in body and his limbs are free from disease and sleep. Then his breath and eyes being motionless, he realises Brahman and attains the nature of bliss."That ascetic who is intent on drinking the nectar of Brahman produced by the long practice of this kind of samāḍhi, becomes a paramahamsa (ascetic) or an avaḍhūṭa (naked ascetic). By seeing him, all the world becomes pure, and even an illiterate person who serves him is freed from bondage. He (the ascetic) enables the members of his family for one hundred and one generations to cross the ocean of samsāra; and his mother, father, wife, and children—all these are similarly freed. Thus is the Upanishaḍ. Thus ends the fifth Brāhmaṇa."
Adhyatma Upanishad
Shunning the pursuits of the world, the body and the Śāsṭras, set about removing the false attribution of self. In the case of a Yogin staying always in his own Āṭmā, his mind parishes having known his Āṭmā as the Āṭmā of all, through inference, Veḍas
and self-experience. Never giving the slightest scope to sleep, worldly talk, sounds, etc., think of Āṭmā, (in yourself) to be the (supreme) Āṭmā. Shun at a distance like a chaṅdāla (the thought of) the body, which is generated out of the impurities of parents and is composed of excreta and flesh.
TejoBindu Upanishad
That is called prāṇāyāma (the control of breath), in which there is the control of the modifications (of mind) through the cognition of Brahman in all the states of chiṭṭa, and others. The checking of
(the conception of the reality of) the universe, is said to be expiration. The conception of "I am Brahman" is inspiration. The holding on (long) to this conception without agitation is cessation of breath. Such is the practice of the enlightened. The ignorant close their nose.
When samāḍhi is practised, the following obstacles arise with great force—
absence of right inquiry, laziness, inclination to enjoyment, absorption (in material object), ṭamas, distraction, impatience, sweat, and absent-mindedness.
All these obstacles should be overcome by inquirers into Brahman.
Through bhāvavṛṭṭis (worldly thoughts), one gets into them.
Through śūnya-vṛṭṭis (void or empty thoughts), one gets into them.
But through the vṛṭṭis of Brahman, one gets fullness.
Therefore one should develop fullness through this means (of Brahman).
He who abandons this vṛṭṭi of Brahman, which is very purifying and supreme—that man lives in vain like a beast.
But he who understands this vṛṭṭi (of Brahman), and having understood it makes advances in it, becomes a good and blessed person, deserving to be worshipped by the three worlds.
Those who are greatly developed through the ripening (of their past karmas) attain the state of Brahman; others are simply reciters of words.
Those who are clever in arguments about Brahman, but are without the action pertaining to Brahman, and who are greatly attached to the world—those certainly are born again and again (in this world) through their ajñāna;
(the former) never remain, even for half a moment—without the vṛṭṭi of Brahman, like Brahma and others, Sanaka, 1 etc., Śuka and others.
When a cause is subject to changes, it (as an effect) must also have its cause.
When the cause ceases to exist in truth, the effect perishes through right discrimination'
Then that substance (or principle) which is beyond the scope of words, remains pure.
After that, vṛṭṭi jñāna arises in their purified mind; through meditation with transcendental energy, there arises a firm certitude.
After reducing the visible into the invisible state, one should see everything as Brahman.
The wise should ever stay in bliss with their understanding full of the essence of Chiṭ.
Garbha Upanishad
Through the food and drink of the mother transmitted through her nādis, the child obtains prāṇa. In the ninth month, it is full of all attributes.
It then remembers its previous births, finds out what has been done and what has not been done, and discriminates between actions, right and wrong.
(Then it thinks thus:)
Many thousands of wombs have been seen by me, many kinds of food have been tasted (by me), and many breasts have been suckled (by me).
All parts of the world have been my place of birth, as also my burning-ground in the past. In eighty-four lakhs 2 of wombs, have I been born. I have been often born and have often died. I have been subject to the cycle of rebirths very often. I have had birth and death, again birth and death, and again birth (and so on). There is much suffering whilst living in the womb. Delusion and sorrow attend every birth. In youth are sorrow, grief, dependence on others, ignorance, the non-performance of what is beneficial) laziness, and the performance of what is unfavourable.
In adult age, (the sources of sorrow are) attachment to sensual objects and the groaning under the three kinds of pain. In old age anxiety, disease, fear of death, desires, love of self, passion, anger, and non-independence—all these produce very great suffering. This birth is the seed of sorrow, and being of the form of sorrow is unbearable. I have not attained the ḍharma of nivṛṭṭi, (viz., the means of overcoming the cycle of re-birth) nor have I acquired the means of yoga and jñāna. Alas! I am sunk in the ocean of sorrow and find no remedy for it. Fie on ajñāna! fie on ajñāna! fie on the troubles caused by passion and anger; fie on the fetters of samsāra (the mundane existence)! I shall attain wisdom from a guru.
If I get myself freed from the womb, then I shall practise sāṅkhya yoga which is the cause of the extinction of all evil and the bestower
of the fruit of emancipation.
If I get myself freed from the womb, I shall seek refuge in Maheśvara (the great Lord) who is the cause of the extinction of all evil and bestower of the (four ) ends of life. If I get myself freed from the womb, then I shall seek refuge in that Lord of the world who is the Chiḍāṭmā of all śakṭis and the cause of all causes. If I get myself freed from the womb, then I shall seek refuge in that supreme Lord Bhargaḥ (Śiva or light) who is paśupaṭi (the lord of paśus or souls), Ruḍra, Mahāḍeva (the great Deva) and the Guru of the world. If I get myself freed from the bondage of the womb, I shall perform great penances. If I get myself freed from the passage of the womb, I shall worship Vishṇu in my heart who is the bestower of nectar, who is bliss, who is Nārāyaṇa, and who never decays. I am now confined in my mother's womb; and were I freed from its bonds, I shall please the divine Vāsuḍeva without diverting my mind from Him. I am burnt through actions, good and bad, committed by me alone before for the sake of others, whilst those who enjoyed the fruits thereof have disappeared. Through non-belief (unspirituality), I formerly gave up all fear (of sin) and committed sins. I now reap their fruits. I shall become a believer hereafter ."
Thus does the Jīva (Āṭmā) within the (mother's womb) contemplate again and again the many kinds of miseries (it had undergone), and remembering always the miseries of the cycle of re-births, becomes disgusted (with the material enjoyments of the world),
often fainting in the inmost centre (viz., heart) of all creatures at (the idea of) his aviḍyā, desire, and karma.
Then this being, who had entered many hundreds of female wombs of beings (in the previous births), comes to the mouth of the womb wishing to obtain release. Here being pressed by the yanṭra (neck of the uterus), it suffers much trouble. Moreover it is much affected by prasūṭi (delivery) vāyu. As soon as it is born, it comes in contact with the vaishṇavī vāyu and ceases to remember anything of the past.
NaradaParivrajaka Upanishad
That Brāhmaṇa who is a celibate, who has under control his tongue, sexual organ, stomach, and hand may become a sannyāsin without undergoing the ceremony of marriage. Having known samsāra as one without sāra (or essence) and not having undergone any marriage on account of the desire to know the sāra (or essence of God), they become sannyāsins on account of the practice of the supreme vairāgya.
One desirous of bliss should dwell in this universe through the aid of Āṭmā alone, intent upon Āṭmā, free from desires, and without the desire of blessing (others). He becomes fit for salvation through the control of the organs, the destruction of love and hate and non-injury to beings. He should abandon (all identification with) this feeble, perishable, and impure body of five elements whereof the bones are the pillars, which is strung by the nerves, coated over with flesh and blood, covered up by the skin, is of bad odour, full of urine and fæces is ever haunted by dotage and miseries and is the seat of all ills. If an ignorant man be fond of this body firmly knit together
with flesh, blood, pus, fæces, and urine, nerves, fat, and bones, he would, a fortiori, be fond of hell.
That (identification of the body with the Self) is alone the seat of the Kālasūṭra hell. That is alone the Mahā-Vīchi-Vāgura (hell). That is alone the Asipaṭravanaśreṇi (hell). Such an idea of the body being the Self should be strenuously abandoned, though all should perish. That love of the body is not fit to be felt by one intent upon his welfare, just as a low-caste woman eating dog's flesh is unfit to be touched.
"One (fit to reach salvation), after leaving all meritorious actions to those dear to him and all sins to those not dear, attains the eternal Brahman through ḍhyāna-yoga.
Such a man, through the ordinances, gives up little by little all associations, and being freed from all pairs of opposites, remains in Brahman alone.
On account of the accomplishment (of salvation), he should be moving about alone and without any help. He who having understood the effect of being alone never derogates from it, is never left in want. The bowl, the foot of the tree, the tattered robe,. the state of being without help, the equality of vision in all these are the characteristics of the emancipated one. One intent upon the welfare of all beings, with a quiescent mind, having the three-knotted staff and bowl, and ever devoted to the One (Brahman), after taking up sannyāsa, may enter a village. Such one is a bhikshu (alms-taker). Should two unite, it is called miṭhuna (a pair or union); with three, it becomes a grāma (or village); with more, it is a nagara (or city). No city or village, or, miṭhuna should be made, and an ascetic who commits these three (offences) falls from his duty. Through such intercourse (of ascetics), all kinds of talks connected with the king and alms, friendship, tale-bearing, and malice occur between them. There is no doubt of it.
"He (the ascetic) should be alone and desireless.
He should not converse with anybody.
The ascetic should ever be uttering the word Nārāyaṇa in each sentence.
Being alone, he should be meditating upon Brahman in all mental, spoken, and bodily actions.
He should neither rejoice at dying or living.
He should be anticipating the time when life will close.
He should not be glad of dying; nor should he be glad of living.
He should be biding his time like a hireling (for his pay).
An ascetic who plays the part of the dumb, the eunuch, the lame, the blind, the deaf, and the idiot is emancipated through the (above six) means.
There is no doubt of this.
He who has not fondness for eating, saying that this is good and that is bad, who speaks only words that are beneficial, true, and moderate is said to be the dumb.
He is a eunuch who is no more affected by the sight of a sixteen years old girl than of a new-born female baby or a hundred-years old woman. He who does not move about for more than the distance of a yojana for alms or for the calls of nature is a lame man. That parivrāt (ascetic) is said to be a blind man, who whether sitting or walking, has his vision extended to no more than four yokes’ distance on the ground. He is said to be deaf who, though hearing words, beneficial or non-beneficial, pleasant or painful to the mind, is as if he does not hear them. That clever ascetic is said to be an idiot who is ever in a state of sleep, as it were, having his organs non-agitated by objects, even though near. He should never observe the following six—the scenes of dancing, etc., gambling, lovely women, eatables, enjoyables, and women in their monthly course.
The ascetic should neither converse with women nor remember the women he had seen. He should give up all stories connected with women. He should not even see the figure of a woman in a picture. The mind of an ascetic who through delusion adopts the above four things connected with women is necessarily affected and thereby perishes. The following are prohibited (in his case): Thirst, malice, falsehood, deceit, greed, delusion, the pleasant and the unpleasant, manual work, lecture, yoga, kāma (passion), desire, begging, I-ness, mine-ness, the obstinacy of curing diseases, penance, pilgrimage and the accomplishment of fruits of manṭras, and medicines. He who performs these interdicted things, goes into a debased state.
Having attained wealth of vairāgya through the non-dissipated jñāna, and having deliberated within himself that there is none other than the Self, he should attain Jīvanmukṭi, having seen the Reality everywhere. Till prārabḍha karma is over, he should understand the four kinds of svarūpa 3 (in Ṭaṭṭvamasi) and should live in the realisation of Reality, till his body falls (a prey to death).
The one identified with this dreamless sleep is Prajñāna-ghana, is blissful, of the nature of eternal bliss and the Āṭmā in all creatures; yet he is enjoyer of bliss, has cheṭas (consciousness) as his (one) foot, is all-pervading, indestructible,
chaṭurāṭmā and the Lord, and is named Prājña, the third foot.
He alone is the Lord of all, the knower of all, the subtle-thoughted, the latent one, and the cause of all creation. He alone is the origin and the destruction. These three (states) are obstacles to all creatures obtaining (the final) peace. As is svapna, so is sushupṭi, it (also) being said to be illusory. The chaṭurāṭmā, the fourth, as he is Saṭ, Chiṭ and Ēkarasa (the one essence), ends as the fourth and follows (upon the heels of each of the above states), is the knower of the means of vikalpa-jñāna and is the anujñāṭā (the one following knower). Having known them, and known as māyā the three vikalpas of sushupṭi, svapna and ānṭara (the inner), even in this state, is he not (to be known as) Saṭ-Chiṭ-Ēkarasa? This shall be expressed as differentiated thus: It is not even the gross prajñā; nor is it the very subtle prajñā; nor is it prajñā itself (of the causal body): O muni neither is it the trifling prajñā; nor is it the non-prajñā; nor is it the dual prajñā; nor is it the internal prajñā, though it is without prajñā; it is Prajñāna-ghana. It can never be known by the organs; nor it can be known by the reason; it cannot be grasped by the organs of action. It cannot be proved. It cannot be reached by thought. It cannot be proved by analogy. It can be realised by Self-realisation alone. It is with the waking state, etc. It is the auspicious, with changes, without a second. Such a one is thought to be Ṭurya. This alone is Brahman, Brahma-praṇava. This should be known. There is no other Ṭurya. To the aspirants after salvation, it is the support, like the sun everywhere; it is the Self-light. As it alone is Brahman, this Brahma-Akās is shining always. Thus is the Upanishaḍ."
"The illusion of the universe disappears through meditation on union (or absorption) and saṭṭva-bhāva of Parameśvara always. Through knowing the Lord, aviḍyā and the rest are destroyed. Through the removal of such pains, there is freedom from birth and death. Through the meditation of that Parameśvara, the third body is acquired after this (physical) body, all wealth is enjoyed, and he attains whatever should be attained. He should know with certitude that all the three things (viz.,) the enjoyer, the enjoyed, and enjoyment are nothing but Brahman, and are of the nature of his own Self. There is none but It to be known. All Āṭmic knowledge is through ṭapas (only). That, Brahman contains in itself all excellence. Having known thus, whoever meditates upon the (Āṭmā-) svarūpa, to him where then is grief? Where then is delusion? Therefore the Virāt is the past, present, and future time, and is of indestructible nature.
One who has neither given up vicious actions, nor controlled his organs, nor mastered his mind, nor given up longing after fruits of actions though the mind is undisturbed, nor brought his mind to one state (or point), will not attain this Āṭmā.
"This (Brahman) is neither internal nor external consciousness; is neither gross, nor jñāna, nor ajñāna; nor is it the state between the waking and the dreaming states. It cannot be cognised by the organs; is not subject to proof; is within. He who knows that which is by Itself alone is an emancipated person."
The Lord Brahma said that he becomes an emancipated person. He who knows Reality is a Parivrāt. Such a Parivrāt roams about alone. Through fear, he is like a terrified deer. He will not be opposed to going anywhere. Having given up all but his body, he will live like a bee, and without considering others as foreign to himself; ever meditating upon Reality, he attains liberation in himself. Such a Parivrāt will be without delusion, without action or causing others to act, being absolved from teacher, disciple, books, etc., and having abandoned all samsāra. Such a Parivrāt roams about thus—without wealth, being happy, able to get wealth (if wanted), having crossed jñāna and ajñāna as well as happiness and grief, being Self-effulgence, being fit to be known by the Veḍas, having known all, able to confer siḍḍhis and remaining himself as Brahman, the Lord. Such a Parivrāt attains the supreme abode of Vishṇu, from which a yogin that has gone to it does not return, and where the sun and the moon do not shine. He does not return. Such is Kaivalya. Such is the Upanishaḍ.
Shandilya Upanishad
"For the destruction of the chiṭṭa, there are two ways—yoga and jñāna. O prince of sages! yoga is the (forcible)
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