Kaushitaki Brahmana Upanishad E-Book

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• Herausgeber: Interactive Media
• Kategorie: Bildung
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

This venerable text delves into the intricate rituals, profound metaphysical concepts, and spiritual teachings of the Vedic tradition. Through dialogues between sages and seekers, it explores the nature of the self, the cosmos, and ultimate reality. Essential for scholars and spiritual enthusiasts alike, it illuminates the path to self-realization and the eternal truths of existence.

Leseprobe

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Kaushitaki Brahmana Upanishad

New Edition

New Edition

Published by The Big Nest

This Edition

First published in 2021

Copyright © 2021 The Big Nest

All Rights Reserved.

ISBN: 9781787363274

Contents

THE COUCH OF BRAHMAN

KNOWLEDGE OF THE LIVING SPIRIT

LIFE AND CONSCIOUSNESS

THE COUCH OF BRAHMAN

Kitra Gângyâyani, wishing to perform a sacrifice, chose Âruni Uddâlaka, to be his chief priest. But Âruni sent his son, Svetaketu, and said: “Perform the sacrifice for him.” When Svetaketu had arrived, Kitra asked him: “Son of Gautama, is there a hidden place in the world where you are able to place me, or is it the other way, and are you going to place me in the world to which that other way leads?”14

He answered and said: “I do not know this. But, let me ask the master.” Having approached his father, he asked: “Thus has Kitra asked me; how shall I answer?”

Âruni said: “I also do not know this. Only after having learnt the proper portion of the Veda in Kitra’s own dwelling, shall we obtain what others give us, i.e., knowledge. Come, we will both go.”

Having said this he took fuel in his hand, like a pupil, and approached Kitra Gângyâyani, saying: «May I come near to you?» He replied: «You are worthy of Brahman, O Gautama, because you were not led away by pride. Come hither, I shall make you know clearly.»

And Kitra said: «All who depart from this world go to the moon. In the former, the bright half, the moon delights in their spirits; in the other, the dark half, the moon sends them on to be born again. Verily, the moon is the door of the Svarga, i.e., the heavenly world. Now, if a man objects to the moon and is not satisfied with life there, the moon sets him free. But if a man does not object, then the moon sends him down as rain upon this earth. And according to his deeds and according to his knowledge he is born again here as a worm, or as an insect, or as a fish, or as a bird, or as a lion, or as a boar, or as a serpent, or as a tiger, or as a man, or as something else in different places. When he has thus returned to the earth, someone, a sage, asks: ‹Who art thou?› And he should answer: ‹From the wise moon, who orders the seasons, when it is born consisting of fifteen parts, from the moon who is the home of our ancestors, the seed was brought. This seed, even me, they, the gods, mentioned in the Pañkâgnividyâ, gathered up in an active man, and through an active man they brought me to a mother. Then I, growing up to be born, a being living by months, whether twelve or thirteen, was together with my father, who also lived by years of twelve or thirteen months, that I might either know the true Brahman or not know it. Therefore, O ye seasons, grant that I may attain immortality, i.e., knowledge of Brahman. By this my true saying, by this my toil, beginning with the dwelling in the moon and ending with my birth on earth, I am like a season, and the child of the seasons.› ‹Who art thou?› the sage asks again. ‹I am thou,› he replies. Then he sets him free to proceed onward.

«He, at the time of death, having reached the path of the gods, comes to the world of Agni, or fire, to the world of Vâyu, or air, to the world of Varuna, to the world of Indra, to the world of Pragâpati, to the world of Brahman. In that world there is the lake Âra, the moments called Yeshtiha, the river Vigarâ, i.e., age-less, the tree Ilyâ, the city Sâlagya, the palace Aparâgita, i.e., unconquerable, the door-keepers Indra and Pragâpati, the hall of Brahman, called Vibhu (built by vibhu, egoism), the throne Vikakshanâ, i.e., perception, the couch Amitaugas or endless splendor, and the beloved Mânasî, i.e., mind, and her image Kâkshushî, the eye, who, as if taking flowers, are weaving the worlds, and the Apsaras, the Ambâs, or sacred scriptures, and Ambâyavîs, or understanding, and the rivers Ambayâs leading to the knowledge of Brahman. To this world he who knows the Paryanka-vidyâ approaches. Brahman says to him: ‹Run towards him, servants, with such worship as is due to myself. He has reached the river Vigarâ, the age-less, he will never age.›

«Then five hundred Apsaras go towards him, one hundred with garlands in their hands, one hundred with ointments in their hands, one hundred with perfumes in their hands, one hundred with garments in their hands, one hundred with fruit in their hands. They adorn him with an adornment worthy of Brahman, and when thus adorned with the adornment of Brahman, the knower of Brahman moves towards Brahman. He comes to the lake Âra, and he crosses it by the mind, while those who come to it without knowing the truth, are drowned. He comes to the moments called Yeshtiha, they flee from him. He comes to the river Vigarâ, and crosses it by the mind alone, and there shakes off his good and evil deeds. His beloved relatives obtain the good, his unbeloved relatives the evil he has done. And as a man, driving in a chariot, might look at the two wheels without being touched by them, thus he will look at day and night, thus at good and evil deeds, and at all pairs, all correlative things, such as light and darkness, heat and cold. Being freed from good and freed from evil, he, the knower of Brahman, moves towards Brahman.