Chandogya Upanishad: The Chanters' Teaching:

Book IV Part II


IV.10

1. Upakosala Kamalayana lived as a brahmacarin with Satyakama Jabala. For twelve years he tended his fires. Satyakama let his other students return home, I.e. at the end of their studies. but he did not let Upakosala return home.

2. Satyakama's wife said to him, 'The ascetic brahmacarin has tended the fires well. Do not let the fires speak to him first. You should teach him.' But he went on a journey without having spoken to him.

3. Then, from grief, Upakosala resolved not to eat. His teacher's wife said. Tat, brahmacarin. Why do you not eat?'

He said, 'In this person are many desires, sufferings of all kinds. I am full of grief. I shall not eat.'

4. Then the fires spoke together: 'The ascetic brahmacarin has tended us well. Come, let us teach him.' They said to him:

5. 'Breath is brahman; Ka is brahman; Kha is brahman.' Kha is equivalent to akasa, Here ka, like kha, is in the neuter gender: 'What?' rather than Who?'

He said, I know that breath is brahman, but I do not know Ka or Kha.'

They said, 'What Ka is, Kha is, and what Kha is, Ka is.' They told him about breath, and then about space.

IV. 11

1. Then the Garhapatya fire taught him: '"Earth, fire, food, the sun." The person who is seen in the sun am I. I am he. In keeping with the usual way of working from coarser to more subtle aspects in teaching, 'earth, fire, food, the sun' should probably be regarded as outer forms of the person seen in the sun, who is identified with the atman: and similarly with the deities mentioned in chapters 12 and 13.

2. 'The one who knows and contemplates him in this way wards off evil actions, becomes a possessor of worlds, attains his full span, and lives long, and his descendants do not perish. We protect, both in this world and in that, the one who knows and contemplates him in this way.'

IV.12

1. Then the Anvaharyapacana fire taught him: '"The waters, the directions, the constellations, the moon." The person who is seen in the moon am I. I am he.

2. The one who knows and contemplates him in this way wards off evil actions, becomes a possessor of worlds, attains his full span, and lives long, and his descendants do not perish. We protect, both in this world and in that, the one who knows and contemplates him in this way.'

IV.13

1. Then the Ahavaniya fire taught him: '"Breath, space, fire, lightning." The person who is seen in the lightning am I. I am he.

2. 'The one who knows and contemplates him in this way wards off evil actions, becomes a possessor of worlds, attains his full span, and lives long, and his descendants do not perish. We protect, both in this world and in that, the one who knows and contemplates him in this way.'

IV.14

1. They said, 'Upakosala, good lad, you have knowledge of us and knowledge of the self. But your teacher will tell you where they go back to.' Their gati

His teacher came back. His teacher called him:

'Upakosala!'

2. 'Blessed one?' he replied.

'Good lad, your face shines like that of a knower of brahman. Who taught you?'

'Who could have taught me, sir?' he said, seeming to deny it. He paid respect to the fires, saying, 'Now they look like this, but then they looked different.''Then' is added for clarity

'So what did they tell you, good lad?'

3. 'This . . .,' he replied.

'But did they tell you only about the worlds, good lad? But I will tell you about that. When one knows that, evil action does not stick to one, just as water does not stick to a lotus-petal.'

'Tell me, blessed one.'

And he told him:

IV.15

1. 'The person who is seen in the eye is the self,' he said. 'It is the immortal, the fearless. It is brahman. Even if one sprinkles ghee or water on it, it goes only as far as the eyelids. I.e. it does not stick to the eye itself, let alone the person who is seen in it.

2. 'They call him "Unifying the Beautiful", for all beautiful things come together to him. All beautiful things come together to the one who knows this.

3. 'He is also "Bringer of the Beautiful", for he brings all beautiful things. The one who knows this brings all beautiful things.

4. 'He is also "Light-Bringer", for he shines in all worlds. The one who knows this shines in all worlds.

5. 'And whether they perform funerary rites for him or not, they The sentence suddenly changes to the plural number go into the light; from light into the day; from the day into the waxing fortnight; from the waxing fortnight into the six months in which the sun goes northward; from the months into the year; from the year into the sun; from the sun into the moon; from the moon into the lightning:

then a person who is not human Puruso'manauah, a person who is not a descendent of Manu. leads them to brahman. This is the path of the gods, the path of brahman. Those who travel by it do not whirl again in the whirlpool of Manu.Manavam avartam. It is interesting to compare this passage with BU VI.2. 15-16, with which it has both similarities and differences They do not whirl again.'

IV.16

1. The one who purifies Air is a sacrifice, for as it goes it purifies all this. Since as it goes it purifies all this it is a sacrifice. Mind and speech are ways to it.

2. Of the two, the Brahma consecrates one with his mind; the Hotr, the Adhvaryu and the Udgatr the other with speech. When the Brahma breaks the silence, once the morning recitation Prataranuvaka has begun, before the closing verse,Paridhaniyit

3. He consecrates one of the ways, but the other is lacking. As a person walking on one foot, or a chariot running on one wheel, comes to harm, his sacrifice comes to harm. When the sacrifice comes to harm, the patron of the sacrifice comes to harm with it. By sacrificing, he becomes more evil.

4. But when the Brahma does not break the silence once the morning recitation has begun, before the closing verse, they consecrate both the ways, and neither of them is lacking. As a person travelling on both feet, or a chariot running on both wheels, remains steady (prati-stha-), his sacrifice remains steady. When the sacrifice remains steady, the patron of the sacrifice remains steady with it. By sacrificing, he becomes better.

IV.17

1. Prajapati heated up the worlds. As they were heated up, he extracted128 the essences from them: fire from earth, air from middle-air, the sun from sky.

2. He heated up these three deities. As they were heated up, he extracted the essences from them: reverses from fire, yajus verses from air, saman verses from the sun.

3. He heated up this threefold knowledge. As it was heated up, he extracted the essences from it: BHUH from the re verses, BHUVAH from the yajus verses, SVAH from the saman verses.

4. If it should come to harm from the re verses, one should make an offering into the Garhapatya fire, saying BHUH SVAHA. Then one repairs the harm to the sacrifice from the re verses with the essence of the reverses, with the power of the re verses.

5. And if it should come to harm from the yajus verses, one should make an offering into the Daksinagni fire, saying BHUVAH SVAHA. Then one repairs the harm to the sacrifice from the yajus verses with the essence of the yajus verses, with the power of the yajus verses.

6. And if it should come to harm from the saman verses, one should make an offering into the Ahavaniya fire, saying SVAH SVAHA. Then one repairs the harm to the sacrifice from the saman verses with the essence of the saman verses, with the power of the saman verses.

7. Just as one would repair gold with salt,Said to mean borax. The idea seems to be that one uses a subtler form of any substance in order to mend it. silver with gold, tin with silver, lead with tin, iron with lead, timber with iron, or timber with leather,

8. One repairs the harm to the sacrifice with the power of the three worlds, the three deities, the threefold knowledge. The sacrifice is healed, where one who knows this is the Brahma.

9. The sacrifice slopes to the north, I.e. in an auspicious direction where one who knows this is the Brahma. There is a song about the Brahma who knows this:

'Wherever it turns back, There goes

10. Manu's son.
The Brahma priest alone
Is the mare who protects the Kurus.'

The Brahma who knows this protects the sacrifice, the patron of the sacrifice, and all the priests. So one should choose as Brahma one who knows this, not one who does not know this: not one who does not know this.




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