This post is the seventh of the Upanishad series.
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UNITY OF LIFE
May my word be one with my thought, and my thought
Be one with my word. O Lord of Love,
Let me realize you in my consciousness.
May I realize the truth of the scriptures
And translate it into my daily life.
May I proclaim the truth of the scriptures.
May I speak the truth. May it protect me,
And may it protect my teacher.
ॐ शान्ति शान्ति शान्ति
PART I
[1]
1. Before the world was created, the Self
Alone existed; nothing whatever stirred.
Then the Self thought: “Let me create the world.”
2. He brought forth all the worlds out of himself:
Ambhas, high above the sky; Marichi,
The sky; Mara, the middle region that is earth;
And Apa, the realm of waters below.
3. The Self thought: “I have created these worlds.
Let me now create guardians for these worlds.”
From the waters he drew forth Purusha
And gave him a form. 4. As the Self brooded
Over the form, a mouth opened, as does
An egg, giving forth speech and fire; nostrils
Opened with the power of breathing the air;
Eyes opened, giving rise to sight and sun;
And ears opened to hear the sound in space.
Skin appeared and from it hair; from hair came
Plants and trees. The heart gushed forth; from the heart
Came the mind, and from the mind came the moon.
The navel opened with the downward force,
Apana, which gave rise to death. The sex organ rose
With living water which gave rise to birth.
[2]
1. Thus came these guardians into the mighty
Ocean of existence. The Self caused them
To hunger and thirst. They said to the Self:
“Give us a place where we can live and eat.”
2. He brought them the form of a cow. They said:
“This is not what we desire.” He brought them
The form of a horse. But they said again:
3. “This is not what we desire.” He brought them
A human form. They said in joy: “Just right!
A human body is just right for us.”
The Self asked them to enter the body
And take up their places. 4. Fire, becoming
Speech, entered the mouth; air, becoming smell,
Entered the nose; the sun, becoming sight,
Entered the eyes; sounds in space, becoming
Hearing, entered the ears; plants, herbs, and trees,
Becoming hair, entered the skin; the moon,
Becoming mind, entered the heart. The god
Of death, becoming downward force, entered
The navel; the god of living water,
Becoming sperm, entered the sex organ.
5. Hunger and thirst said to the Self:
“Give us A place.” He told them: “Enter into these
Guardians and share their life with them.
Thus hunger and thirst for food, drink, and pleasure
Attend us, whatever we do in life.
[3]
1. The Self, Creator, thought: “Here are the worlds
And their guardians. Let me now bring forth food
For them.” 2. He brooded over the waters,
And food appeared in the form of matter.
3. It tried to run away in fear, and man,
The first embodied being, tried to catch
It with his speech. But he could not catch it
With words. Merely by repeating the name
Of food one cannot satisfy hunger.
4. He tried to catch it with his breath, but he
Could not. Just by smelling food one cannot
Satisfy hunger. 5, He tried to catch it
With his eyes, but he could not. By looking
At food one cannot satisfy hunger.
6. He tried to catch it with his ears, but he
Could not. By merely hearing about food
One cannot satisfy hunger. 7. He tried
To catch it with his skin, but he could not.
By touching food one cannot satisfy
Hunger. 8. He tried to catch it with his mind,
But he could not. By thinking about food
One cannot satisfy hunger. 9. He tried
To catch it with his genital organ,
But he could not. By sexual union
One cannot satisfy hunger. 10. He tried
To catch it with apana, the downward prana
Of digestion, and at last he caught it.
Thus it is apana that takes in food;
Thus it is apana that lives on food.
11. The Self thought, “How can this be without me?
If speaking is done by speech, breathing by
Breath, seeing by eyes, hearing by ears, smelling
By nose, and meditation by the mind,
12. Then who am I?” Entering the body
Through the gateway at the crown of the head,
He passed into the three states of consciousness
In which the Self resides.
13. Filled with wonder, we sing: “I see the Lord.”
14. So his name is Idamdra, “He who sees.”
The name Indra stands for Idamdra.
The gods do like to sit behind a veil;
Indeed they like to sit behind a veil.
PART II
[1]
1. Life begins in man as sexual fluid,
Which has the strength gathered from all his limbs.
Man holds this quintessence in his body,
And it becomes child in woman. This is
The first birth. 2. Child and mother are one.
She protects the child, and needs protection.
3. The mother carries the child in her womb,
And the father bestows his loving care
Before and after birth. The child is their
Atman, their very Self, and continues
Their line without break as the second birth.
4. He discharges all their holy duties
And sheds his body, too, when it grows old,
To be born again. This is the third birth.
The sage Vamadeva declared of old:
5. “While dwelling in the womb I understood
The birth of all the gods. A hundred forms,
Strong as steel, held me prisoner. But I
Broke loose from them, like a hawk from the cage,
And came out swiftly.” While still in the womb,
Vamadeva made this declaration.
6. He emerged from his mother’s womb, fully
Illumined, to live in abiding joy,
And went beyond death. Indeed
He went beyond death.
PART III
1. Who is this Self on whom we meditate?
Is it the Self by which we see, hear, smell, and taste,
2. Through which we speak in words? Is Self the mind
By which we perceive, direct, understand,
Know, remember, think, will, desire, and love?
These are but servants of the Self, who is
Pure consciousness. This Self is all in all.
He is all the gods, the five elements,
3. Earth, air, fire, water, and space; all creatures,
Great or small, born of eggs, of wombs, of heat,
Of shoots; horses, cows, elephants, men, and women;
All beings that walk, all beings that fly,
And all that neither walk nor fly. Prajna
Is pure consciousness, guiding all. The world
Rests on prajna, and prajna is Brahman.
4. Those who realize Brahman live in joy
And go beyond death. Indeed
They go beyond death.
ॐ शान्ति शान्ति शान्ति
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NOTES
2024.08.09
I gravitate towards Part III, but am fascinated with the birth in Part II. It is discussing the continuation of Atman ≡ Brahman, but it reminds me of the theory of the gene as the basic level of evolution and the body as a vessel.
Also, becoming enlightened in the womb is quite funny. What a G.