Aitareya Upanishad | by Shankara | III i 1-4

PART III

Chapter I

There are Brāhmaṇas of modern times who crave for emancipation, hanker after the knowledge of Brahman, and realise that the achievement of identity with the Self of all follows from its (own) means,

viz. the knowledge of Brahman, as revealed by the Vedas through the succession of teachers like Vāmadeva and well known in the councils of the knowers of Brahman.

These Brāhmaṇas of modern times become desirous of desisting from the impermanent world of ends and means, inclusive of being born as limited souls;

and with a view to this they ask each other thus, while engaged in deliberation: “Kaḥ ayam ātmā etc.—what is It that we worship as this Self?”

How do they ask?

The Self which vayam upāsmahe, we worship; directly ayam ātmā iti, as this Self; kaḥ, what, is It?

And we worship that very Self, by meditating on which directly as “This is the Self”, Vāmadeva became immortal. What indeed is that Self?

When they were thus questioning each other with such eagerness to know,

then from the Vedic texts, “Brahman entered into this person through the two ends of the feet”, and “Having split up this end, He entered through this door“ (Ai. II. i. 12), called up by the mental impression created (in the past) as a result of hearing (the Vedas),

there flashed in their minds the fact, “2 Brahmans entered from opposite sides. And these 2 are the souls in this body. One of these selves is fit to be worshipped.”

While still engaged in discussion, they again asked each other with a view to determining clearly the Self that was to be worshipped out of the 2.

As they were discussing, there arose in them another thought regarding the one that should be the object of close enquiry. How?

2 entities are perceived in this body:

One is the instrument, diversified into many forms, through which one perceives;

and the other is the perceiver, inferable from the fact of the occurrence of recognition through memory of what was perceived with a different sense.

Of these 2, the one through which one perceives cannot be the Self.
Through what. again, does one perceive? That is being stated:

Yena vā paśyati, that by which, transformed as eye, one sees colour;
Yena vā, that by which, transformed as ear, śṛṇoti, one hears sound;

yena vā, that by which, transformed as the sense of smell, ājighrati gandhān, one smells the odours;

yena vā, that by which, transformed as the organ of speech, one vyākaroti vācam, utters speech, consisting of names, such as cow, horse, etc., and good, bad, etc.;

yena vā, that by which, transformed as the sense of taste, vijānāti, one perceives svādu ca asvādu ca, the sweet and the sour (tastes).

Which, again, is that one organ that has become diversely differentiated?
That is being answered:

Etat, it is; hṛdayam manaḥ ca, the heart and mind; yat, that were spoken of earlier, in

“The essence (i.e. the product) of all beings is the heart; the essence of the heart is the mind; by the mind was created water and Varuṇa; from the heart came the mind; and from the mind Moon“.

That very thing, that is but one, has become multi-formed.

Through this single internal organ, as transformed into the eye, one sees colour;
through this, transformed into ear, one hears;
through this, transformed into the sense of smell, one smells;
through this, transformed into the sense of taste, one tastes;
through this very one, in its aspect as the organ of deliberation, one deliberates;
and in its aspect as the heart (i.e. the intellect), one decides.

Therefore this is the one single organ which acts with regard to all objects of the senses, so that the perceiver may perceive everything.

Similar is the text of the Kauṣītaki Upaniṣad:

“Becoming identified with the organ of speech through the intellect (as reflecting the consciousness of the Self), the Self reaches (i.e. becomes identified with) the names, etc.“ (III. 6)

And in the Vājasaneyaka occur these:

“It is through the mind that one hears“ (Bṛ, I. v. 3),
“for one knows colours through the heart” (Br. III. ix. 19), etc.

Accordingly, the entity that is called the heart and the mind is well known as the agent producing perception.

And the vital force (Prāṇa) consists of these 2, for there occurs the brāhmaṇa text:

“That which is the vital force is the intellect;
that which is the intellect is the vital force” (Kau. III. 3).

And we said in the texts dealing with the conversations with the vital force and so on (Bṛ. I. iii, VI. i. 7-14: Pr. II.) that the vital force is in essence a combination of the organs.

Therefore the entity, (in the form of which) Brahman entered through the feet, cannot be the Self to be worshipped, since it is a subsidiary thing, being an instrument of perception for the perceiver.

As a last resort, they arrived at this certitude:

“That witnessing Self is worthy of worship by us, for whose perception the functions of this instrument, in its aspects as the heart and the mind, are being stated.“

The functions of that inner bg-sky organ - with regard to internal and external objects—

- that take place for bearing witness to the witnessing Brahman that is consciousness by nature and that exists in the midst of Its limiting adjunct, viz. the internal organ,

- are (these that are) being enumerated:

Saṁjñānam, sentience, the state of consciousness; ājñānam, rulership, the state of lordliness; vijñānam, (secular) knowledge of arts etc.; prajñānam, presence of mind; medhā, ability to understand and retain the purport of books;

dṛṣṭiḥ, perception, of all objects through the senses; dhṛtiḥ, fortitude, by which the drooping body and senses are buoyed up—for they say, “By fortitude they buoyed up the body”;

matiḥ, thinking; manīṣaḥ, independent thinking (genius); jūtiḥ, mental suffering, owing to disease etc.; smṛtiḥ, memory; saṁkalpaḥ ascertaining, of colours etc. as white, black etc.;

kratuḥ, resolution; asuḥ, any function calculated to sustain life’s activity, such as breathing etc.; kāmaḥ, desire for a remote object, hankering; vaśaḥ, passion for the company of women; iti, etc., and other functions of the inner bg-sky organ.

Since these are the means for the perception of the witness who is mere Consciousness, they are the limiting adjuncts of Brahman that is pure Consciousness, and therefore saṁjñāna etc. become the names of Brahman.

Sarvāṇi eva etāni, all these verily; bhavanti, become; nāma-dheyāni, the indirect names; prajñānasya, of Consciousness, but not so naturally and directly.

And so it has been said,
“When it does the function of living, it is called the vital force” (Bṛ. I. iv. 7) etc.

Eṣaḥ, this One, the Self which is essentially Consciousness; is brahma, Brahman, the inferior one (who is Hiraṇyagarbha and) who as the vital force (possessed of the power of action)

and the conscious soul (possessed of the power of knowledge) exists in (the sum total of) all the bodies (i.e. in the cosmic gross body) after having entered into all the limiting adjuncts of the internal organs (i.e. into the cosmic subtle body) like the reflection of the sun on diverse waters.

He is the power of action and knowledge (in the individual).

Eṣaḥ, this One; is verily Indraḥ, Indra, who is called so because He possesses the qualities (mentioned earlier in Ai. I. iii. 13-14); or “Indra” means the lord of the gods.

Eṣaḥ, this One; is Prajāpatiḥ, Prajāpati (Virāṭ) who is the first embodied Being.

That Prajāpati, from whom the presiding deities of the organs, viz. Fire and others, were born after the formation of the cavity of the mouth etc., is verily this One.

And ete sarve devaḥ, all these gods, viz. Fire and others, that there are, are but this One; ca, and; imāni раñса mahābhūtāni these 5 great elements;

viz. etāni, these—starting with earth –that are the materials of all the bodies and that constitute the foods and the eaters;

ca imāni, moreover these also, e.g. snakes etc. that are kṣudramiśrāṇi iva, mixed with small creatures, the word iva being meaningless; and that are bījāni, the seeds, causes (of others);

ca itarāṇi itarāṇi as well as those others and others, that are mentionable in pairs (e.g. the moving and the stationary). Which are they? They are being enumerated:

Aṇḍajāni, born of eggs—birds and others: jārujāni, born of wombs—men and others; svedajāni, born of moisture -lice etc.; udbhijjāni, born of earth -  e.g. trees etc.;

aśvāḥ, horses; gāvaḥ, cattle; puruṣaḥ, human beings; hastinaḥ, elephants; and yat kim ca idam, and whatever living creature there may be.

Which are they?

Whichever is jaṅgamam, moving on feet; and whichever is patatri, flying in the sky; and whatever is sthāvaram, motionless.

All that is but this One! Tat sarvam, all that, without exception, is prajñānetram, made to exist by Consciousness, (the phrase being derived thus):

Prajñā is Consciousness that is the same as Brahman: Netra is that by which one is dowered with substance, or that by which one is impelled (to one's natural activity);

therefore that which has Consciousness as the giver of its substance or as its impeller is prajñānetra.

Prajñāne pratiṣṭhitam, on Consciousness it is established, that is to say, it is supported by Brahman during creation, existence, and dissolution.

The sentence “prajñānetraḥ lokaḥ, the universe has Consciousness as its impeller", is to be understood as before;

or the meaning is that all the universe has got Consciousness as its netra, eye (i.e. the source of revelation).

Prajñā, Consciousness; is pratiṣṭhā the support, of the whole universe.
Therefore prajñānam brahma, Consciousness is Brahman.

That Entity, thus dealt with, when freed from all distinctions created by the limiting adjuncts, is without stain, without taint, without action, quiescent, one without a second,

“Not this, not this” (Br. III. ix. 26), to be known by the elimination of all attributes, and beyond all words and thoughts.

That very Entity that is God, the omniscient, and the ordainer of the common seed of all the unmanifested universe assumes the name of Antaryāmī (the inner bg-sky Controller) by virtue of guiding.

That Entity Itself assumes the name of Hiraṇyagarbha, identifying Himself with (cosmic) intelligence that is the seed of the unmanifested world.

That Entity Itself gets the name of Virāt, that is Prajāpati, by assuming as His limiting adjunct the (gross, cosmic) body that is born first within the cosmic egg; and It becomes known by the names of the (cosmic) deities such as Fire and others, who originate from that egg.

Similarly, Brahman gets the respective names and forms as conditioned by the divergent bodies, ranging from that of Brahma to that of a clump of grass.

It is the same entity that has become diversified under all the conditions and is known in every way and is thought of multifariously by all creatures as well as the logicians.

"Some call this very Entity Fire, some call it Manu, and some Prajāpati.
Some call It Indra, while others call It Prāṇa (vital force)
and still others the eternal Brahman" etc. (Manu XII. 123).

Saḥ, he Vāmadeva or somebody else; knew thus the Brahman as described; through the Self that is Consciousness—through that very conscious Self by which the seers of old became immortal.

Similarly, this one, too, etena prājñena ātmanā, through (i.e. in identification with) this (very) Self that is Consciousness; asmāt lokāt utkramya, ascending higher up from this world.

The portion starting from here was explained before (Ai. II. i. 6):

Ascending higher up from this world and sarvān kāmān āptvā, attaining all the desires; amuṣmin svarge loke, in that heavenly world; (he) samabhavat, became; amṛtaḥ, immortal;

samabhavat, (he) became (immortal). Oṁ.

.. auṁ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ..
Om! Peace! Peace! Peace!