Sacred Books of the East/Volume 1/Khândogya-upanishad/Eighth Prapâthaka

layout 2

 

Khandas (not listed in original)

• First
• Second
• Third
• Fourth
• Fifth
• Sixth
• Seventh
• Eighth
• Ninth
• Tenth
• Eleventh
• Twelfth
• Thirteenth
• Fourteenth
• Fifteenth

 

 

EIGHTH PRAPÂTHAKA.

First Khanda^[1].

1. Harih, Om. There is this city of Brahman (the body), and in it the palace, the small lotus (of the heart), and in it that small ether. Now what exists within that small ether, that is to be sought for, that is to be understood.

2. And if they should say to him: 'Now with regard to that city of Brahman, and the palace in it, i. e. the small lotus of the heart, and the small ether within the heart, what is there within it that deserves to be sought for, or that is to be understood?'

3. Then he should say: 'As large as this ether (all space) is, so large is that ether within the heart. Both heaven and earth are contained within it, both fire and air, both sun and moon, both lightning and stars; and whatever there is of him (the Self) here in the world, and whatever is not (i. e. whatever has been or will be), all that is contained within it^[2].

4. And if they should say to him: 'If everything that exists is contained in that city of Brahman, all beings and all desires (whatever can be imagined or desired), then what is left of it, when old age reaches it and scatters it, or when it falls to pieces?'

5. Then he should say: 'By the old age of the body, that (the ether, or Brahman within it) does not age; by the death of the body, that (the ether, or Brahman within it) is not killed. That (the man) is the true Brahma-city (not the body^[3]). In it all desires are contained. It is the Self, free from sin, free from old age, from death and grief, from hunger and thirst, which desires nothing but what it ought to desire, and imagines nothing but what it ought to imagine. Now as here on earth people follow as they are commanded, and depend on the object which they are attached to, be it a country or a piece of land,

6. 'And as here on earth, whatever has been acquired by exertion, perishes, so perishes whatever is acquired for the next world by sacrifices and other good actions performed on earth. Those who depart from hence without having discovered the Self and those true desires, for them there is no freedom in all the worlds. But those who depart from hence, after having discovered the Self and those true desires^[4], for them there is freedom in all the worlds.

Second Khanda.

1. 'Thus he who desires the world^[5] of the fathers, by his mere will the fathers come to receive him, and having obtained the world of the fathers, he is happy.

2. 'And he who desires the world of the mothers, by his mere will the mothers come to receive him, and having obtained the world of the mothers, he is happy.

3. 'And he who desires the world of the brothers, by his mere will the brothers come to receive him, and having obtained the world of the brothers, he is happy.

4. 'And he who desires the world of the sisters, by his mere will the sisters come to receive him, and having obtained the world of the sisters, he is happy.

5. 'And he who desires the world of the friends, by his mere will the friends come to receive him, and having obtained the world of the friends, he is happy.

6. 'And he who desires the world of perfumes and garlands (gandhamâlya), by his mere will perfumes and garlands come to him, and having obtained the world of perfumes and garlands, he is happy.

7. 'And he who desires the world of food and drink, by his mere will food and drink come to him, and having obtained the world of food and drink, he is happy.

8. 'And he who desires the world of song and music, by his mere will song and music come to him, and having obtained the world of song and music, he is happy.

9. 'And he who desires the world of women, by his mere will women come to receive him, and having obtained the world of women, he is happy.

'Whatever object he is attached to, whatever object he desires, by his mere will it comes to him, and having obtained it, he is happy.

Third Khanda.

1. 'These true desires, however, are hidden by what is false; though the desires be true, they have a covering which is false. Thus, whoever belonging to us has departed this life, him we cannot gain back, so that we should see him with our eyes.

2. 'Those who belong to us, whether living or departed, and whatever else there is which we wish for and do not obtain, all that we find there (if we descend into our heart, where Brahman dwells, in the ether of the heart), There are all our true desires, but hidden by what is false^[6]. As people who do not know the country, walk again and again over a gold treasure that has been hidden somewhere in the earth and do not discover it, thus do all these creatures day after day go into the Brahma-world (they are merged in Brahman, while asleep), and yet do not discover it, because they are carried away by untruth (they do not come to themselves, i. e. they do not discover the true Self in Brahman, dwelling in the heart).

3. 'That Self abides in the heart. And this is the etymological explanation. The heart is called hridayam, instead of hrzdy-ayam, i. e. He who is in the heart. He who knows this, that He is in the heart, goes day by day (when in sushupti, deep sleep) into heaven (svarga), i.e. into the Brahman of the heart.

4. 'Now that serene being^[7] which, after having risen from out this earthly body, and having reached the highest light (self-knowledge), appears in its true form, that is the Self, thus he spoke (when asked by his pupils). This is the immortal, the fearless, this is Brahman. And of that Brahman the name is the True, Satyam,

5. This name Sattyam consists of three syllables, sat-tî-yam^[8]. Sat signifies the immortal, t, the mortal, and with yam he binds both. Because he binds both, the immortal and the mortal, therefore it is yam. He who knows this goes day by day into heaven (svarga).

Fourth Khanda.

1. That Self is a bank^[9], a boundary, so that these worlds may not be confounded. Day and night do not pass that bank, nor old age, death, and grief; neither good nor evil deeds. All evil-doers turn back from it, for the world of Brahman is free from all evil.

2. Therefore he who has crossed that bank, if blind, ceases to be blind; if wounded, ceases to be wounded; if afflicted, ceases to be afflicted. Therefore when that bank has been crossed, night becomes day indeed, for the world of Brahman is lighted up once for all^[10].

3. And that world of Brahman belongs to those only who find it by abstinence—for them there is freedom in all the worlds.

Fifth Khanda.

1. What people call sacrifice (yagña), that is really abstinence (brahmakarya). For he who knows, obtains that (world of Brahman, which others obtain by sacrifice), by means of abstinence.

What people call sacrifice (ishta), that is really abstinence, for by abstinence, having searched (ishtvâ), he obtains the Self.

2. What people call sacrifice (sattrâyana), that is really abstinence, for by abstinence he obtains from the Sat (the true), the safety (trâna) of the Self.

What people call the vow of silence (mauna), that is really abstinence, for he who by abstinence has found out the Self, meditates (manute).

3. What people call fasting (aranyâyana), that is really abstinence, for that Self does not perish (na nasyati), which we find out by abstinence.

What people call a hermit's life (aranyâyana), that is really abstinence. Ara^[11] and Nya are two lakes in the world of Brahman, in the third heaven from hence; and there is the lake Airammadîya, and the Asvattha tree, showering down Soma, and the city of Brahman (Hiranyagarbha) Aparâgitâ^[12], and the golden Prabhuvimita (the hall built by Prabhu, Brahman).

Now that world of Brahman belongs to those who find the lakes Ara and Nya in the world of Brahman by means of abstinence; for them there is freedom in all the worlds^[13].

Sixth Khanda.

1. Now those arteries of the heart consist of a brown substance, of a white, blue, yellow, and red substance, and so is the sun brown, white, blue, yellow, and red.

2. As a very long highway goes to two places, to one at the beginning, and to another at the end, so do the rays of the sun go to both worlds, to this one and to the other. They start from the sun, and enter into those arteries; they start from those arteries, and enter into the sun.

3. And when a man is asleep, reposing, and at perfect rest, so that he sees no dream^[14], then he has entered into those arteries. Then no evil touches him, for he has obtained the light (of the sun).

4. And when a man falls ill, then those who sit round him, say, 'Do you know me? Do you know me?' As long as he has not departed from this body, he knows them.

5. But when he departs from this body, then he departs upwards by those very rays (towards the worlds which he has gained by merit, not by knowledge); or he goes out while meditating on Om^[15] (and thus securing an entrance into the loka). And while his mind is failing, he is going to the sun. For the sun is the door of the world (of Brahman). Those who know, walk in; those who do not know, are shut out. There is this verse^[16]: 'There are a hundred and one arteries of the heart; one of them penetrates the crown of the head; moving upwards by it a man reaches the immortal; the others serve for departing in different directions, yea, in different directions^[17].'

Seventh Khanda^[18].

1. Pragâpati said: 'The Self which is free from sin, free from old age, from death and grief, from hunger and thirst, which desires nothing but what it ought to desire, and imagines nothing but what it ought to imagine, that it is which we must search out, that it is which we must try to understand. He who has searched out that Self and understands it, obtains all worlds and all desires.'

2. The Devas (gods) and Asuras (demons) both heard these words, and said: 'Well, let us search for that Self by which, if one has searched it out, all worlds and all desires are obtained.'

Thus saying Indra went from the Devas, Virokana from the Asuras, and both, without having communicated with each other, approached Pragâpati, holding fuel in their hands, as is the custom for pupils approaching their master.

3. They dwelt there as pupils for thirty-two years. Then Pragâpati asked them: 'For what purpose have you both dwelt here?'

They replied: 'A saying of yours is being repeated, viz. "the Self which is free from sin, free from old age, from death and grief, from hunger and thirst, which desires nothing but what it ought to desire, and imagines nothing but what it ought to imagine, that it is which we must search out, that it is which we must try to understand. He who has searched out that Self and understands it, obtains all worlds and all desires." Now we both have dwelt here because we wish for that Self.'

Pragâpati said to them: 'The person that is seen in the eye^[19], that is the Self. This is what I have said. This is the immortal, the fearless, this is Brahman.'

They asked: 'Sir, he who is perceived in the water, and he who is perceived in a mirror, who is he?'

He replied: 'He himself indeed is seen in all these^[20].'

Eighth Khanda.

1. 'Look at your Self in a pan of water, and whatever you do not understand of your Self^[21], come and tell me.'

They looked in the water-pan. Then Pragâpati said to them: 'What do you see?'

They said: 'We both see the self thus altogether, a picture even to the very hairs and nails.'

2. Pragâpati said to them: 'After you have adorned yourselves, have put on your best clothes and cleaned yourselves, look again into the water-pan.'

They, after having adorned themselves, having put on their best clothes and cleaned themselves, looked into the water-pan.

Pragâpati said: 'What do you see?'

3. They said: 'Just as we are, well adorned, with our best clothes and clean, thus we are both there, Sir, well adorned, with our best clothes and clean.'

Pragâpati said: 'That is the Self, this is the immortal, the fearless, this is Brahman.'

Then both went away satisfied in their hearts.

4. And Pragâpati, looking after them, said: 'They both go away without having perceived and without having known the Self, and whoever of these two^[22], whether Devas or Asuras, will follow this doctrine (upanishad), will perish.'

Now Virokhana, satisfied in his heart, went to the Asuras and preached that doctrine to them, that the self (the body) alone is to be worshipped, that the self (the body) alone is to be served, and that he who worships the self and serves the self, gains both worlds, this and the next.

5. Therefore they call even now a man who does not give alms here, who has no faith, and offers no sacrifices, an Âsura, for this is the doctrine (upanishad) of the Asuras. They deck out the body of the dead with perfumes, flowers, and fine raiment by way of ornament, and think they will thus conquer that world^[23].

Ninth Khanda.

1. But Indra, before he had returned to the Devas, saw this difficulty. As this self (the shadow in the water)^[24] is well adorned, when the body is well adorned, well dressed, when the body is well dressed, well cleaned, if the body is well cleaned, that self will also be blind, if the body is blind, lame, if the body is lame^[25], crippled, if the body is crippled, and will perish in fact as soon as the body perishes. Therefore I see no good in this (doctrine).

2. Taking fuel in his hand he came again as a pupil to Pragâpati. Pragâpati said to him: 'Maghavat (Indra), as you went away with Virokana, satisfied in your heart, for what purpose did you come back?'

He said: 'Sir, as this self (the shadow) is well adorned, when the body is well adorned, well dressed, when the body is well dressed, well cleaned, if the body is well cleaned, that self will also be blind, if the body is blind, lame, if the body is lame, crippled, if the body is crippled, and will perish in fact as soon as the body perishes. Therefore I see no good in this (doctrine).'

3. 'So it is indeed, Maghavat,' replied Pragâpati; 'but I shall explain him (the true Self) further to you. Live with me another thirty-two years.'

He lived with him another thirty-two years, and then Pragâpati said:

Tenth Khanda.

1. 'He who moves about happy in dreams, he is the Self, this is the immortal, the fearless, this is Brahman.'

Then Indra went away satisfied in his heart. But before he had returned to the Devas, he saw this difficulty. Although it is true that that self is not blind, even if the body is blind, nor lame, if the body is lame, though it is true that that self is not rendered faulty by the faults of it (the body),

2. Nor struck when it (the body) is struck, nor lamed when it is lamed, yet it is as if they struck him (the self) in dreams, as if they chased him^[26]. He becomes even conscious, as it were, of pain, and sheds tears. Therefore I see no good in this.

3. Taking fuel in his hands, he went again as a pupil to Pragâpati. Pragâpati said to him: 'Maghavat, as you went away satisfied in your heart, for what purpose did you come back?'

He said: 'Sir, although it is true that that self is not blind even if the body is blind, nor lame, if the body is lame, though it is true that that self is not rendered faulty by the faults of it (the body),

4. Nor struck when it (the body) is struck, nor lamed when it is lamed, yet it is as if they struck him (the self) in dreams, as if they chased him. He becomes even conscious, as it were, of pain, and sheds tears. Therefore I see no good in this.'

'So it is indeed, Maghavat,' replied Pragâpati; 'but I shall explain him (the true Self) further to you. Live with me another thirty-two years.'

He lived with him another thirty-two years. Then Pragâpati said:

Eleventh Khanda.

1. 'When a man being asleep, reposing, and at perfect rest^[27] sees no dreams, that is the Self, this is the immortal, the fearless, this is Brahman.'

Then Indra went away satisfied in his heart. But before he had returned to the Devas, he saw this difficulty. In truth he thus does not know himself (his self) that he is I, nor does he know anything that exists. He is gone to utter annihilation. I see no good in this.

2. Taking fuel in his hand he went again as a pupil to Pragâpati. Pragâpati said to him: 'Maghavat, as you went away satisfied in your heart, for what purpose did you come back?'

He said: 'Sir, in that way he does not know himself (his self) that he is I, nor does he know anything that exists. He is gone to utter annihilation. I see no good in this.'

3. 'So it is indeed, Maghavat,' replied Pragâpati; 'but I shall explain him (the true Self) further to you, and nothing more than this^[28]. Live here other five years.'

He lived there other five years. This made in all one hundred and one years, and therefore it is said that Indra Maghavat lived one hundred and one years as a pupil with Pragâpati. Pragâpati said to him:

Twelfth Khanda.

1. 'Maghavat, this body is mortal and always held by death. It is the abode of that Self which is immortal and without body^[29]. When in the body (by thinking this body is I and I am this body) the Self is held by pleasure and pain. So long as he is in the body, he cannot get free from pleasure and pain. But when he is free of the body (when he knows himself different from the body), then neither pleasure nor pain touches him^[30].

2. 'The wind is without body, the cloud, lightning, and thunder are without body (without hands, feet, &c.) Now as these, arising from this heavenly ether (space), appear in their own form, as soon as they have approached the highest light,

3. 'Thus does that serene being, arising from this body, appear in its own form, as soon as it has approached the highest light (the knowledge of Self^[31]). He (in that state) is the highest person (uttama pfirusha). He moves about there laughing (or eating), playing, and rejoicing (in his mind), be it with women, carriages, or relatives, never minding that body into which he was born^[32].

'Like as a horse attached to a cart, so is the spirit^[33] (prâna, pragñâtman) attached to this body.

4. 'Now where the sight has entered into the void (the open space, the black pupil of the eye), there is the person of the eye, the eye itself is the instrument of seeing. He who knows, let me smell this, he is the Self, the nose is the instrument of smelling. He who knows, let me say this, he is the Self, the tongue is the instrument of saying. He who knows, let me hear this, he is the Self, the ear is the instrument of hearing.

5. 'He who knows, let me think this, he is the Self, the mind is his divine eye^[34]. He, the Self, seeing these pleasures (which to others are hidden like a buried treasure of gold) through his divine eye, i. e. the mind, rejoices.

'The Devas who are in the world of Brahman meditate on that Self (as taught by Pragâpati to Indra, and by Indra to the Devas). Therefore all worlds belong to them, and all desires. He who knows that Self and understands it, obtains all worlds and all desires.' Thus said Pragâpati, yea, thus said Pragâpati.

Thirteenth Khanda^[35].

1. From the dark (the Brahman of the heart) I come to the nebulous (the world of Brahman), from the nebulous to the dark, shaking off all evil, as a horse shakes his hairs, and as the moon frees herself from the mouth of Râhu^[36]. Having shaken off the body, I obtain, self made and satisfied, the uncreated world of Brahman, yea, I obtain it.

Fourteenth Khanda.

1. He who is called ether^[37] (âkâsa) is the revealer of all forms and names. That within which these forms and names are contained is the Brahman, the Immortal, the Self.

I come to the hall of Pragâpati, to the house; I am the glorious among Brâhmans, glorious among princes, glorious among men^[38]. I obtained that glory, I am glorious among the glorious. May I never go to the white, toothless, yet devouring, white abode^[39]; may I never go to it.

Fifteenth Khanda.

1. Brahmâ (Hiranyagarbha or Paramesvara) told this to Pragâpati (Kasyapa), Pra'gâpati to Manu (his son), Manu to mankind. He who has learnt the Veda from a family of teachers, according to the sacred rule, in the leisure time left from the duties to be performed for the Guru, who, after receiving his discharge, has settled in his own house, keeping up the memory of what he has learnt by repeating it regularly in some sacred spot, who has begotten virtuous sons, and concentrated all his senses on the Self, never giving pain to any creature, except at the tîrthas^[40] (sacrifices, &c), he who behaves thus all his life, reaches the world of Brahman, and does not return, yea, he does not return.

 

Footnotes

1. The eighth Prapâthaka seems to form a kind of appendix to the Upanishad. The highest point that can be reached by speculation had been reached in the seventh Prapâthaka, the identity of our self and of everything else with the Highest Self. This speculative effort, however, is too much for ordinary people. They cannot conceive the Sat or Brahman as out of space and time, as free from all qualities, and in order to help them, they are taught to adore the Brahman, as it appears in space and time, an object endowed with certain qualities, living in nature and in the human heart. The Highest Brahman, besides which there is nothing, and which can neither be reached as an object, nor be considered as an effect, seems to ordinary minds like a thing which is not. Therefore while the trite philosopher, after acquiring the knowledge of the Highest Sat, becomes identified with it suddenly, like lightning, the ordinary mortal must reach it by slow degrees, and as a preparation for that higher knowledge which is to follow, the eighth Prapâthaka, particularly the first portion of it, has been added to the teaching contained in the earlier books.
2. The ether in the heart is really a name of Brahman. He is there, and therefore all that comes of him when he assumes bodily shapes, both what is and what is not, i. e. what is no longer or not yet; for the absolute nothing is not intended here.
3. I translate this somewhat differently from the commentator, though the argument remains the same.
4. True desires are those which we ought to desire, and the fulfilment of which depends on ourselves, supposing that we have acquired the knowledge which enables us to fulfil them.
5. World is the nearest approach to loka: it means life with the fathers, or enjoying the company of the fathers.
6. All the desires mentioned before are fulfilled, if we find their fulfilment in our Self, in the city of Brahman within our heart. There we always can possess those whom we have loved, only we must not wish to see them with our eyes; that would be a false covering to a true desire.
7. Cf. Kh. Up. VIII, 12, 3.
8. We ought probably to read Sattyam, and then Sat-tî-yam. The î in tî would then be the dual of an anubandha ǐ. Instead of yaddhi, I conjecture yatti. See Ait. Aranyaka II, 5, 5.
9. Setu, generally translated by bridge, was originally a bank of earth (mridâdimaya), thrown up to serve as a pathway (pons) through water or a swamp. Such banks exist still in many places, and they serve at the same time as boundaries (maryâdâ) between fields belonging to different: properties. Cf. Mait. Up. VII, 7; Kâth. Up. III, 2; Talav. Up. comm. p. 59; Mund, Up. II, 2, 5.
10. Kh. Up. III, 11, 3.
11. In the Kaush. Br. Up. I, 3, the kae is called Âra, at least according to the commentator.
12. In the Kaush. Br. Up. Aparâgita is not pûh, but âyatanam.
13. The fifth khanda is chiefly meant to recommend brahmakarya or abstinence from all worldly enjoyments, enjoined on the brahmakârin, the student, as a means of obtaining a knowledge of Brahman. But instead of showing that such abstinence is indispensable for a proper concentration of our intellectual faculties, we are told that abstinence is the same as certain sacrifices; and this is shown, not by arguments, but by a number of very far-fetched plays on words. These it is impossible to render in any translation, nay, they hardly deserve being translated. Thus abstinence is said to be identical with sacrifice, yagña, because yo gñâtâ, 'he who knows,' has a certain similarity with yagña. Ishta, another kind of sacrifice, is compared with eshanâ, search; sattrâ-yana with Sat, the True, the Brahman, and trâyana, protection; mauna, silence, with manana, meditating (which may be right); anâsakâyana, fasting, with nas, to perish, and aranyâgana, a hermit's life, with ara, nya, and ayana, going to the two lakes Ara and Nya, which are believed to exist in the legendary world of Brahman. Nothing can be more absurd. Having once struck the note of Brahmanic legends, such as we find it, for instance, in the Kaushîtaki-brâhmana-upanishad, the author goes on. Besides the lakes Ara and Nya (in the Kaushîtaki-brâhmana-upanishad we have only one lake, called Âra), he mentions the Airammadiya lake, and explains it as aira (irâ annam, tanmaya airo mandas, tena pûrnam airam) and madîya, delightful. The Asvattha tree, which pours down Soma, is not tortured into anything else, except that Soma is explained as the immortal, or nectar. Aparâgita becomes the city of Brahman, because it can be conquered by no one except those who have practised abstinence. And the hall which elsewhere is called Vibhu-pramita becomes Prabhu-vimitam, or Prabhu-vinirmita, made by Prabhu, i. e. Brahman. All the fulfilled desires, as enumerated in khandas 2–5, whether the finding again of our fathers and mothers, or entering the Brahmaloka with its lakes and palaces, must be taken, not as material (sthûla), but as mental only (mânasa). On that account, however, they are by no means considered as false or unreal, as little as dreams are. Dreams are false and unreal, relatively only, i. e. relatively to what we see, when we awake; but not in themselves. Whatever we see in waking, also, has been shown to be false; because it consists of forms and names only; yet these forms and names have a true element in them, viz. the Sat. Before we know that Sat, all the objects we see in waking seem true; as dreams seem true in dreaming. But when once we awake from our waking by true knowledge, we see that nothing is true but the Sat. When we imagine we see a serpent, and then discover that it is a rope, the serpent disappears as false, but what was true in it, the rope, remains true.
14. Svapna in Sanskrit is both somnus and somnium. Hence one might translate also, 'so that he is not aware that he is asleep,' which in some respects would seem even more appropriate in our passage; cf. VIII, 11, 1.
15. According to the explanation given of the Om in the Upanishads, and more particularly in the Dahara-vidyâ contained in this Prapâthaka.
16. Prasna Up. II, 1.
17. The same verse occurs in the Katha 6, 16 , and is frequently quoted elsewhere, for instance, Mait. comm. p. 164. For vishvaṅṅ, the right reading would seem to be vishvak. In the Mait. Up. VI, 30, the Trishtubh are reduced to Anushtubh verses. See also Prasna Up. III, 6–7; Mund. Up. II, 2.
18. Here the highest problem is treated again, the knowledge of the true Self, which leads beyond the world of Brahmâ (masc.), and enables the individual self to return into the Highest Self.
19. The commentator explains this rightly. Pragâpati means by the person that is seen in the eye, the real agent of seeing, who is seen by sages only, even with their eyes shut. His pupils, however, misunderstand him. They think of the person that is seen, not of the person that sees (Yoga-sûtras II, 6). The person seen in the eye is to them the small figure imaged in the eye, and they go on therefore to ask, whether the image in the water or in a mirror is not the Self.
20. The commentators are at great pains to explain that Pragâpati told no falsehood. He meant by purusha the personal element in the highest sense, and it was not his fault that his pupils took purusha for man or body.
21. I take âtmanah as a genitive, governed by yad, not as an accusative plural.
22. The commentator reads yatare for yatah.
23. This evidently refers to the customs and teaching of tribes not entirely conforming to the Brahmanic system. Whether the adorning of the dead body implies burial instead of burning, seems doubtful.
24. The commentator remarks that though both Indra and Virokana had mistaken the true import of what Pragâpati said, yet while Virokana took the body to be the Self, Indra thought that the Self was the shadow of the body.
25. Srâma, lame, is explained by the commentator as one-eyed, ekanetra.
26. I have adopted the reading vikkhâyayanti, because it is the most difficult, and therefore explains most easily the various corruptions, or it may be emendations, that have crept into the text. Sankara explains vikkhâdayanti by vidrâvayanti, and this shows that he too must have read vikkhâyayanti, for he could not have explained vikkhâdayanti, which means they uncover or they deprive of their clothing, by vidrâvayanti, they drive away. It is true that vikkhâyayanti may be explained in two ways; it may be the causative of khâ, to cut, but this meaning is not very appropriate here, and quite inadmissible in another passage where vikkhâyayati occurs, whereas, if derived from vikh (οἴχομαι) in a causative sense, Saṅkara could hardly have chosen a better explanation that vidrâ-vayanti, they make run away. The root vikh, vikhhâyayati is recognised in Pânini III, 1, 28, and in the Dhâtupâtha 28, 129, but it has hitherto been met with in this passage only, and in Brihadâranyaka, Up. IV, 3, 20. Here also the author speaks of a man who imagines that people kill him or do him violence, or that an elephant chases him or that he falls into a pit. Here we have hastîva vikkhâpayati, and Saṅkara, at least as printed by Dr. Roer, explains this by vikkhâpayati, vikkhâdayati, vidrâvayati; dhâvatîty arthah. Much better is Dvivedaganga's commentary, as published by Dr. Weber, Satap. Brâhm. p. 1145, Kadâkid enam hastî vikkhâyayatîva vidrâvayatîva; vikha gatau, gupûdhûpavikhipanipanibhya âya iti (Pân. III, 1, 28) svârtha âyapratyayah. In the Dictionary Boehtlingk and Roth the derivation from khâ, to cut, is preferred; see Nachträge, s. v. khâ.
27. See Kh., Up. VIII, 6, 3.
28. Saṅkara explains this as meaning the real Self, not anything different from the Self.
29. According to some, the body is the result of the Self, the elements of the body, fire, water, and earth springing from the Self, and the Self afterwards entering them.
30. Ordinary, worldly pleasure. Comm.
31. The simile is not so striking as most of those old similes are. The wind is compared with the Self, on account of its being for a time lost in the ether (space), as the Self is in the body, and then rising again out of the ether and assuming its own form as wind. The chief stress is laid on the highest light, which in the one case is the sun of summer, in the other the light of knowledge.
32. These are pleasures which seem hardly compatible with the state of perfect peace which the Self is supposed to have attained. The passage may be interpolated, or put in on purpose to show that the Self enjoys such pleasures as an inward spectator only, without identifying himself with either pleasure or pain. He sees them, as he says afterwards, with his divine eye. The Self perceives in all things his Self only, nothing else. In his commentary on the Taittirîya Upanishad (p. 45) Saṅkara refers this passage to Brahman as an effect, not to Brahman as a cause.
33. The spirit, the conscious self, is not identical with the body, but only joined to it, like a horse, or driving it, like a charioteer. In other passages the senses are the horses; buddhi, reason, the charioteer; manas, mind, the reins. The spirit is attached to the cart by the ketana; cf. Ânadagñânagiri.
34. Because it perceives not only what is present, but also what is past and future.
35. This chapter is supposed to contain a hymn of triumph.
36. Râhu, in later times a monster, supposed to swallow the sun and moon at every solar or lunar eclipse. At first we only hear of the mouth or head of Râhu. In later times a body was assigned to him, but it had to be destroyed again by Vishnu, so that nothing remained of him but his head. Râhu seems derived from rah, to separate, to remove. From it raksh, to wish or strive to remove, to keep off, to protect, and in a different application rákshas, a tearing away, violence, rakshás, a robber, an evil spirit.
37. Âkâsa, ether or space, is a name of Brahman, because, like ether, Brahman has no body and is infinitely small.
38. Here the three classes, commonly called castes, are clearly marked by the names of brâhmana, râgan, and vis.
39. Yonisabditam pragananedriyam.
40. The commentator says that even travelling about as a mendicant causes pain, but that a mendicant is allowed to importune people for alms at tîrthas, or sacred places. Others explain this differently.