This post is the ninth of the Upanishad series.
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SACRED SONG
Lead me from the unreal to the Real.
Lead me from darkness to light.
Lead me from death to immortality.
ॐ शान्ति शान्ति शान्ति
CHAPTER VI
THE STORY OF SHVETAKETU
1.1 Shvetaketu was Uddalaka’s son.
When he was twelve, his father said to him:
“It is time for you to find a teacher,
Dear one, for no one in our family
Is a stranger to the spiritual life.”
1.2 So Shvetaketu went to a teacher
And studied all the Vedas for twelve years.
At the end of this time he returned home,
Proud of his intellectual knowledge.
“You seem to be proud of all this learning,”
Said Uddalaka. “But did you ask
Your teacher for that spiritual wisdom
1.3 Which enables you to hear the unheard,
Think the unthought, and know the unknown?”
“What is that wisdom, Father?” asked the son.
Uddalaka said to Shvetaketu:
1.4 “As by knowing one lump of clay, dear one,
We come to know all things made out of clay
That they differ only in name and form,
While the stuff of which all are made is clay;
1.5 As by knowing one gold nugget, dear one,
We come to know all things made out of gold:
That they differ only in name and form,
While the stuff of which all are made is gold;
1.6 As by knowing one tool of iron, dear one,
We come to know all things made out of iron:
That they differ only in name and form,
While the stuff of which all are made is iron -
So through that spiritual wisdom, dear one,
We come to know that all of life is one.”
1.7 “My teachers must not have known this wisdom,”
Said Shvetaketu, “for if they had known,
How could they have failed to teach it to me?
Please instruct me in this wisdom, Father.”
“Yes, dear one, I will,” replied his father.
2.2 “In the beginning was only Being
One without a second.
2.3 Out of himself he brought forth the cosmos
And entered into everything in it.
There is nothing that does not come from him.
Of everything he is the inmost Self.
He is the truth; he is the Self supreme.
You are that, Shvetaketu; you are that.
“Please, Father, tell me more about this Self.”
“Yes, dear one, I will,” Uddalaka said
8.1 “Let us start with sleep. What happens in it?
When one is absorbed in dreamless sleep,
He is one with the Self, though he knows it not
We say he sleeps, but he sleeps in the Self.
8.2 As a tethered bird grows tired of flying
About in vain to find a place of rest
And settles down at last on its own perch
So the mind, tired of wandering about
Hither and thither, settles down at last
In the Self, dear one, to which it is bound.
8.4 All creatures, dear one, have their source in him.
He is their home; he is their strength.”
8.6 “When a person departs from this world, dear one,
His speech merges in mind, his mind in prana,
Prana in fire, and fire in pure Being.
8.7 There is nothing that does not come from him.
Of everything he is the inmost Self
He is the truth; he is the Self supreme.
You are that, Shvetaketu; you are that.”
“Please tell me, Father, more about this Self.”
“Yes, dear one, I will,” Uddalaka said.
9.1 “As bees suck nectar from many a flower
And make their honey one, 9.2 so that no drop
Can say, “I am from this flower or that,”
All creatures, though one, know not they are that One.
9.3 There is nothing that does not come from him.
Of everything he is the inmost Self.
He is the truth; he is the Self supreme.
You are that, Shvetaketu; you are that.”
“Please, Father, tell me more about this Self”
“Yes, dear one, I will,” Uddalaka said.
Merge in the sea and become one with it,
Forgetting they were ever separate rivers,
10.2 So do all creatures lose their separateness
When they merge at last into pure Being.
10.3 There is nothing that does not come from him.
Of everything he is the inmost Self.
He is the truth; he is the Self supreme.
You are that, Shvetaketu; you are that.”
“Please, Father, tell me more about this Self”
“Yes, dear one, I will,” Uddalaka said.
11.1 “Strike at the root of a tree; it would bleed
But still live. Strike at the trunk; it would bleed
But still live. Strike again at the top;
It would bleed but still live. The Self as life
Supports the tree, which stands firm and enjoys
The nourishment it receives.
If it leaves a second, that too withers.
If it leaves a third, that again withers.
Let it leave the whole tree, the whole tree dies.
11.3 Just so, dear one, when death comes and the Self
Departs from the body, the body dies.
But the Self dies not.”
“There is nothing that does not come from him.
Of everything he is the inmost Self.
He is the truth; he is the Self supreme.
You are that, Shvetaketu; you are that.”
“Please, Father, tell me more about this Self”
“Yes, dear one, I will,” Uddalaka said.
12.1 “Bring me a fruit from the nyagrodha tree.”
“Here it is, sir.”
“Break it. What do you see?”
“These seeds, Father, all exceedingly small.”
“Break one. What do you see?”
“Nothing at all.”
12.2 “That hidden essence you do not see, dear one,
From that a whole nyagrodha tree will grow.
12.3 There is nothing that does not come from him.
Of everything he is the inmost Self.
He is the truth; he is the Self supreme.
You are that, Shvetaketu; you are that.”
“Please, Father, tell me more about this Self.”
“Yes, dear one, I will,” Uddalaka said.
13.1 “Place this salt in water and bring it here
Tomorrow morning.” The boy did.
“Where is that salt?” his father asked.
“I do not see it.”
13.2 “Sip here. How does it taste?”
“Salty, Father.”
And here? And there?”
“I taste salt everywhere.”
“It is everywhere, though we see it not.
Just so, dear one, the Self is everywhere,
Within all things, although we see him not
13.3 There is nothing that does not come from him.
Of everything he is the inmost Self.
He is the truth; he is the Self supreme.
You are that, Shvetaketu; you are that.”
“Please, Father, tell me more about this Self.”
“Yes, dear one, I will,” Uddalaka said.
14.1 “As a man from Gandhara, blindfolded,
Led away and left in a lonely place,
Turns to the east and west and north and south
And shouts, ‘I am left here and cannot see!’
14.2 Until one removes his blindfold and says,
‘There lies Gandhara; follow that path,’
And thus informed, able to see for himself,
The man inquires from village to village
And reaches his homeland at last – just so
My son, one who finds an illumined teacher
Attains to spiritual wisdom in the Self.
14.3 There is nothing that does not come from him
Of everything he is the inmost Self.
He is the truth; he is the Self supreme.
You are that, Shvetaketu; you are that.”
“Please, Father, tell me more about this Self.”
“Yes, dear one, I will,” Uddalaka said.
15.1 “When a man is dying, his family
All gather round and ask, ‘Do you know me?
Do you know me?’ And so long as his speech
Has not merged in mind, his mind in prana,
Prana in fire, and fire in pure Being,
15.2 He knows them all. But there is no more knowing
When speech merges in mind, mind in prana,
Prana in fire, and fire in pure Being,
15.3 There is nothing that does not come from him.
Of everything he is the inmost Self.
He is the truth; he is the Self supreme.
You are that, Shvetaketu; you are that.”
16.3 Then Shvetaketu understood this teaching;
Truly he understood it all.
CHAPTER VII
NARADA’S EDUCATION
1.1 Narada approached the sage Sanatkumara and said, “Please teach me, Venerable One.”
“Tell me what you know,” replied the sage, “and then I will teach you what is beyond that.”
1.2 “I know the four Vedas – Rig, Yajur, Sama, Atharva – and the epics, called the fifth. I have studied grammar, rituals, mathematics, astronomy, logic, economics, physics, psychology, the fine arts, and even snake-charming. 1.3 But all this knowledge has not helped me to know the Self. I have heard from spiritual teachers like you that one who realizes the Self goes beyond sorrow. I am lost in sorrow. Please teach me how to go beyond.”
“Whatever you know is just words,” said Sanatkumara, “names of finite phenomena. 23.1 It is the Infinite that is the source of abiding joy because it is not subject to change. Therefore seek to know the Infinite.”
“I seek to know the Infinite, Venerable One.”
24.1 “Where one realizes the indivisible unity of life, sees nothing else, hears nothing else, knows nothing else, that is the Infinite. Where one sees separateness, hears separateness, knows separateness, that is the finite. The Infinite is beyond death, but the finite cannot escape death.”
“On what does the Infinite depend, Venerable One?”
“On its own glory – no, not even on that. 24.2 In the world people think they can attain glory by having cows and horses, elephants and gold, family and servants, fields and mansions. But I do not call that glory, for here one thing depends on another. Utterly independent is the Infinite.
25.1 “The Infinite is above and below, before and behind, to the right and to the left. I am all this. The Self is above and below, before and behind, to the right and to the left. I am all this. 25.2 One who meditates upon the Self and realizes the Self sees the Self everywhere, and rejoices in the Self. Such a one lives in freedom and is at home wherever he goes. But those who pursue the finite are blind to the Self and live in bondage.
26.1 “One who meditates upon and realizes the Self discovers that everything in the cosmos – energy and space, fire and water, name and form, birth and death, mind and will, word and deed, mantram and meditation – all come from the Self.
26.2 “The Self is one, though it appears to be many. Those who meditate upon the Self and realize the Self go beyond decay and death, beyond separateness and sorrow. They see the Self in everyone and obtain all things.
“Control the senses and purify the mind. In a pure mind there is constant awareness of the Self. Where there is constant awareness of the Self, freedom ends bondage and joy ends sorrow.”
Thus the sage Sanatkumara taught the pure Narada to go beyond bondage, beyond sorrow, beyond darkness, to the light of the Self.
CHAPTER VIII
THE CITY OF BRAHMAN
1.1 In the city of Brahman is a secret dwelling, the lotus of the heart. Within this dwelling is a space, and within that space is the fulfillment of our desires. What is within that space should be longed for and realized.
1.3 As great as the infinite space beyond is the space within the lotus of the heart. Both heaven and earth are contained in that inner space, both fire and air, sun and moon, lightning and stars. Whether we know it in this world or know it not, everything is contained in that inner space.
1.5 Never fear that old age will invade that city; never fear that this inner treasure of all reality will wither and decay. This knows no age when the body ages; this knows no dying when the body dies. This is the real city of Brahman; this is the Self, free from old age, from death and grief, hunger and thirst. In the Self all desires are fulfilled.
The Self desires only what is real, thinks nothing but what is true. Here people do what they are told, becoming dependent on their country, or their piece of land, or the desires of another, 1.6 so their desires are not fulfilled and their works come to nothing, both in this world and in the next. Those who depart from this world without knowing who they are or what they truly desire have no freedom here or hereafter.
But those who leave here knowing who they are and what they truly desire have freedom everywhere, both in this world and in the next.
1.1–2 Would they see their departed mother or father? Lo, they see them and are happy. 1.3–6 Would they see their family and friends? Lo, they see them and are happy. Would they enjoy the world of music, of spring flowers, of elegance? Lo, by their mere will they enjoy these things. 1.10 Whatever they desire, the object of that desire arises from the power of their own thoughts; they have it and are happy.
3.1 Here our selfless desires are hidden by selfish ones. They are real, but they are covered by what is false. Therefore whoever of our own departs from this life, not one can ever be brought back before our eyes.
3.2 But all those we love, alive or departed, and all things we desire but do not have, are found when we enter that space within the heart; for there abide all desires that are true, though covered by what is false.
Like strangers in an unfamiliar country walking over a hidden treasure, day by day we enter the world of Brahman while in deep sleep but never find it, carried away by what is false.
3.3 The Self is hidden in the lotus of the heart. Those who see themselves in all creatures go day by day into the world of Brahman hidden in the heart. 4. Established in peace, they rise above body-consciousness to the supreme light of the Self. Immortal, free from fear, this Self is Brahman, called the True. 5. Beyond the mortal and the immortal, he binds both worlds together. Those who know this live day after day in heaven in this very life.
4.1 The Self is a bulwark against the confounding of these worlds and a bridge between them. Day and night cannot cross that bridge, nor old age, nor death, nor grief, nor evil nor good deeds. All evils turn back there, unable to cross; evil comes not into this world of Brahman.
4.2 One who crosses by this bridge, if blind, is blind no more; if hurt, ceases to be hurt; if in sorrow, ceases sorrowing. At this boundary night itself becomes day: night comes not into this world of Brahman.
4.3 Only those who are pure and self-controlled can find this world of Brahman. That world is theirs alone. In that world, in all the worlds, they live in perfect freedom.
THE GODS AND THE GODLESS
7.1 The great teacher Prajapati said: “The Self is pure, free from decay and death, free from hunger and thirst, and free from sorrow. The Self desires nothing that is not good, wills nothing that is not good. Seek and realize the Self! Those who seek and realize the Self fulfill all their desires and attain the goal supreme.”
7.2 The devas and the asuras, the gods and the godless, heard this truth and said: “Let us seek and realize the Self so that we may fulfill all our desires.” So Indra from among the gods and Virochana from among the godless approached Prajapati, carrying fuel in their hands as a sign that they wanted to become his disciples. 7.3 They dwelt with him for thirty-two years, and at the end of that time Prajapati asked why they had stayed with him so long.
Indra and Virochana replied, “We have heard of your inspiring words: ‘The Self is pure, free from decay and death, free from hunger and thirst, and free from sorrow. The Self desires nothing that is not good, wills nothing that is not good. Seek and realize the Self! Those who seek and realize the Self fulfill all their desires and attain the goal supreme.’ We have been living here as your disciples because we want to realize the Self.”
7.4 Prajapati said to them: “When you look into another’s eyes, what you see is the Self, fearless and deathless. That is Brahman, the supreme.”
“Venerable One,” asked the two disciples, “what is it we see reflected in the water or in a mirror?”
“It is the Self you see in all these,” he said to them.
8.1 “Now look at yourself in a bowl of water, and ask me anything you want to learn about the Self.”
They looked at themselves in a bowl of water
“What did you see in the water?”
“We have seen the Self, even the hair and the nails.”
8.2 “Put on your best clothes, adorn your body, and look again in the water.”
They did so, and came back to Prajapati.
“What did you see in the water?” he asked.
8.3 “We have seen the Self, well dressed and well adorned,” they replied.
“That is the Self, fearless and deathless. That is Brahman, the supreme.”
Indra and Virochana went away satisfied. 8.4 But Prajapati said to himself: “They have seen the Self, but they have not recognized the Self. They mistake the Self to be the body. Those who think the Self is the body will lose their way in life.”
Virochana, quite sure that the Self is the body, went back to the godless and began to teach them that the body alone is to be saved, the body alone is to be adored. He taught them that whoever lives for indulging the senses will find joy in this world and the next. 8.5 Even today people are called godless when they lack faith, love, and charity, because that is the way of the godless. They dress even dead bodies in fine clothes and adorn them with ornaments so that they may enjoy their life in the next world.
9.1 But Indra, as he was on his way home to the gathering of the gods, began to question this knowledge. “If the Self is the same as the body, well dressed when the body is well dressed, well adorned when the body is well adorned, then the Self will be blind when the body is blind, lame when the body is lame, paralyzed when the body is paralyzed. And when the body dies, the Self too will die. In such knowledge I see no value.
9.2 Again Indra went back to Prajapati with fuel in hand.
“Why have you returned, Indra?” his teacher asked. “Did you not go away quite satisfied?”
“Venerable One,” replied Indra, “if the Self is well dressed when the body is well dressed, well adorned when the body is well adorned, then the Self will be blind when the body is blind, lame when the body is lame, paralyzed when the body is paralyzed. And when the body dies, the Self too will die. In such knowledge I see no value.”
9.3 “You are thinking clearly, Indra,” said Prajapati. “Live with me for another thirty-two years and I will teach you more of the Self.”
So Indra lived with Prajapati for another thirty-two years. Then Prajapati said to him: 10.1 “That which moves about in joy in the dreaming state is the Self, fearless and deathless. That is Brahman, the supreme.”
Indra went away satisfied, but on his way home to the gathering of the gods he began to question this knowledge. “In the dreaming state, it is true, the Self is not blind when the body is blind, nor lame when the body is lame, nor paralyzed when the body is paralyzed, 10.2 nor slain when the body is slain. Yet in dreams the Self may appear to suffer and to be slain; it may become conscious of pain and even weep. In such knowledge I see no value.”
10.3 Again Indra went back to Prajapati with fuel in hand.
“Why have you returned, Indra?” his teacher asked. “Did you not go away quite satisfied?”
“Venerable One,” replied Indra, “in the dreaming state, it is true, the Self is not blind when the body is blind, nor lame when the body is lame; yet in this state the Self may still suffer and even weep. In such knowledge I see no value.”
10.4 “You are thinking clearly, Indra,” said Prajapati. “Live with me for another thirty-two years and I will teach you more of the Self.”
Indra lived with Prajapati for another thirty-two years. Then his teacher said:
11.1 “When a person is sleeping soundly, free from dreams, with a still mind, that is the Self, fearless and deathless. That is Brahman, the supreme.”
Indra went away satisfied, but on his way home to the gathering of the gods he began to question this knowledge. “In the state of dreamless sleep one is not aware of oneself or any other. The state of dreamless sleep is very close to extinction. In this knowledge I see no value.”
11.2 Again Indra went back to Prajapati with fuel in hand.
“Why have you returned, Indra?” his teacher asked. “Did you not go away quite satisfied?”
“Venerable One”, replied Indra, “in the state of dreamless sleep one is not aware of oneself or of any other. The state of dreamless sleep is very close to extinction. In this knowledge I see no value.”
11.3 “You are thinking clearly, Indra,” said Prajapati. “Live with me for another five years and I will teach you to realize the Self.”
Indra lived with Prajapati for another five years. Altogether he lived with his teacher for one hundred and one years, which is why people say, “Even Indra had to live with his teacher for one hundred and one years.” After that time, Prajapati revealed the highest truth of the Self to Indra:
12.1 “It is true the body is perishable, but within it dwells the imperishable Self. This body is subject to pleasure and pain; no one who identifies with the body can escape from pleasure and pain. But those who know they are not the body pass beyond pleasure and pain to live in abiding joy.
12.2 “Like the wind, like clouds, like thunder and lightning, which rise from space without physical shape and reach the transcendent light in their own form, those who rise above body-consciousness ascend to the transcendent light in their real form, the Self.
“In that state, free from attachment, they move at will, laughing, playing, and rejoicing. They know the Self is not this body, but only tied to it for a time as an ox is tied to its cart. Whenever one sees, smells, speaks, hears, or thinks, they know it is the Self that sees, smells, speaks, hears, and thinks; the senses are but his instruments.
“Worshipping this Self in the world of Brahman, the gods obtained all worlds and all desires. Those who know this Self and realize this Self obtain all worlds and all desires.” So said Prajapati; so taught Prajapati.
A PAEAN OF ILLUMINATION
13.1 From the Divine Dark to the manifest
To the Divine Dark I pass again
As a horse shakes free its mane, I have
Shaken off all evil. Freeing myself
From the bonds of birth and death as the moon
Escapes from Rahu’s mouth, I have attained
The pure realm of Brahman; I have attained
The pure realm of Brahman
15.1 Brahman is my home. I shall not lose it
Truly I shall not be lost again.
ॐ शान्ति शान्ति शान्ति
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NOTES
2024.08.12
[4.1.1] The Story of Shvetaketu is my favorite of the Upanishads so far. Reading You are that, Shvetaketu; you are that” is so powerful ,,, and the analogies of the tethered bird [4.8.2], honeybee [4.9.1], and sea [4.9.3]. Wow.
Also in the same story, he discusses the important of a guru. Although I have been quite opposed to organized teaching / someone dictating how to interpret it, I think the issue was the quality of guru. There’s also an illogical preference for the wisdom of ancients vs. their commentators when both are written by people. I must dwell on this more . . .
[7.24.1] Narada’s education, in my view, has the clearest parallels to Spinoza (utterly independent), Zhuangzi (fasting of the mind), and all the other schools I love so dearly. I especially love the emphasis of utter independence, that if something depends on another it cannot be the highest. This remind me of my bench thought that self-worth, and all else, must be utterly extinction-proof. Now I am learning Self-worth.
[8.1.1] Also love the concept of utopia, the City of Brahman, being entirely within you. Like Aurelius says, “Men seek retreats for themselves - in the country, by the sea, in the hills - [but] no retreat offers someone more quiet and relaxation than that into his own mind . . .”
[8.3.3] “Body-consciousness” is a great way to put it. Another great distinction to draw, like “pleasure/joy” and “ego/Self.”
[8.8.3] Interesting and logical that dressing your dead up so they can enjoy in the next world is a mark of the godless.