Kaushitaki Upanishad 1.2.10
Kauṣītakibrāhmaṇopaniṣad 1.2.10
- Language
- Sanskrit
1.2.10
iti tam atisṛjate //2//
And Kitra said: All who depart from this world (or this body) 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 world (the heavenly world). Now, if a man objects to the moon (if one 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, some one (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 it (the true Brahman) or not know it. Therefore, O ye seasons, grant that I may attain immortality (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 (fire), to the world of Vâyu (air), to the world of Varuna, to the world of Indra, to the world of Pragâpati (Virâg), to the world of Brahman (Hiranyagarbha). In that world there is the lake Âra, the moments called Yeshtiha, the river Vigarâ (age-less), the tree Ilya, the city Sâlagya, the palace Aparâgita (unconquerable), the door-keepers Indra and Pragâpati, the hall of Brahman, called Vibhu (built by vibhu, egoism), the throne Vikakshanâ (buddhi, perception), the couch Amitaugas (endless splendour), and the beloved Mânasî (mind) and her image Kâkshushî (eye), who, as if taking flowers, are weaving the worlds, and the Apsaras, the Ambâs (sruti, sacred scriptures), and Ambâyavîs (buddhi, understanding), and the rivers Ambayâs (leading to the knowledge of Brahman). To this world he who knows this (who knows the Paryaṅka-vidyâ) approaches. Brahman says to him: 'Run towards him (servants) with such worship as is due to myself. He has reached the river Vigarâ (age-less), he will never age.
Translations (1)
- The Upanishads, Part I (SBE 1) — Friedrich Max Müller 1879, English
Commentaries (3)
- Kauṣītakyupaniṣadbhāṣya (Raṅgarāmānuja) — Raṅgarāmānuja Muni 1500, Sanskrit
- Kauṣītakyupaniṣaddīpikā (Śaṅkarānanda) — Śaṅkarānanda, Sanskrit
- Commentary of Upaniṣadbrahmayogin — Upaniṣadbrahmayogin, Sanskrit