Thirty Minor Upanishads, tr. by K. Narayanasvami Aiyar, [1914], at sacred-texts.com
AḌHYĀṬMA-UPANISHAḌ 1
OF
ŚUKLA-YAJURVEḌA
The One Aja (unborn) is ever located in the cave (of the heart) within the body. (Pṛṭhivī) the earth is His body; though He pervades the earth, it does not know Him. The waters are His body; though He pervades the waters, they do not know Him. Agni is His body; though He pervades agni, it does not know Him. Vāyu is His body; though He pervades vāyu, it does not know Him. Ākāś is His body; though He pervades ākāś, it does not know Him. Manas is His body; though He pervades manas, it does not know Him. Buḍḍhi is His body; though He pervades buḍḍhi, it does not know Him. Ahaṅkāra is His body; though He pervades ahaṅkāra, it does not know Him. Chiṭṭa is His body; though He pervades chiṭṭa, it does not know Him. Avyakṭa is His body; though He pervades avyakṭa, it does not know Him. Akshara is His body; though He pervades akshara, it does not know Him. Mṛṭyu is His body; though He pervades mṛṭyu, it does not know Him. He who is the inner soul of all creatures and the purifier of sins, is the one divine Lord Nārāyaṇa.
The wise should through the practice of deep meditation of Brahman leave off the (recurrent) conception of "I" and mine" in the body and the senses which are other than Āṭmā. Having known himself as Praṭyagāṭmā, the witness of buḍḍhi and its actions, one should ever think "So’ham" ("I am That") and leave off the idea of Āṭmā in all others. Shunning the pursuits of the world, the body and the Śāsṭras, set about removing the false attribution of self. In the case of a Yogin staying always in his own Āṭmā, his mind parishes having known his Āṭmā as the Āṭmā of all, through inference, Veḍas
and self-experience. Never giving the slightest scope to sleep, worldly talk, sounds, etc., think of Āṭmā, (in yourself) to be the (supreme) Āṭmā. Shun at a distance like a chaṅdāla (the thought of) the body, which is generated out of the impurities of parents and is composed of excreta and flesh. Then you will become Brahman and be (in a) blessed (state). O Sage, having dissolved (Jīva-) Āṭmā into Paramāṭmā with the thought of its being partless, like the ether of a jar in the universal ether, be ever in a state of taciturnity. Having become that which is the seat of all Āṭmās and the self-resplendent, give up the macrocosm and microcosm like an impure vessel. Having merged into Chiḍāṭmā, which is ever blissful, the conception of "I" which is rooted in the body, and having removed the (conception of) Liṅga (here the sign of separateness), become ever the Kevala (alone). Having known "I am that Brahman" in which alone the universe appears like a town in a mirror, become one that has performed (all) his duty, O sinless one. The ever-blissful and the self-effulgent One being freed from the grip of ahaṅkāra attains its own state, like the spotless moon becoming full (after eclipse).
With the extinction of actions, there arises the extinction of chinṭā. From it arises the decay of vāsanās; and from the latter, arises moksha; and this is called Jīvanmukṭi. Looking upon everything in all places and times as Brahman brings about the destruction of vāsanās through the force of vāsanās of sāṭṭvic nature. Carelessness in Brahmanishthā by (or meditation of Brahman) should not in the least be allowed (to creep in). Knowers of Brahman style (this) carelessness, in Brāhmic science, as death (itself). Just as the moss (momentarily) displaced (in a tank) again resumes its original position, in a minute, so Māyā envelops even the wise, should they be careless (even for a moment). He who attains the Kaivalya state during life becomes a Kevala even after death of his body. Ever devoted to samāḍhi, become a nirvikalpa (or the changeless one), O sinless. one. The granṭhi (or knot) of the heart, full of ajñāna, is broken completely only when one sees his Āṭmā as secondless through nirvikalpa samāḍhi.
Now, having strengthened the conception of Āṭmā and well given up that of "I" in the body, one should be indifferent as he would be towards jars, cloth, etc. From Brahma down to a pillar, all the upāḍhis are only unreal. Hence one should see (or cognize) his Āṭmā as all-full and existing by itself (alone). Brahma is Swayam (Āṭmā); Vishṇu is Āṭmā; Ruḍra is: Āṭma; Inḍra is Āṭmā; all this universe is Āṭmā and there is nothing but Āṭmā. By expelling (from the mind) without any remainder all objects which are superimposed on one's Āṭmā, one becomes himself Parabrahman the full, the secondless and the actionless. How can there be the heterogeneity of the universe of saṅkalpa and vikalpa in that One Principle which is immutable, formless and homogeneous? When there is no difference between the seer, the seen, and sight, there being the decayless and Chiḍāṭmā, full like the ocean at the end of a Kalpa and effulgent, all darkness, the cause of false perception, merges in it. How can there be heterogeneity in that one supreme Principle which is alike? How can there be heterogeneity in the highest Ṭaṭṭva which is One? Who has observed any heterogeneity in sushupṭi (the dreamless sleep), where there is happiness only? This vikalpa has its root in chiṭṭa only. When chiṭṭa is not, there is nothing. Therefore unite the chiṭṭa with Paramāṭman in its Praṭyāgāṭmic state. If one knows Āṭmā as unbroken bliss in itself, then he drinks always the juice (or essence) of bliss in his Āṭmā, whether internally or externally.
The fruit of vairāgya is boḍha (spiritual wisdom); the fruit of boḍha is uparaṭi (renunciation); śānṭi (sweet patience) is attained out of the enjoyment of the bliss of one's Ming, and this śānṭi is the fruit of uparaṭi. If the latter in each of these is absent, the former is useless. Nivṛṭṭi (or the return path) leads to the highest contentment and (spiritual) bliss is said to be beyond all analogy. That which has Māyā as its upāḍhi is the womb of the world; that true one which has the attribute of omniscience, etc., and has the variegated mystery is denoted by the word "Ṭaṭ" (that). That is called Apara (the other or inferior) which shines through meditation upon the idea and the
world asmaṭ 1 and the consciousness of which is developed by antaḥkaraṇa. By separating the upāḍhis Māyā and aviḍyā from Para and Jīva (cosmic and human Āṭmās respectively), one realises Parabrahman which is partless and Sachchiḍānanḍa. Making the mind dwell upon such sentences (or ideas) as the above constitutes śravaṇa (hearing). It becomes manana (contemplation) when such ideas are quieted (in one) through logical reasoning. When (their) meaning is confirmed through these (two processes), the concentration of the mind on it alone constitutes niḍiḍhyāsana. That is called samāḍhi in which the chiṭṭa, rising above the conception of the contemplator and contemplation, merges gradually into the contemplated, like a light undisturbed by the wind. Even the mental states are not known (at the time when one is within the scope of Āṭmā). But they are only inferred from the recollection which takes place after samāḍhi. Through this samāḍhi are destroyed crores of karmas which have accumulated during cycles of births without beginning and pure ḍharma is developed. Knowers of Yoga call this samāḍhi, ḍharma-megha (cloud), inasmuch as it showers nectarine drops of karma in great quantities, when all the hosts of vāsanās are destroyed entirely through this, and when the accumulated karmas, virtuous and sinful, are rooted out. Then that in which speech was hidden till now, appears no longer so, and shines as Saṭ; and direct cognition reveals itself, like the myrobalan in the palm of the hand. Vairāgya begins from where the vāsanās cease to arise towards objects of enjoyment. The cessation of the rising of the idea of "I" is the highest limit of buḍḍhi; uparaṭi begins from where the mental states once destroyed do not again arise. That ascetic is said to possess Sṭhiṭaprajñā who enjoys bliss always and whose mind is absorbed in Brahman that is formless and actionless. That state of mind is termed prajñā that realises the oneness of Brahman and Āṭmā after deep inquiry, and that has the vṛṭṭi of nirvikalpa and chinmāṭra. He who possesses this always is a Jivanmukṭa. He is a Jivanmukṭa who has, neither the conception of "I" in the body and the senses, nor
the conception of another (different from himself) in everything else. He is a Jivanmukṭa who sees through his prajñā no difference between his own Āṭmā and Brahman as well as between Brahman and the universe. He is a Jivanmukṭa who preserves equanimity of mind, either when revered by the good or reviled by the vicious. One who has cognized the true nature of Brahman is not subject to rebirth as before. But were he so subjected, then he is not a true knower, the knowing of Brahman being external only. A man is subject to prārabḍha 1 so long as he is affected by pleasure, etc. The attainment of a result is always preceded by action; and nowhere is it without karma. Through the cognition "I am Brahman" are destroyed the karmas accumulated during hundreds of crores of previous births, like the actions in the dreaming state (that are destroyed) during the waking state.
An ascetic having known himself as associateless and indifferent like ether, is not at all affected by any of his karmas at any time. Just as the ether is not affected by the alcoholic smell through its contact with a pot, so Āṭmā is not affected by the guṇas produced by its upāḍhi. The prārabḍha karma that has begun to act before the dawn of jñāna is not checked by it; and one should reap its fruit, as in the case of an arrow discharged at a target. An arrow that is discharged towards an object with the idea that it is a tiger, does not stop when it (the tiger) is found to be a cow; but it (even) pierces the mark through its speed, without stopping. When one realises his Āṭmā as free from old age and death, then how will prārabḍha affect him? Prārabḍha accomplishes (its work) only when one considers his body as At ma. This conception of Āṭmā as body is not at all a desirable one; so it should be given up along with prārabḍha, since it is simply a delusion to attribute prārabḍha to this body. How can there be reality to that which is superimposed upon another? How can there be birth to that which is not real? How can there be death to that which is not born? How can there be prārabḍha to that which is unreal? The Veḍa speaks of prārabḍha in an external sense only, to satisfy those
foolish persons that doubt, saying: "If jñāna can destroy all the results of ajñāna (such as body, etc.), then whence is the existence of this body to such a one?" but not to inculcate to the wise the existence of the body.
Āṭmā is all-full, beginningless, endless, immeasurable, unchangeable, replete with Saṭ, Chiṭ, and Ānanḍa, decayless, the one essence, the eternal, the differentiated, the plenum, the endless, having its face everywhere, the one that can neither be given up nor taken up, the one that can neither be supported nor be made to support, the guṇaless, the actionless, the subtle, the changeless, the stainless, the indescribable, the true nature of one's Āṭmā, above the reach of speech and mind, the one full of Saṭ, the self-existent, the immaculate, the enlightened, and the incomparable; such is Brahman, one only without a second. There are not in the least many. He who knows his Āṭmā himself through his own cognition, as the one who is not restricted by any, is a Siḍḍha (one that has accomplished his object), who has identified his Āṭmā with the one changeless Āṭmā. Whither is this world gone, then? How did it appear? Where is it absorbed? It was seen by me just now, but now it is gone. What a great miracle! What is fit to be taken in? and what to be rejected? What is other (than Āṭmā)? And what is different (from It)? In this mighty ocean of Brahman full of the nectar of undivided bliss, I do not see, hear, or know anything. I remain in my Āṭmā only and in my own nature of Saṭ, Ānanḍarūpa. I am an asaṅga (or the associateless). I am an asaṅga. I am without any attributes. I am Hari (the Lord taking away sin). I am the quiescent, the endless, the all-full and the ancient. I am neither the agent nor the enjoyer.
I am the changeless and the decayless. I am of the nature of pure enlightenment. I am the one and the perpetual bliss.
This science was imparted to Apānṭaraṭama who gave it to Brahma,. Brahma gave it to Ghora-Aṅgiras. Ghora-Aṅgiras gave it to Raikva, who gave it to Rāma. And Rāma gave it to all beings. This is the teaching of Nirvāṇa; and this is the teaching of the Veḍas; yea, this is the teaching of the Veḍas. Thus ends the Upanishaḍ.
Footnotes
55:1 This Upanishaḍ is also called Ṭurīyāṭīṭa Avaḍhūṭa Upanishaḍ.
58:1 I and its inflexions.
59:1 The result of past karma now enjoyed.