A Constructive Survey of Upanishadic Philosophy c5.6

c5.6

5. The theory of fire as the origin of all things is not maintained very explicitly in the Upanishads ; but there is a passage in the Kaṭhopanishad whcih tells us that Fire, having entered the universe assumed all forms (S. 4. a), which is almost equivalent to the Heracleitean formula that Fire is exchanged for all things and all things for Fire. On the other hand, in the Chhāndogyopanishad, we are told that Fire was the first to evolve from the primeval Being, and that from fire came water, and from water the earth (S. 4. b). It is interesting to note that in this passage the Heracleitean idea of the Way Up and the Way Down is also brought in, inasmuch as it is maintained that from fire is born water and from water earth, while, counter-logically, at the time of dissolution, the earth may be dissolved in water, the water in fire, and the fire in the Primeval Being. It is rather difficult for any philosopher to hold the opinion that fire is the origin of all things, inasmuch as it seems evident that fire burns up all, and is therefore a fit instrument for the process of a general ἐκπύρωσις, and it is not difficult to deduce from the theory advanced in the Chhāndogyopanishad the idea of a periodic conflagration of things. The difference, however, between the Chhāndogyopanishad and Heracleitus is that while Heracleitus regards Fire as the very origin of all things, the Chhāndogyopanishad makes Fire the first evolute from the primeval Being; while the Chhāndogyopanishad does not insist upon the idea of change, of which Fire seems to be the very type to the change-loving mind of the Ephesian philosopher.