Aitareya-Âranyaka

iii : 1 : 1

Third Âranyaka 247 : 1 : First Adhyâya : First Khanda.

1.Next follows the Upanishad of the Samhitâ 247 : 2.

2.The former half is the earth, the latter half the heaven, their union the air 247 : 3, thus says Mândukeya; their union is the ether, thus did Mâkshavya teach it.

3.That air is not considered 247 : 4 independent 5, therefore I do not agree with his (Mandûka's) son.

4.Verily, the two are the same, therefore air is considered independent, thus says Âgastya. For it is the same, whether they say air or ether 247 : 1.

5.So far with reference to deities (mythologically); now with reference to the body (physiologically):

6.The former half is speech, the latter half is mind, their union breath (prâna), thus says Sûravîra 247 : 2 Mândukeya.

7.But his eldest son said: The former half is mind, the latter half speech. For we first conceive with the mind indeed 247 : 3, and then we utter with speech. Therefore the former half is indeed mind, the latter half speech, but their union is really breath.

8.Verily, it is the same with both, the father (Mândukeya) and the son 247 : 4.

9.This (meditation as here described), joined 247 : 5 with mind, speech, and breath, is (like) a chariot drawn by two horses and one horse between them (prashtivâhana).

10.And he who thus knows this union, becomes united with offspring, cattle, fame, glory of countenance, and the world of Svarga. He lives his full age.

11.Now all this comes from the Mândukeyas.

247 : 1This last portion of the Upanishad is found in the MS. discovered by Dr. Bühler in Kashmir, and described by him in the journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1877. I have collated it, so far as it was possible to read it, many lines being either broken off altogether, or almost entirely obliterated.

247 : 2Samhitâ is the sacred text in which all letters are closely joined. The joining together of two letters is called their samhitâ; the first letter of a joined group the pûrvarûpa (n.), the second the uttararûpa. For instance, in agnim île the m is pûrvarûpa, the î uttararûpa, and mî their samhitâ or union.

247 : 3As in worshipping the Sâlagrâma stone, we really worship Vishnu, so we ought to perceive the earth, the heaven, and the air when we pronounce the first and the second letters of a group, and that group itself.

247 : 4Mene has here been taken as 3rd pers. sing. perf. passive. The commentator, however, explains it as an active verb, niskitavân.

247 : 5Because it is included in the ether, not the ether in the air. Comm.

iii : 1 : 2

Third Âranyaka : First Adhyâya : Second Khanda.

1.Next comes the meditation as taught by Sâkalya.

2.The first half is the earth, the second half heaven, their uniting the rain, the uniter Parganya 249 : 1.

3.And so it is when he (Parganya) rains thus strongly, without ceasing, day and night 249 : 2,

4.Then they say also (in ordinary language), 'Heaven and earth have come together.'

5.So much with regard to the deities; now with regard to the body: —

6.Every man is indeed like an egg 249 : 3. There are two halves 249 : 4 (of him), thus they say: 'This half is the earth, that half heaven.' And there between them is the ether (the space of the mouth), like the ether between heaven and earth. In this ether there (in the mouth) the breath is fixed, as in that other ether the air is fixed. And as there are those three luminaries (in heaven), there are these three luminaries in man.

7.As there is that sun in heaven, there is this eye in the head. As there is that lightning in the sky, there is this heart in the body; as there is that fire on earth, there is this seed in the member.

8.Having thus represented the self (body) as the whole world, Sâkalya said: This half is the earth, that half heaven.

9.He who thus knows this union, becomes united with offspring, cattle, fame, glory of countenance, and the world of Svarga. He lives his full age.

iii : 1 : 3

Third Âranyaka : First Adhyâya : Third Khanda 248 : 1.

1.Next come the reciters of the Nirbhuga 248 : 2.

2.Nirbhuga abides on earth, Pratrinna in heaven, the Ubhayamantarena in the sky.

3.Now, if any one should chide him who recites the Nirbhuga, let him answer: 'Thou art fallen from the two lower places 248 : 3.' If any one should chide him who recites the Pratrinna, let him answer: 'Thou art fallen from the two higher places 248 : 4.' But he who recites the Ubhayamantarena, there is no chiding him.

4.For when he turns out the Sandhi (the union of words), that is the form of Nirbhuga 248 : 5; and when be pronounces two syllables pure (without modification), that is the form of Pratrinna 250 : 6. This comes first 251 : 1. By the Ubhayamantara (what is between the two) both are fulfilled (both the sandhi and the pada).

5.Let him who wishes for proper food say the Nirbhuga; let him who wishes for Svarga, say the Pratrinna; let him who wishes for both say the Ubhayamantarena.

6.Now if another man (an enemy) should chide him who says the Nirbhuga, let him say to him: 'Thou hast offended the earth, the deity; the earth, the deity will strike thee.'

If another man should chide him who says the Pratrinna, let him say to him: 'Thou hast offended heaven, the deity; heaven, the deity will strike thee.'

If another man should chide him who says the Ubhayamantarena, let him say to him: 'Thou hast offended the sky, the deity; the sky, the deity will strike thee.'

7.And whatever the reciter shall say to one who speaks to him or does not speak to him, depend upon it, it will come to pass.

8.But to a Brâhmana let him not say anything except what is auspicious.

9.Only he may curse a Brâhmana in excessive wealth 251 : 2.

10.Nay, not even in excessive wealth should he curse a Brâhmana, but he should say, 'I bow before Brâhmanas,'—thus says Sûravîra Mândûkeya.

248 : 1Both views are tenable, for it is not the actual air and ether which are meditated on, but their names, as declared and explained in this peculiar act of worship. We should read âkâsasketi, a reading confirmed both by the commentary and by the Kashmir MS.

248 : 2The man among heroes. Comm.

248 : 3The Kashmir MS. reads manasaivâgre.

248 : 4Both views are admissible. Comm.

248 : 5Prânasamhitah, Kashmir MS.

249 : 1If i is followed by a, the i is changed to y, and both are united as ya. Here a is the cause which changes i into y. Thus Parganya, the god of rain, is the cause which unites earth and heaven into rain. Comm.

249 : 2When it rains incessantly, heaven and earth seem to be one in rain.

249 : 3Ândam, andasadrisam. Comm.

249 : 4The one half from the feet to the lower jaw, the other half from the upper jaw to the skull. Comm.

250 : 1Cf. Rig-veda-prâtisâkhya, ed. Max Müller, p. iii, and Nachträge, p. ii.

250 : 2Nirbhuga(n) is the recitation of the Veda without intervals, therefore the same as Samhitâ. Pratrinna is the recitation of each word by itself (pada-pâtha); Ubhayamantarena, the between the two, is the intertwining of Samhitâ and Pada-pâtha, the so-called Krama-pâtha. By reciting the Samhitâ inattentively, one may use forms which belong to the Pada-text; and by reciting the Pada inattentively, one may use forms which belong to the Samhitâ-text. But in reciting the Krama both the Samhitâ and Pada forms are used together, and therefore mistakes are less likely to happen.

250 : 3From earth and sky. Cf. Kh. Up. II, 22, 3.

250 : 4From the sky and from heaven.

250 : 5Nirbhuga may mean without arms, as if the arms of the words were taken away, or with two arms stretched out, the two words forming, as it were, two arms to one body.

250 : 6Pratrinna means cut asunder, every word being separated from the others.

251 : 1The words were first each separate, before they were united according to the laws of Sandhi.

251 : 2He may curse him, if he is exceeding rich; or he may wish him the curse of excessive wealth; or he may curse him, if something great depends on it.

iii : 1 : 4

Third Âranyaka : First Adhyâya : Fourth Khanda.

1.Next follow the imprecations 252 : 1.

2.Let him know that breath 252 : 2 is the beam (on which the whole house of the body rests).

3.If any one (a Brâhmana or another man) should chide him, who by meditation has become that breath as beam 252 : 3, then, if he thinks himself strong, he says: 'I grasped the breath, the beam, well; thou dost not prevail against me who have grasped the breath as the beam.' Let him say to him: 'Breath, the beam, will forsake thee.'

4.But if he thinks himself not strong, let him say to him: 'Thou couldst not grasp him who wishes to grasp the breath as the beam. Breath, the beam, will forsake thee.'

5.And whatever the reciter shall say to one who speaks to him or does not speak to him, depend upon it, it will come to pass. But to a Brâhmana let him not say anything except what is auspicious. Only he may curse a Brâhmana in excessive wealth. Nay, not even in excessive wealth should he curse a Brâhmana, but he should say, 'I bow before Brâhmanas,' — thus says Sûravîra Mândûkeya.

252 : 1The commentator explains anuvyâhâra, not as imprecations, but as referring to those who leach or use the imprecations, such imprecations being necessary to guard against the loss of the benefits accruing from the meditation and worship here described; such teachers say what follows.

252 : 2Breath, the union of mind and speech, as explained before. This is the opinion of Sthavira Sâkalya, cf. III, 2, 1, 1.

252 : 3If he should tell him that he did not meditate on breath properly.

iii : 1 : 5

Third Âranyaka : First Adhyâya : Fifth Khanda.

1.Now those who repeat the Nirbhuga say:

2.'The former half 253 : 1 is the first syllable, the latter half the second syllable, and the space between the first and second halves is the Samhitâ (union).'

3.He who thus knows this Samhitâ (union), becomes united with offspring, cattle, fame, glory of countenance, and the world of Svarga. He lives his full age.

4.Now Hrasva Mândûkeya says: 'We reciters of Nirbhuga say, "Yes, the former half is the first syllable, and the latter half the second syllable, but the Samhitâ is the space between the first and second halves in so far as by it one turns out the union (sandhi), and knows what is the accent and what is not 253 : 2, and distinguishes what is the mora and what is not."'

5.He who thus knows this Samhitâ (union), becomes united with offspring, cattle, fame, glory of countenance, and the world of Svarga. He lives his full age.

6.Now his middle son, the child of his mother Prâtibodhî 253 : 3, says: 'One pronounces these two syllables letter by letter, without entirely separating them, and without entirely uniting them 254 : 1. Then that mora between the first and second halves, which indicates the union, that is the Sâman (evenness, sliding). I therefore hold Sâman only to be the Samhitâ (union).

7.This has also been declared by a Rishi (Rv. II, 23, 16): —

8.'O Brihaspati, they know nothing higher than Sâman.'

9.He who thus knows this Samhitâ (union), becomes united with offspring, cattle, fame, glory of countenance, and the world of Svarga. He lives his full age.

253 : 1As spoken of before, III, 1, 1, 1.

253 : 2In agnim île, île by itself has no accent, but as joined by sandhi with agnim, its first syllable becomes svarita, its second prakita. In tava it, the vowel i is a short mora or mâtrâ; but if joined with va, it vanishes, and becomes long e, tavet. Comm.

253 : 3Prâtîbodhîputra, the son of Prâtîbodhî, she being probably one out of several wives of Hrasva. Another instance of this metronymic nomenclature occurred in Krishna Devakîputra, Kh. Up. III, 7, 6. The Kashmir MS. reads Prâkîbodhî, but Pratibodha is a recognised name in Gana Vidâdi, and the right reading is probably Prâtibodhî. The same MS. leaves out putra âha.

254 : 1So that the ê in tavet should neither be one letter e, nor two letters a + i, but something between the two, enabling us to hear a + i in the pronunciation of ê.

iii : 1 : 6

Third Âranyaka : First Adhyâya : Sixth Khanda.

1.Târukshya 254 : 2 said: 'The Samhitâ (union) is formed by means of the Brihat and Rathantara 254 : 3 Sâmans.'

2.Verily, the Rathantara Sâman is speech, the Brihat Sâman is breath. By both, by speech and breath, the Samhitâ is formed 254 : 4.

3.For this Upanishad (for acquiring from his teacher the knowledge of this Samhitâ of speech and breath) Târukshya guards (his teacher's) cows a whole year.

4.For it alone Târukshya guards the cows a whole year.

5.This has also been declared by a Rishi (Rv. X, 181, 1; and Rv. X, 181, 2): —

6.'Vasishtha carried hither the Rathantara; 'Bharadvâga brought hither the Brihat of Agni.'

7.He who thus knows this Samhitâ (union), becomes united with offspring, cattle, fame, glory of countenance, and the world of Svarga. He lives his full age.

8.Kauntharavya said: 'Speech is united with breath, breath with the blowing air, the blowing air with the Visvedevas, the Visvedevas with the heavenly world, the heavenly world with Brahman. That Samhitâ is called the gradual Samhitâ.'

9.He who knows this gradual Samhitâ (union), becomes united with offspring, cattle, fame, glory of countenance, and the world of Svarga, in exactly the same manner as this Samhitâ, i.e. gradually.

10.If that worshipper, whether for his own sake or for that of another, recites (the Samhitâ), let him know when he is going to recite, that this Samhitâ went up to heaven, and that it will be even so with those who by knowing it become Devas. May it always be so!

11.He who thus knows this Samhitâ (union), becomes united with offspring, cattle, fame, glory of countenance, and the world of Svarga. He lives his full age.

12.Pañkâlakanda said: 'The Samhitâ (union, composition) is speech.'

13.Verily, by speech the Vedas, by speech the metres are composed. Friends unite through speech, all beings unite through speech; therefore speech is everything here 255 : 1.

14.With regard to this (view of speech being more than breath), it should be borne in mind that when we thus repeat (the Veda) or speak, breath is (absorbed) in speech; speech swallows breath. And when we are silent or sleep, speech is (absorbed) in breath; breath swallows speech. The two swallow each other. Verily, speech is the mother, breath the son.

15.This has been declared also by a Rishi (Rv. X, 114, 4): —

16.'There is one bird; (as wind) he has entered the sky; (as breath or living soul) he saw this whole world. With my ripe mind I saw him close to me (in the heart); the mother (licks or) absorbs him (breath), and he absorbs the mother (speech).'

17.He who thus knows this Samhitâ (union), becomes united with offspring, cattle, fame, glory of countenance, and the world of Svarga. He lives his full age.

18.Next follows the Pragâpati-Samhitâ.

19.The former half is the wife, the latter half the man; the result of their union the son; the act of their union the begetting; that Samhitâ is Aditi (indestructible).

20.For Aditi (indestructible) is all this whatever there is, father, mother, son, and begetting.

21.This has also been declared by a Rishi (Rv. I, 189, 10) —

22.'Aditi is mother, is father, is son.'

23.He who thus knows this Samhitâ (union), becomes united with offspring, cattle, fame, glory of countenance, and the world of Svarga. He lives his full age.

254 : 2The Kashmir MS. reads Târkshya, a name used before as the title of a hymn (Ait. Âr. I, 5, 2, 8). Here Târakshya seems preferable, see Pân. IV, 1, 105.

254 : 3See Ait. Âr. I, 4, 2, 1-4.

254 : 4These two, the Brihat and Rathantara, are required for the Prishthastotra in the Agnishtoma, and they are to remind the worshipper that speech and breath are required for all actions.

255 : 1Everything can be obtained by speech in this life and in the next. Comm.