PART-2- BRAHM KOWLEDGE

section 22. GOD.--These two ideas, empiric servitude to Works and transcendental freedom, leave little room for a Supreme God or moral guide of the experiences of souls. The older texts practically ignore such a power; their polytheistic myths are merely echoes from the Veda, allegorically turned, and when they refer to a supreme deity they mean the higher Self within man. Later authors, however, began occasionally to set up in theistic fashion a distinction between the Self within and the Self without. This finally led to the conception of the later Vedanta, in which the Supreme Self, styled "the Lord" (Is'vara), is given the function of directing as efficient cause the course of "works," so that each comes to its requital in due season and form, while the direct responsibility for all man's experiences is thrown upon the inward Self. In other circles the same theistic current led to the identification of this Atma-God with one of the great popular deities, usually Vishnu or S'iva; and thus arose the great theologies, of which the most significant is the Bhagavad-gita, a compromise between Upanishadic idealism, Sankhya physics, and practical faith. The first definite theism is in Kath. II. 20 (?), 23, III. i., v. 13, Mund. III. ii. 3, Is'a 8, S'vet. III 20, IV.-VI., etc. Worship of Brahma-Atma is however frequently mentioned in the Upanishads. It is an adoration of the Self either in its unqualified absoluteness (cf. Ch. III. xiv. 1, "Brahma in sooth is this All; it hath therein its beginning, end, and breath; so one should worship it in stillness"), or as allegorically typified by some physical force (see section 5), or as represented by the sacred syllable Om or Aum, upon which see especially Mand. and Pra. v., which sets forth the three degrees of reward for meditation upon one, two, or three elements of this word; cf. S'ankara on Brahma-sutra, I. iii. 13. See also section section 8, 24.

S'ankara (on Brahma-sutra, II. iii. 29) claims that wherever the Vedas and Upanishads represent the absolute Brahma under the form of "determinations" ( section 12), this is for the purpose of worship of Brahma as qualified Supreme, saguna, e.g. in Ch. III. xiv. The conception of the soul's relation to God as that of a servant to his master is justified by him (on II. iii. 43 f.), inasmuch as Brahma by his supreme "determinations" regulates the activity of the empiric soul in the exercise of its inferior "determinations." He permits the worship of this "qualified Brahma," i.e. the Absolute conceived under the forms of empiric thought, but regards it as inferior in saving power to the true knowledge (see section section 24, 25). The works of religion--ritual and devotion--are of value only as aids to enlightenment; they are not necessary, and after enlightenment is gained they lose all significance (on III. iv. 25 f., IV. i. 1 f.).

section 23. BRAHMA THE DESTROYER.--As we saw, the Upanishads are full of cosmogonies inherited from Vedic religion; but apparently they have not yet arrived at the belief in a periodical course of alternate creation, maintenance, and dissolution of worlds which later became general in India. The earlier texts several times describe Brahma or some cognate power as consuming his creatures separately; but a collective destruction is nowhere mentioned in them.

In the later Vedanta the theory of periodical cataclysms is formally accepted. Again and again the universe is created, and after a time dissolved again into indiscrete potentiality; this cycle of birth and death is without beginning and without end ( section 12). In the intervals between destruction and the following creation the eternal Veda, with its Brahmanas and Upanishads, rests as a potential force in the thought of Brahma; and at the beginning of creation the ideas contained in it serve as archetypes for the formation of all phenomena in the now emerging universe, and are revealed to inspired sages, its karma-kanda or practical section (the four Vedas and the bulk of the Brahmanas) to guide men to ritual and consequent worldly welfare, its jnana-kanda or theoretical section (chiefly the Upanishads) to teach them the true knowledge of Brahma.

section 24. SALVATION.--I. Upanishads.--Release of the soul (mukti, moksha), which falls to the lot of the elect few, consists in enlightenment, intuitive vision of the eternal unity of the thinker's Self with Brahma, to which he has hitherto been blind. When once this saving knowledge has been gained, the enlightened man is no longer under the power of "works." He has everything in himself, for he is one with the All; together with the false idea of a self distinct from the universal Self the forces of former works have vanished away; thus he has no desire and no pain, and can have none. And when his soul has cast off the body, it will be reborn nevermore; it is united for ever with the Absolute Brahma. See especially the fine exposition in B.A. IV. ii.-iv.; also Ch. VII. xxvi. 2, Taitt. II. 9, Kena 11-12, Mund. II. ii. 8, III. ii. 9, and S'ankara on Brahma-sutra, I. i. 4, III. iv. 1 f., IV. i. 13 f.

II. Later Vedanta.--S'ankara points out that this saving intuition is unattainable by effort of will or thought; it arises from the power of the inner self, the metaphysical ego within us, which from a theistic and therefore empiric standpoint may be conceived as personal God, "the Lord," or "qualified Brahma" ( section section 12, 22). This knowledge annuls not only all sins, but likewise all works, no matter whether good or bad, which have not yet begun to bear fruit in present experience. The works however which are the cause of the present series of experience must continue in operation even after the attainment of enlightenment, until their power is exhausted, whereupon the soul leaves the flesh for ever, as the potter's wheel continues to run round for a while after the potter's hand has been removed; but this subsequent bodily experience no longer has any influence upon the soul. The B.A. IV. iv. 6 teaches that, whereas on death the souls of those who have only exoteric knowledge or no knowledge at all go forth to continue in empiric conditions, the Self of the enlightened man does not "go out" (na utkramanti), but enters into Brahma, with entire annihilation of spatial conditions; its upadhis or "determinations" wholly vanish, and it is absorbed in abstract entirety into the abstract Brahma (on Brahma-sutra III. iii. 30, IV. ii. 12 f.). See section 15.

There has been much speculation upon the divisions of karma. A common classification is that which divides it into sanchita, prarabdha, and kriyamana. The sanchita or "accumulated" karma is that which was created in former births and has not yet begun to operate upon the soul. Prarabdha or "commenced" karma is that which has already begun to affect the soul. Kriyamana is "being made," that is, it is the activity of the present which will influence the soul in future births. The intellectual illumination of perfect "Brahma-knowledge" annuls both sanchita and kriyamana; only the prarabdha remains, and this exhausts itself mechanically by prolonging the sage's physical life until all influence of karma is spent, and his body then dies.

The later Vedanta designates by the term jivanmukti the condition of the enlightened sage previous to death, while his prarabdha karma is exhausting itself; his subsequent condition is called videha-mukti, "emancipation in freedom from the body."

section 25. THE AFTER LIFE.--I. Upanishads.--Good deeds are requited, according to the Veda, in another world, the heaven of the gods and the fathers. The Brahmanas regard the heaven of the gods as a place of recompense for the good, and the abode of the fathers as a hell in which men are reborn to lives of suffering proportioned to their sins in this world. Finally we meet the doctrine of transmigration definitively set forth in the Upanishads, by which retribution is effected, in part at any rate, by rebirth in this world.

The fullest eschatological scheme in the Upanishads is given in the parallel passages Ch. V. iii.-x., B.A. VI. ii. The first half of these sections (Ch. V. iii.-ix., B.A. VI. ii. 1-14) sets forth the theory that on death the soul goes to heaven in a sublimated form, here allegorically styled "waters" and "faith" (a conception in which are united the two ideas of "subtle body" and "works"), and from heaven returns at once to earthly birth, being sacrificed by the gods successively in the fires of heaven, the atmosphere, earth, man, and woman. Here there is no idea of requital in any world but this. The further paragraphs expound a more complicated theory of requital both in the other world and here. The souls of the sages who "worship Faith as their mortification in the woods" (they who have the saving knowledge) ascend by a series of stages which lead to the sun, thence to the moon, thence to the lightning, and thence to Brahma, the "supreme light," from which they never return. This is the "Way of the Gods," deva-yana. The souls of those who do pious works in the village (but have not won full enlightenment and withdrawn from the world) rise by the "Way of the Fathers," pitri-yana, which leads finally to the moon, where in the company of the gods they enjoy the full recompense of their good deeds; after this they pass down to honourable rebirth on earth through successive stages (ether, wind, smoke, mist, cloud, rain, vegetation, food, and seed). The sinful, according to Ch. V. x. 7, have also a proportionate share in the joys of the moon, and are afterwards reborn in the forms of base animals or equally degraded races of men; according to B.A. this rebirth is immediate. On the other hand the famous passage B.A. IV. iv. 2-6 knows only of rebirth in recompense.

II. Later Vedanta.--S'ankara's system in the main follows these doctrines. He holds that the truly enlightened become immediately one with Brahma ( section 24). But those souls which are bound in the empirical world must accordingly pass through empirical spheres of recompense. They who have the lower or exoteric knowledge and worship the "qualified Brahma" ( section 12) pass through the "Way of the Gods" to the paradise called the "world of Brahma"; here according to their merits they either gain by degrees the saving knowledge which transports them for ever to the Absolute Brahma (krama-mukti), or else they have due enjoyment of heavenly bliss until their "works" have shrunk to a residue (anus'aya), whereupon they descend to honourable earthly incarnations. They who have done pious works travel by the "Way of the Fathers" to the moon, where they share the pleasures of paradise with the gods, and thence in due time return to earth. Those who have neither knowledge nor good works pass to hell, there to expiate their sins in part before rebirth in lower forms; and besides hell S'ankara, following the obscure words of the Ch., admits a "third place" of punishment, viz. rebirth as the lowest and most ephemeral animals (on Brahma-sutra, III. i. 8 f.).

When men of inferior knowledge or good works die, their sense-functions are merged into the manas, manas into "breaths," "breaths" into the individual soul, which together with the "subtle body" passes into the heart, of which the peak is now lit up (B.A. IV. iv. 2); thence the soul of the man of lower knowledge travels out by the sushumna (an imaginary vein leading to the top of the head) by the road of the sun's rays (Ch. VIII. vi. 5), to the "Way of the Gods," but that of the man of good works issues by way of the other 100 chief veins of the body into the "Way of the Fathers" (on Brahma-sutra IV. ii. 17 f.). On IV. iii. 1 f. S'ankara endeavours to reconcile the discrepant lists of the stations in the "Way of the Gods" given in Ch. IV. xv. 5, V. x. 1, B.A. VI. ii. 15, and Kau. I. iii., and points out that by their names are to be understood their presiding deities. As regards the road of return to rebirth, he follows Ch. V. x. 5 f. and B.A. VI. ii. 16 (on III. i. 22 f.).

PART II

SOME TEXTS OF THE VEDANTA

I. CREATION

1. IN the beginning this universe was Self alone; there was naught else open-eyed. He bethought Himself: "Now I will create worlds!"

He created these worlds--the Ocean, the Light, the Dead, the Waters. That is the Ocean which is beyond the heaven; the heaven is its foundation. The Light is the sky. The Dead is the Earth; the Waters are those beneath.

He bethought Himself: "There are the worlds; now I will create world-wardens!" He drew from the waters Man, [*2] and made him solid. He brooded over him. When he had been brooded over, his mouth burst asunder like an egg; from his mouth arose Speech, from speech Fire. His nostrils burst asunder; from his nostrils arose the incoming Breath, from the Breath Wind. His eyes burst asunder; from his eyes arose Sight, from Sight the Sun. His ears burst asunder; from his ears arose Hearing, from Hearing Space. His skin burst asunder; from his skin arose hair, from the hair plants and trees. His heart burst asunder; from his heart arose Mind, from Mind the Moon. His navel burst asunder: from his navel arose the outgoing Breath, from the Breath Death. His secret parts burst asunder; from his secret parts arose seed, from seed the Waters.

2. These gods, having been created, fell into this great ocean; this He gave over to Hunger and Thirst. [*1] They said to Him: "Find out for us a dwelling-place in which we may rest and eat food." He brought them a cow. They said: "This is not enough for us." He brought them a horse. They said: "This is not enough for us." He brought them a man. They said: "Well done, forsooth!" For man is in sooth well done. He said to them: "Enter, each according to your dwelling-places." So Fire, becoming Speech, entered his mouth; Wind, becoming the incoming Breath, entered his nostrils; the Sun, becoming Sight, entered his eyes; Space, becoming Hearing, entered his ears; the Plants and Trees, becoming hair, entered his skin; the Moon, becoming Mind, entered his heart; Death, becoming the outgoing Breath, entered his navel; the Waters, becoming seed, entered his secret parts.

Hunger and Thirst said to Him: "Find out for us a dwelling-place." He said to them: "I give you a share with these gods, I make you partners with them." Therefore it is that whosoever be the godhead for whom an offering is taken, Hunger and Thirst are partners therein.

3. He bethought Himself: "There are the worlds and the world-wardens; now I will create for them Food."

He brooded over the waters; when they had been brooded over, there arose from the waters a shape. The shape that arose was Food.

When this was created, it sought to escape Him. He sought to seize it with Speech, but could not; if He had seized it with Speech, one might have been filled with food through speaking only. He sought to seize it with the incoming Breath, but could not; if He had seized it with the Breath, one might have been filled with food through breathing only. He sought to seize it with the Eye, but could not; if He had seized it with the Eye, one might have been filled with food through sight only. He sought to seize it with the Ears but could not; if He had seized it with the Ear, one might have been filled with food through hearing only. He sought to seize it with the Skin, but could not; if He had seized it with the Skin, one might have been filled with food through touch only. He sought to seize it with the Mind, but could not; if He had seized it with the Mind, one might have been filled with food through thinking only. He sought to seize it with the secret parts, but could not; if He had seized it with the secret parts, one might have been filled with food through excretion only. He sought to seize it with the outgoing Breath, and He swallowed it. It is the Wind that grasps Food, the Wind that wins Food.

He bethought Himself: "How can this be without me?" He bethought Himself: "By what way shall I come in?" He bethought Himself: "If speaking is by speech, in-breathing by the in-breath, sight by the eye, hearing by the ear, touch by the skin, thinking by the mind, out-breathing by the out-breath, excretion by the secret parts, then who am I?" [*2]

He cleft asunder the crown of the head, and by that door came in. This door is called the "cleft"; it makes for bliss.

Three dwellings has He, and three dream-states --this is His dwelling, this His dwelling, this His dwelling.

Having been born, He surveyed living things. "What is here," said He, "that one would call other [than Me]?" He saw man to be most utterly Brahma, and He said, "idam adars'am" ("I have seen it"). Therefore He has the name Idan-dra. His name is indeed Idan-dra; but him who is Idan-dra men call Indra, in a dark manner; for the gods love what is dark.

II. WHO AM I?

The heart, the mind, consciousness, comprehension, understanding, intelligence, wisdom, insight, resolution, thought, prudence, eagerness, memory, conception, power, life, desire, will--all these are names of the Intelligence. This is Brahma, this is Indra, this is Praja-pati, this is all the gods, the five great elements Earth, Wind, Ether, Water, and Light, the tiny creatures and they that are midway, the seeds of either kind, the creatures born from eggs, membranes, sweat, and sprouts, the horses, oxen, men, elephants, whatsoever is breathing, walking or flying, and whatso is motionless; all this is guided by intelligence, founded on intelligence. The universe is guided by intelligence, founded on intelligence. Intelligence is Brahma.

III. THE WORLD WITHIN

"Now within this town of Brahma is a dwelling, a little lotus-flower; within this is a little space; what is therewithin men should inquire after, yea, should seek to know."

If they should say to him: "Within this town of Brahma is a dwelling, a little lotus-flower; within this is a little space; what is found there-within which men should inquire after, yea, should seek to know?"--

he shall say: "Verily that space within the heart is as great as this Space; therein are lodged both heaven and earth, both fire and wind, both sun and moon, lightning and stars, what one hath here and what he hath not, all this is lodged therein."

If they should say to him: "If all this is lodged in this town of Brahma, and all beings and all desires--what remains thereof when old age comes upon it, or it dissolves?"--

he shall say: "This grows not old with his aging, nor is it smitten by slaying of him. This is the true town of Brahma. In it are lodged the Desires. It is the Self, free from evil, ageless, deathless, sorrowless, hungerless, thirstless, real of desire, real of purpose...So they who depart without finding here the Self and these real Desires, walk not as they list in any worlds; but they who depart after finding here the Self and these real Desires, walk as they list in all worlds...

These real Desires are covered over by Untruth; real as they are, Untruth is their covering. Man here can see no more any of his folk who depart hence. But when he goes there [*2] he finds all--those of his folk who are living, and those who have departed, and whatever else he wins not for seeking. For there those real Desires are that were covered over by Untruth. It is as with men who, knowing not the ground, should walk again and again over a hidden treasure and find it not; even so all creatures, coming to it day by day, find not this Brahma-world, for they are cast back by Untruth ...

Now that perfect Peace, rising up from this body, enters into the Supreme Light and issues forth in its own semblance. This is the Self," said he, "this is the deathless, the fearless; this is Brahma...

Now the Self is the dyke holding asunder the worlds that they fall not one into another. Over this dyke pass not day and night, nor old age, nor death, nor sorrow, nor good deeds, nor bad deeds. All ills turn away thence; for this Brahma-world is void of ill. Therefore in sooth the blind, after passing over this dyke is no more blind, the wounded no more wounded, the sick no more sick. Therefore in sooth even Night after passing over this dyke issues forth as Day; for in this Brahma-world is everlasting light"

IV. THE INFINITE I

"Verily this All is Brahma. It has therein its birth, end, breath; as such one should worship it in stillness.

Verily man is made of will. As is man's will in this world, such he becomes on going hence; so let him frame the will.

Made of mind, bodied in breath, shaped in light, real of purpose, ethereal of soul, all-working, all-desiring, all-smelling, all-tasting, grasping this All, speaking naught, heeding naught--this is my Self within my heart, smaller than a rice-corn, or a barley-corn, or a mustard-seed, or a canary-seed, or the pulp of a canary-seed--this is my Self within my heart, greater than earth, greater than sky, greater than heaven, greater than these worlds. All-working, all-desiring, all-smelling, all-tasting, grasping this All, speaking naught, heeding naught--this is my Self within my heart, this is Brahma; to Him shall I win when I go hence. He with whom it is thus has indeed no doubt." Thus spake S'andilya.

V. KNOW THY SELF

The world then was not yet unfolded. It became unfolded in Name and Shape, so that one might say, "He of this or that name is of this or that shape." So even now it becomes unfolded in Name and Shape, so that one may say, "He of this or that name is of this or that shape." He passed into it up to the nail-tips, as a razor might be laid in a razor-case or the All-Supporter in the All-Supporter's nest. They see Him not; for He is divided. As breathing, He is called Breath; as speaking, Speech; as seeing, Sight; as hearing, Hearing; as thinking, Mind; these are the names for his workings. A man who worships one or another thereof understands not; for He is but in division as one or another thereof. So He should be worshipped as the Self; for therein do all these become one.

This Self is the track of the universe, for by it is the universe known, yea, as a thing may be followed up by its track. Fame and praise a man finds who has such knowledge.

This Self is dearer than a son, dearer than substance, dearer than all beside, more inward. If of a man who calls another than the Self dear it should be said that he will lose his darling, it may well come to pass. He should worship the Self only as darling; for him who worships the Self as darling his darling perishes not.

They say: "Seeing that men deem that by knowledge of Brahma they shall become the universe, what did Brahma know that He became the universe?"

The world forsooth was in the beginning Brahma. It knew itself, "I am Brahma"; therefore it became the universe. And whosoever of the gods understood this also became the same; likewise of sages and of men. Seeing this, the sage Vamadeva set it forth, saying: "I have become Manu and the Sun." So now likewise he who knows "I am Brahma" becomes the universe. The very gods have no power that he should not be so; for he becomes the Self of them.

Now he who worships another godhead, saying "This is not the same as I," understands not; he is as it were a beast belonging to the gods. Even as many beasts profit a man, so each man profits the gods. It is unpleasing when one beast is taken away; how much more when many are taken! Therefore it is not pleasing to them that men should know this.

VI. PARABLES

"If one should smite upon the root of this great tree, beloved, it would sweat sap, and live. If one should smite upon its midst, it would sweat sap, and live. If one should smite upon its top, it would sweat sap, and live. Instinct with the Live Self, it stands full lush and glad.

But if the Live One leave one bough, it withers. If it leave another bough, it withers. If it leave a third bough, it withers. If it leave the whole, the whole withers. So know, beloved," said he, "the thing whence the Live One has departed does indeed die; but the Live One dies not. In this subtleness has this All its essence; it is the True; it is the Self; thou art it, S'vetaketu."

"Let my lord teach me further."

"Be it so, beloved," said he.

"Bring from yonder a fig."

"Here it is, my lord."

"Break it."

"It is broken, my lord."

"What seest thou in it? "

"Here are but little seeds, my lord."

"Now break one of them."

"It is broken, my lord."

"What seest thou in it?"

"Naught whatsoever, my lord."

And he said to him: "Of that subtleness which thou canst not behold, beloved, is this great fig-tree made. Have faith, beloved. In this subtleness has this All its essence; it is the True; it is the Self; thou art it, S'vetaketu."

"Let my lord teach me further."

"Be it so, beloved," said he.

"Lay this salt in water, and on the morrow draw nigh to me." And he did so. Then he said to him: "Bring me the salt which thou laidst in the water yester eve."

He felt, but found it not; it was as melted away.

"Drink from this end thereof. How is it?"

"It is salty."

"Drink from the midst. How is it?"

"It is salty."

"Drink from yonder end. How is it?"

"It is salty."

"Lay it aside, and draw nigh to me." And he did so.

"It is still present," said he to him; "herein forsooth thou canst not behold Being, beloved, but herein soothly it is. In this subtleness has this All its essence; it is the True; it is the Self; thou art it, S'vetaketu."

VII. THE SOUL IN SLEEP

"What is the Self?"

"It is the Spirit made of understanding among the Breaths, the inward light within the heart, that walks abroad, abiding the same, through both worlds. He meditates, as it were; He hovers about, as it were. Turned to sleep, He passes beyond this world, the shapes of death.

This Spirit at birth enters into the body, and is blent with evils; at death He passes out, and leaves evils.

Two seats has this Spirit, this and the seat in the world beyond; and midway is a third, the seat of dreams. Standing in this midway seat, He looks upon these two seats, this and the seat in the world beyond. Now as this is a step toward the seat in the world beyond, He makes this step and beholds both evils and delights.

When He sleeps, He takes matter from this all-containing world, Himself hews it down, Himself builds it up, and sleeps in His own brightness, His own light. Here the Spirit has Self for light.

Therein are no cars, no car-teams, no roads; but He creates cars, car-teams, roads. Therein are no joys, mirths, merriments; but He creates joys, mirths, merriments. Therein are no pools, lakes, streams; but He creates pools, lakes, streams. For He is the maker...

When in this dreaming He has wantoned and wandered, and seen good and evil, He hastens back according to His entrance and His place to the bound of waking. He is followed by naught of all that He has seen there; for to this Spirit nothing clings...

When in this waking He has wantoned and wandered, and seen good and evil, He hastens back according to His entrance and His place to the bound of dreams. Even as a great fish passes along both banks, on this side and on yonder side, so this Spirit passes along both bounds, the bound of dreaming and the bound of waking.

But as a falcon or an eagle, when it is wearied with flying about in yonder sky, folds its wings and sets itself to couch down, so this Spirit hastens toward that bound wherein He sleeps desiring no desire, beholding no dream... Whatever waking terror He sees [in dreams], when men seem to smite Him or to oppress Him, when an elephant seems to crush Him, or He seems to fall into a ditch, this in His ignorance He deems true. But when like a god, like a king, He thinks "I am this All, universal," this is the highest world for Him.

This is His shape wherein He is beyond desire, free from ill, fearless. As when a man embraced by his beloved knows naught of whatsoever is without or within, so this Spirit embraced by the Self of Intelligence knows naught of what is without or within. [*1] This is His shape wherein desire is won, desire is of Self, desire is not, grief is gone. Herein the father is no father, the mother no mother, the worlds no worlds, the Gods no Gods, the Vedas no Vedas; herein the thief is no thief, the murderer no murderer, the Chandala no Chandala, the Paulkasa no Paulkasa, the beggar-monk no beggar-monk, the ascetic no ascetic. Good attaches not, evil attaches not; for then has He overpast all griefs of the heart.

While He sees not, yet without seeing He sees; the sight of the seer is not to be broken, for it is imperishable. But there is naught beside Him, naught apart from Him, that He should see... When He understands not, yet without understanding He understands; the understanding of the understander is not to be broken, for it is imperishable. But there is naught beside Him, naught apart from Him, that He should understand.

If there should be as it were another, one would see another, smell another, taste another, speak to another, hear another, think of another, feel another, understand another.

The Seer is the Waters, one with naught beside. He is the Brahma-world, O king." Thus did Yajnavalkya teach him. "This is the highest way for Him, this the highest fortune for Him, this the highest world for Him, this the highest bliss for Him; of this bliss other creatures live on but a morsel."

VIII. GaRGi AND YaJNAVALKYA

"Yajnavalkya," said she, "as a warrior from the land of Kas'i or Videha might string his unstrung bow and come forward holding in his hand two arrows to pierce through his foe, even so I have come forward against thee with two questions; answer me them."

"Ask, Gargi."

"Yajnavalkya," said she, "that which is above the heavens, which is beneath the earth, which is midway between the heavens and the earth, which they call What hath been, What is, and What shall be--in what is it woven and woofed?"

"Gargi," said he, "that which is above the heavens, which is below the earth, which is midway between the heavens and the earth, which they call What hath been, What is, and What shall be, is woven and woofed in the ether."

"Homage to thee, Yajnavalkya," said she. "for thou hast answered me this; make ready for the other."

"Ask, Gargi."

"Yajnavalkya," said she, "that which is above the heavens, which is below the earth, which is midway between the heavens and the earth, which they call What hath been, What is, and What shall be--in what is it woven and woofed?"

"And in what is the ether woven and woofed?"

"Gargi," said he, "that is what Brahmans call the Unfading; it is not gross, not fine, not short, not long, not red, not fluid, not shadow, not darkness, not wind, not ether, not clinging, without taste, without smell, without eye, without ear, without speech, without mind, without vital force, without breath, without mouth, without measure, without aught inward, without aught outward; it consumes nothing, none consumes it. At the behest of the Unfading, Gargi, sun and moon are held asunder; at the behest of the Unfading, Gargi, heaven and earth are held asunder; at the behest of the Unfading, Gargi, minutes, hours, days and nights, fortnights, months, seasons, and years are held asunder; at the behest of the Unfading, Gargi, flow the rivers, some eastward from the white mountains, some westward, each in its own way. At the behest of the Unfading, Gargi, men praise givers, the Gods hang upon the sacrifice-giver, the Fathers upon the ladle. Indeed, Gargi, to him who makes oblation and sacrifice, and mortifies himself in this world for many thousands of years without knowing the Unfading, it comes to an end. Indeed, Gargi, he who departs from this world without knowing the Unfading is wretched. But he who departs from this world knowing the Unfading, Gargi, is the Brahman. Indeed, Gargi, the Unfading unseen sees, unheard hears, unthought thinks, uncomprehended comprehends. There is naught else than this which sees, naught else that hears, naught else that thinks, naught else that comprehends. In the Unfading, forsooth, Gargi, is the ether woven and woofed."

IX. THE EVERLASTING NAY

Verily this great unborn Self it is that is compact of understanding amid the life-breaths, that lies in the ether within the heart, master of all, lord of all, ruler of all; He becomes not greater by a good deed nor less by an ill deed; He is king of all, ruler of born beings, guardian of born beings, the dyke holding asunder these worlds that they fall not one into another. Brahmans seek to know Him by reading the Veda, by sacrifice, by charity, by mortification. Knowing Him, a man becomes a saint; wandering friars wander forth seeking Him for their world. Understanding this, the ancients desired not offspring: "What is offspring to us who have this Self for this world?" So having departed from desire of sons, from desire of substance, and desire of the world, they went about begging. For desire of sons is desire of substance, desire of substance is desire of the world; these are both desires.

This Self is Nay, Nay: not to be grasped, for He is not grasped; not to be broken, for He is not broken; unclinging, for He clings not; He is not bound, He trembles not, He takes no hurt. One [who knows this] is overcome neither by having done evil for His sake nor by having done good for His sake; he overcomes both; work done and work not done grieve him not.

This is said by a verse:

The Brahman's constant majesty by works

Nor waxes more, nor wanes. This shall he trace;

This known, ill deeds defile him nevermore.

X. THE SPIRIT WITHIN

Then Uddalaka Aruni questioned him.

"Yajnavalkya," said he, "we dwelt among the Madras, in the house of Patanchala Kapya, studying sacrifice. He had a wife who was possessed by a spirit; we asked him who he was, and he answered that he was Kabandha Atharvana, and said to Patanchala Kapya and to the students of sacrifice, "Knowest thou, Kapya, that Thread whereby this world and the world beyond and all creatures are bound together?" "Nay, my lord," said Patanchala Kapya, "I know it not." Then he said to Patanchala Kapya and the students of sacrifice, "Knowest thou, Kapya, that Inward Ruler who rules inwardly this world and the world beyond and all creatures?" "Nay, my lord," said Patanchala Kapya, "I know him not." Then he said to Patanchala Kapya and the students of sacrifice, "Verily, Kapya, he who should know that Thread and that Inward Ruler knows Brahma, knows the worlds, knows the Vedas, knows the creatures, knows the Self, knows the All." This he said to them: this I know. If thou, Yajnavalkya, shalt drive home the Brahman's cows without knowing that Thread and that Inward Ruler, thy head shall split."

"Verily, Gautama, I know that Thread and that Inward Ruler."

"Any man may say, "I know, I know"; but do thou say how thou knowest."

"Truly, Gautama," said he, "the wind is that Thread; for by the wind as thread, Gautama, this world and the world beyond and all creatures are bound together. Therefore, Gautama, they say of a man who has died that his limbs are relaxed; for by the wind as thread, Gautama, were they bound together."

"It is so, Yajnavalkya. Tell of the Inward Ruler."

"He who, dwelling in the earth, is other than the earth, whom the earth knows not, whose body the earth is, who inwardly rules the earth, is thy Self, the Inward Ruler, the deathless. He who, dwelling in the waters, is other than the waters, whom the waters know not, whose body the waters are, who inwardly rules the waters, is thy Self, the Inward Ruler, the deathless. He who, dwelling in the fire, is other than the fire, whom the fire knows not, whose body the fire is, who inwardly rules the fire, is thy Self, the Inward Ruler, the deathless. He who, dwelling in the sky, is other than the sky, whom the sky knows not, whose body the sky is, who inwardly rules the sky, is thy Self, the Inward Ruler, the deathless. He who, dwelling in the wind, is other than the wind, whom the wind knows not, whose body the wind is, who inwardly rules the wind, is thy Self, the Inward Ruler, the deathless. He who, dwelling in the heavens, is other than the heavens, whom the heavens know not, whose body the heavens are, who inwardly rules the heavens, is thy Self, the Inward Ruler, the deathless. He who, dwelling in the sun, is other than the sun, whom the sun knows not, whose body the sun is, who inwardly rules the sun, is thy Self, the Inward Ruler, the deathless. He who, dwelling in space, is other than space, whom space knows not, whose body space is, who inwardly rules space, is thy Self, the Inward Ruler, the deathless. He who, dwelling in moon and stars, is other than moon and stars, whom moon and stars know not, whose body moon and stars are, who inwardly rules moon and stars, is thy Self, the Inward Ruler, the deathless. He who, dwelling in the ether, is other than the ether, whom the ether knows not, whose body the ether is, who inwardly rules the ether, is thy Self, the Inward Ruler, the deathless. He who, dwelling in the dark, is other than the dark, whom the dark knows not, whose body the dark is, who inwardly rules the dark, is thy Self, the Inward Ruler, the deathless. He who, dwelling in the light, is other than the light, whom the light knows not, whose body the light is, who inwardly rules the light, is thy Self, the Inward Ruler, the deathless. Thus as to godhead; now as to nature. He who, dwelling in all beings, is other than all beings, whom all beings know not, whose body all beings are, who inwardly rules all beings, is thy Self, the Inward Ruler, the deathless. Thus as to nature; now as to personality. He who, dwelling in the breath, is other than the breath, whom the breath knows not, whose body the breath is, who inwardly rules the breath, is thy Self, the Inward Ruler, the deathless. He who, dwelling in speech, is other than speech, whom speech knows not, whose body speech is, who inwardly rules speech, is thy Self, the Inward Ruler, the deathless. He who, dwelling in the eye, is other than the eye, whom the eye knows not, whose body the eye is, who inwardly rules the eye, is thy Self, the Inward Ruler, the deathless. He who, dwelling in the ear, is other than the ear, whom the ear knows not, whose body the ear is, who inwardly rules the ear, is thy Self, the Inward Ruler, the deathless. He who, dwelling in the mind, is other than the mind, whom the mind knows not, whose body the mind is, who inwardly rules the mind, is thy Self, the Inward Ruler, the deathless. He who, dwelling in the skin, is other than the skin, whom the skin knows not, whose body the skin is, who inwardly rules the skin, is thy Self, the Inward Ruler, the deathless. He who, dwelling in the understanding, is other than the understanding, whom the understanding knows not, whose body the understanding is, who inwardly rules the understanding, is thy Self, the Inward Ruler, the deathless. He who, dwelling in the seed, is other than the seed, whom the seed knows not, whose body the seed is, who inwardly rules the seed, is thy Self, the Inward Ruler, the deathless. He unseen sees, unheard hears, unthought thinks, uncomprehended comprehends. There is no other than he who sees, no other who hears, no other who thinks, no other who comprehends. He is thy Self, the Inward Ruler, the deathless. All else is fraught with sorrow."

Then Uddalaka Aruni held his peace.

XI. THE WISDOM OF RAIKVA

Janas'ruti Pautrayana was a devout giver, bestowing much largesse, preparing much food. He caused lodgings to be built everywhere, that he might have men everywhere fed. Now in the night there flew swans by. One swan said to another, "Ho, ho, Dim-eye, Dim-eye! Janas'ruti Pautrayana's splendour is outspread like that of the heavens; so touch it not, lest thou burn thyself."

The other answered him, "Who forsooth is he of whom thou speakest as though he were Raikva of the Cart?"

"What meanest thou by Raikva of the Cart?"

"As the lower dice-throws fall under the winning four-throw, so whatsoever good deed the people do falls to him; of him who knows this and of that which he knows do I speak."

Janas'ruti Pautrayana overheard this. When he rose up, he said to his chamberlain, "Ho, thou speakest as of Raikva of the Cart; what meanest thou by Raikva of the Cart?"

"As the lower dice-throws fall under the winning four-throw, so whatsoever good deed the people do falls to him; of him who knows this and of that which he knows do I speak."

The chamberlain sought [Raikva], and came back, saying "I have found him not." [Janas'ruti] said to him, "Ho, go for him in the place where a Brahman is to be sought." [Raikva] was under a waggon, scratching his scabs; and he [*1] sat down before him, and said to him, "Art thou Raikva of the Cart, my lord?"

"Yea, I am," he answered.

The chamberlain came back, saying, "I have found him."

Then Janas'ruti Pautrayana took six hundred kine, a golden chain, and a mule-car, and drew near to him, and said, "Raikva, here are six hundred kine, a golden chain, and a mule-car; my lord, teach me the deity that thou worshippest."

But the other answered, "Fie on thee, base fellow; keep them for thyself, with thy kine!"

Then Janas'ruti Pautrayana took a thousand kine, a golden chain, a mule-car, and his daughter, and drew near to him, and said, "Raikva, here are a thousand kine, a golden chain, a mule-car, a wife, and the village in which thou art sitting; my lord, teach me!"

He lifted up her face, and said, "He has brought these! Base fellow, with this face alone thou mightest have made me speak."

That is the place called Raikva-parna in the land of the Mahavrishas where he dwelt at his bidding.

Thus he said to him:

"The Wind in sooth is an ingatherer. When fire goes out, it sinks into the Wind. When the sun goes down, it sinks into the Wind. When the moon goes down, it sinks into the Wind. When waters dry up, they sink into the Wind. For the Wind gathers in all these. Thus as to godhead.

Now as to personality. The Breath is an in-gatherer. When one sleeps, the speech sinks into the Breath, the eye into the Breath, the ear into the Breath, the mind into the Breath. For the Breath gathers in all these. These are the two ingatherers, the Wind among the gods and the Breath among the breaths.

A Brahman-student begged alms of S'aunaka Kapeya and Abhipratari Kakshaseni when their meal was set before them. They gave him nothing. He said:

"Who is the one God, guardian of the world,

Who swallowed up the other mighty four?

On him, Kapeya, mortals may not look;

Abhipratari, many are his homes.

To him forsooth who has this food it is not given."

Then S'aunaka Kapeya, having pondered, answered him thus:

"The spirit of the Gods, the creatures' sire,

Golden of tooth and greedy he, nor witless.

Exceeding is his majesty, they say,

For he uneaten eats what none may eat.

"So this is what we worship, O Brahman student.

Give him alms!" And they gave to him.

These in sooth are the ten, five and five ; this is the four-throw. Therefore the ten, the four-throw, are in all parts of the world as food. This is Virat, eater of food; thereby all the world is seen. All the world is seen by him, he becomes an eater of food, who has this knowledge."

XII. SATYAKaMA

Satyakama Jabala thus addressed his mother Jabala: "I would keep the term of Brahman-studentship, madame; of what family am I?"

She said to him: "I know not, child, of what family thou art. I got thee in my youth, when I was much busied in doing service. I myself know not of what family thou art. But I am named Jabala, thou art named Satyakama; call thyself then Satyakama Jabala."

He went to Haridrumata Gautama and said: "I would keep the term of Brahman-studentship with thee, sir; let me come to thee, sir."

He said to him: "Of what family art thou, beloved?"

"I know not, sir," said he, "of what family I am. I asked my mother, and she answered me saying, "I got thee in my youth, when I was much busied in doing service; I myself know not of what family thou art; but I am named Jabala, thou art named Satyakama." So I am myself Satyakama Jabala, sir."

He said to him: "None but a Brahman can speak out thus. Bring the faggots, [*1] beloved. I will receive thee; thou hast not departed from truth."

When he had received him, he set aside four hundred lean and feeble cows, and said: "Herd thou these, beloved." As he drove them forth, [Satyakama] said: "I will not return but with a thousand." He stayed away some years; then when they had grown to a thousand, a bull said to him, "Satyakama!" "Sir!" he answered.

"We have come to a thousand, beloved; take us to the master's homestead. I will tell thee a quarter of Brahma."

"Tell me, sir."

And he said to him: "The eastern region is a sixteenth, the western region a sixteenth, the southern region a sixteenth, the northern region a sixteenth. This, beloved, is a quarter of Brahma, in four sixteenths, and called The Brilliant. He who with such knowledge worships this quarter of Brahma in four sixteenths as The Brilliant, becomes brilliant in this world; brilliant worlds he wins who with such knowledge worships this quarter of Brahma in four sixteenths as The Brilliant. The Fire will tell thee a quarter."

In the morning he drove out the cows. When they came home at evening, he laid a fire, closed in the cows, laid on fuel, and sat down facing the east westward of the fire.

The Fire said to him, "Satyakama!" "Sir!" he answered.

"I will tell thee a quarter of Brahma, beloved."

"Tell me, sir."

And he said to him: "The earth is a sixteenth, the sky a sixteenth, the heaven a sixteenth, the ocean a sixteenth. This, beloved, is a quarter of Brahma, in four sixteenths, and called The Boundless. He who with such knowledge worships this quarter of Brahma in four sixteenths as The Boundless, becomes boundless in this world; boundless worlds he wins who with such knowledge worships this quarter of Brahma in four sixteenths as The Boundless. The Swan will tell thee a quarter."

In the morning he drove out the cows. When they came home at evening, he laid a fire, closed in the cows, laid on fuel, and sat down facing the east westward of the fire. A swan flew towards him and said, "Satyakama!" "Sir!" he answered.

"I will tell thee a quarter of Brahma, beloved."

"Tell me, sir."

And he said to him: "Fire is a sixteenth, the sun a sixteenth, the moon a sixteenth, the lightning a sixteenth. This, beloved, is a quarter of Brahma, in four sixteenths, and called The Lustrous. He who with such knowledge worships this quarter of Brahma in four sixteenths as The Lustrous, becomes lustrous in this world; lustrous worlds he wins who with such knowledge worships this quarter of Brahma in four sixteenths as The Lustrous. The madgu-bird will tell thee a quarter."

In the morning he drove out the cows. When they came home at evening, he laid a fire, closed in the cows, laid on fuel, and sat down facing the east westward of the fire. A madgu-bird flew towards him and said, "Satyakama!" "Sir!" he answered.

"I will tell thee a quarter of Brahma, beloved."

"Tell me, sir."

And he said to him: "The breath is a sixteenth, the eye a sixteenth, the ear a sixteenth, the mind a sixteenth. This, beloved, is a quarter of Brahma, in four sixteenths, and called The Spacious. He who with such knowledge worships this quarter of Brahma in four sixteenths as The Spacious, becomes spacious in this world; spacious worlds he wins who with such knowledge worships this quarter of Brahma in four sixteenths as The Spacious."

He came to the master's homestead. The master said to him, "Satyakama!" "Sir!" he answered.

"Thou art bright, beloved, as one who knows Brahma. Who has taught thee?"

"Other than men," he answered; "but prithee do thou tell it to me, sir. For I have heard from men like thee, sir, that knowledge learned from a master is the best guide."

He told him thereof; and naught of it was lost.

XIII. LIGHT AND DARKNESS

In the Lord is to be veiled this universe, whatsoever stirs in the world. With renunciation thereof [*2] thou mayst enjoy; lust thou after the wealth of none.

One may seek to live a hundred years doing works here. So it is with thee, not otherwise; his work defiles not man.

Daemonic are in sooth these worlds, veiled in blind darkness; into them pass after death whatsoever folk slay their own souls.

The One, unstirring, is yet swifter than the mind; the gods cannot reach it as it travels before. Standing it outspeeds others that run; in it the Wind-spirit lays the waters.

It stirs, and stirs not; it is far, and near. It is within all, and outside all that is.

But he who discerns all creatures in his Self, and his Self in all creatures, has no disquiet thence.

What delusion, what grief can be with him in whom all creatures have become the very self of the thinker discerning their oneness?

He has spread around, a thing bright, bodiless, taking no hurt, sinewless, pure, unsmitten by evil; a sage, wise, encompassing, self-existent, he has duly assigned purposes for all time.

Into blind darkness pass they who worship Ignorance; into still greater dark they who are content with Knowledge.

It is neither what comes by Knowledge, they say, nor what comes by Ignorance; thus have we heard from the sages who taught us this lore.

He who understands both Knowledge and Ignorance passes by Ignorance over death and by Knowledge enjoys deathlessness.

Into blind darkness pass they who worship Change-into-naught; into still greater dark they who worship Change-into-aught.

It is neither what comes by Change-into-aught, they say, nor what comes by Change-into-naught; thus have we heard from the sages who taught us this lore.

He who understands both Change-into-aught and Destruction passes by Destruction over death and by Change-into-aught enjoys deathlessness.

The face of truth is covered with a golden bowl. O Pushan, remove it, that the keeper of truths may see.

O Pushan, sole seer, O Yama, Sun, child of Praja-pati, part asunder thy rays, mass together thy radiance. I see that fairest shape of thee. Yonder, yonder spirit am I.

The breath to the everlasting wind; and be this body ended in ashes.

Om! remember, O my spirit, remember the work! remember, O my spirit, remember the work! O Fire, lead us by good ways to riches, thou god who knowest all courses; keep far from us crooked sin, and we will offer to thee exceeding homage and praise.

XIV. THE FALSE AND THE TRUE

"The Self, free from evil, ageless, deathless, sorrowless, hungerless, thirstless, real of desire, real of purpose, this should men inquire after, yea, should seek to know. All worlds he wins and all desires who traces out and understands the Self," said Praja-pati.

Both the gods and the demons marked this. "Come," said they, "let us seek out this Self by seeking out which one wins all worlds and all desires." So Indra of the gods and Virochana of the demons set out on a travel, and without being in compact they both came with faggots in their hands to Praja-pati, and stayed as Brahman-students for two-and-thirty years.

Then said Praja-pati to them, "What would ye, that ye have stayed?"

And they said, "The Self, free from evil, ageless, deathless, sorrowless, hungerless, thirstless, real of desire, real of purpose, this should men inquire after, yea, should seek to know. All worlds he wins and all desires who traces out and understands this Self. This they report to be thy saying, sir; in desire thereof have we stayed."

Then Praja-pati said to them, "The Being [*2] who is seen in the eye is the Self"--thus he spake--"this is the deathless, the fearless; this is Brahma."

"Then who is he, sir, that is discerned in water and in a mirror?"

"It is he that is discerned in all these beings."

"Look upon yourselves in a basin of water," said he, "and tell me what of yourselves you do not perceive."

They looked in a basin of water; and Praja-pati said to them, "What see you?"

"We see in this image the whole of ourselves, sir," said they, "even to our hair and nails."

Then Praja-pati said to them, "Put on goodly ornament and fine clothing, attire yourselves, and look in the basin of water."

They put on goodly ornament and fine clothing, attired themselves, and looked in the basin of water. Praja-pati said to them, "What see you?"

They said, "Even as we stand here wearing goodly ornament and fine clothing, and attired, sir, so are we there wearing goodly ornament and fine clothing, and attired, sir."

"This is the Self," said he, "this is the deathless, the fearless; this is Brahma."

The twain travelled away content of heart. Gazing after them, Praja-pati said: "They are travelling away, yet have they not found and traced out the Self. They who shall follow this doctrine, be they the gods or the demons, shall be brought low."

Now Virochana came content of heart to the demons, and declared to them this doctrine: "The Self should be gladdened here, the Self should be tended; he that gladdens the Self here and tends the Self gains both this world and that beyond." Therefore it is that here even now men say of one who is not bountiful nor believing nor given to sacrifice, "Fie, a demon!" For this is the doctrine of the demons; and when one has died men furnish his body with food and clothing and ornament, imagining that therewith they will win the world beyond.

But Indra, ere he reached the gods, foresaw this peril: "Even as this [Self] wears goodly ornament when this body wears goodly ornament, is finely clothed when it is finely clothed, and is attired when it is attired, so likewise this [Self] becomes blind when this [body] is blind, lame when it is lame, maimed when it is maimed; yea, it perishes with the perishing of this body. I see no pleasure herein."

He came back, faggots in hand. Praja-pati said to him, "Maghava, as thou didst depart content of heart with Virochana, what wouldst thou, that thou hast come back?"

And he said: "Even as this [Self], sir, wears goodly ornament when this body wears goodly ornament, is finely clothed when it is finely clothed, and is attired when it is attired, so likewise this [Self] becomes blind when this [body] is blind, lame when it is lame, maimed when it is maimed; yea, it perishes with the perishing of this body. I see no pleasure herein."

"Thus indeed it is, Maghava," said he; "but I will teach thee yet more of it. Stay another two-and-thirty years."

He stayed another two-and-thirty years. Then he said to him: "He who wanders about rejoicing in dreams, is the Self"--thus he spake "this is the deathless, the fearless; this is Brahma."

He departed content of heart. But ere he reached the gods, he foresaw this peril: "This [Self] indeed becomes not blind though the body be blind, nor lame though it be lame, nor is it defiled by the defilement thereof; it is not stricken by the smiting thereof, nor is it lamed with the lameness thereof; but nevertheless it is as if it were stricken, as if it were hustled, as if it were feeling unpleasantness, as if it were weeping. I see no pleasure herein."

He came back, faggots in hand. Praja-pati said to him, "Maghava, as thou didst depart content of heart, what wouldst thou, that thou hast come back?"

And he said: "This [Self] indeed becomes not blind though the body be blind, nor lame though it be lame, nor is it defiled by the defilement thereof; it is not stricken by the smiting thereof, nor is it lamed with the lameness thereof; but nevertheless it is as if it were stricken, as if it were hustled, as if it were feeling unpleasantness, as if it were weeping. I see no pleasure herein."

"Thus indeed it is, Maghava," said he; "but I will teach thee yet more of it. Stay another two-and-thirty years."

He stayed another two-and-thirty years. Then he said to him: "When one sleeps utterly and in perfect peace so that he beholds no dream, this is the Self"--thus he spake--"this is the deathless, the fearless; this is Brahma."

He departed content of heart. But before he reached the gods, he foresaw this peril: "Truly one thus knows no longer himself as "I am," nor these creatures. He has sunk into destruction. I see no pleasure herein."

He came back, faggots in hand. Praja-pati said to him, "Maghava, as thou didst depart content of heart, what wouldst thou, that thou hast come back?"

And he said: "Truly, sir, one thus knows no longer himself as "I am," nor these creatures. He has sunk into destruction. I see no pleasure herein."

"Thus indeed it is, Maghava," said he; "but I will teach thee yet more of it; it is nowhere but in this. Stay another five years."

He stayed another five years. These amount to one hundred and one years; so men say, "Verily Maghava stayed for one hundred and one years as Brahman-student with Praja-pati." Then he said to him: "Verily, Maghava, this body is mortal, held in the grasp of Death; but it is the seat of this deathless, bodiless self. The Embodied is held in the grasp of joy and sorrow; for what is embodied cannot be quit of joy and sorrow. But joy and sorrow touch not what is unembodied. Unembodied is the wind; unembodied are the cloud, the lightning, the thunder. As these, rising up from yonder ether, pass into the Supreme Light and issue forth each in its own semblance, so likewise this perfect Peace, rising up from this body, passes into the Supreme Light and issues forth in its own semblance. This is the Highest Spirit...Now when the eye is fixed upon the ether, that is the spirit in the eye [which sees]; the eye is but a means to see. When one thinks that he will smell a thing, it is the Self; the nostril is but a means to smell. When one thinks that he will utter a word, it is the Self; speech is but a means to utterance. When one thinks that he will hear a thing, it is the Self; the ear is but a means to hearing. When one thinks that he will think of a thing, it is the Self; the mind is his divine eye; with this divine eye he sees these desires and rejoices therein...All worlds he wins and all desires who traces out and understands the Self." Thus spake Praja-pati.

XV. GLORIA IN EXCELSIS

I know that great Spirit, sun-hued, beyond the darkness. Knowing Him, man escapeth Death; there is no other way to walk.

Than this naught else is higher, nor subtler, nor mightier. As a tree firm-set in the heavens stands the One; with this Spirit the universe is filled.

Formless, sorrowless is the Highest; they become deathless who know it; but others come to very grief.

With face, head, neck everywhere, dwelling in covert in every creature, pervading all, the Lord is He; thus everywhere is the presence of the Gracious.

A great lord is the Spirit, mover of the understanding, ruler of this pure approach, Light, [*3] unfading.

The Spirit dwells ever as inward soul, an inch in stature, within men's hearts, conceived by the heart, the imagination, the thought; deathless they become who know this...

Showing himself in the qualities of all senses, void of all senses, He is lord, ruler of all, refuge of all.

Bodied in the nine-gated city, the Swan hovers without, master of all the motionless and moving world.

Handless and footless, He speeds and seizes; eyeless, He sees; earless, He hears. He knows what may be known, but there is none to know Him. Men call Him the Primal, the Great Spirit.

Subtler than the subtle is He, greater than the great, the soul lodged in covert in living beings. Freed from grief, man sees by the Almighty's grace Him the desireless, Him the Power sovereign.

I know Him, the ageless, ancient, All-soul, dwelling everywhere in universal presence, to whom Brahma-teachers deny birth, whom they call the Eternal.

The one hue that by blending of powers lends manifold hues in diverse wise from gathered substance, the Beginning and End wherein the All dissolves--He is God; may He unite us with blessed understanding!

That same is the Fire, that is the Sun, that the Wind, that the Moon; that same is the Bright, that Brahma, that the Waters, that the Creator.

Thou art woman, Thou art man, Thou art boy and maiden; Thou art the old man tottering on the staff; Thou art born with face looking all ways.

Thou art the black bird, the green with red eyes, the lightning-bearing [cloud], the seasons, the seas; Thou art that which is beginningless, Thou livest in universal presence, whence are born all beings...

In vision of the Lord, the bounteous worshipful God, who stands sole warder over every womb, in whom this All falls together and dissolves asunder, man comes to this everlasting peace.

May He who is the fount and origin of the gods, the lord of all, Rudra, the great sage, who beheld the Germ of Gold coming into being, unite us with blessed understanding...

Where there is not darkness, nor day and night, nor being or not-being, but the Gracious One alone, that is the Unfading, that is the lovely [light] of Savita ; thence has streamed forth the ancient Intelligence.

He may not be grasped above, nor athwart, nor in the midst. There is no likeness of Him whose name is Great Glory.

His form is not to be beheld; none sees Him with the eye. Deathless they become who in heart and mind know Him as heart-dwelling.

XVI. THE ADVAITA-MAKARANDA OF LAKSHMiDHARA

1. Homage to Krishna of infinite bliss, the incarnate blessing of the world, who by the sunbeams of his glances evaporates the ocean of delusion!

2. Always I am, I give light; never am I unbeloved; thus I am proved to be Brahma, consisting in Being, Thought, and Bliss.

3. In me, the sky of Thought, arises the mirage of the universe; then how can I be aught but Brahma, knowing all, cause of all?

4. Destruction cannot come upon me from myself, because of my recognition; nor from anything else, for I have no parts; nor from the destruction of an [external] basis, for I have no such basis.

5. I, the ether of Thought, cannot be dried, burned, soaked, or cut even by real wind, fire, water, or weapons, much less by imaginary ones.

6. The universe, having no light of its own, could not possibly come to light but for the presence of light; I am the Light, and therefore am everywhere.

7. Without manifestation there can be no Being, without consciousness there can be no manifestation of the unconscious, and without transference there can be no union with consciousness. Thus I have none beside me.

8. I am not body, nor organ of sense, nor vital function, nor mind, nor intelligence; for they are embraced by the idea of "mine" and are a playground for the conception of "this."

9. I am the Witness, related to all things, most dear; I am never the Ego, for that is plunged in affections, limitations, and pains.

10. When the Ego is [dreamlessly] slumbering, sorrow, guilt, and activity do not appear; thus it is he who wanders, not I, who am the wanderer's witness.

11. The sleeper knows not his sleeping; in him who sleeps not there is no dreaming and no waking. I am the Witness of waking, dreaming, and dreamless sleep, and thus am not under these conditions.

12. [Dreamless] sleep is a halting of [finite] understanding, dreaming and waking are the rise thereof; how can these three exist in me, who am the Witness of them and infinite of knowledge?

13. I am the one who knows the beings of sixfold change, and myself changeless; were it not so, I should be altogether incapable of observing their changes.

14. For a changing thing goes again and again through birth and dissolution in this and that form; how can it be an observer of these [changes]?

15. Nor can any one behold his own birth and destruction; for these are [respectively] the last and first moments of antecedent and subsequent non-being.

16. How can the not-Light touch the Self which is Light itself, and by whose light alone are caused the words, "I give not light"?

17. Nevertheless there is apparent in the sky of Thought a certain mist which subsists on the lack of reflection and ends with the rise of the sun of reflection.

18. In this long-drawn dream of which our world is made, and which arises from the great slumber of Self-ignorance, there appear Heaven, Salvation, and the other phantoms.

19. This distinction between unconscious and conscious being is imaginarily imposed on me, the conscious being, like the distinction between moving and motionless figures in a picture on a level wall.

20. Even my Witnesshood is unreal, is but a colouring reflected from the objects of thought; it merely suggests the billowless ocean of Thought.

21. I, the ocean of ambrosia, decay not because phantom bubbles arise; I, the mountain of crystal, am not flushed by the play of dream-fashioned evening clouds.

22. Being is my very essence, not a property, like ether's being; for as there is no Being save me, no class-concept [of Being] can be allowed.

23. Knowledge is my very essence, not a quality; if it were a quality, [Soul] would be if intelligible not-Self, and if unintelligible non-being.

24. Bliss am I, which is naught else [but me]; were it aught else, it would not be bliss; for if not subordinate to me, it would not be agreeable, and if subordinate, it could not be of itself agreeable.

25. No real thing forsooth can ever be of diverse essences; thus I am without inward distinction, void of the differences arising from the world.

26. By the words "That art thou" is indicated a Power of single essence, pure by the absence of the variety [consisting in] the transcendence [of the Supreme] and the distinction [of individual souls].

27. I am the Power self-authoritative and absolute, in which are stilled the phantom figures of the world and separate souls, of disciples and masters.

28. May this "Nectar of Monism" of the poet Lakshmidhara, gathered from the autumnal lotuses of poesy, be drunk by the scholar-bees.

APPENDIX I

THE SAMBANDHAS

The 25th and 26th verses of the Advaitamakaranda given above refer to a topic of importance in the later Vedanta, viz. the logical relation (sambandha) of terms. The relations are three: (1) "common reference," samanadhikaranya, (2) "relation as predicate (vis'eshana) and subject (vis'eshya)," and (3)"relation as indicated (lakshya) and indicative term (lakshana)." The proposition "Thou art That," tat tvam asi, which is the keynote of the Vedanta (see p. 24), comes under all these categories. The term That denotes literally the whole aggregate of Ignorances together with the omniscient cosmic consciousness "determined" by the latter and with the transcendental consciousness (see p. 30); but by "indication" or metonymy (lakshana) it signifies only the transcendental consciousness. The term Thou literally denotes the aggregate of Ignorances conceived distributively (see p. 30 f.) together with limited individual consciousness "determined" by the latter, and with unlimited consciousness; and by "indication" it signifies only the last. Now the proposition Thou art That comes under the relation of "common reference"; for both Thou and That signify Consciousness (Brahma), in the former case as transcending perception, in the latter case as manifested to perception in the form of finite distinction. Again, these terms are related as subject and predicate, that is, they are identified in thought by abstraction of their difference (their difference lying in the fact that the one transcends perception, and the other does not). Lastly, these terms have a metonymic relation. When we have abstracted the difference already mentioned, we may use both to signify the Consciousness, That being the "indicated" and Thou the "indicative" term. In the same way the three several terms Being, Thought, and Bliss, after due abstraction of difference (namely phenomenal distinctions) designate "indicatively" the single indivisible Brahma essentially characterised by infinite being, thought, and bliss. For further details of the Hindu theories on these subjects see Vedanta-sara, Jacob's translation, p. 83 f., Athalye's notes on Tarka-sangraha, section 59, Kavyaprakas'a, ch. ii., etc.

BRAHMA-KNOWLEDGE-PART-1

S’rimad Devî Bhâgavatam THE FIRST BOOK

Chapter XV-XVI-XVII-XVIII-XIX-XX-XXI-XII

S’rimad Devî Bhâgavatam THE FIRST BOOK Chapter XIII-XIV

S’rimad Devî Bhâgavatam THE FIRST BOOK Chapter XI-XII

S’rimad Devî Bhâgavatam THE FIRST BOOK Chapter IX-X

S’rimad Devî Bhâgavatam THE FIRST BOOK Chapter VII-VIII

S’rimad Devî Bhâgavatam THE FIRST BOOK Chapter V-VI

S’rimad Devî Bhâgavatam THE FIRST BOOK Chapter III-IV

S’rimad Devî Bhâgavatam THE FIRST BOOK Chapter I-II

VISHNU PURANA. - BOOK III. CHAP -16,17,18

VISHNU PURANA. - BOOK III. CHAP. XV.