ARUNEYA UPANISHAD
THE COMPLETE VERSION
Some contents in the e-Papyri are termed as “free mate-rial easily obtainable on the Web.”
The author claims no rights to any “free material” deemed to be in the Public Domain.
e-Papyrus I is the first in the serialised papyri.
The author deems Excerpts and Quotes for study, teaching and guidance purposes “Fair Use.”
OM
MAY THE DIVINE INTELLECT PROTECT BOTH THE AUTHOR AND THE READER!
MAY WE GAIN A DEEP AND THOROUGH
UNDERSTANDING OF LIFE!
Now then and therefore, the author’s aim is to recover the full ancient Aruneya Upanishad from the parts that are scattered in the other Upanishads.
The author humbly attempts no more than to restore the deep insights, such as it must have existed at the time within the Self of Uddalaka Aruna and son Aruni but to gain an approximate conception of what the orig-inal composer may have had insightfully gained, before handing his composition over to the safekeeping of oral tradition past down the lineage of Gotama.
A careful study of the author’s own painstaking exposi-tion will show, the author believes, that a small ad-vance, at all events, has now been made towards a truer understanding of these ancient texts.
But the author knows full well how much still remains to be done, both in restoring the correct texts and in discovering the original implication of the Aruneya Upanishad.
It is almost a duty to discourage, as much as lies in our power, the work of reconstructing an old text by so-called conjectural emendations or critical omissions by Sanskrit theists, scholars, and grammarians; but to en-courage reconstruction through the insights of an Adept Yogi, for only the enlightened mind of a Yogi knows the soul insightful inquisition of the ancient Aruneya Upanishad. This is because the great Yogi has empirically come to the Light of Truth through the same path, for the divine Intellect is One without a second.
Uddalaka Aruna Gotama and his son Aruni are hal-lowed Vedic sages of Hindu soteriology and Vedanta. Aruni and Yajnavalkya are among the most frequently mentioned Upanishadic teachers, and their philosophi-cal teachings are the main focus in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad and Chandogya Upanishads, two of the old-est Upanishadic scriptures; a dialogue about Atma and Brahman that contain ideas foundational to the Vedan-ta school of Hindu philosophy.
Aruni appears in many principal Upanishads like the Brihad, Chandogya (Samaveda), and Kaushitaki, and also, he is mentioned in many Vedic era Sanskrit texts like the Mahabharata. The Rigveda gave rise to Aitareya Upanishad of Vamadeva, son of Gotama during Satya Yuga, but during the transition between Satya Yuga and Treta, i.e., at the end of Satya Yuga and the begin-ning of Treta Yuga gave rise to and Aruneya Upanishad of Uddalaka Aruna Gotama and the Chandogya, Kena and Kaushitaki Upanishads. Therefore, Aruneya Upani-shad is easily classifiable as a Mukhya Upanishad and a major Upanishad of the Advaita Vedanta.
The author of the Aitareya Aranyaka and the Aitareya Upanishad has been historically credited to rishi Aitar-eya Mahidasa (Mahishala), who is Vamadeva. Va-madeva is the name of a rishi credited with most of Mandala 4 of the Rigveda. He is mentioned prominent-ly in the Upanishads as well, particularly the Bri-hadaranyaka and Aitareya. His father was Gotama Ma-harishi, said to be one of the Saptarishi or seven great sages, and his brother Nodhas also has hymns in the Rigveda.
Gotama Maharishi was the son of Rahugana, belonging to the lineage of Angirasa. Gotama was the progenitor of the paternal Gotama gotra lineage. Gotama and Bha-radvaja share a common ancestry, as they are both de-scended from Angirasa, and sometimes they are both bracketed together under the name Angirasa. The Brahmanda Purana mentions that one of the sub-branches of the Raanaayani branch of Samaveda was initiated by this Gotama (Uddalaka). There is a hymn called Bhadra in the Samaveda, which is ascribed to Gotama (Uddalaka). Some famous disciples of Gotama were Prachinayogya, Shandilya, Gargya, Vamadeva, Nodha, and Bharadvaja.
Uddalaka Aruni (Uddalaka II) was the contemporary of Videha King Janaka. His father-teacher was Aruna Aupaveshi Gotama (Uddalaka I). Patanchala Kapya was a teacher of Uddalaka Aruni II. The contemporaries of Uddalaka Aruni are, Prachinashala Aupamanyava, Satyayajna Paulushi, Indradyumna Bhallaveya, Jana Sharkarakshya, Budila Ashvatarashvi, Dividasa Bha-imaseni, Vasishtha Chaikitayana, Chitra Gangyayani. The pupils include, Kaushiyaki, Proti, Madhuka Paing-ya, Chula Bhagavitti, Janaki Ayushtuna, Mahishala.
Svataketu Auddalaki Aruneya was the son of Uddalaki Aruni. Kaushitaki was a pupil of Uddalaka Aruni II. Shankhayana was a pupil of Kahodaka. Kahodaka was a pupil of Kaushitaki and Kaushitaki was a pupil of Uddalaka Aruni. Ashtavakra II was grandson of Udda-laka II, son of Kahodaka.
The following line of teachers is excerpted from the Brihadaranyakas. From Yajnavalkya II. Yajnavalkya II from Uddalaka II. Uddalaka II from Aruna Aupaveshi Gotama. Aruna from Upaveshi. Upaveshi from Upave-sha? Upavesha from Kusri. Kusri from Vajashravasa (Uddalaka Aruna). Vajashravasa from Jihvavat, the son of Badhyoga. Jihvavat, the son of Badhyoga, from Asi-ta, the son of Varshagana. Asita, the son of Varshaga-na, from Harita Kasyapa. Harita Kasyapa from Silpa Kasyapa. Silpa Kasyapa from Kasyapa, the son of Nidhruva. Kasyapa, the son of Nidhruva, from Vach. Vach from Ambhini. Ambhini from the Sun. These White Yujuses (sacrificial formulas not vitiated by hu-man blemishes) are explained by Yajnavalkya I, belong-ing to the Vajasaneyi school of Yajnavalkya I.
But here is another twist in the tale. The most probable first teachers of the Eight limbs of Yoga, Ashtanga, were Gotama Maharishi, Vasishtha, and Kashyapa Patanjala (Patanchala), who are the first esteemed Ash-tanga Yoga and Advaita Vedanta Masters, who received direct wisdom from Lord Shiva or Lord Vishnu or Lord Brahma, depending upon the relevant Kalpa. Vasishtha, Kashyapa, and Gotama were contemporaries of Asita (Ashtavakra I), for they were the first propounders of Ashtanga Yoga.
Gotama Maharshi taught Ashtanga Yoga to his sons, Rishi Vamadeva and Nodha. But the later Ashtavakra II is born to impart and promulgate the wisdom of the Eight limbs of Yoga to the later Sages.
Remarkably, the Sage Vamadeva, son of Saptarishi Go-tama, who compiled the Aitareya Upanishad, had simi-larly spoken from the womb! Perhaps, Vamadeva and Ashtavakra are the same continuum consciousnesses! They are both share the same genealogy (paternal) Go-tama. Notable is Ashtavakra I, who submits to King Janaka I the greatest of knowledge, which is known as the Ashtavakra Gita. Uddalaka I was Vajashravasa who was a revered Vedic sage of Katha Upanishad. Seeming-ly, Aruni had composed two Sukta of Atharvaveda (3.29) and (6.15).
The Aruneya Upanishad was inculcated orally during the transition era between Satya Yuga and Treta; a dia-logue about Atman and Brahman that contain ideas foundational to the Vedanta school of Hindu philoso-phy. The dialogue of Uddalaka Aruna with King Jaivali is given in Brihadaranyaka and in the Chandogya his dialogue with Svataketu. The Katha Upanishad is about Aruna conducting his soul, Nachiketas, to Vaivasvata.
Uddalaka Aruni was also known for the Ashram he ran where famous philosophers like Yajnavalkya, Ashtavak-ra, and Svataketu were taught. He was a contemporary of Rishi Dhaumya and grant son of Vajasravasa. Svataketu was his son and had a daughter named Sujata. Sujata was married to his disciple Kahoda and had the son Ashtavakra.
Uddalaka Aruni Gotama attracted students from far regions of the Indian subcontinent; some of his stu-dents such as Yajnavalkya are also highly revered in the Hindu soteriology Sastras. Sage Aruni’s many revered ancient scholars, and later era scholars from the earliest times, attributed or named their texts after him. Some of these treatises include Arunisruti, also called Udda-laka Sruti is a seeming medieval era theistic text that has been lost to history and one cited by Madhvachar-ya.
It is an opinion held by the author that Saptarishi Angi-rasa's soul appears in various Yugas, as Gotama Mahari-shi, Vamadeva, Aruna, Aruni, Ashtavakra, et al for teaching Ashtanga Yoga, Advaita Vedanta, and guid-ance.
Sruti; “Atma vai jayate Putra.”
"The soul is regenerated in the son."
Uddalaka Aruna Gotama's soul, Nachiketas, of the Vaivasvata Gita and Katha Upanishad appears as Udda-laka Aruni Gotama of the Chandogya Upanishad.
TAT TVAM ASI
Om!
Let my limbs and speech, Prana, eyes, ears, vitality, and all the senses grow in strength.
All existence is the Brahman of the Upanishads.
May I never deny Brahman, nor Brahman deny me.
Let there be no denial at all:
Let there be no denial at least from me.
May the virtues that are proclaimed in the Upanishads be in me, who am devoted to the Atma;
may they reside in me.
Om!
Let there be Peace in me!
Let there be Peace in my environment!
Let there be Peace in the forces that act on me!
PART I
DIALOGUE WITH BRAHMA
1. Om. Uddalaka Aruna’s (Vajashravasa) soul went to the sphere of Brahma, the Creator, and reaching there said, “Lord, in what way can I relinquish work alto-gether?” Brahma said to him: You must give up your sons, brothers, friends, and the rest, your hair-tuft and the holy thread, your sacrifices and books regulating them, your scriptures; must give up the (seven upper) spheres entitled Bhur, Bhuvar, Svar, Mahar, Jana, Tap-as, and Satya, and the (seven nether) spheres, viz., Ata-la, Patala, Vitala, Sutala, Rasatala, Talatala and Mahata-la, together with the (whole) universe; and must take on the staff and the scanty clothing of the Sannyasin; you must renounce everything else, aye, everything else.
2. The householder, or the Brahmachari, or the Vanaprastha should commit the fires that lead to the different spheres to the fire that is in the stomach, and consign the sacred Mantra, Gayatri, to the fire that is in his own speech, should throw the holy thread on the ground or into water. The Kutichara living a Brah-machari’s life should give up his relatives, and discard his begging bowl, and the straining-cloth, should give up his triple staves, and the fires that lead to particular spheres, said Prajapati. Henceforward he should behave like one who has got no Mantra to repeat, should give up the desire to go to the higher spheres, bathe at the beginning of the three meeting-points of the day, viz., morning, noon, and evening, should effect a union with his Atma through the highest concentration, and from amongst the (whole range of the) Vedas should repeat only the Aranyakas, only the Upanishads, aye, nothing but the Upanishads.
3. Verily I am Brahman, the Sutra; the Sutra is Brah-man for It originates (the cosmos); I myself am the su-tra because I am a man of realisation; the wise one who has realised this should give up his triple holy thread. “I have renounced, I have renounced, I have renounced,” uttering this thrice he should declare, “From me, there is no fear (in word, thought, or deed) to any being, for from me everything has proceeded.” Uttering the Man-tra, “That art my friend, so protect me (from cows, ser-pents, etc.), thou art strength and my friend, in all seen and unseen danger thou art the Thunder of the Lord of the Universe,” etc., he should hold up high the bamboo staff and put on the loin-cloth. He should take food as if it were medicine, aye, as if it were medicine. Careful-ly guard (oh, ye all who are concerned) your chastity (in thought, word and deed), non-injury, non-acceptance of (superfluous) gifts, non-thieving and truthfulness; guard them by all means, aye, do guard!
4. Now then the duties of the highest class of itinerant monks; the Paramahamsa Parivrajakas (are as follows): They must sit and lie down on the ground. Those hav-ing already taken the vow of chastity etc should use an earthen bowl or one made of gourd, or a wooden bowl; they should give up lust anger, avarice, infatuation, ostentation, haughtiness, jealousy, attachment to ob-jects, egotism, falsehood and the like. The Sannyasin should stay at one place during the four months of the rainy season and during the remaining eight months wander alone, or with a single companion, aye, a single companion.
5. Verily one who has realised the (true) import of the Vedas may give up those things (previously enumerat-ed) after the investiture with the holy thread, or he may do so even before that ceremony; (give up) his father, son, his sacrificial fires, and the holy thread, his works, his wife and all else that he may possess. Sannyasins enter a village for begging purposes only, with their palms or their stomach as the receptacle for food. Utter-ing “Om” “Om” “Om,” they should mentally place this Mantra, the Upanishad, in the different parts of their body. He who realises the Truth in this manner is really the wise one. He who knows this (and is a Brahmachari taking on the monastic vow) should give up the staff made of the wood of the Palasha (Dhak), Bilva (Mar-melos), or Audumbara (Fig) trees, his skin and girdle and the holy thread, etc., and thus be a hero. “That su-preme state of the all-pervading Deity the sages realise for all time like the eye pervading from one end of the sky to the other.” “Sages purged of all impurities like anger etc., who have awakened from the sleep (of igno-rance), kindle that Truth (in the minds of the enquir-ers), that supreme state of the all-pervading Deity.” Such indeed is the injunction of the scriptures leading to liberation; the injunction of the Vedas, aye, of the Vedas.
PART II
DIALOGUE WITH SVATAKETU
Remarkable insights into the process of rebirth
and soteriology.
A remarkable simile of the Vaivasvata Gita.
Svataketu was the son of Sage Uddalaka Aruni Gotama, the grandson of Sage Uddalaka Aruna.
Represents the quintessential seeker of knowledge.
NOTE: It would make sense if his name was Svataketu, for it is the opinion held by the author that perhaps the name is misspelt as Svetaketu.
The dialogue entails the journey of Svataketu from ig-norance to knowledge of the self and truth (sat).
FIRST PIECE
1. Svataketu came to the assembly of the Panchalas. He approached king Pravahana Jaivali, the son of Jivala, who was being waited upon by his courtiers. Pravahana Jaivali was the King of Panchala and a contemporary of King Janaka and Svataketu Auddalaki.
2. He too, like Satyakama Jabala, described the path taken by the soul after the death of the body; the soul of the wise person assuming a luminous form passes from light to greater light until it reaches Brahman. He speaks about the mundane soul, the infernal soul and the animal soul.
3. As soon as the king saw Svataketu, he said: “Is it you, boy?” He replied: “Yes, Sir.” Then the king asked: “Have you been taught by your father?” “Yes,” he re-plied. The king said: “Do you know how people, after departing from this life, proceed on different paths?” “No,” he replied. “Do you know how they return to this world?” “No,” he replied. “Do you know why the other world is never filled up even though so many people go there again and again?” “No,” he replied. “Do you know after how many offerings of oblations the water (the liquid oblation) becomes endowed with a human voice, rises up and speaks?” “No,” he replied. “Do you know the means of access to the path leading to the gods or to that leading to the Manes, that is to say, through what deeds men attain the path leading to the gods or that leading to the Manes? 4. We have heard the following words of the Mantra: ‘I have heard of the two paths for men, one leading to the Manes and the other to the gods. Going along them they (departed souls) are united with their destination. They (the paths) lie between the father (heaven) and the mother (Earth).’ Svataketu said: “I do not know even one of these.”
SECOND PIECE
5. Then the king invited him to stay. But the boy, dis-regarding the invitation, hurried away. He went to his father and said: “Did you not tell me before that you had fully instructed me?” “What then, my intelligent child?” “That fellow of a Kshatriya asked me five ques-tions and I did not know one of them.” “What were they?” “These,” said Svataketu and he recited them. The father said: “My child, believe me, whatever I my-self knew, I told you. But come, let us go there and live as religious students (Brahmacharis).” “You may go, Sir,” the son replied.
THIRD PIECE
6. Then Uddalaka Aruni Gotama went to where King Pravahana, the son of Jivala, was giving audience.
7. The King offered him a seat, ordered water for him and made him the reverential offering. Then he said: “Revered Gotama, we will give you a boon.”
8. Gotama said: “You have promised me this boon. Now please tell me what you spoke about to my boy.” The King said: “Ah, those were spiritual boons, Gota-ma.
9. Please ask a material boon.” Gotama said:
10. “You know well that I have gold, cows, horses, maidservants, retinue, and apparel. Please do not be ungenerous towards me regarding that gift, which is plentiful, infinite, and inexhaustible.”
11. The King said: “Then, verily, O’ Gotama, you should ask it in a prescribed way.” Gotama replied: “I approach you as a disciple.”
Note the simile from the Katha Upanishad; boon of-fered; water offered; reverential offering, etc.
12. The ancients used to approach a teacher through mere declaration. So, Gotama lived with the king by merely announcing that he was a student.
13. The King said: “Please do not be offended with us even as your paternal grandfather (Vajasravasa, Uddala-ka I) was not offended with ours. Before now, this knowledge never rested with a brahmin. But I shall teach it to you, for who can refuse you when you speak like this?
FOURTH PIECE
14, “Yonder world is the sacrificial fire, the Sun is its fuel, the rays its smoke, the day its flame, the four quarters its cinders and the intermediate quarters its sparks. In this fire, the gods offer faith as a libation. Out of that offering, King Moon is born.”
15. “Parjanya (the god of rain), O’ Gotama, is the fire, the year is its fuel, the clouds its smoke, lightning its flame, the thunderbolt its cinders, the rumbling its sparks. In this fire, the gods offer King Moon as a liba-tion. Out of that offering, rain is produced.”
16. “This world, O’ Gotama, is the fire, the Earth is its fuel, fire its smoke, the night its flame, the moon its cinders, the stars its sparks. In this fire, the gods offer rain as a libation. Out of that offering, food is pro-duced.”
17. “Man, O’ Gotama, is the fire, the open mouth is its fuel, the vital breath its smoke, speech its flame, the eye its cinders and the ear its sparks. In this fire, the gods offer food as a libation. Out of that offering, se-men is produced.”
18. “Woman, O’ Gotama, is the fire, her sexual organ is the fuel, the hairs the smoke, the vulva the flame, sex-ual intercourse the cinders, enjoyment the sparks. In this fire, the gods offer semen as a libation. Out of this offering, a man is born. He lives as long as he is to live.”
19. “Then, when he dies, they carry him to be offered in the fire. The fire becomes his fire, the fuel his fuel, the smoke his smoke, the flame his flame, the cinders his cinders and the sparks his sparks. In this fire, the gods offer the man as a libation. Out of this offering, the man emerges in radiant splendour.”
20. “Those even among householders who know this, as described and those too who, living in the forest, meditate with faith upon the Satya Brahman (Hiran-yagarbha), reach the deity identified with flame, from him the deity of the day, from him the deity of the fortnight in which the moon waxes, from him the dei-ties of the six months during which the Sun travels northward, from them the deity identified with the world of the gods (devaloka), from him the Sun, from the Sun the deity of lightning. Then a being created from the mind of Hiranyagarbha comes and leads them to the worlds of Brahma. In those worlds of Brahma, they become exalted and live for many years. They no more return to this world.”
21. “But those who conquer the worlds through sacri-fices, charity, and austerity, reach the deity of smoke, from smoke, the deity of the night, from night the dei-ty of the fortnight in which the moon wanes, from the decreasing half of the moon the deities of the six months during which the Sun travels southward, from these months the deity of the world of the Manes and from the world of the Manes, the moon. Reaching the moon, they become food. There the gods enjoy them, just as here the priests drink the shining soma juice; saying as it were: “Flourish, dwindle.”
22. “And when their past work is exhausted, they reach this very akasa, from the akasa they reach the air, from the air rain, from rain the Earth. Reaching the Earth, they become food. Then they are again offered in the fire of man and thence in the fire of woman. Out of the fire of woman they are born and perform rites with a view to going to other worlds. Thus, do they rotate.”
24. “Those, however, who do not know these two ways become insects and moths and those creatures, which often bite (i.e. mosquitoes and gnats).”
PART III
DIALOGUE WITH UDDALAKA ARUNI GOTAMA
FIRST PIECE
1. There lived once Svataketu Aruneya (the grandson of Aruna). To him his father (Uddalaka, the son of Aruna) said: ‘Svataketu, go to school; for there is none belong-ing to our race, darling, who, not having studied (the Veda), is, as it were, a Brahmana by birth only.’
2. Having begun his apprenticeship (with a teacher) when he was twelve years of age, Svataketu returned to his father, when he was twenty-four, having then stud-ied all the Vedas, conceited, considering himself well-read, and stern.
3. His father said to him: ‘Svataketu, as you are so con-ceited, considering yourself so well-read, and so stern, my dear, have you ever asked for that instruction by which we hear what cannot be heard, by which we per-ceive what cannot be perceived, by which we know what cannot be known?’
4. ‘What is that instruction, Sir?’ he asked. The father replied: ‘My dear, as by one clod of clay all that is made of clay is known, the difference being only a name, arising from speech, but the truth being that all is clay.
5. ‘And as, my dear, by one nugget of gold all that is made of gold is known, the difference being only a name, arising from speech, but the truth being that all is gold?’
6. ‘And as, my dear, by one pair of nail-scissors all that is made of iron (karshnayasam) is known, the difference being only a name, arising from speech, but the truth being that all is iron, thus, my dear, is that instruction.’
7. The son said: ‘Surely those venerable men (my teachers) did not know that. For if they had known it, why should they have not told it to me? Do you, Sir, therefore tell me that.’
‘Be it so,’ said the father.
SECOND PIECE
1. ‘In the beginning,’ my dear, ‘there was that only which is, one only, without a second. Others say, in the beginning, there was that only which is not, one only, without a second; and from that which is not, that which is was born.’
2. ‘But how could it be thus, my dear?’ the father con-tinued. ‘How could that which is, be born of that which is not? No, my dear, only that which is, was in the be-ginning, one only, without a second.’
3. ‘It thought, may I be many, may I grow forth. It sent forth fire. That fire thought, may I be many, may I grow forth. It sent forth water. And therefore, whenev-er anybody anywhere is hot and perspires, water is pro-duced on him from fire alone.’
4. ‘Water thought, may I be many, may I grow forth. It sent forth earth (food). And 6herefore, whenever it rains anywhere, most food is then produced. From wa-ter alone is eatable food produced.’
THIRD PIECE
1. ‘Of all living things there are indeed three origins only, that which springs from an egg (oviparous), that which springs from a living being (viviparous), and that which springs from a germ.’
2. ‘That Being, (i. e. that which had produced fire, wa-ter, and earth) thought, let me now enter those three beings, (fire, water, earth) with this living Self (jiva atma), and let me then reveal (develop) names and forms.’
3. ‘Then that Being having said, Let me make each of these three tripartite (so that fire, water, and earth should each have itself for its principal ingredient, be-sides an admixture of the other two) entered into those three beings (devata) with this living self only, and re-vealed names and forms.’
4. ‘He made each of these tripartite; and how these three beings become each of them tripartite, that learn from me now, my friend!’
FOURTH PIECE
1. ‘The red colour of burning fire (agni) is the colour of fire, the white colour of fire is the colour of water, the black colour of fire the colour of earth. Thus, vanishes what we call fire, as a mere variety, being a name, aris-ing from speech. What is true (Satya) are the three col-ours (or forms).’
2. ‘The red colour of the Sun (Aditya) is the colour of fire, the white of water, the black of earth. Thus, van-ishes what we call the sun, as a mere variety, being a name, arising from speech. What is true are the three colours.’
3. ‘The red colour of the moon is the colour of fire, the white of water, the black of earth. Thus, vanishes what we call the moon, as a mere variety, being a name, aris-ing from speech. What is true are the three colours.’
4. ‘The red colour of the lightning is the colour of fire, the white of water, the black of earth. Thus, vanishes what we call the lightning, as a mere variety, being a name, arising from speech. What is true are the three colours.’
5. ‘Great householders and great theologians of olden times who knew this, have declared the same, saying, “No one can henceforth mention to us anything which we have not heard, perceived, or known.” Out of these (three colours or forms), they knew all.’
6. ‘Whatever they thought looked red, they knew was the colour of fire. Whatever they thought looked white, they knew was the colour of the water. Whatever they thought looked black, they knew was the colour of the earth.’
7. ‘Whatever they thought was altogether unknown, they knew was some combination of those three beings (devata). Now learn from me, my friend, how those three beings, when they reach man, become each of them tripartite.’
FIFTH PIECE
1. ‘The earth (food) when eaten becomes threefold; its grossest portion becomes faeces, its middle portion flesh, its subtlest portion mind.’
2. ‘Water when drunk becomes threefold; its grossest portion becomes water, its middle portion blood, its subtlest portion breath.’
3. ‘Fire (i.e. in oil, butter), when eaten, becomes three-fold; its grossest portion becomes bone, its middle por-tion marrow, its subtlest portion speech.’
4. ‘For truly, my child, the mind comes of earth, the breath of water, the speech of fire.’
‘Please, Sir, inform me still more,’ said the son.
Be it so, my child,’ the father replied.
SIXTH PIECE
1. ‘That which is the subtle portion of curds, when churned, rises upwards, and becomes butter.’
2. ‘In the same manner, my child, the subtle portion of the earth (food), when eaten, rises upwards, and be-comes mind.’
3. ‘That which is the subtle portion of water, when drunk, rises upwards, and becomes breath.’
4. ‘That which is the subtle portion of the fire, when consumed, rises upwards and becomes speech.
5. ‘For mind, my child, comes of earth, the breath of water, speech of fire.’
‘Please, Sir, inform me still more,’ said the son.
‘Be it so, my child,’ the father replied.
SEVENTH PIECE
1. ‘Man (Purusha), my son, consists of sixteen parts. Abstain from food for fifteen days, but drink as much water as you like, for breath comes from water, and will not be cut off if you drink water.’
2. Svataketu abstained from food for fifteen days. Then he came to his father and said: ‘What shall I say?’
The father said: ‘Repeat the Rik, Yajus, and Saman verses.’ He replied: ‘They do not occur to me, Sir.’
3. The father said to him: ‘As of a great lighted fire one coal only of the size of a firefly may be left, which would not burn much more than this (i. e. very little), thus, my dear son, one part only of the sixteen parts (of you) is left, and therefore with that one part you do not remember the Vedas. Go and eat!’
‘Then wilt thou understand me.’
4. Then Svataketu ate and afterwards approached his father. And whatever his father asked him, he knew it all by heart.
Then his father said to him.
5. ‘As of a great lighted fire one coal of the size of a firefly, if left, may be made to blaze up again by putting grass upon it, and will thus burn more than this.’
6. ‘Thus, my dear son, there was one part of the sixteen parts left to you, and that, lighted up with food, burnt up, and by it, you remember now the Vedas.’
After that, he understood what his father meant when he said: ‘Mind, my son, comes from food, breath from water, speech from fire.’
He understood what he said, yea, he understood it.
EIGHTH PIECE
1. Uddalaka Aruni said to his son Svataketu: ‘Learn from me the true nature of sleep (svapna).’
When a man sleeps here, then, my dear son, he be-comes united with the True, he is gone to his own (Self). Therefore, they say, svapti, he sleeps, because he is gone (apta) to his own (sva).’
2. ‘As a bird when tied by a string flies first in every direction, and finding no rest anywhere, settles down at last on the very place where it is fastened, exactly in the same manner, my son, that mind (the jiva, or living Self in the mind), after flying in every direction, and finding no rest anywhere, settles down on breath; for indeed, my son, mind is fastened to breath.’
3. ‘Learn from me, my son, what are hunger and thirst. When a man is thus said to be hungry, water is carrying away (digests) what has been eaten by him. Therefore, as they speak of a cow-leader (gonaya), a horse-leader (asvanaya), a man-leader (purushanaya), so they call water (which digests food and causes hunger) foodlead-er (asanaya). Thus (by food digested), my son, know this offshoot (the body) to be brought forth, for this (body) could not be without a root (cause).’
4. ‘And where could its root be except in food (earth)? And in the same manner, my son, as food (earth) too is an offshoot, seek after its root, viz., water. And as water too is an offshoot, seek after its root, viz., fire. And as fire too is an offshoot, seek after its root, viz., the True. Yes, all these creatures, my son, have their root in the True, they dwell in the True, they rest in the True.’
5. ‘When a man is thus said to be thirsty, fire carries away what has been drunk by him. Therefore, as they speak of a cow-leader (gonaya), of a horse-leader (asvanaya), of a man-leader (purushanaya), so they call fire udanyi, thirst, i.e., water-leader. Thus (by water digested), my son, know this offshoot (the body) to be brought forth: this (body) could not be without a root (cause).’
6. ‘And where could its root be except in water? As wa-ter is an offshoot, seek after its root, viz., fire. As fire is an offshoot, seek after its root, viz., the True. Yes, all these creatures, O son, have their root in the True, they dwell in the True, they rest in the True.’
‘And how these three beings (devata), fire, water, earth, O’ son, when they reach man, become each of them tripartite, has been said before. When a man departs from hence, his speech is merged in his mind, his mind in his breath, his breath in heat (fire), heat in the High-est Being.’
7. ‘Now that which is that subtle essence (the root of all), in it all that exists has its self. It is the True. It is the Self, and thou, O’ Svataketu, art it.’
‘Please, Sir, inform me still more,’ said the son.
Be it so, my child,’ the father replied.
NINTH PIECE
1. ‘As the bees, my son, make honey by collecting the juices of distant trees, and reduce the juice into one form.’
2. ‘And as these juices have no discrimination so that they might say, I am the juice of this tree or that, in the same manner, my son, all these creatures, when they have become merged in the True (either in deep sleep or in death), know not that they are merged in the True.’
3. ‘Whatever these creatures are here, whether a lion, or a wolf, or a boar, or a worm, or a midge, or a gnat, or a mosquito, that they become again and again.’
4. ‘Now, that which is that subtle essence, in it all that exists has its Self. It is the True. It is the Self, and thou, O Svataketu, art it.’
‘Please, Sir, inform me still more,’ said the son.
‘Be it so, my child,’ the father replied.
TENTH PIECE
1. ‘These rivers, my son, run, the eastern (like the Gan-ga) toward the east, the western (like the Sindhu) to-ward the west. They go from sea to sea (i. e. the clouds lift up the water from the sea to the sky, and send it back as rain to the sea). They become indeed sea. And as for those rivers, when they are in the sea, do not know, I am this or that river.’
2. In the same manner, my son, all these creatures, when they have come back from the True, know not that they have come back from the True. Whatever these creatures are here, whether a lion, or a wolf, or a boar, or a worm, or a midget, or a gnat, or a mosquito, that they become again and again.’
3. ‘That which is that subtle essence, in it all that exists has its self. It is the True. It is the Self, and thou, O Svataketu, art it.’
‘Please, Sir, inform me still more,’ said the son.
‘Be it so, my child,’ the father replied.
ELEVENTH PIECE
1. ‘If someone were to strike at the root of this large tree here, it would bleed, but live. If he were to strike at its stem, it would bleed, but live. If he were to strike at its top, it would bleed, but live. Pervaded by the living Self that tree stands firm, drinking in its nourishment and rejoicing.’
2. ‘But if the life (the living Self) leaves one of its branches, that branch withers; if it leaves a second, that branch withers; if it leaves a third, that branch withers. If it leaves the whole tree, the whole tree withers. In exactly the same manner, my son, know this.’ Thus, he spoke.’
3. ‘This (body) indeed withers and dies when the living Self has left it; the living Self dies not. That which is that subtle essence, in it all that exists has its Self. It is the True. It is the Self, and thou, Svataketu, art it.’
‘Please, Sir, inform me still more,’ said the son.
‘Be it so, my child,’ the father replied.
TWELFTH PIECE
1. ‘Fetch me from thence a fruit of the Nyagrodha tree.’ Here is one, Sir.’ Break it.’ ‘It is broken, Sir.’ ‘What do you see there?’ ‘These seeds, almost infinites-imal.’ ‘Break one of them.’ ‘It is broken, Sir.’ ‘What do you see there?’ ‘Not anything, Sir.’
2. The father said: ‘My son, that subtle essence which you do not perceive there, of that very essence this great Nyagrodha tree exists.’
3. ‘Believe it, my son. That which is the subtle essence, in it all that exists has its Self. It is the True. It is the Self, and thou, O Svataketu, art it.’
‘Please, Sir, inform me still more,’ said the son.
‘Be it so, my child,’ the father replied.
THIRTEENTH PIECE
1. ‘Place this salt in water, and then wait on me in the morning.’ The son did as he was commanded. The fa-ther said to him: ‘Bring me the salt, which you placed in the water last night.’ The son having looked for it, found it not, for, of course, it was melted.
2. The father said: ‘Taste it from the surface of the wa-ter. How is it?’ The son replied: ‘It is salt.’ ‘Taste it from the middle. How is it?’ The son replied: ‘It is salt.’ ‘Taste it from the bottom. How is it?’ The son replied: ‘It is salt.’ The father said: ‘Throw it away’ and then wait on me.
He did so, but salt exists forever.
Then the father said: ‘Here also, in this body, forsooth, you do not perceive the True (Sat), my son; but there indeed it is.’
3. ‘That which is the subtle essence, in it all that exists has its self. It is the True. It is the Self, and thou, O’ Svataketu, art it.’
‘Please, Sir, inform me still more,’ said the son.
Be it so, my child,’ the father replied.
FOURTEENTH PIECE
1. ‘As one might lead a person with his eyes covered away from the Gandharvas, and leave him then in a place where there are no human beings; and as that per-son would turn towards the east, or the north, or the west, and shout, “I have been brought here with my eyes covered, I have been left here with my eyes cov-ered.”
2. ‘And as thereupon someone might lose his bandage and say to him, “Go in that direction, it is Gandharva, go in that direction;” and as thereupon, having been informed and being able to judge for himself, he would, by asking, his way from village to village arrive at last at Gandharva, in exactly the same manner does a man, who meets with a teacher to inform him, obtain the true knowledge. For him there is only delay so long as he is not delivered (from the body); then he will be per-fect.’
3. ‘That which is the subtle essence, in it all that exists has its self. It is the True. It is the Self, and thou, O Svataketu, art it.’
‘Please, Sir, inform me still more,’ said the son.
‘Be it so, my child,’ the father replied.
FIFTEENTH PIECE
1. ‘If a man is ill, his relatives assemble round him and ask: “Dost thou know me? Dost thou know me?” Now as long as his speech is not merged in his mind, his mind in the breath, breath in heat (fire), heat in the Highest Being (Devati), he knows them.’
2. ‘But when his speech is merged in his mind, his mind in the breath, breath in heat (fire), heat in the Highest Being, then he knows them not.’
3. ‘That which is the subtle essence, in it all that exists has its self. It is the True. It is the Self, and thou, O Svataketu, art it.’
‘Please, Sir, inform me still more,’ said the son.
‘Be it so, my child,’ the father replied.
SIXTEENTH PIECE
1. ‘My child, they bring a man hither whom they have taken by the hand, and they say: “He has taken some-thing; he has committed a theft.” (When he denies, they say), “Heat the hatchet for him.” If he committed the theft, then he makes himself to be what he is not. Then the false-minded, having covered his true Self by a falsehood, grasps the heated hatchet, he is burnt, and he is killed.’
2. ‘But if he did not commit the theft, then he makes himself to be what he is. Then the true minded, having covered his true Self by truth, grasps the heated hatch-et, he is not burnt, and he is delivered.’ ‘As that (truth-ful) man is not burnt, thus has all that exists its Self in That.’
‘It is the True. It is the Self, and thou, O’ Svataketu, art it.’
He understood what he said, yea, he understood it.
This is the complete Aruneya Upanishad
of Uddalaka Aruni Gotama
ANACHRONISM OF UDDALAKA ARUNA GOTAMA
DESIRE OF UDDALAKA
Uddalaka’s struggle for liberation amidst
all his worldly attachments.
This is an anachronism of
The Vaivasvata Gita and of the Aruneya Upanishad!
Related by Lord Vasishtha to Prince Rama
in The Court of the Race of Raghu (Ikshvaku).
YOGA-VASISHTHA OF VALMIKI
Lord Vasishtha: Rely on no confidence, O’ Rama, in the course of the mind, which is sometimes continuous and sometimes momentary, now even and flat and then sharp and acute, and often as treacherous as the edge of a razor. As it occurs in the course of a long time, that the germ of intelligence comes to sprout forth in the field of the mind, so do you, O’ Rama, who is a moral-ist; grow it by sprinkling the cold water of reason over its tender blades.
As long as the body of the plant does neither fade away in the course of time nor roll upon the ground as the decayed and dead body of man, so long should you hold it up upon the prop of reason. Knowing the truth of my sayings and pondering on the deep sense of these say-ings of mine, you will get delight in your inmost soul, as the serpent-killing peacock, is ravished at the roaring of raining clouds.
Do like the Sage Uddalaka, shake off your knowledge of quintuple materiality as the cause of creation, and ac-custom yourself to think deeper, and on the prime cause of causes by your patient inquiry and reasoning.
Prince Rama: Tell me, Sir, in what way (“Katha”) the Sagely Uddalaka got rid of his thoughts of the quintes-sential creation, and penetrated deeper into the original cause of all, by the force and process of his reasoning?
Lord Vasishtha: Learn Rama, how the Sage Uddalaka of old, rose higher from his investigation of the quintuple matter to his inquiry into their cause, and the manner in which that transcendent Light dawned upon his mind.
It was in some spacious corner of the old mansion of this world, and on the Northwest side of this land, a spot of rugged hills and overtopping it as a shed. Among these stood the high hill of Gandhamadana with a tableland on it, which was full of camphor ar-bours that shed the odours of their flowers and pistils continually on the ground.
This spot was frequented by birds of variegated hues and filled with plants of various kinds. Its banks were behest by wild beasts, and fraught with flowers shin-ning and smiling over the woodland scene. There were the bright swelling gems in some part of it, and the blooming full-blown lotuses in another; some parts of it were veiled by tufts of snow, and crystal streams glid-ing of glassy mirrors on others.
Here on the elevated top of a big cliff on this hill, which was studded with Sarala trees, and strewn over with flowers up to the heels, and shaded by the cooling umbrage of lofty trees. There lived the silent Sage by the name of Uddalaka, a youth of a great mind, and with a high sense of his honour. He had not yet at-tained his maturity when he betook himself to the course of his rigorous austerity. On the first develop-ment of his intellect, he had the light of reason dawn-ing upon his mind, and he was awakened to noble aims and expectations, instead of arriving at the state of rest and quietude. As he went on in this manner in his course of austerities, religious studies, and observances of his holy rites and duties, the genius of right reason appeared before him, as the new year presents itself be-fore the face of the world.
He then began to cogitate in himself in the following manner, sitting aside as he was in his solitude, weary with thoughts and terrified at the ever-changing state of the world. What is that best of gains, said he, which being once obtained, there is nothing more to be ex-pected to lead us to our rest, and which being once had, we have no more to do with our transmigration in this world? When shall I find my permanent rest in that state of holy and transcendent thoughtlessness, and remain above all the rest, as the cloud rests over the top of the Sumeru mountain, or as the polar star stands above the pole without changing place?
When will my tumultuous desires of worldly aggran-dizement, merge in peaceful tranquillity; as the loose, loud, and boisterous waves and billows subside in the sea?
Immerged in these and the like reflections, the twice-born Uddalaka sat in his meditation amidst the forest. He often beheld the Sunlight of spirituality rising with-in himself, and as often turned away his mind from that golden prospect to the sight of gross objects. Leav-ing the soul in the gloom of internal darkness, the li-centious mind flies as fast as a bird, to the object of sense abroad.
RATIOCINATION OF UDDALAKA
Uddalaka remonstration with himself amidst the rever-ies of his meditation.
Lord Vasishtha: He sat firmly in the posture of pad-masana with his face turned upwards; his two legs and feet covered his private parts, and his palms and fingers counted the beads of Rudraksha.
Sage Uddalaka: O’ my senseless mind! Why is it that you are occupied in your worldly acts to no purpose, when the sensible never engage themselves, to what proves to be their bane afterwards?
He who pursues after pleasure, by forsaking his peace-ful tranquillity, is as one who quits his grove of Manda-ra flowers and enters a forest of poisonous plants. You may hide yourself in some cave of the Earth and find a place in the highest abode of Brahma, then yet you cannot have your quiet there, without the quietism of your Spirit.
You have been roving all this time with your froggish heart, in the blind pursuit after your profit and pleasure, but tell me what great boon has booted you in all your ramblings about the Earth?
Why do you not fix your mind to that quietism, which promises to give you something as your self-sufficiency, and wherein you may find your rest as the state of your liberation in your lifetime?
O’ my heart! Said he, it is you yourself that does stretch the snare of your desires for your own entan-glement, as the silkworm weaves its own cell by its sa-liva, for its own imprisonment.
It is impossible for the slender and finite mind to com-prehend the nature of the infinite Soul, as it is not pos-sible for an elephant to be contained in a nutshell. I analysed my body by each atom from head to foot but failed to find what we call the “I” in any part of it, and what makes my personality. That which is the “I am” fills the whole universe and is the only One in all the three worlds; it is the unknowable consciousness, om-nipresent, and yet, apart from all.
Its magnitude is neither to be known nor has it any ap-pellation of its own; it is neither the one or the other, nor an immensity nor minuteness: It is unknowable by the light of the Vedas, and its ignorance, which is the cause of misery is to be destroyed by the light of rea-son. I am none of the elements of the body, nor the mind, nor its desires, but the pure intellectual Soul, and a manifestation of the divine Intellect.
That I am everywhere, and yet nothing whatever that is anywhere, is the only knowledge of the true reality that we can have, and there is no other way to it.
I have been long deceived by my deceitful ignorance, and am misled from the right path, as the young of a beast is carried away by a fierce tiger to the woods. It is now my good fortune that I have come to detest this thievish ignorance, not shall I trust anymore this robber of truth.
Being subject to my egoism, I say, I speak, I know, I stay, I go etc., but on looking at the soul, I lose my egoism in the Universal Soul.
I verily believe my eyes, and other parts of my body, to belong to myself, but if they be as something besides myself, then let them remain or perish with the body, with which I have no concern.
Fie for shame! What is this word “I,” and who was its first inventor? This is no other than a slipslop and a namby-pamby of some demoniac child of Earth.
It is your own will that guides your hand to construct a prison for your own confinement, as the silkworm is confined in the pod of its own making. It is your desire only that is the chief cause of your being attached to one another in one place, as the tread passing through the holes of pearls, ties them together in a long string around the neck. This desire, the creature of your imag-ination, is the cause of all your errors and your ruin also, as the breath of air is the cause of both burning and extinction of lamps and lightening the fiery furnac-es.
THE RATIONAL RAPTURE OF UDDALAKA
Description of the soul unsullied by its
desires and egoism and the difference subsisting
between the body and mind.
Sage Uddalaka: The Intellect is an unthinkable sub-stance; it extends to the limits of endless space and is minute than the minutest atom. It is quite aloof of all things and inaccessible to the reach of desires, logic, etc. It is inaccessible by the mind, understanding, ego-ism, and the gross senses, but our empty desires are as wide extended as the shadowy forms of big and formi-dable demons.
From all my reasonings and repeated cogitations, I per-ceive an Intelligence within myself, and I feel to be the stainless Intellect.
This body of mine, which is of the world, and is a de-pository (Hiranyagarbha) of my false and evil thoughts, may last or be lost without any gain or loss to me since I am the untainted Intellect.
The Intellect is free from birth and death because there is nothing perishable in the nature of the all-pervasive Intellect; what then means the death of a living being, and how and by whom can it be put to death?
What means the life and death of the Intellect, which is the Soul and life of all existence; what else can we ex-pect of the Intellect, when it is extended through and gives life to all?
Life and death belong to the optative and imaginative powers of the mind, and do not appertain to the pure Soul; that which has the sense of its egoism has also the knowledge of its existence and inexistence, but the Soul, which is devoid of its egoism can have no sense of its birth or death.
Egoism is a fallacy and production of ignorance, and the mind is no other than an appearance of the water in a mirage; the visible objects are all gross bodies; what then is that thing to which the term ego is applied?
There is only one Being, which is all-pervading and subsisting in all bodies; it always exists and is immensi-ty in itself. It is only the Supreme Spirit that is the in-telligent Soul of all.
Now tell me, which of these is the ego, what is it, and what is its form, what is its genus and what are its at-tributes, what is its appearance, and of what ingredients is it composed?
What am I and what shall I take it to be, and what re-ject as not itself?
Hence, there is nothing here, which may be called the ego either as an entity or a non-entity; and there is nothing anywhere, to which the ego may bear any rela-tion or any resemblance whatsoever. Therefore, egoism being a perfect non-entity, it has no relation to any-thing at all, and this irrelation of it with all things proved, its fiction as a duality goes to nothing whatso-ever.
Thus, everything in the world being full of the Spirit of God, I am no other than that Reality, and it is in vain that I think myself as otherwise and suffer or sorrow for it or as a result of it.
All things being situated in the One pure and omni-present Spirit, whence is it that the meaningless word ego could take its rise?
So, there is no reality of any object whatsoever, except that of the supreme and all-pervading Spirit of God; it is, therefore, useless for us to inquire about our rela-tionship with anything, which has no reality in itself.
The senses relate to the organs of sense, and the mind is conversant with the mental operations, but the Intel-lect is unconnected with the body and bears no relation with anybody in any manner. As there is no relation between stones and iron nails, so the body, the senses, the mind, and the intellect bear no relation with one another, though they are found to reside together in the same person.
The great error of the unreal ego having once obtained its footing among mankind, it has put the world to an uproar with the expressions of mine and yours, as that is mine and that is yours, and that other is another’s and the like. It is the want of the light of reason that has given rise to the meaningless and marvellous ex-pression of egoism, which is made to vanish under the light of reason, as ice is dissolved under the heat of so-lar light.
That there is nothing in existence, except the Spirit of God is my firm belief, and this makes me believe the whole universe as a manifestation of the great Brahman himself.
I have altogether got rid of the error of my egoism and now recline with my tranquil Soul in the universal Spirit of God, as the autumnal cloud rests in the infi-nite vacuum of the sky.
The unreal world gives rise to the error of appearing as real, as the unreal I and you seem to be realities, though they are caused by mere pulsations of the unre-al mind. This world is seen apparently to arise at first without a cause and to no cause, how then call it a real-ity, which is sprung from and to no cause at all?
Or it is my long habit of thinking that makes the un-truth appear as truth to me, and like the mirage of the desert, our mirage of life presents its falsehood as reali-ties onto us.
All things that we see in the phenomenal world are un-realities in their nature, and as the mind comes to know the nothingness of things, it feels in itself its nothing-ness also. When the mind comes to see the pure Soul by means of its intellectual light, it gets itself ridden of its temporal exertions; and being thereby freed from its passions and affections, it rests with its calm compo-sure in itself.
The mind is the enemy of the body, and so is the latter an enemy of the former. Owing to their mutual hostili-ties, and their passions and affections towards each oth-er, it is better to eradicate and destroy both, for our at-tainment of supreme bliss.
The existence of either of these after death is as incapa-ble of heavenly felicity as it is for an aerial fairy to fare on Earth. What good then can possibly accrue to us from the union of the body and mind, which are repug-nant to one another, and which of their own nature can never be reconciled together?
The mind being weakened, the body has no pain to un-dergo, wherefore, the body is always striving to weaken the mind. Though both are troublesome to us in their different natures, yet their union to one end is benefi-cial to us, as the collaboration of fire and water is for the purpose of cooking.
That for which the body of mine craves its enjoyments is neither mine nor do I belong to it; what is the good therefore of bodily pleasures to me. It is certain that I am neither myself the body nor is the body mine in any way; just as a corpse with all its parts entire, is nobody at all. Therefore, I am something besides this body of mine, and that is everlasting and never sets in its glory; it is by means of this that I have that light in me, whereby I perceive the luminous Sun in the sky.
Where there is the Soul of Self, there is neither the mind nor senses nor desire of any kind, as the vile Pa-maras never reside in the contiguity of Princes.
I have attained to that state in which I have surpassed all things, and it is the state of my soliety, my extinc-tion, my indivisibility, and my want of desires. I am now loosened from the bonds of my mind, body, and the senses, as the oil, which is extracted from the seeds of sesame and separated from the sediments.
I walk about freely in this state of my transcendental-ism, and my mind, which is disjoined from the bonds of the body, considers its members as its dependent in-struments and accompaniments.
I find myself to be now situated in a state of transpar-ency and buoyancy, of self-contentment and intelli-gence, and of true reality.
I feel my full joy and calmness and preserve my reserv-edness in speech. I find my fullness and magnanimity, my comeliness and evenness of temper.
I see the unity of all things and feel my fearlessness and want of duality, choice, and option.
I find these qualities to be ever attendant on me. They are constant and faithful, easy and graceful and always propitious to me, and my unshaken attachment to them has made them as heartily beloved consorts to me.
I find myself as all and in all, at all times and in every manner, and yet, I am devoid of all desire for or dislike to anyone and am equally unconcerned with whatever is pleasant or unpleasant, agreeable or disagreeable to me. Removed from the cloud of error and melancholy, and released from dubitation and duplicity in my thoughts, I peregrinate myself as a flimsy cloud in the cooling atmosphere of the autumnal sky.
QUIESCENCE OF UDDALAKA
Uddalaka’s Pranava-Yoga and meditation;
his quietus in and coalescence with it.
The first step of his practice of Yoga is through
the utterance of the syllable OM or AUM (A-acute or Rechaka yoga; then, U-grave or Kumbhaka yoga;
then, M-circumflex or Puraka yoga);
the second step and middle step of his Kumbhaka
breathing and not by Hatha Yoga;
the third step of his Puraka breathing.
Lord Vasishtha: Thinking himself to be raised to this state of transcendence, the Saint sat in his posture of padmasana with his half-shut eye-lids and began to meditate in his translucent mind. In the state of calm and quiet repose, his limbs dropped down as in the drowsiness of sleep, and their powers were absorbed in the channel of his self-consciousness, as a flood recoils to its basin when it is bound by an embankment.
It was then by means of his constant inquiry that he advanced to the state of his intellectuality, from that of his consciousness of himself, as the gold that is mould-ed to the form of a jewel, is reduced afterwards to the pure metal only.
Then, leaving his intellectuality, he thought himself as the Intellect of his intellect and then became of another form and figure, as when the clay is converted to a pot.
Then leaving his nature of a thinkable being, he be-came the subjective thinking Intellect itself, and next to that, as identic with the pure universal Intellect, just as the waves of the sea resolve their globules into the common air.
Losing the sight of particulars, he saw the Great One as the container of all, and then he became as one with the sole vacuous Intellect. He found his felicity in this extra phenomenal state of the noumenon, which like the ocean, is the reservoir of all moistures.
He passed out of the confines of his body, and then went to a certain spot, where leaving his ordinary form, he became like a sea of joy. His intellect swam over that sea of joy like a floating swan (Hansa) and re-mained there for many years with as serene a lustre as the moon shines in her fullness in the clear firmament. It remained as still as a lamp in the breathless air; it was as calm as the clear lake without its waves, and as the sea after a storm, and as immovable as a cloud after it has poured out its waters.
As Uddalaka had been sitting in this full blaze of light, he beheld the aerial Siddhas and a group of gods. The group of Siddhas that were eager to confer the ranks of the Sun and Indra upon him, assembled around him with groups of Gandharvas and Apsaras, from all sides of heaven. But the saint took no notice of them, nor gave them their due honour, but remained in deep thought, and in the continuance of his steady medita-tion.
Without paying any regard to the assemblage of the Siddhas, he remained still in his blissful abode of his bliss, as the Sun remains in the solstices, or in the northern hemisphere for half of the year.
While he continued in the enjoyment of his blessed state of living liberation, the gods Hari, Hara, and Brahma waited at his door, together with the bodies of Siddhas, Sadhyas, and other deities beside them. He now remained in his state of indifference, which lies between the two opposites of sorrow and joy, and nei-ther of which is of long continuance, except the middle state of insouciance, which endureth for ever.
When the mind is situated in its state of neutrality, and whether it is for a moment or a thousand years, it has no more any relish for pleasure, by seeing its future joys of the next world, as already begun in this.
When holy men have gained that blissful state of this life, they look no more on the outward world, but turn aside from it, as men avoid a thorny bush of brambles. The Saints that attained to this state of transcendental bliss, do not stop to look upon the visible world, and as one who is seated in the heavenly car of Citraratha, never alights on the thorny bush of the Khadira.
Uddalaka thus remained in his holy seat for six months. He beheld before him the assemblage of the bright be-ings of enlightened minds, hailed the hermit with high veneration. They addressed the great-souled and saintly Uddalaka with saying, “Deign, O’ Venerable Sir, to look upon us that have been waiting here upon you with our greetings. Vouchsafe to mount on one of these heavenly cars, and repair to our celestial abode, because heaven is the last abode, where you shall have the full gratification of your desires after this life. There remain to enjoy your desired pleasures, until the end of this kalpa age; because it is pure heavenly bliss, which is the inheritance of Saints, and the main aim and ob-ject of ascetic austerities on Earth.”
The hermit heard his heavenly guests, speaking in this manner, and then honoured then as he ought, without being moved by aught they said unto him. He neither complemented them with his courtesy nor changed the tenor of his even and unexcitable mind, but biding them depart in peace, he betook himself to his wonted devotion.
At last, the saintly Uddalaka chose his abode in a cav-ern, lying at the foot of a mountain, and there dedicat-ed the remainder of his life to devotion and meditation in his seclusion.
After this Yoga was over, he came out and mixed with the world, and though he was sometimes engaged in the affairs of life, yet he was quite reserved in his con-duct and abstracted in his mind. Being practised to mental abstraction, he became one with the divine Mind, and shone resplendent in all places, like the broad daylight in view.
He was habituated to ponder on the community of the mind (existence), till he became one with the Universal Mind, which spreads alike throughout the universe, and neither rises nor sets anywhere like the solar light.
He gained the state of perfect tranquillity, and his even-mindedness is all places, which released him from the snare of doubts, and of the pain of repeated births and deaths. His mind became as clear and quiet as the au-tumnal sky, and his body shone like the Sun at every place.
TRANSCENDENTALISM OF UDDALAKA
Meditation on the universality of the Soul and Intellect.
Prince Rama: Venerable Sir! You are the Sun of the day of spiritual knowledge, and the burning fire of the night of my doubts; and you who are the cooling moon to the heat of my ignorance, will deign to explain to me, what is meant by the community of existence?
Lord Vasishtha: When the thinking principle or mind is wasted and weakened and appears to be extinct and null, the Intellect, which remains in common in all be-ings is called the common intelligence (Nous) of all. And this Intellect when it is devoid of its intellection and is absorbed in itself and becomes as transparent as it is nothing of itself, it is then called the common (Samanga) Intellect.
And likewise, when it ignores the knowledge of all its internal and external objects, it remains as the common Intellect and unconscious of any personality. When all visible objects are considered to have a common exist-ence and to be of the same nature with one’s self, it is designated the common Intellect.
When the phenomena are all engulfed of themselves in the common Spirit, and there remains nothing as dif-ferent from it, it is then called the one common entity. This common view of all things as one and the same is called transcendentalism, and it becomes alike, both to embodied and disembodied beings in both worlds.
It places the liberated being above the fourth stage of consummation (Turiya). It is the enlightened Soul, which is exalted by the ecstasy that can have this common view of all as one; and not the ignorant. This common view of all existence is entertained by all great and liberated beings, as it is the same moisture and air that is spread through the whole Earth and vacuum.
Sages like ourselves, as Narada and others, and the gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, have this common view of all things in existence. The saintly Uddalaka enter-tained this view of the community of all beings and things, and having thereby, attain to that state of per-fection, which is free from fear or fall, he lived as long as he liked to live in this Earthly sphere.
After the lapse of a long time, he thought of enjoying the bliss of disembodied or spiritual liberation in the next world, by quitting his frail mortal frame on Earth. His habitual consciousness of intellection taught him the community of the intellect, and it was by this con-stant communion with the Intellect that he perceived a flood of internal bliss in himself.
This feeling of his internal bliss, resulting from his con-sciousness of intellectual community, led him to think himself as identic with the entity of the infinite Soul, and supporting the universal whole. He remained with an even composure, in his state of transcendent quiet-ness, and enjoyed an even rapture in himself, with a placid countenance.
Being unruffled by the transport of his spiritual bliss, and attaining the state of divine holiness, he remained for a long time in his abstract meditation, by abstract-ing his mind from all thoughts and errors of the world. His great body remained as fixed as an image in a paint-ing and shone as bright as the autumnal sky illumined by the beams of the full moon.
In course of some days, his soul gradually forgot its mortal state, and it found it’s rest in his pure spiritual bliss, as the moisture of trees is deposited in the rays of the Sun at the end of autumn.
Being devoid of all desire, doubts, and levity of his mind, and freed from all foul and of pleasurable inclina-tions of his body, he attained to that supreme bliss on the loss of his former joys, before which the prosperity of Indra appeared as a straw, floating on the vast ex-panse of the ocean.
The Brahmana then attained to that state of his sum-mum-bonum, which is unmeasurable and pervades through all space of the measureless vacuum, and which fills the universe and is felt by the enraptured Yogi alone. It is what is called the supreme and infinite bliss, having neither its beginning nor end and being a reality without any property assignable to itself.
While the Brahmana attained to this first state of con-summation and had the clearness of his understanding; during the first six months of his devotion, his body became emaciated by the Sunbeams, and the winds of heaven whistled over his dry frame, with the sound of lute strings. After a long time had lapsed in this man-ner, the daughter of the mountain King, Parvati, came to the spot, accompanied by the Matris, and shinning like flames of fire with the grey locks of hair on their heads, as if to confer the boon of his austere devotion.
Among them was the goddess Camunda, who is adored by the gods. She took up the living skeleton of the Brahmana and placed it on her crown, which added a new lustre to her frame at night. Thus, was the disgust-ing and dead like body of Uddalaka, set and placed over the many ornaments on the body of the goddess, and it was only for her valuing it as more precious than all other jewels, on account of its intrinsic merit of spiritu-al knowledge.
Whosoever plants this plant of the life and conduct of Uddalaka in the garden of his heart will find it always flourishing with the flowers of knowledge and the fruits of divine bliss within himself. And, whosoever walks under the shadow of his growing arbour, he is never to be subject to death but will reap the fruit of his higher progress in the path of liberation.
Proceed in this manner to know the universal Soul in your own soul, and thereby, obtain your rest in that holy state. You must consider all things by the light of the Sastras, and dive into their true meaning; you will also benefit yourselves by the lectures of your precep-tor, and by pondering on them in your own mind, as also by your constant practice of ignoring the visible, until you come to know the invisible One.
It is by your habitual dispassionateness, your acquaint-ance with the Sastras and their meanings, and your hearing the lectures of the spiritual teachers, as well as your own conviction that you gain the holy state, whereby you can come to it.
It is also by your enlightened understanding too, when it is acute and unbiased that you can attain to that ever-lasting state of felicity, without the medium of any-thing else.
Excerpted from The Yoga-Vasishtha of Valmiki.
EPILOGUE
There is neither bondage nor Nirvana,
for there is only the One without a second!
Say then, who goes where and who returns from where, who is bound and who is unbound?
If life is deeply and thoroughly understood, say then, how can life repeat itself?
Only when one can deeply and thoroughly understand life, can life cease to repeat itself.
To deeply and
thoroughly understand life, one needs to deeply
and thoroughly understand death.
Only, Atmani is here reborn to enforce its own deep
and thorough understanding of life.
Only, the idea of life or the states of consciousnesses are falsely held in the egocentric memory (puryastakas) as the source of existence,
for the Brahmana guest (Atmani; soul) is merely seen to be deluded through Maya (Avidya)
and nothing else besides, for mortal life is transient and “unreal.”
Mortal life is imagined in the sphere of
the spatiotemporal aspect of the mind;
life is a dream of the deluded soul!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
There is no need to understand me, the need is to
understand thy self, for once you understand yourself, the need to understand me or others will cease.
DIPPACK MISTRI 