Brahma Upaniṣad 2

2

athāsya puruṣasya catvāri sthānāni bhavanti nābhirhṛdayaṃ kaṇṭhaṃ bhūrdheti | tatra catuṣpādaṃ brahma vibhāti | jāgaritaṃ svapnaṃ suṣuptaṃ turīyamiti |
jāgarite brahmā svapne viṣṇuḥ suṣuptau rudrasturīyaṃ paramākṣaraṃ ādityaśca viṣṇuśceśvaraśca sa puruṣaḥ sa prāṇaḥ sa jīvaḥ so'gniḥ seśvaraśca jāgratteṣaṃ madhye yatparaṃ brahma vibhāti | svayamamanaskamaśrotramapāṇipādaṃ jyotirvarjitaṃ na tatra lokā na lokā vedā na vedā devā na devā yajñā na yajña mātā na mātā pitā na pitā snuṣa na snuṣa cāṇḍālo na cāṇḍālaḥ pailkaso na pailkasaḥ śramaṇo na śramaṇaḥ paśavo na paśavastāpaso na tāpasa ityekameva paraṃ brahma vibhāti | hṛdyākāśe tadvijñānamākāśaṃ tatsuṣiramākāśaṃ tadvedyaṃ hṛdyākāśaṃ yasminnidaṃ saṃcarati vacarati yasminnidaṃ sarvamotaṃ protam | saṃ vibhoḥ prajā jñāyeran | na tatra devā ṛṣayaḥ pitara riśate pratibuddhaḥ sarvaviditi ||

"The Pursuha has four seats—navel, heart, neck, and head. There Brahman with the four feet specially shines. Those feet are jāgraṭa, svapna, sushupṭi, and ṭurya. In jāgraṭa he is Brahmā, in svapna Vishṇu, in sushupṭi Ruḍra, and in ṭurya the supreme Akshara. He is Aḍiṭya, Vishṇu, Īśvara, Purusha, prāṇa, jīva, agni, the resplendent. The Para-Brahman shines in the midst of these. He is without manas, ear, hands, feet, and light. There the worlds are no worlds, Ḍevas no Ḍevas, Veḍas no Veḍas, sacrifices no sacrifices, mother no mother, father no father, daughter-in-law no daughter-in-law, chaṅdāla no chaṅdāla, paulkasa no paulkasa, śramaṇa no śramaṇa, hermits no hermits; so one only Brahman shines as different. In the Hṛḍayākāś (ākāś in the heart) is the Chiḍākāś. That is Brahman. It is extremely subtle. The Hṛḍayākāś can be known. This moves in it. In Brahman, everything is strung. Those who thus know the Lord know everything. In him the Ḍevas, the worlds, the Piṭṛs and the Ṛshis do not rule. He who has awakened knows everything. All the Ḍevas are in the heart; in the heart are all the prāṇas: in the heart are prāṇa, jyoṭis and that three-plied holy thread. In the heart in Chaiṭanya, it (prāṇa) is. Put on the yajñopavīṭa (holy thread), the supreme, the holy, which came into existence along with the Prajāpaṭi, which gives long life and which is very excellent; let this give you strength and ṭejas.

2.p1

hṛdisthā devatāḥ sarvā hṛdi prāṇāḥ pratiṣṭhitāḥ |
hṛdi prāṇaśca jyotiśca trivṛtsūtraṃ ca yanmahat ||

2.p2

hṛdi caitanye tiṣṭhati yajñopavītaṃ paramaṃ pavitraṃ prajāpateryatsahajaṃ purastāt |
āyuṣyamagrapaṃ pratimuñca śubhraṃ yajñopavītaṃ balamastu tejaḥ ||

2.p3

saśikhaṃ vapanaṃ kṛtvā bahiḥsūtraṃ tyajedbudhaḥ |
yadakṣaraṃ paraṃ brahma tatsūtramiti dhārayet ||

The wise man having shaved his head completely, should throw away the external thread. He should wear, as the holy thread, the supreme and indestructible Brahman. It is called sūṭra, because sūchanāṭ (indicating) (that the Āṭmā is in the heart). Sūṭra means the supreme abode. He who knows that sūṭra is a vipra (brāhmaṇa), he has crossed the ocean of the Veḍas. On that sūṭra (thread), everything is strung, like the beads on the thread. The yogin, well versed in yoga and having a clear perception of Truth, should wear the thread. Practising the noble yoga, the wise man should abandon the external thread. He who wears the sūṭra as Brahman, he is an intelligent being. By wearing the sūṭra, he is not polluted. They whose sūṭra is within, whose yajñopavīṭa is jñāna—they only know the sūṭra, and, they only wear the yajñopavīṭa in this world. Those whose tuft of hair is jñāna, who are firmly grounded in jñāna and whose yajñopavīṭa is jñāna, consider jñāna only as supreme. Jñāna is holy and excellent. He whose śikhā (tuft of hair) is jñāna like the śikhi (flame of agni)—he, the wise one, only wears a true śikhā; others wear a mere tuft of hair. Those brāhmaṇas and others who perform the ceremonies prescribed in the Veḍas—they wear this thread only as a symbol of their ceremonies. Those who know the Veḍas say that he only is a true brāhmaṇa who wears the śikhā of jñāna and whose yajñopavīṭa is the same (jñāna).

2.p4

sūcanātsūtramityāhuḥ sūtraṃ nāma paraṃ padam |
tatsūtraṃ viditaṃ yena sa vipro vedapāragaḥ ||

2.p5

tena sarvamidaṃ protaṃ sūtre maṇigaṇā iva |
tatsūtraṃ dhārayedyogī yogavittattvadarśivān ||

2.p6

bahiḥsūtraṃ tyajedvidvānyogamuttamamāsthitaḥ |
brahmabhāvamayaṃ sūtraṃ dhārayedyaḥ sa cetanaḥ ||

2.p7

dhāraṇāttasya sūtrasya nocchiṣṭho nāśucirbhavet |
sūtramantargataṃ yeṣāṃ jñānayajñopavītinām ||

2.p8

te cai sūtravido loke te ca yajñopavītinaḥ |
jñānaśikhino jñānaniṣṭhā jñānayajñopavītihaḥ ||

2.p9

jñānameva paraṃ teṣāṃ pavitraṃ jñānamuttamam |
agneriva śikhā nānyā yasya jñānamayī śikhā ||