back to
Upanishads
Maitrayani Upanishad Part One
Translation by Max Muller (1884) - The Sacred Books of the East
F1RST PRAPATHAKA.
1. The laying of the formerly-described sacrificial fires is
indeed the sacrifice of Brahman. Therefore let the sacrificer, after he has laid
those fires, meditate on the Self. Thus only does the sacrificer become complete
and faultless.
But who is to be meditated on? He who is called Prana
(breath). Of him there is this story:
2. A King, named Brihadratha, having established his son in
his sovereignty, went into the forest, because he considered this body as
transient, and had obtained freedom from all desires. Having performed the
highest penance, he stands there, with uplifted arms, looking up to the sun. At
the end of a thousand (days), the Saint Sakayanya, who knew the Self, came near,
burning with splendour, like a fire without smoke. He said to the King: 'Rise,
rise! Choose a boon!'
The King, bowing before him, said: 'O Saint, I know not the
Self, thou knowest the essence (of the Self). We have heard so. Teach it us.'
Sakayanya replied: 'This was achieved of yore; but what thou
askest is difficult to obtain. O Aikshvaka, choose other pleasures.'
The King, touching the Saint's feet with his head, recited
this Gatha:
3. ‘O Saint, What is the use of the enjoyment of pleasures
in this offensive, pithless body - a mere mass of bones, skin, sinews, marrow,
flesh, seed, blood, mucus, tears, phlegm, ordure, water, bile, and slime! What
is the use of the enjoyment of pleasures in this body which is assailed by lust,
hatred, greed, delusion, fear, anguish, jealousy, separation from what is loved,
union with what is not loved, hunger, thirst, old age, death, illness, grief,
and other evils!
4. And we see that all this is perishable, as these flies,
gnats, and other insects, as herbs and trees, growing and decaying. And what of
these? There are other great ones, mighty wielders of bows, rulers of empires,
Sudyumna, Bhuridyumna, Indradyumna, Kuvalayasva, Yauvanasva, Vadhryasva,
Asvapati, Sasabindu, Hariskandra, Ambarisha, Nahusha, Ananata, Saryati, Yayati,
Anaranya, Ukshasena, &c., and kings such as Marutta, Bharata (Daushyanti),
and others, who before the eyes of their whole family surrendered the greatest
happiness, and passed on from this world to that. And what of these? There are
other great ones. We see the destruction of Gandharvas, Asuras, Yakshas,
Rakshasas, Bhutas, Ganas, Pisakas, snakes, and vampires. And what of these?
There is the drying up of other great oceans, the falling of mountains, the
moving of the pole-star, the cutting of the windropes (that hold the stars), the
submergence of the earth, and the departure of the gods (suras) from their
place. In such a world as this, what is the use of the enjoyment of pleasures,
if he who has fed on them is seen to return (to this world) again and again!
Deign therefore to take me out! In this world I am like a frog in a dry well. O
Saint, thou art my way, thou art my way.'
SECOND PRAPATHAKA.
1. Then the Saint Sakayanya, well pleased, said to the King:
'Great King Brihadratha, thou banner of the race of Ikshvaku, quickly obtaining
a knowledge of Self, thou art happy, and art renowned by the name of Marut, the
wind'. This indeed is thy Self.'
'Which, O Saint,' said the King.
Then the Saint said to him:
2. 'He who, without stopping the out-breathing, proceeds
upwards (from the sthula to the sukshma sarira), and who, modified (by
impressions), and yet not modified, drives away the darkness (of error), he is
the Self. Thus said the Saint Maitri.' And Sakayanya said to the King
Brihadratha: 'He who in perfect rest, rising from this body (both from the
sthula and stikshma), and reaching the highest light', comes forth in his own
form, he is the Self (thus said Sakayanya); this is the immortal, the fearless,
this is Brahman.'
3. 'Now then this is the science of Brahman, and the science
of all Upanishads, O King, which was told us by the Saint Maitri. I shall tell
it to thee :
‘We hear (in the sacred records) that there were once the
Valakhilyas, who had left off all evil, who were vigorous and passionless. They
said to the Pragapati Kratu: "O Saint, this body is without intelligence,
like a cart. To what supernatural being belongs this great power by which such a
body has been made intelligent? Or who is the driver? What thou knowest, O
Saint, tell us that." ' Pragapati answered and said:
4. 'He who in the Sruti is called "Standing above,"
like passionless ascetics, amidst the objects of the world, he, indeed, the
pure, clean, undeveloped, tranquil, breathless, bodiless, endless, imperishable,
firm, everlasting, unborn, independent one, stands in his own greatness, and by
him has this body been made intelligent, and he is also the driver of it.'
They said: ‘O Saint, How has this been made intelligent by
such a being as this which has no desires, and how is he its driver?' He
answered them and said:
5. 'That Self which is very small, invisible,
incomprehensible, called Purusha, dwells of his own will here in part; just as a
man who is fast asleep awakes of his own will. And this part (of the Self) which
is entirely intelligent, reflected in man (as the sun in different vessels of
water), knowing the body (kshetragnta), attested by his conceiving, willing, and
believing, is Pragapati (lord of creatures), called Visva. By him, the
intelligent, is this body made intelligent, and he is the driver thereof.'
They said to him: ‘O Saint, if this has been made
intelligent by such a being as this, which has no desires, and if he is the
driver therjeof, how was it?' He answered them and said:
6. 'In the beginning Pragapati (the lord of creatures) stood
alone. He had no happiness, when alone. Meditating on himself, he created many
creatures. He looked on them and saw they were, like a stone, without
understanding, and standing like a lifeless post. He had no happiness. He
thought, I shall enter within, that they may awake. Making himself like air
(vayu) he entered within. Being one, he could not do it. Then dividing himself
fivefold, he is called Prana, Apana, Samana, Udana, Vyana. Now that air which
rises tipwards, is Prana. That which moves downwards, is Apana. That by which
these two are supposed to be held, is Vyana. That which carries the grosser
material of food to the Apana, and brings the subtler material to each limb, has
the name Samana. After these (Prana, Apana, Samana) comes the work of the
Vyana, and between them (the Prana, Apana, and Samana on one side and the vyana
on the other) comes the rising of the Udana. That which brings up or carries
down what has been drunk and eaten, is the Udana.
Now the Upamsu-vessel (or prana) depends on the
Antaryama-vessel (apana) and the Antaryamavessel (apana) on the Upamsu-vessel
(prana), and between these two the self-resplendent (Self) produced heat. This
heat is the purusha (person), and this purusha is Agni Vaisvanara. And thus it
is said elsewhere: "Agni Vaisvanara is the fire within man by which the
food that is eaten is cooked, i.e. digested. Its noise is that which one hears,
if one covers one's cars. When a man is on the point of departing this life, he
does not hear that noise."
Now he, having divided himself fivefold, is hidden in a
secret place (buddhi), assuming the nature of mind, having the Pranas as his
body, resplendent, having true concepts, and free like ether. Feeling even thus
that he has not attained his object, he thinks from within the interior of the
heart, "Let me enjoy objects." Therefore, having first broken open
these five apertures (of the senses), he enjoys the objects by means of the five
reins. This means that these perceptive organs (ear, skin, eye, tongue, nose)
are his reins; the active organs (tongue (for speaking), hands, feet, anus,
generative organ) his horses; the body his chariot, the mind the charioteer, the
whip being the temperament. Driven by that whip, this body goes round like the
wheel driven by the potter. This body is made intelligent, and he is the driver
thereof.
This is indeed the Self, who seeming to be filled with
desires, and seeming to be overcome by bright or dark fruits of action, wanders
about in every body (himself remaining free). Because he is not manifest,
because he is infinitely small, because he is invisible, because he cannot be
grasped, because he is attached to nothing, therefore he, seeming to be
changing, an agent in that which is not (prakriti), is in reality not an agent
and unchanging. He is pure, firm, stable, undefiled, unmoved, free from desire,
remaining a spectator, resting in himself Having concealed himself in the cloak
of the three qualities he appears as the enjoyer of rita, as the enjoyer of rita
(of his good works).'
THIRD PRAPATHAKA.
1. The Valakhilyas said to Pragapati Kratu: O Saint, if thou
thus showest the greatness of that Self, then who is that other different one,
also called Self, who really overcome by bright and dark fruits of action,
enters on a good or bad birth? Downward or upward is his course, and overcome by
the pairs (distinction between hot and cold, pleasure and pain, &c.) he
roams about.'
2. Pragapati Kratu replied: 'There is indeed that others
different one, called the elemental Self (Bhutatma), who, overcome by bright and
dark fruits of action, enters on a good or bad birth: downward or upward is his
course, and overcome by the pairs he roams about. And this is his explanation:
The five Tanmatras (sound, touch, form, taste, smell) are called Bhuta; also the
five Mahabhutas (gross elements) are called Bhuta. Then the aggregate of all
these is called sarira, body. And lastly he of whom it was said that he dwelt in
the body, he is called Bhutatma, the elemental Self. Thus his immortal Self is
like a drop of water on a lotus leaf, and he himself is overcome by the
qualities of nature. Then, because he is thus overcome, he becomes bewildered,
and because he is bewildered, he saw not the creator, the holy Lord, abiding
within himself. Carried along by the waves of the qualities, darkened in his
imaginations, unstable, fickle, crippled, full of desires, vacillating, he
enters into belief, believing "I am he," "this is mine;" he
binds his Self by his Self, as a bird with a net, and overcome afterwards by the
fruits of what he has done, he enters on a good and bad birth; downward or
upward is his course, and overcome by the pairs he roams about.'
They asked: 'Which is it?' And he answered them:
3. 'This also has elsewhere been said: He who acts, is the
elemental Self; he who causes to act by means of the organs, is the inner man
(antahpurusha). Now as even a ball of iron, pervaded (overcome) by fire, and
hammered by smiths, becomes manifold (assumes different forms, such as crooked,
round, large, small), thus the elemental Self, pervaded (overcome) by the inner
man, and hammered by the qualities, becomes manifold. And the four tribes
(mammals, birds, &c.), the fourteen worlds (Bhur, &c.), with all the
number of beings, multiplied eighty-four times, all this appears as
manifoldness. And those multiplied things are impelled by man (purusha) as the
wheel by the potter. And as when the ball of iron is hammered, the fire is not
overcome, so the (inner) man is not overcome, but the elemental Self is
overcome, because it has united itself (with the elements).
4. And it has been said elsewhere: This body produced from
marriage, and endowed with growth in darkness, came forth by the urinary
passage, was built up with bones, bedaubed with flesh, thatched with skin,
filled with ordure, urine, bile, slime, marrow, fat, oil, and many impurities
besides, like a treasury full of treasures.
5. And it has been said elsewhere: Bewilderment, fear, grief,
sleep, sloth, carelessness, decay, sorrow, hunger, thirst, niggardliness, wrath,
infidelity, ignorance, envy, cruelty, folly, shamelessness, meanness, pride,
changeability, these are the results of the quality of darkness (tamah).
Inward thirst, fondness, passion, covetousness, unkindness,
love, hatred, deceit, jealousy, vain restlessness, fickleness, unstableness,
emulation, greed, patronising of friends, family pride, aversion to disagreeable
objects, devotion to agreeable objects, whispering, prodigality, these are the
results of the quality of passion (ragas).
By these he is filled, by these he is overcome, and therefore
this elemental Self assumes manifold forms, yes, manifold forms.'
FOURTH PRAPATHAKA.
1. The Valakhilyas, whose passions were subdued, approached
him full of amazement and said: ‘O Saint, we bow before thee; teach thou, for
thou art the way, and there is no other for us. What process is there for the
elemental Self, by which, after leaving this (identity with the elemental body),
he obtains union with the (true) Self?' PrRgapati Kratu said to them:
2. 'It has been said elsewhere: Like the waves in large
rivers, that which has been done before, cannot be turned back, and, like the
tide of the sea, the approach of death is hard to stem. Bound by the fetters of
the fruits of good and evil, like a cripple; without freedom, like a man in
prison; beset by many fears, like one standing before Yama (the judge of the
dead); intoxicated by the wine of illusion, like one intoxicated by wine;
rushing about, like one possessed by an evil spirit; bitten by the world, like
one bitten by a great serpent; darkened by passion, like the night; illusory,
like magic; false, like a dream; pithless, like the inside of the Kadali;
changing its dress in a moment, like an actor; fair in appearance, like a
painted wall, thus they call him; and therefore it is said:
Sound, touch, and other things are like nothings; if the
elemental Self is attached to them, it will not remember the Highest Place.
3. This is indeed the remedy for the elemental Self:
Acquirement of the knowledge of the Veda, performance of one's own duty,
therefore conformity on the part of each man to the order to which he happens to
belong. This is indeed the rule for one's own duty, other performances are like
the mere branches of a stem . Through it one obtains the Highest above,
otherwise one falls downward. Thus is one's own duty declared, which is to be
found in the Vedas. No one belongs truly to an order (asrama) who transgresses
his own law. And if people say, that a man does not belong to any of the orders,
and that he is an ascetic, this is wrong, though, on the other hand, no one who
is not an ascetic brings his sacrificial works to perfection or obtains
knowledge of the Highest Self. For thus it is said:
By ascetic penance goodness is obtained, from goodness
understanding, is reached, from understanding the Self is obtained, and he who
has obtained that, does not return.
4. "Brahman is," thus said one who knew the science
of Brahman; and this penance is the door to Brahman, thus said one who by
penance had cast off all sin. The syllable Om is the manifest greatness of
Brahman, thus said one who well grounded (in Brahman) always meditates on it.
Therefore by knowledge, by penance, and by meditation is Brahman gained. Thus
one goes beyond Brahman (Hiranyagarbha), and to a divinity higher than the gods;
nay, he who knows this, and worships Brahman by these three (by knowledge,
penance, and meditation), obtains bliss imperishable, infinite, and
unchangeable. Then freed from those things (the senses of the body, &c.) by
which he was filled and overcome, a mere charioteer, he obtains union with the
Self.'
5. The Valakhilyas said: ‘O Saint, thou art the teacher,
thou art the teacher. What thou hast said, has been properly laid up in our
mind. Now answer us a further question: Agni, Vayu, Aditya, Time (kala) which is
Breath (prana), Food (anna), Brahma, Rudra, Vishnu, thus do some meditate on
one, some on another. Say which of these is the best for us.' He said to them:
6. 'These are but the chief manifestations of the highest,
the immortal, the incorporeal Brahman. He who is devoted to one, rejoices here
in his world (presence), thus he said. Brahman indeed is all this, and a man may
meditate on, worship, or discard also those which are its chief manifestations.
With these (deities) he proceeds to higher and higher worlds, and when all
things perish, he becomes one with the Purusha, yes, with the Purusha.'
FIFTH PRAPATHAKA.
1. Next follows Kutsayana's hymn of praise:
'Thou art Brahma, and thou art Vishnu, thou art Rudra, thou
Pragapati, thou art Agni, Varuna, Vayu, thou art Indra, thou the Moon.
Thou art Anna (the food or the eater), thou art Yama, thou
art the Earth, thou art All, thou art the Imperishable. In thee all things
exist in many forms, whether for their natural or for their own (higher) ends.
Lord of the Universe, glory to thee! Thou art the Self of
All, thou art the maker of All, the enjoyer of All; thou art all life, and the
lord of all pleasure and joy. Glory to thee, the tranquil, the deeply hidden,
the incomprehensible, the immeasurable, without beginning and without end.'
2. 'In the beginning darkness (tamas) alone was this. It was
in the Highest, and, moved by the Highest, it becomes uneven. Thus it becomes
obscurity (ragas). Then this obscurity, being moved, becomes uneven. Thus it
becomes goodness (sattva). Then this goodness, being moved, the essence flowed
forth. This is that part (or state of Self) which is entirely intelligent,
reflected in man (as the sun is in different vessels of water) knowing the body
(kshetragna), attested by his conceiving, willing, and believing, it is
Pragapati, called Visva. His manifestations have been declared before. Now that
part of him which belongs to darkness, that, O students, is he who is called
Rudra. That part of him which belongs to obscurity, that, O students, is he who
is called Brahma. That part of him which belongs to goodness, that, O students,
is he who is called Vishnu. He being one, becomes three, becomes eight, becomes
eleven, becomes twelve, becomes infinite. Because he thus came to be, he is
the Being (neut.), he moves about, having entered all beings, he has become the
Lord of all beings. He is the Self within and without, yes, within and without.'