Chāndogya Upaniṣad 5.10

5.10.1

tad ya itthaṃ viduḥ \
ye ceme araṇye śraddhā tapa ity upāsate \
te arciṣam abhisaṃbhavanti \
arciṣo 'haḥ \
ahna āpūryamāṇapakṣam \
āpūryamāṇapakṣād yān ṣaḍ udaṅṅ eti māsāṃs tān \\510.1\

1. So those who know this, and those too who worship in a forest with the thought that "Faith is austerity," pass into the flame ; from the flame, into the day; from the day, into the half-month of the waxing moon; from the half-month of the waxing moon, into the six months during which the sun moves

5.10.2

māsebhyaḥ saṃvatsaram \
saṃvatsarād ādityam \
ādityāc candramasam \
candramaso vidyutam \
tat puruṣo 'mānavaḥ \
sa enān brahma gamayati \
eṣa devayānaḥ panthā iti \\510.2\

northward; from those months, into the year; from the year, into the sun; from the sun, into the moon; from the moon, into the lightning. There there is a Person (_puruṣa_) who is non-human (_a-mānava_). He leads them on to Brahma. This is the way leading to the gods.

5.10.3

atha ya ime grāma iṣṭāpūrte dattam ity upāsate \
te dhūmam abhisaṃbhavanti \
dhūmād rātrim \
rātrer aparapakṣam \
aparapakṣād yān ṣaḍ dakṣiṇaiti māsāṃs tān \
naite saṃvatsaram abhiprāpnuvanti \\510.3\

3. But those who in the village reverence a belief in sacrifice, merit, and almsgiving—they pass into the smoke; from the smoke, into the night; from the night, into the latter half of the month; from the latter half of the month, into the six months during which the sun moves southward—these do not reach the year; from those months, into the world of the fathers; from the world of the fathers, into space; from space, into the moon. That is King Soma. That is the food of the gods. The gods eat that.

5.10.4

māsebhyaḥ pitṛlokam \
pitṛlokād ākāśam \
ākāsāc candramasam \
eṣa somo rājā \
tad devānām annam \
taṃ devā bhakṣayanti \\510.4\

5.10.5

tasmin ( S ) uṣitvā athaitam evādhvānaṃ punar nivartante (S ) \
ākāśam \
ākāśād vāyum \
vāyur bhūtvā dhūmo (S ) \
dhūmo bhūtvābhraṃ (S ) \\510.5\

5. After having remained in it as long as there is a residue [of their good works], then by that course by which they came they return again, just as they came, into space; from space, into wind. After having become wind, one becomes smoke. After having become smoke, he becomes mist.

5.10.6

abhraṃ bhūtvā megho (S ) \
megho bhūtvā (S ) \
ta iha vrīhiyavā oṣadhivanaspatayas tilamāsā iti jāyante ato vai khalu dur(S ) \
yo yo hy annam atti yo retaḥ siñcati tad bhūya eva bhavati \\510.6\

6. After having become mist, he becomes cloud. After having become cloud, he rains down. They are born here as rice and barley, as herbs and trees, as sesame plants and beans. Thence, verily, indeed, it is difficult to emerge; for only if some one or other eats him as food and emits him as semen, does he develop further.

5.10.7

tad ya iha ramaṇīyacaraṇā abhyāśo ha yat te ramaṇīyāṃ yonim āpadyeran brāhmaṇayoniṃ vā kṣatriyayoniṃ vā vaiśyayoniṃ vā \
atha ya iha kapūyacaraṇā abhyāśo ha yat te kapūyāṃ yonim āpadyerañ śvayonim vā sūkarayoniṃ vā caṇḍālayoniṃ vā \\510.7\

7. Accordingly, those who are of pleasant conduct here—the prospect is, indeed, that they will enter a pleasant womb, either the womb of a Brahman, or the womb of a Kshatriya, or the womb of a Vaiśya. But those who are of stinking conduct here—the prospect is, indeed, that they will enter a stinking womb, either the womb of a dog, or the womb of a swine, or the womb of an outcast (_caṇḍāla_).

5.10.8

athaitayoḥ pathor na katareṇacana tānīmāni kṣudrāṇy asakṛdāvartīni bhūtāni (S ) jāyasva mriyasveti \
etat tṛtīyaṃ sthānam \
tenāsau loko na (S ) \
tasmāj jugupseta \
tad eṣa ślokaḥ \\510.8\

8. But on neither of these ways are the small, continually returning creatures, [those of whom it is said:] "Be born, and die"—theirs is a third state.

Thereby [it comes about that] yonder world is not filled up.

Therefore one should seek to guard himself. As to this there is the following verse:—

5.10.9

steno hiraṇyasya surāṃ pibaṃś ca \
guros talpam āvasan brahmahā ca \
ete patanti catvāraḥ \pañcamaś cācaraṃs tair iti \\510.9\

9. The plunderer of gold, the liquor-drinker,
The invader of a teacher's bed, the Brahman-killer—
These four sink downward in the scale,
And, fifth, he who consorts with them.

5.10.10

atha ha ya etān evaṃ pañcāgnīn veda na (S ) tair apy ācaran pāpmanā lipyate \
śuddhaḥ pūtaḥ puṇyaloko bhavati ya evaṃ (S ) ya evaṃ (S ) \\510.10\

10. But he who knows these five fires thus, is not stained with evil, even though consorting with those people. He becomes pure, clean, possessor of a pure world, who knows this—yea, he who knows this!'