Śāṅkhāyana (Kauṣītaki) Āraṇyaka 3
English (machine translation) 3
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3.1
Citra Gāṅgyāyani, being about to sacrifice, chose Āruṇi [as his priest]. He sent his son Śvetaketu, saying: "Officiate as priest for him." When he arrived, [Citra] asked him: "Son of Gautama, is there a hidden place in the world in which you will place me, or any other path? In whose world will you place me?" He said: "I do not know this; let me ask my teacher." Having approached his father, he asked: "He asked me thus and thus; how shall I answer?" He said: "I too do not know this. Only in the assembly hall, having studied our recitation, do we receive what others give us. Come, we shall both go." Carrying fuel in his hand, he approached Citra Gāṅgyāyani, saying: "May I come to you [as a pupil]?" He said to him: "You are worthy of Brahman, Gautama, who have not resorted to pride. Come, I will indeed make you understand."
3.2
He said: "All those who depart from this world go to the moon alone. By their breaths the waxing fortnight swells; through the waning fortnight it causes them to be reborn. The moon is indeed the gate of the heavenly world. Whoever answers it, it lets him pass beyond. But whoever does not answer it, having become rain, it rains him down here. He is reborn here according to his deeds, according to his knowledge, as a worm, or an insect, or a fish, or a bird, or a lion, or a boar, or a snake, or a tiger, or a man, or as something else in these various places. When he has arrived, it asks him: 'Who are you?' He should answer it: 'From the far-seeing one, O seasons, the seed has been gathered, brought from the fifteenfold, produced, from the realm of the ancestors. As such, direct me into a male agent; through a male agent pour me into a mother. / He, being born, being generated in the twelfth or thirteenth month, / alongside the father of twelve or thirteen months—that I know, that I recognize; therefore, O seasons, take hold of me for immortality! / By that truth, by that austerity, I am the season, I am born of the seasons.' 'Who are you?' 'I am you.' Then it lets him pass beyond."
3.3
"Entering upon this path of the gods, he arrives at the world of Agni, he [arrives at] the world of Vāyu, he at the world of Varuṇa, he at the world of Indra, he at the world of Prajāpati, he at the world of Brahman. Of that world of Brahman, there is the lake Āra, the moments Yaṣṭihās, the river Vijarā, the tree Ilya, the city Sālajya, the abode Aparājita, Indra and Prajāpati the door-keepers, the hall Vibhu, the throne Vicakṣaṇā, the couch Amitaujas, the beloved [mind] Mānasī and her reflection Cākṣuṣī, who, taking flowers, weave the worlds, and the Apsarases Ambās and Ambāyavīs, and the rivers Ambayās. To that [world] he who knows thus arrives. To him Brahman says: 'Run to meet him with my glory! Truly he has reached the river Vijarā; never indeed will he grow old.'"
3.4
"Five hundred Apsarases go to meet him: a hundred with fruits in their hands, a hundred with unguent in their hands, a hundred with garlands in their hands, a hundred with garments in their hands, a hundred with fragrant powders in their hands. They adorn him with the ornament of Brahman. Adorned with the ornament of Brahman, knowing Brahman, he advances toward Brahman. He arrives at the lake Āra; he crosses over it with his mind. Those who know only the immediate sink when they go into it. He arrives at the moments Yaṣṭihās; they flee from him. He arrives at the river Vijarā; he crosses over it with his mind alone. There he shakes off his good deeds and evil deeds. His dear kinsmen receive his good deeds, his disliked ones his evil deeds. Just as one driving in a chariot looks down upon the two chariot wheels, so he looks down upon day and night; thus upon good deeds and evil deeds and all pairs of opposites. Having shaken off good deeds, having shaken off evil deeds, knowing Brahman, he advances to Brahman alone."
3.5
ŚĀ 3.5 = KU 1.5
He arrives at the Ilya tree; the fragrance of Brahman enters him. He arrives at the Sālajya hall; the flavour of Brahman enters him. He arrives at the Aparājita abode; the glory of Brahman enters him. He arrives at Indra and Prajāpati, the two gatekeepers; they run away from him. He arrives at the Vibhu hall; the splendour of Brahman enters him. He arrives at the Vicakṣaṇā couch. The Bṛhat and Rathantara chants are the two front legs, the Śyaita and Naudhasa the two hind legs, the Vairūpa and Vairāja the two lengthwise sides, the Śākvara and Raivata the two crosswise sides. It is insight; for by insight one sees clearly. He arrives at the Amitaujas bed. It is breath. The past and the future are its two front legs, prosperity and the earth the two hind legs, the Bhadra and Yajñāyajñīya chants the head-pieces, the Bṛhat and Rathantara the lengthwise sides, the Ṛg verses and the Sāman chants the lengthwise strings, the Yajus formulas the crosswise strings, the Soma shoots the matting, the Udgītha the coverlet, and prosperity the pillow. On it sits Brahman. He who knows thus climbs upon it with one foot first. Brahman asks him: ‘Who are you?’ To him he should reply:
3.6
ŚĀ 3.6 = KU 1.6
‘I am the season; I am born of the seasons. Produced from the womb of space as semen for a wife, the self of the year, made of splendour, the self of every being. You are the self of every being. What you are, that am I.’ He says to him: ‘Who am I?’ He should say: ‘The Real.’ ‘What is that which is the Real?’ ‘What is different from the gods and the breaths, that is the *sat*; and what the gods and the breaths are, that is the *tiyam*. That is expressed by the single utterance *satyam* (the Real). This whole world is just that. You are this whole world’—so indeed he says to him then. This has been expressed by a verse:
3.7
ŚĀ 3.7 = KU 1.7
‘The Yajus is his belly, the Sāman his head, this imperishable one whose form is the Ṛg. / He is to be known as Brahman, the great seer consisting of Brahman.’
He then says: ‘By what do you obtain my masculine names?’ He should reply: ‘By breath.’ ‘By what the neuter ones?’ ‘By the mind.’ ‘By what the feminine names?’ ‘By speech.’ ‘By what odours?’ ‘By the breath of smell.’ ‘By what forms?’ ‘By the eye.’ ‘By what sounds?’ ‘By the ear.’ ‘By what tastes of food?’ ‘By the tongue.’ ‘By what actions?’ ‘By the two hands.’ ‘By what pleasure and pain?’ ‘By the body.’ ‘By what bliss, delight, and procreation?’ ‘By the generative organ.’ ‘By what movements?’ ‘By the two feet.’ ‘By what thoughts, what is to be known, and desires?’ ‘By insight alone,’ he should reply.
He says to him: ‘The waters indeed are my world; that [world] is yours.’ Whatever victory is Brahman’s, whatever attainment, that victory he wins, that attainment he attains who knows thus, who knows thus.
3.8
Thus ends the third chapter in the Śāṅkhāyana Āraṇyaka.
Linked texts (1)
- Śāṅkhāyanāraṇyaka — Sanskrit