Thirty Minor Upanishads: 21. Naraḍaparivrājaka-Upanishaḍ of Aṭharvaṇaveḍa

"(There is another fourfold classification.) The four kinds are: viḍvaṭ-sannyāsa, jñāna-sannyāsa, viviḍishā-sannyāsa and karma-sannyāsa. In karma-sannyāsa, there are two (sub-) divisions, nimiṭṭa (causal) and animiṭṭa (non-causal). Āṭura-sannyāsa (on account of the cause of approaching death, disease, etc.), is nimiṭṭa-sannyāsa. The krama (regular) sannyāsa is animiṭṭa. Āṭura-sannyāsa is on account of defective karmas. When sannyāsa is taken at the time of death, it is called nimiṭṭa. Animiṭṭa is that when one becomes duly a sannyāsin when the body is strong, (after being convinced) that all created things are subject to destruction, that body and others should be given up, that all Āṭmās (souls)—each one shining in the pure Akās, dwelling in all, moving in the anṭariksha (middle world) as of the form of vāyu, in the sacrificial pit as of the form of fire, in the moon, in all men, in the supreme angels, in the form of truth, in ākāś, in the form of the conch, pearl, fish, etc., in water, in the form of grain, etc., on earth, in the form of the

limbs of Veḍas, in the form of the rivers from the mountains, in the form of truth and the great one—are no other than Brahman and that others are but perishable.

"There are six classes of sannyāsins—kutīchaka, bahūḍaka, hamsa, paramahamsa, ṭurīyāṭīṭa and avaḍhūṭa. Kutīchaka is one who wears the tuft of hair, holy thread, staff, bowl, loin-cloth and tattered cloth, who worships mother, father, and teacher, who has potsherd and sling, who is uttering manṭras, who takes food in one and the same place, who wears, vertically, the white earth (on the forehead as sect-mark) and who has a staff. Bahūḍaka is one who, like kutīchaka, wears the tuft of hair, tattered cloth, etc., as well as the three (sect-) marks, but who eats eight morsels of food through getting alms. The hamsa is one who wears matted hair and the three vertical sect-marks and eats the alms-food without any limit (as to the morsel) and wears the bare loin-cloth only. The paramahamsa is he who is without tuft of hair and holy thread, begs food in one day from five houses, has one loin-cloth, wears one red cloth alone and sacred ashes and has given up all. The ṭurīyaṭīṭa is one who either may take fruits, eating them with his mouth like cows, or if he is an eater of food, may beg food from three houses. The naked man having the body alone has the bodily actions (quiescent), like the dead body. Such an one is the ṭurīyāṭiṭa. The avaḍhūṭa is he who is without any rules, gets his food (in his mouth), following the course of the boa constrictor, 1 from all persons except persons of ill-repute and outcastes, and is ever engaged in the realisation of the Real. Should the āṭura-sannyāsin be alive (after taking sannyāsa), he should take up regular sannyāsa. The rules to be observed in the case of the (three), kutīchaka, bahūḍaka and hamsa are the same as for the orders of life from the celibate to the sannyāsin. For the three, paramahamsa upwards, they have no waist-cord, loin-cloth, cloth, bowl and staff. They may get food from all castes and should be as nature made them. Such are the rules.

"At the time of the sannyāsa, the recitation of the Veḍas should be made till the mind is cleared; and after casting aside in water the waist-cord, loin-cloth, staff, cloth, bowl, etc., he should roam about. He should be without even the slightest tattered cloth. He should neither utter anything other than Praṇava, nor talk nor hear. He should not study logic or grammar. He should not talk many words; they will but pain his vocal organ. He should not converse with people through the vocal organ. He should not talk in other language (than Samskṛṭ). He has no worship of God and no witnessing of festivals; he should be free from pilgrimage. The other rules of ascetics are: The kutīchaka should beg alms in one house only; for the bahūḍaka, eight morsels in eight houses; for the hamsa, there is no limit; for paramahamsa, he should beg with his hand as the vessel in five houses; for the ṭurīyāṭiṭa, he should eat fruits with his mouth like cows; (for avaḍhūṭa), he should take food like a boa constrictor in all castes. The ascetic should not dwell in one place for many days. He should not make prostrations to any one. Among the ṭurīyāṭiṭa and avaḍhūṭa (ascetics), even though one is junior, he should not make prostrations to another, a senior who has known the Reality. He should not swim with his hands and cross the river. He should not climb up a tree, nor get into a carriage. Nothing should be purchased or sold (by him). No exchange should be made, no ostentation for him. There is nothing for the ascetic to do. If there is anything for him to do, he will perish. Therefore the only thing he is qualified to do is reflection, etc.

"To the āṭuras and kutīchakas, the world they attain is bhūrloka and bhuvarloka; to the bāhūḍakas, swargaloka; to the hamsas, ṭapoloka; to the paramahamsas, saṭyaloka. To the ṭurīyāṭīṭa and avaḍhūṭa, Kaivalya in Āṭmā according to the analogy of the wasp and the worm through the realisation of Reality. It is the command of the Veḍas that whatever form one thinks of at the last (death) moment and before leaving the body is attained by him and no other. Knowing it thus, he should not be a practiser of anything but the realisation of Reality.

should go about like a lad, idiot, or ghost. He should neither desire to live nor die. Like a coolie abiding his appointed time (of pay), the ascetic should bide his time (of death). One who lives by taking alms without (the qualifications of) patience, wisdom, vairāgya and the qualifications beginning with śama (control of mind) is the spoiler of the order of life of an ascetic. There is no salvation obtained through the mere assumption of the staff or making the head bald or other disguise or through ostentatious observances. That man who has jñāna as his staff is said to be the ēkaḍaṇdī (one having Brahman alone as the staff). An ascetic who, having merely a wooden staff without jñāna, eats all (indiscriminately) in all places, goes to the terrible hells called Mahāraurava. (The sense of) greatness in his case is likened by the ṛshis to the pig's dung. Having given it up, he should move about like a worm. Food and cloth without being begged for by him should be obtained involuntarily through the will of others. A naked (ascetic) may bathe at the wish of another. A man who practises the meditation upon Self in the dreaming state as in the waking is said to be the foremost and first of Brahmavāḍins. He should neither grieve for things not obtained, nor rejoice at things obtained. With the organs not attached to objects, he should be engaged in the sole protection of life. He should always look down upon the gains obtained with much respect (shown to him). Through the gains obtained with much respect, the ascetic though released becomes bound. What is meant by the protection of life, is this: When the fire (of the hearth in a house) had been extinguished and all have taken food, he may go to the houses of caste people that are fit for taking alms from. The yogin who has his hand only as his alms-bowl should not often take alms. He may take (food) standing or sitting; so in the middle (of taking food), he may sip water. Those who have pure mind should not over-step the limits like the ocean. The great ones do not give up their self-restraint like the sun. When the muni takes, like a cow, the food with the mouth only (without the use of the hand), he becomes of equal vision to all beings. Then

he becomes fit for salvation. He may, for alms, go from a forbidden house to a non-forbidden one. He should go (for alms) to a house where the door is ajar, but not to a house where it is closed. The muni who has a dusty body, an uninhabited house or the foot of a tree as his abode, without anything dear or not dear to him, sleeping where the sun sets, without any fire-warship, without any settled place and with patience and the organs under control, should live without any desire in any place obtained. He who after going to the forest dwells with jñāna as the sacrifice and the organs under his mastery and awaits his time (of death), is fit to be of the nature of Brahman. A muni who goes about with no cause for instilling fear into all beings need never have any fear from them. One without any abhimāna (identification with body) or egoism or dualities or doubt, never is angry, never hates, never lies through the vocal organ. That person who, having visited all sacred places, does not do any injury to any living creature and gets alms at the proper time, is fit to be of the nature of Brahman. He should not associate with a forester or householder. He should conduct himself in such manner as not to be known to others. He should not be glad of anything. He should roam about on earth like a worm, according to the direction pointed out by the sun. He should not do or cause to do works tending to (his) fame or pains or people's benefit. He should not be inclined towards vicious books. He should not live dependent upon any. He should give up all over-disputatious reasoning. He should not join any party (fighting with another). He should not take any disciples. He should not study many books. He should not discourse. Neither should he commence any works. Without any distinguishing characteristics and without letting others know his opinions, that wise man, or muni, ever intent upon the Brāhmic vision, should exhibit himself to people like an idiot, or a lad, or a mute person. He should neither do nor talk anything. He should not think of a good or bad thing. Rejoicing in That within himself, the muni should go about like an idiot. He should roam about alone without associating with any, and

with the senses under control. The clever jñānī sporting in Āṭmā, ever delighting in Āṭmā, looking upon all with equal vision like an Āṭma-jñānī, and playing like a child, should wander about like an idiot. That learned man versed in Brahma-viḍyā should talk like a madman. He should follow the observances of cows (by eating with the mouth, causing no trouble to anybody). A good jñānī whether pushed, disregarded, slighted, beaten, or hindered by the vicious, or burnt by their acts, or having urine and fæces thrown upon him by them, or afflicted in various other ways, should always think well of them though pained, and thus make them lift themselves through their own Selves. A yogin whether praised or afflicted by others, never thinks of it in order to reach a superior state in yoga. A yogin who is slighted by people, attains a higher state in yoga. A yogin never goes against the actions of the virtuous. He is the same whether people slight him or do not desire his association. He should do all that is right through the actions of mind, speech and body to all beings born out of the embryo or the egg, etc. He should harbour no malice against any and give up all clinging to things. The ascetic after giving up passion, anger, pride, desire, delusion and other faults should be without fear. Eating alms-food, preserving silence, ṭapas, special meditation, a good jñāna, and vairāgya—these are said, in the opinion (of the great), to be the ḍharma of the ascetic. Wearing the red cloth, and being ever in ḍhyāna-yoga, he should live either at the foot of a tree, outside the village, or in the temple. Daily he should live upon begging. He should not eat one food alone (from one only). Till the mind becomes pure, the learned man should thus be moving about. Then when the mind is purified, he may be anywhere as a parivrājaka. Seeing Janārdaṇa in and out everywhere, preserving silence, being without stain like vāyu, roaming everywhere, being equal in happiness and pains, and with patience, eating whatever comes to hand, equally regarding without any hate brāhmaṇa, cow, horse, beasts and others, meditating through the mind upon Vishṇu that is Paramāṭmā and Īśvara, thinking ever of Brāhmic

bliss and thinking himself to be Brahman alone—such a one having known thus, regarding the staff to be no other than the certitude of the mind as above, having no desire, being naked and having abandoned all samsāra through the actions ever done through the mind, speech, and body, attains salvation, according to the analogy of the wasp and the worm, through the practice of the realisation of Reality without ever seeing the universe. Such is the Upanishaḍ."

Upaḍeśa VI

Nāraḍa addressing Brahma asked: "O Lord! You said of abhyāsa (practice) according to the analogy of wasp and the worm. What is that practice?"

To which the Grandfather replied thus:—

"One (viz., an ascetic) should live with true speech and jñāna-vairāgya and with the body alone as the remaining (possession). Know jñāna alone as the body, vairāgya alone as prāṇa, śānṭi (mental control) and ḍānṭi (bodily control) as the eyes, manas alone as the face, buḍḍhi alone as kalā (parts of effulgence), the twenty-five ṭaṭṭvas as the limbs, the avasṭhās as the five great elements, karma, bhakṭi, jñāna, and vairāgya as the branches (or parts) and that the waking, dreaming, dreamless sleeping, and ṭurya avasṭhās and the fourteen organs as being of the nature of a pillar planted in the mud. Though such is the case, the man who masters these through his buḍḍhi like a boatman regarding the boat immersed in the mire, or the elephant-driver regarding the elephant (under his control), and has known that all else beside Self is illusory and destructible and become indifferent, should ever utter: 'I am Brahman alone.' He should not know anything as other than Self. A Jivanmukṭa who lives thus is a doer of that which should be done. He should not discourse that he is other than Brahman. But he should ever be discoursing: 'I am Brahman'. From the waking, dreaming and dreamless sleeping states, he should reach the ṭurya state and then ṭuryāṭīṭa (the state beyond ṭurya). The waking state is in the day; the dreaming in the night and the

dreamless sleeping in tie midnight. Each avasṭhā (or state) has its sub-states. The functions of the fourteen organs, eye and others mutually dependent are the following: The eyes perceive forms; the ears, sounds; the tongue perceives tastes; the nose, odours; the vocal organ speaks; the hand lifts; the leg walks; the anus excretes; the sexual organ enjoys; the skin feels; the buḍḍhi perceives objects, being under the control of the organs; through buḍḍhi, he understands; through chiṭṭa, he thinks; through ahaṅkāra, he says I'. All these should be abandoned. Through the identification with the house (the body), he, like a householder, becomes a jīva thinking that the body is itself.

"The jīva is dwelling in this body. When he is in the eastern petal (of the heart), he inclined to virtuous actions; in the south-eastern petal, to sleep and laziness; in the southern petal, to cruel actions; in the south-western petal, to sinful actions; in the western petal, to love of sport (or to flirt); in the north-western petal, to travelling; in the northern petal, to peace of mind; in the north-eastern petal, to jñāna; in (the middle of) the pericarp, to vairāgya; in the filament, to Āṭmā-deliberation. Such are the different aspects to be understood (in the heart). The first living avasṭhā (of jīva) is the waking; the second is the dreaming; the third is the dreamless sleeping; the fourth ṭurya; that which is not these four is turyāṭīṭa. The one Lord alone that is witness and without qualities appears (as many) through the differences of Viśva, Ṭaijasa, Prājña, and Ṭatasṭha (the neutral). One should (always) utter: 'I am Brahman alone.' Else in the waking state, (he is) in the four states of the waking state and others: 1 in the dreaming state, (he is) in the four states of the dreaming state and others; in the dreamless sleeping state, (he is) in the four states of the dreamless sleeping and others; in the ṭurya, (he is) in the four states of ṭurya and others; to the turyāṭīṭa that is nirguṇa, such states are not. There is only one witness in all the states of Viśva, Ṭaijasa and Prājña, who is presiding over the gross, the subtle and the causal

1 having the characteristics of inspiration and expiration. Having known thus, if he should give up the identification with the body, then he does not identify himself with the body (i.e., not attain the state of jīva). Such a one is stated to be Brahman. Having given up abhimāna and anger, being content with moderate food, having conquered the organs and having controlled the avenues (of the organs), one should make the mind enter into meditation. The yogin who has always controlled (his mind and organs) should ever diligently commence his meditation in empty places, caves and forests. The knower of yoga who is bent upon accomplishing the end should never be engaged in giving feasts to Brāhmaṇas, in śrāḍḍha sacrifices, etc., or in going to places of pilgrimages, festivals or crowds. The well-controlled yogin should go about as if people had treated him with disrespect. He should not go against the actions of the wise. That great ascetic is said to be a ṭriḍanḍin (or having a three-knotted staff) who holds firmly the three-ḍaṇda (control) of mind, speech, and body. That ascetic is said to be a supreme person who begs alms-food of worthy brāhmaṇas, when smoke has ceased and fire has been extinguished (in their houses). Is he not a degraded ascetic who, though holding the staff and begging food, is without vairāgya and is not intent upon the observances of his order? He is an ascetic—not any other—who does

not go to the house where he expects to find special alms or which he already visited. He is said to transcend all castes and orders of life who realises the self-shining supreme Ṭaṭṭva that is without body and organs, the all-witness, the real vijñāna that is of the form of bliss. To the Āṭmā that is of the nature of jñāna, such an idea as: 'the order of life, etc., is mine,' being generated out of māyā in this body, can never exist. He who knows thus through veḍānṭa is beyond all castes and orders of life. He from whom all castes and orders of life slip away through Āṭmic vision, transcends them all and remains in Āṭmā alone. That person is said by knower of the meaning of the Veḍas to be aṭivarṇāśramī (beyond caste and order of life) who after crossing all castes and orders of life abides in Āṭmā alone. Therefore, O Nāraḍa, the castes and orders of life which are foreign (to Āṭmā) are attributed falsely, by the ignorant, to Āṭmā. O Nāraḍa, for those that are Brahma-jñānīs, there are no rules ordained nor prohibited; there is nothing to be given up or not; similarly nothing else (for them). Having attained indifference to all objects even up to Brahmā's seat, having destroyed (or done away with) all fondness for everything, as for son, relatives, wife, etc., and having faith in the path of salvation, and through love of veḍānṭa-jñāna, he should approach a guru who is a knower of Brahman with gift (in his hand). Having an equilibrated mind, he should satisfy the guru for a long time through service, etc., and learn with a steady firm mind the meaning of the sentences of the Veḍas. Then being devoid of 'I' and 'mine' and of all attractions, and having attained peace of mind, etc., he sees Āṭmā in himself. Through observing the faults of samsāra, there arises indifference. There is no doubt that sannyāsa arises in one who becomes disgusted with samsāra. The aspirant after salvation who is called paramahamsa should, through the hearing, etc., of veḍānṭa, practise Brahma-jñāna, which is the direct and chief means of salvation. In order to attain Brahma-jñāna, the one named paramahamsa should possess the qualities of the control of mind and body, etc. He should always he a practiser of veḍānṭa, being master of the mind, the body

and the organs, being without fear and egoism, with a firm mind, without the pairs (of opposites), without attaching himself to any, having a worn-out loin-cloth, and being bald-headed or naked. He should have the great intelligence of the knower of veḍānṭa, a yogin without 'I' and 'mine' and being equal and friendly to friends and other beings. That jñānī alone and none else is able to cross samsāra who has his mind at peace. With the grace of the guru towards him, he should live with him for one year. He should be careful to observe yama (restraint) and niyama (religious observance). At the end of that (year), he should attain the supreme jñāna-yoga, and roam about on this earth without going against ḍharma; (or) at the end of one year, he should give up the three orders of life and attain the chief āśrama (of sannyāsa), as well as the supreme jñāna-yoga. Then, taking leave of the guru, he should wander over the earth, having given up association (with wife, etc., as well as anger, and being content with moderate food and having controlled the senses. The householder who does not perform karma, and the ascetic who performs karma—both become fallen through their perverse doings. Each becomes intoxicated through seeing women. Each becomes intoxicated through drinking alcohol. Therefore women, mere sight of whom is poison, should be shunned at a distance. Such things as conversation and proximity with, and sight of, women, dancing, singing, using violence against persons, and disputatious arguments should be given up. Therefore, O Nāraḍa, to such a one, there is neither bath nor muttering of manṭras nor worship nor homa, nor means of accomplishment, nor any karma of fire-sacrifice, etc., nor worshipping with flowers, etc., nor karmas to the piṭṛs nor pilgrimages, nor religious observances, nor ḍharmas, nor aḍharmas, nor any rules of observance, nor any other worldly karmas. He should give up all karmas and worldly observances. That yogin of an ascetic who is a learned person, having his intelligence directed towards Reality, should never injure any worm or insect, bird or tree. O Nāraḍa, roam through the world with vision ever directed inwards, with purity, with mind under control, with a mind that is full of Brahman

and all attraction given up within. The muni that goes about alone, does (or should) not dwell in countries where there is no king. (In his case), there is neither praise nor prostration, nor the propitiation of ḍevas or piṭṛs. Thus the ascetic who has his abode changeful (in body), or changeless (in Āṭmā), should be content with whatever he gets. Thus is the Upanishaḍ."

Upaḍeśa VII

The Grandfather, after eulogizing Nāraḍa who asked about the observance of ascetics, replied thus:—

"The ascetic that has attained indifference (to objects), should stay in one and the same place in the rainy season (for four months), and then for (the remaining) eight months should wander alone. Then also the ascetic should not stay in one and the same place for more than a day. Like a deer that does not stay in one place on account of fear, he should not stay in one place. He should not create an attraction (in his mind) that may serve as an obstacle to his going about. He should not cross a stream (by swimming) with his hand, nor ascend a tree, nor witness the festival of a God, nor partake of regal food, nor do the external worship of God. Having discarded all things other than the Self, he should be with his body emaciated by taking food (from each house) like the bees (from each flower). He should not increase the fat (in the body); he should discard ghee like blood. Regarding such royal food as flesh, sandal-coating, etc., as offal, the different tastes as the degraded caste, the cloth as a defiled vessel, the oil-bath as sexual union, the gladdening of a friend as urine, desires as cow's flesh, the country known to him as the outcastes’ place, gold and women as cobra or deadly poison, the place of assembly as the burning ground, the capital of the town as the hell called Kumbhīpāka, and royal food as balls of rice offered to the dead, he should be without any worship of God other than the Self; and having given up all the actions of the world and his own country, and ever thinking of the bliss of his Self like the bliss arising from the discovery of a lost object, forgetting his country and the

fondness for his body, and knowing that his body should be slighted like a carcase, he should dwell away from son, relations and native place, like a thief released from prison. Taking whatever comes to him without effort, ever intent upon the realisation, through meditation, of Brahma-Praṇava, being freed from all karmas, having burnt up all passion, anger, greed, delusion, pride, malice, etc., having transcended the three guṇas, being without the six human infirmities, 1 without the six changes, 2 speaking the truth and being opposed to all savoury things, he should live for one day in a village, five days in a town, five days in a sacred place, and five days in sacred waters. With no settled place of residence and with a firm mind, he should dwell alone in mountain caves without uttering falsehood. Two persons should not join together. Should three join, there is created a village thereby; with four, is formed a city. Therefore he should live alone in a village. In it, the ascetic should not give scope to his fourteen organs. 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).

"To the kutīchaka there is (prescribed) a bath three times daily; to the bahūḍaka, twice; to the hamsa, once; to the paramahamsa there is the mental bath; to the turyāṭīṭa, there is the holy-ashes bath; to the avaḍhūṭa, there is the wind as the bath. For the kutīchaka, there is the vertical sect-mark; for the bahūḍaka, there is the three-lined (horizontal) sect-mark; for the hamsa, both; for the paramahamsa, there is the holy-ashes sect-mark; for the ṭuryāṭīṭa, there is the spot-sect-mark; for the

avaḍhūṭa or for the turyāṭīṭa and avaḍhūṭa, there is none. For the kutīchaka, shaving takes place once in two months; for the bahūḍaka, once in four months; for the hamsa and paramahamsa, none, or if wanted, once in a year; for the turyāṭīṭa and avaḍhūṭa, none at all. The kutīchaka should take the food in one (place only); the bahūḍaka should take alms (in many places); for the hamsa and paramahamsa, the hand is the vessel; the turyāṭīṭa, should take food with the mouth as the cow; for the avaḍhūṭa, it is like the action of the boa constrictor (opening the mouth and taking whatever comes into it). For the kutīchaka, there are two cloths; for the bahūḍaka, there is one cloth; for the hamsa there is a piece of cloth; and the paramahamsa should be naked or have only a loin-cloth; in the case of the turyāṭīṭa and avaḍhūṭa, they should be as nature made them. For the hamsa and paramahamsa, there is (prescribed) a deerskin, and for no others. For the kutīchaka and bahūḍaka, there is the worship of the divine (image); for the hamsa and paramahamsa, there is mental worship; for the turyāṭīṭa and avaḍhūṭa, there is the idea that they alone are Brahman. The kutīchaka and bahūḍaka are entitled to manṭras and japas; the hamsa and paramahamsa, to ḍhyāna (meditation); the turyāṭīṭa and avaḍhūṭa are entitled to none; but they are entitled to the initiation of the sacred sentences of the Veḍas; so also the paramahamsa. The kutīchaka and bahūḍaka are not entitled to initiate others; for them, there is (the uttering of) the mental praṇava; for the hamsa and paramahamsa, there is the internal praṇava (in the heart); for the turyāṭīṭa and avaḍhūṭa, there is the Brahma-praṇava (always). For the kutīchaka and bahūḍaka, there is śravaṇa (hearing and study); for the hamsa and paramahamsa, there is manana (thinking and remembering); for the turyāṭīṭa and avaḍhūṭa there is niḍiḍhyāsana (profound meditation ever). For all these, there is necessarily the meditation upon Āṭmā. Thus the aspirant after salvation should ever be uttering the Praṇava which enables one to cross samsāra, and be living as a Jivanmukṭa. Thus the ascetic, according to each one's capacity, should ever be seeking the means to attain Kaivalya. Such is the Upanishaḍ."

Upaḍeśa VIII

Then Nāraḍa, asked Parameshthī (Brahmā) to enlighten him, who had surrendered himself to Him, about samsāra-ṭāraka (or that ṭāraka or Praṇava which lifts one out of samsāra).

Assenting to which, Brahmā began thus: "Omkāra that is Brahman is the vyashti (individual) and the samashti (cosmic). What is the individual? What is the cosmic? Brahma-praṇava is of three kinds, samhāra- (destructive) praṇava, sṛshti- (creative) praṇava, and ubhayāṭmaka (belonging to both) praṇava, as being of two forms, internal and external. (It is also eight:) Anṭaḥ-praṇava, Vyāvahārika-praṇava, bāhya-praṇava, ārsha-praṇava, ubhayāṭmaka or virāt-praṇava, samhāra-praṇava, brahma-praṇava, and arḍhamāṭrā praṇava. Om is Brahman. Know that the manṭra of the one-syllabled Om is Praṇava. It has the eight differences of akāra, ukāra, makāra, arḍhamāṭrā, nāḍa, binḍu, kalā, and śakṭi. Know it is not four (alone). Akāra is associated with ten thousand limbs; ukāra, with one thousand limbs; makāra with one hundred limbs; arḍhamāṭrā is of the nature of endless limbs. That which is saguṇa (associated with guṇas) is virāt- (preservation) praṇava; that which is nirguṇa (not associated with guṇas) is samhāra- (or destruction) praṇava; that which is associated with guṇas and is not so associated, is uṭpaṭṭi- (or origination) praṇava. Pluṭa (the elongated accent) is virāt: pluṭapluṭa is samhāra. The virāt-praṇava is of the form of sixteen māṭrās and is above the thirty-six ṭaṭṭvas. The sixteen māṭrās are thus: Akāra is the first māṭrā; ukāra is the second; makāra is the third; arḍhamāṭrā is the fourth; nāḍa is the fifth; binḍu is the sixth; kalā is the seventh; kalāṭīṭa is the eighth; śānṭi is the ninth; śānṭyaṭiṭa is the tenth; unmanī is the eleventh; manonmanī is the twelfth; purīṭaṭi is the thirteenth; ṭanumaḍhyamā is the fourteenth; paṭi is the fifteenth; parā is the sixteenth. Then (again) having sixty-four māṭrās and their division into the two, Prakṛṭi and Purusha and resolving themselves into the one hundred and twenty-eight differences of māṭrās, it becomes saguṇa and nirguṇa. Though Brahma-praṇava is one only, it is the substratum of all, the support

of the whole universe, of the form of all aksharas (letters), time, Veḍas, and Śiva. This Omkāra should be sought after, that is mentioned in the Veḍas of the nature of the Upanishaḍs. Know that this Omkāra is the Āṭmā that is indestructible during the three periods of time, past, present, and future, able to confer salvation and eulogized by Brahma-sound (Veḍas). Having experienced this one Om as immortal and ageless, and having brought about the Brahma-nature in this body, become convinced that your Āṭmā, associated with the three bodies, is Parabrahman. Through Viśva and others (viz., Ṭaijasa, Prājña, and Ṭurya) in order, the realisation of Parabrahman should be attained, since Āṭmā is of four kinds through his identification with, and the enjoying of, the gross as well as the enjoyer of the gross, the subtle as well as the enjoyer of the subtle, and through his identification (with the third body) enjoying bliss in the fourth. He has four feet. The one presiding over the waking state is gross; and since he is the enjoyer of Viśva (the universe), he becomes the sṭhūla-prajñā (gross consciousness). He has nineteen 1 facets and eight parts. He is pervading everywhere and the Lord. He is the enjoyer of the gross and is the chaṭurāṭma called Viśva. He alone is the Purusha called Vaiśvānara. He alone is Viśvajiṭ (the conqueror of the universe). This is the first foot. When this Lord attains the dreaming condition, he is the sūkshma-prajña (subtle consciousness). O conqueror of all, he is the one having eight limbs, and there is none else. He is the enjoyer of the subtle and is chaṭurāṭma, named Ṭaijasa and the protector of elements. He alone is the Hiraṇyagarbha, presiding over the gross (or subtle matter rather). He is said to form the second foot. Sushupṭi (or the dreamless sleep) is that state where one sleeps without any desire and where one sees not any dreams. 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."

Upaḍeśa IX

Nāraḍa asked: "Who is Brahma-swarūpa?" To which Brahma replied thus: "Brahma-swarūpa is thus: Those who know that 'he (Brahman) is one and I am another' are only paśus (animals). The real paśus (animals) are no animals. The wise man who knows Brahman thus (as himself, and himself

as Brahman) escapes out of the mouth of death. There is no other path to salvation.

"Is time the cause (of origination of universes)? 1 or nature? or karma? or accident? or the (great) elements? or Purusha? This should be considered. It is not the union of them. (Then) there is the Āṭmā, but (jīva-) Āṭmā is not the Lord, as it is subject to pleasures and pains. Those (Ṛshis) following ḍhyāna-yoga have beheld, as the cause, the ḍevāṭma-śakṭi concealed by its own qualities of that One that presides over all the causes associated with time and Āṭma. Him (the Universal Soul), we consider as the wheel which has one circumference, which is covered by three (layers), which has sixteen end-parts, which has fifty spokes and twenty counter-spokes, which has six times eight (nails), which has one rope of various forms, which has the threefold path, and which has delusion arising from the twofold cause. Him (we worship as a river) which has (water) oozing out of the five currents (of organs), which is terrible and crooked through the five causes (of elements), whose praṇas are the five waves, which has buḍḍhi, etc., as the root cause, which has five whirlpools, which is impelled by the velocity of the five pains, which has fifty differences (or has the five miseries), and which has the five obstacles. In this wheel of Brahman, which is the support of life and the last abiding place of all beings, and which is infinite, is whirling deluded the jīva, thinking that it is different from the one (Lord) Ordainer. Being blessed by Him, he gains salvation through such (a blessing). This is declared as Brahman, as the supreme and the indestructible. In it, are the three (the enjoyer, the enjoyed and enjoyment). Hence it is the firm abode (of all). The knowers of Brahman having known Brahman within (the universe, etc.,) attain samāḍhi in Brahman and are absorbed in Brahman. Īśvara upholds this universe, closely associated with the destructible and the indestructible, which are manifest and unmanifest; but the not-ruler of (jīva-) Āṭmā is bound through the thought of its being the enjoyer; and having known the Lord is freed from all

fetters. Both Īśvara and jīva are birthless; one (the former; is jñānī and the other (latter) is ajñānī. (The goddess of) Brahmāṭma-śakṭi, is birthless, is alone engaged (in this world), on account of the enjoyment of the enjoyers. Āṭmā is endless. The universe is His form. He is not the agent. Whoever knows the Brahman that is threefold (as jīva, Īśvara and the universe) is released from bondage. It is praḍhāna alone that is destructible. It is Īśvara that is immortal and indestructible. The one Lord (Īśvara) ordains Praḍhāna and Purusha.

"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.

"Āṭmā, that is the atom of atoms and the greatest of the greatest, is in the cave of the heart of all creatures. One without the thought of objects and without grief, knows the Āṭmā capable of neither increase nor decrease through the grace of Īśvara or through the non-attraction to the objects of the senses. He (Āṭmā) walks speedily without legs, lifts objects without hands, sees without eyes and hears without ears. He knows all, but none knows Him. He is said to be the foremost Mahā-Purusha. Having known Āṭmā that is bodiless in this fleeting body, the great, the all-pervading, the support of all, with incomprehensible power, fit to be known through the meaning, etc., of all the Upanishaḍs, the supreme of the supreme, the supreme object fit to be known, the one remaining after all,

the all-knowing, the eternal, the foremost of all foremost beings, the ordainer of all, the one fit to be worshipped by all angels, the one without beginning, end, and middle, without limit or destruction, the cause of Brahma, Vishṇu, and Ruḍra, the one that has all the universe latent in himself, of the nature of the five elements with the expansion of all the quintuplicated creation, without being enveloped by his own limbs of quintuplicated objects, superior to the supreme, greater than the greatest, of the nature of effulgence, the eternal and the auspicious, the undaunted personage never grieves. 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.

Footnotes

134:1 A higher being with the form of a horse but with a human head.

134:2 A higher being with a human form but with the head of a horse.

134:3 A semidivine serpent with a human face.

135:1 The four Brahmacharyas are: (1) Gāyaṭrī; (2) Prājāpaṭya; (3) Vaiḍika; (4) Naishtika.

135:2 The six Gṛhasṭhas are: (1) Vārṭāvṛtṭi; viz., Agriculture; (2) Sālinavṛṭṭi; (3) Yāyāvara; (4) Ghorasannyāsin; etc.

135:3 The four Vānaprasṭhas are: (1) Auḍumbara; (2) Vaikhānasa; (3) Samprakshāli; (4) Pourṇama.

135:4 They are Viveka, Vairagya, etc.

143:1 A celibate who has completed his first Āsrama.

145:1 Referring to the idea of the worm becoming the wasp, with the latter's frequent stinging.

153:1 The snake, or boa constrictor, is said to remain in one place only on account of its huge body, taking any food that may come to its mouth as it is lying there.

160:1 Probably "others" refer to the subdivisions of the dreaming; so also of other states.

161:1 With Hamsa, there is the inspiration, and with So’ham, there is the expiration.

165:1 The six human infirmities are hunger, thirst, grief, delusion, dotage, and death.

165:2 The six changes are birth, existence, growth, transformation, decrease, and annihilation.

165:3 "Ṭaṭ" has its two aspects of the word and its meaning which is Nirguṇa. In "Ṭvam" also there are two, viz., the disciple and the jīva.

168:1 The nineteen are the five organs of sense, the five organs of action, the five prāṇas, and the four of the mind.

170:1 The Sveṭāsvaṭara Upanishaḍ begins thus.