Mysteries of the World

[Leon]

FOURTH ADHYÂYA

1. He, the sun, without any colour, who with set purpose 1 by means of his power (sakti) produces endless colours, in whom all this comes together in the beginning, and comes asunder in the end--may he, the god, endow us with good thoughts.


2. That (Self) indeed is Agni (fire), it is Âditya (sun), it is Vâyu (wind), it is Kandramas (moon); the same also is the starry firmament, it is Brahman (Hiranyagarbha), it is water, it is Pragâpati (Virâg).


3. Thou art woman, thou art man; thou art youth, thou art maiden; thou, as an old man, totterest along on thy staff; thou art born with thy face turned everywhere.


4. Thou art the dark-blue bee, thou art the green parrot with red eyes, thou art the thunder-cloud, the seasons, the seas. Thou art without beginning, because thou art infinite, thou from whom all worlds are born.


5. There is one unborn being (female), red, white, and black, uniform, but producing manifold offspring. There is one unborn being (male) who loves her and lies by her; there is another who leaves her, while she is eating what has to be eaten.


6. Two birds, inseparable friends, cling to the same tree. One of them eats the sweet fruit, the other looks on without eating.


7. On the same tree man sits grieving, immersed, bewildered, by his own impotence (an-îsâ). But when he sees the other lord (îsa) contented, and knows his glory, then his grief passes away.


8. He who does not know that indestructible being of the Rig-Veda, that highest ether-like (Self) wherein all the gods reside, of what use is the Rig-Veda to him? Those only who know it, rest contented.


9. That from which the maker (mâyin) sends forth all this--the sacred verses, the offerings, the sacrifices, the panaceas, the past, the future, and all that the Vedas declare--in that the other is bound up through that mâyâ.


10. Know then Prakriti (nature) is Mâyâ (art), and the great Lord the Mâyin (maker); the whole world is filled with what are his members.


11. If a man has discerned him, who being one only, rules over every germ (cause), in whom all this comes together and comes asunder again, who is the lord, the bestower of blessing, the adorable god, then he passes for ever into that peace.


12. He, the creator and supporter of the gods, Rudra, the great seer, the lord of all, who saw, Hiranyagarbha being born, may he endow us with good thoughts.


13. He who is the sovereign of the gods, he in whom all the worlds rest, he who rules over all two-footed and four-footed beings, to that god let us sacrifice an oblation.


14. He who has known him who is more subtile than subtile, in the midst of chaos, creating all things, having many forms, alone enveloping everything, the happy one (Siva), passes into peace for ever.


15. He also was in time 1 the guardian of this world, the lord of all, hidden in all beings. In him the Brahmarshis and the deities are united, and he who knows him cuts the fetters of death asunder.


16. He who knows Siva (the blessed) hidden in all beings, like the subtile film that rises from out the clarified butter, alone enveloping everything,--he who knows the god, is freed from all fetters.


17. That god, the maker of all things, the great Self, always dwelling in the heart of man, is perceived by the heart, the soul, the mind;--they who know it become immortal.


18. When the light has risen, there is no day, no night, neither existence nor non-existence; Siva (the blessed) alone is there. That is the eternal, the adorable light of Savitri,--and the ancient wisdom proceeded thence.


19. No one has grasped him above, or across, or in the middle. There is no image of him whose name is Great Glory.


20. His form cannot be seen, no one perceives him with the eye. Those who through heart and mind know him thus abiding in the heart, become immortal.


21. 'Thou art unborn,' with these words some one comes near to thee, trembling. O Rudra, let thy gracious 1 face protect me for ever!


22. O Rudra! hurt us not in our offspring and descendants, hurt us not in our own lives, nor in our cows, nor in our horses! Do not slay our men in thy wrath, for, holding oblations, we call on thee always.

[Leon]

FIFTH ADHYÂYA

1. In the imperishable and infinite Highest Brahman, wherein the two, knowledge and ignorance, are hidden, the one, ignorance, perishes 3, the other, knowledge, is immortal; but he who controls both, knowledge and ignorance, is another.


2. It is he who, being one only, rules over every germ (cause), over all forms, and over all germs; it is he who, in the beginning, bears in his thoughts the wise son, the fiery, whom he wishes to look on 6 while he is born.


3. In that field in which the god, after spreading out one net after another in various ways, draws it together again, the Lord, the great Self, having further created the lords, thus carries on his lordship over all.


4. As the car (of the sun) shines, lighting up all quarters, above, below, and across, thus does that god, the holy, the adorable, being one, rule over all that has the nature of a germ.

5. He, being one, rules over all and everything, so that the universal germ ripens its nature, diversifies all natures that can be ripened, and determines all qualities.


6. Brahma (Hiranyagarbha) knows this, which is hidden in the Upanishads, which are hidden in the Vedas, as the Brahma-germ. The ancient gods and poets who knew it, they became it and were immortal.


7. But he who is endowed with qualities, and performs works that are to bear fruit, and enjoys the reward of whatever he has done, migrates through his own works, the lord of life, assuming all forms, led by the three Gunas, and following the three paths.

8. That lower one also, not larger than a thumb, but brilliant like the sun, who is endowed with personality and thoughts, with the quality of mind and the quality of body, is seen small even like the point of a goad.


9. That living soul is to be known as part of the hundredth part of the point of a hair, divided a hundred times, and yet it is to be infinite.


10. It is not woman, it is not man, nor is it neuter; whatever body it takes, with that it is joined (only).


11. By means of thoughts, touching, seeing, and passions the incarnate Self assumes successively in various places various forms, in accordance with his deeds, just as the body grows when food and drink are poured into it.


12. That incarnate Self, according to his own qualities, chooses (assumes) many shapes, coarse or subtile, and having himself caused his union with them, he is seen as another and another, through the qualities of his acts, and through the qualities of his body.


13. He who knows him who has no beginning and no end, in the midst of chaos, creating all things, having many forms, alone enveloping everything, is freed from all fetters.


14. Those who know him who is to be grasped by the mind, who is not to be called the nest (the body), who makes existence and non-existence, the happy one (Siva), who also creates the elements, they have left the body.

[Leon]

SIXTH ADHYÂYA

1. Some wise men, deluded, speak of Nature, and others of Time (as the cause of everything); but it is the greatness of God by which this Brahma-wheel is made to turn.

2. It is at the command of him who always covers this world, the knower, the time of time, who assumes qualities and all knowledge, it is at his command that this work (creation) unfolds itself, which is called earth, water, fire, air, and ether;


3. He who, after he has done that work and rested again, and after he has brought together one essence (the self) with the other (matter), with one, two, three, or eight, with time also and with the subtile qualities of the mind,


4. Who, after starting the works endowed with (the three) qualities, can order all things, yet when, in the absence of all these, he has caused the destruction of the work, goes on, being in truth different (from all he has produced);

5. He is the beginning, producing the causes which unite (the soul with the body), and, being above the three kinds of time (past, present, future), he is seen as without parts, after we have first worshipped that adorable god, who has many forms, and who is the true source (of all things), as dwelling in our own mind.


6. He is beyond all the forms of the tree (of the world) and of time, he is the other, from whom this world moves round, when one has known him who brings good and removes evil, the lord of bliss, as dwelling within the self, the immortal, the support of all.


7. Let us know that highest great lord of lords, the highest deity of deities, the master of masters, the highest above, as god, the lord of the world, the adorable.


8. There is no effect and no cause known of him, no one is seen like unto him or better; his high power is revealed as manifold, as inherent, acting as force and knowledge.


9. There is no master of his in the world, no ruler of his, not even a sign of him. He is the cause, the lord of the lords of the organs, and there is of him neither parent nor lord.


10. That only god who spontaneously covered himself, like a spider, with threads drawn from the first cause (pradhâna), grant us entrance into Brahman.


11. He is the one God, hidden in all beings, all-pervading, the self within all beings, watching over all works, dwelling in all beings, the witness, the perceiver, the only one, free from qualities.


12. He is the one ruler of many who (seem to act, but really do) not act; he makes the one seed manifold. The wise who perceive him within their self, to them belongs eternal happiness, not to others.


13. He is the eternal among eternals, the thinker among thinkers, who, though one, fulfils the desires of many. He who has known that cause which is to be apprehended by Sânkhya (philosophy) and Yoga (religious discipline), he is freed from all fetters.


14. The sun does not shine there, nor the moon and the stars, nor these lightnings, and much less this fire. When he shines, everything shines after him; by his light all this is lightened.


15. He is the one bird  in the midst of the world; he is also (like) the fire (of the sun) that has set in the ocean. A man who knows him truly, passes over death; there is no other path to go.


16. He makes all, he knows all, the self-caused, the knower, the time of time (destroyer of time), who assumes qualities and knows everything, the master of nature and of man, the lord of the three qualities (guna), the cause of the bondage, the existence, and the liberation of the world.


17. He who has become that, he is the immortal, remaining the lord, the knower, the ever-present guardian of this world, who rules this world for ever, for no one else is able to rule it.


18. Seeking for freedom I go for refuge to that God who is the light of his own thoughts, he who first creates Brahman (m.) and delivers the Vedas to him;


19. Who is without parts, without actions, tranquil, without fault, without taint, the highest bridge to immortality--like a fire that has consumed its fuel.


20. Only when men shall roll up the sky like a hide, will there be an end of misery, unless God has first been known.


21. Through the power of his penance and through the grace of God has the wise Svetâsvatara truly proclaimed Brahman, the highest and holiest, to the best of ascetics, as approved by the company of Rishis.


22. This highest mystery in the Vedânta, delivered in a former age, should not be given to one whose passions have not been subdued, nor to one who is not a son, or who is not a pupil.


23. If these truths have been told to a high-minded man, who feels the highest devotion for God, and for his Guru as for God, then they will shine forth,--then they will shine forth indeed.

[Leon]

SIXTH ADHYÂYA

1. Some wise men, deluded, speak of Nature, and others of Time (as the cause of everything); but it is the greatness of God by which this Brahma-wheel is made to turn.

2. It is at the command of him who always covers this world, the knower, the time of time, who assumes qualities and all knowledge, it is at his command that this work (creation) unfolds itself, which is called earth, water, fire, air, and ether;


3. He who, after he has done that work and rested again, and after he has brought together one essence (the self) with the other (matter), with one, two, three, or eight, with time also and with the subtile qualities of the mind,


4. Who, after starting the works endowed with (the three) qualities, can order all things, yet when, in the absence of all these, he has caused the destruction of the work, goes on, being in truth different (from all he has produced);

5. He is the beginning, producing the causes which unite (the soul with the body), and, being above the three kinds of time (past, present, future), he is seen as without parts, after we have first worshipped that adorable god, who has many forms, and who is the true source (of all things), as dwelling in our own mind.


6. He is beyond all the forms of the tree (of the world) and of time, he is the other, from whom this world moves round, when one has known him who brings good and removes evil, the lord of bliss, as dwelling within the self, the immortal, the support of all.


7. Let us know that highest great lord of lords, the highest deity of deities, the master of masters, the highest above, as god, the lord of the world, the adorable.


8. There is no effect and no cause known of him, no one is seen like unto him or better; his high power is revealed as manifold, as inherent, acting as force and knowledge.


9. There is no master of his in the world, no ruler of his, not even a sign of him. He is the cause, the lord of the lords of the organs, and there is of him neither parent nor lord.


10. That only god who spontaneously covered himself, like a spider, with threads drawn from the first cause (pradhâna), grant us entrance into Brahman.


11. He is the one God, hidden in all beings, all-pervading, the self within all beings, watching over all works, dwelling in all beings, the witness, the perceiver, the only one, free from qualities.


12. He is the one ruler of many who (seem to act, but really do) not act; he makes the one seed manifold. The wise who perceive him within their self, to them belongs eternal happiness, not to others.


13. He is the eternal among eternals, the thinker among thinkers, who, though one, fulfils the desires of many. He who has known that cause which is to be apprehended by Sânkhya (philosophy) and Yoga (religious discipline), he is freed from all fetters.


14. The sun does not shine there, nor the moon and the stars, nor these lightnings, and much less this fire. When he shines, everything shines after him; by his light all this is lightened.


15. He is the one bird  in the midst of the world; he is also (like) the fire (of the sun) that has set in the ocean. A man who knows him truly, passes over death; there is no other path to go.


16. He makes all, he knows all, the self-caused, the knower, the time of time (destroyer of time), who assumes qualities and knows everything, the master of nature and of man, the lord of the three qualities (guna), the cause of the bondage, the existence, and the liberation of the world.


17. He who has become that, he is the immortal, remaining the lord, the knower, the ever-present guardian of this world, who rules this world for ever, for no one else is able to rule it.


18. Seeking for freedom I go for refuge to that God who is the light of his own thoughts, he who first creates Brahman (m.) and delivers the Vedas to him;


19. Who is without parts, without actions, tranquil, without fault, without taint, the highest bridge to immortality--like a fire that has consumed its fuel.


20. Only when men shall roll up the sky like a hide, will there be an end of misery, unless God has first been known.


21. Through the power of his penance and through the grace of God has the wise Svetâsvatara truly proclaimed Brahman, the highest and holiest, to the best of ascetics, as approved by the company of Rishis.


22. This highest mystery in the Vedânta, delivered in a former age, should not be given to one whose passions have not been subdued, nor to one who is not a son, or who is not a pupil.


23. If these truths have been told to a high-minded man, who feels the highest devotion for God, and for his Guru as for God, then they will shine forth,--then they will shine forth indeed.

[Leon]

PRASÑA-UPANISHAD

FIRST QUESTION

Adoration to the Highest Self! Harih, Om!

1. Sukesas 1 Bhâradvâga, and Saivya Satyakâma, and Sauryâyanin Gârgya, and Kausalya Âsvalâyana, and Bhârgava Vaidarbhi, and Kabandhin Kâtyâyana, these were devoted to Brahman, firm in Brahman, seeking for the Highest Brahman. They thought that the venerable Pippalâda could tell them all that, and they therefore took fuel in their hands (like pupils), and approached him.


2. That Rishi said to them: 'Stay here a year longer, with penance, abstinence, and faith; then you may ask questions according to your pleasure, and if we know them, we shall tell you all.'


3. Then Kabandhin Kâtyâyana approached him and asked: 'Sir, from whence may these creatures be born?'


4. He replied: 'Pragâpati (the lord of creatures) was desirous of creatures (pragâh). He performed penance', and having performed penance, he produces a pair, matter (rayi) and spirit (prâna), thinking that they together should produce creatures for him in many ways.


5. The sun is spirit, matter is the moon. All this, what has body and what has no body, is matter, and therefore body indeed is matter.


6. Now Âditya, the sun, when he rises, goes toward the East, and thus receives the Eastern spirits into his rays. And when he illuminates the South, the West, the North, the Zenith, the Nadir, the intermediate quarters, and everything, he thus receives all spirits into his rays.


7. Thus he rises, as Vaisvânara, (belonging to all men,) assuming all forms, as spirit, as fire. This has been said in the following verse:


8. (They knew) him who assumes all forms, the golden 4, who knows all things, who ascends highest, alone in his splendour, and warms us; the thousand-rayed, who abides in a hundred places, the spirit of all creatures, the Sun, rises.


9. The year indeed is Pragâpati, and there are two paths thereof, the Southern and the Northern. Now those who here believe in sacrifices and pious gifts as work done, gain the moon only as their (future) world, and return again. Therefore the Rishis who desire offspring, go to the South, and that path of the Fathers is matter (rayi).


10. But those who have sought the Self by penance, abstinence, faith, and knowledge, gain by the Northern path Âditya, the sun. This is the home of the spirits, the immortal, free from danger, the highest. From thence they do not return, for it is the end. Thus says the Sloka:


11. Some call him the father with five feet (the five seasons), and with twelve shapes (the twelve months), the giver of rain in the highest half of heaven; others again say that the sage is placed in the lower half, in the chariot with seven wheels and six spokes.


12. The month is Pragâpati; its dark half is matter, its bright half spirit. Therefore some Rishis perform sacrifice in the bright half, others in the other half.


13. Day and Night are Pragâpati; its day is spirit, its night matter. Those who unite in love by day waste their spirit, but to unite in love by night is right.

14. Food is Pragâpati. Hence proceeds seed, and from it these creatures are born.


15. Those therefore who observe this rule of Pragâpati, produce a pair, and to them belongs this Brahma-world here. But those in whom dwell penance, abstinence, and truth,


16. To them belongs that pure Brahma-world, to them, namely, in whom there is nothing crooked, nothing false, and no guile.'

[Leon]

SECOND QUESTION

1. Then Bhârgava Vaidarbhi asked him: 'Sir, How many gods keep what has thus been created, how many manifest this 2, and who is the best of them?'


2. He replied: 'The ether is that god, the wind, fire, water, earth, speech, mind, eye, and ear. These, when they have manifested (their power), contend and say: We (each of us) support this body and keep it.


3. Then Prâna (breath, spirit, life), as the best, said to them: Be not deceived, I alone, dividing myself fivefold, support this body and keep it.


4. They were incredulous; so he, from pride, did as if he were going out from above. Thereupon, as he went out, all the others went out, and as he returned, all the others returned. As bees go out when their queen 1 goes out, and return when she returns, thus (did) speech, mind, eye, and ear; and, being satisfied, they praise Prâna, saying:


5. He is Agni (fire), he shines as Sûrya (sun), he is Parganya (rain), the powerful (Indra), he is Vâyu, (wind), he is the earth, he is matter, he is God--he is what is and what is not, and what is immortal.


6. As spokes in the nave of a wheel, everything is fixed in Prâna, the verses of the Rig-veda, Yagur-veda, Sâma-veda, the sacrifice, the Kshatriyas, and the Brâhmans.


7. As Pragâpati (lord of creatures) thou movest about in the womb, thou indeed art born again. To thee, the Prâna, these creatures bring offerings, to thee who dwellest with the other prânas (the organs of sense).


8. Thou art the best carrier for the Gods, thou art the first offering to the Fathers. Thou art the true work of the Rishis, of the Atharvângiras.


9. O Prâna, thou art Indra by thy light, thou art Rudra, as a protector; thou movest in the sky, thou art the sun, the lord of lights.


10. When thou showerest down rain, then, O Prâna, these creatures of thine are delighted, hoping that there will be food, as much as they desire.


11. Thou art a Vrâtya, O Prâna, the only Rishi, the consumer of everything, the good lord. We are the givers of what thou hast to consume, thou, O Mâtarisva, art our father.


12. Make propitious that body of thine which dwells in speech, in the ear, in the eye, and which pervades the mind; do not go away!


13. All this is in the power of Prâna, whatever exists in the three heavens. Protect us like a mother her sons, and give us happiness and wisdom.'

[Leon]

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, 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 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 (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 4 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, 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.'

[Leon]

FOURTH QUESTION

1. Then Sauryâyanin Gârgya asked: 'Sir, What are they that sleep in this man, and what are they that are awake in him? What power (deva) is it that sees dreams? Whose is the happiness? On what do all these depend?'


2. He replied: 'O Gârgya, As all the rays of the sun, when it sets, are gathered up in that disc of light, and as they, when the sun rises again and again, come forth, so is all this (all the senses) gathered up in the highest faculty (deva), the mind. Therefore at that time that man does not hear, see, smell, taste, touch, he does not speak, he does not take, does not enjoy, does not evacuate, does not move about. He sleeps, that is what people say.


3. The fires of the prânas are, as it were, awake in that town (the body). The Apâna is the Gârhapatya fire, the Vyâna the Anvâhâryapakana fire; and because it is taken out of the Gârhapatya fire, which is fire for taking out, therefore the Prâna is the Âhavanîya fire.


Now the Apâna is identified with the Gârhapatya fire, no reason being given except afterwards, when it is said that the Prâna is the Âhavanîya fire, being taken out of the Gârhapatya, here called p. 280 pranayana, in the same manner as the prâna proceeds in sleep from the apâna. The Vyâna is identified with the Dakshinâgni, the Southern fire, because it issues from the heart through an aperture on the right.

4. Because it carries equally these two oblations, the out-breathing and the in-breathing, the Samâna is he (the Hotri priest). The mind is the sacrificer, the Udâna is the reward of the sacrifice, and it leads the sacrificer every day (in deep sleep) to Brahman.


5. There that god (the mind) enjoys in sleep greatness. What has been seen, he sees again; what has been heard, he hears again; what has been enjoyed in different countries and quarters, he enjoys again; what has been seen and not seen, heard and not heard, enjoyed and not enjoyed, he sees it all; he, being all, sees.


6. And when he is overpowered by light, then that god sees no dreams, and at that time that happiness arises in his body.


7. And, O friend, as birds go to a tree to roost, thus all this rests in the Highest Âtman,--


8. The earth and its subtile elements, the water and its subtile elements, the light and its subtile elements, the air and its subtile elements, the ether and its subtile elements; the eye and what can be seen, the ear and what can be heard, the nose and what can be smelled, the taste and what can be tasted, the skin and what can be touched, the voice and what can be spoken, the hands and what can be grasped, the feet and what can be walked, the mind and what can be perceived, intellect (buddhi) and what can be conceived, personality and what can be personified, thought and what can be thought, light and what can be lighted up, the Prâna and what is to be supported by it.


9. For he it is who sees, hears, smells, tastes, perceives, conceives, acts, he whose essence is knowledge, the person, and he dwells in the highest, indestructible Self,--


10. He who knows that indestructible being, obtains (what is) the highest and indestructible, he without a shadow, without a body, without colour, bright--,yes, O friend, he who knows it, becomes all-knowing, becomes all. On this there is this Sloka:


11. He, O friend, who knows that indestructible being wherein the true knower, the vital spirits (prânas), together with all the powers (deva), and the elements rest, he, being all-knowing, has penetrated all.'

[Leon]

FIFTH QUESTION

1. Then Saivya Satyakâma asked him:--'Sir, if some one among men should meditate here until death on the syllable Om, what would he obtain by it?'


2. He replied: 'O Satyakâma, the syllable Om (AUM) is the highest and also the other Brahman; therefore he who knows it arrives by the same means at one of the two.


3. If he meditate on one Mâtrâ (the A), then, being enlightened by that only, he arrives quickly at the earth. The Rik-verses lead him to the world of men, and being endowed there with penance, abstinence, and faith, he enjoys greatness.


4. If he meditate with two Mâtrâs (A + U) he arrives at the Manas, and is led up by the Yagus-verses to the sky, to the Soma-world. Having enjoyed greatness in the Soma-world, he returns again.


5. Again, he who meditates with this syllable AUM of three Mâtrâs, on the Highest Person, he comes to light and to the sun. And as a snake is freed from its skin, so is he freed from evil. He is led up by the Sâman-verses to the Brahma-world; and from him, full of life (Hiranyagarbha, the lord of the Satya-loka), he learns to see the all-pervading, the Highest Person. And there are these two Slokas:

6. The three Mâtrâs (A + U + M), if employed separate, and only joined one to another, are mortal; but in acts, external, internal, or intermediate, if well performed, the sage trembles not.


7. Through the Rik-verses he arrives at this world, through the Yagus-verses at the sky, through the Sâman-verses at that which the poets teach,--he arrives at this by means of the Onkâra; the wise arrives at that which is at rest, free from decay, from death, from fear,--the Highest.'

[Leon]

SIXTH QUESTION

1. Then Sukesas Bhâradvâga asked him, saying: 'Sir, Hiranyanâbha, the prince of Kosalâ 2, came to me and asked this question: Do you know the person of sixteen parts, O Bhâradvâga? I said to the prince: I do not know him; if I knew him, how should I not tell you? Surely, he who speaks what is untrue withers away to the very root; therefore I will not say what is untrue. Then he mounted his chariot and went away silently. Now I ask you, where is that person?'


2. He replied: 'Friend, that person is here within the body, he in whom these sixteen parts arise.


3. He reflected: What is it by whose departure I shall depart, and by whose staying I shall stay?


4. He sent forth (created) Prâna (spirit); from [paragraph continues] Prâna Sraddhâ (faith), ether, air, light, water, earth, sense, mind, food; from food came vigour, penance, hymns, sacrifice, the worlds, and in the worlds the name also.


5. As these flowing rivers 3 that go towards the ocean, when they have reached the ocean, sink into it, their name and form are broken, and people speak of the ocean only, exactly thus these sixteen parts of the spectator that go towards the person (purusha), when they have reached the person, sink into him, their name and form are broken, and people speak of the person only, and he becomes without parts and immortal. On this there is this verse:


6. That person who is to be known, he in whom these parts rest, like spokes in the nave of a wheel, you know him, lest death should hurt you.'


7. Then he (Pippalâda) said to them: 'So far do I know this Highest Brahman, there is nothing higher than it.'


8. And they praising him, said: 'You, indeed, are our father, you who carry us from our ignorance to the other shore.'


Adoration to the highest Rishis!


Adoration to the highest Rishis!


Tat sat. Harih, Om!