{"collection":"Hinduism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/hin/sbe15/sbe15064.htm","path":"hin/sbe15/sbe15064.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/hin/sbe15/sbe15064.htm","text":"The Upanishads, Part 2 (SBE15), by Max M\u00fcller, [1879]\nAdoration to the Highest Self (Param\u00e2tman)!\n1. Ganaka Vaideha (the king of the Videhas) sacrificed with a sacrifice at which many presents were offered to the priests of (the Asvamedha). Br\u00e2hmanas of the Kurus and the P\u00e2\u00f1k\u00e2las had come thither, and Ganaka Vaideha wished to know, which of those Br\u00e2hmanas was the best read. So he enclosed a thousand cows, and ten p\u00e2das (of gold) 2 were fastened to each pair of horns.\n2. And Ganaka spoke to them: 'Ye venerable Br\u00e2hmanas, he who among you is the wisest, let him drive away these cows.'\nThen those Br\u00e2hmanas durst not, but Y\u00e2g\u00f1avalkya said to his pupil: 'Drive them away, my dear.'\nHe replied: 'O glory of the S\u00e2man 3' and drove them away.\nThe Br\u00e2hmanas became angry and said: 'How could he call himself the wisest among us?'\nNow there was Asvala, the Hotri priest of Ganaka Vaideha. He asked him: 'Are you indeed the\nwisest among us, O Y\u00e2g\u00f1avalkya?' He replied: 'I bow before the wisest (the best knower of Brahman), but I wish indeed to have these cows.'\nThen Asvala, the Hotri priest, undertook to question him.\n1. 'Y\u00e2g\u00f1avalkya, he said, 'everything here (connected with the sacrifice) is reached by death, everything is overcome by death. By what means then is the sacrificer freed beyond the reach of death?'\nY\u00e2g\u00f1avalkya said: 'By the Hotri priest, who is Agni (fire), who is speech. For speech is the Hotri of the sacrifice (or the sacrificer), and speech is Agni, and he is the Hotri. This constitutes freedom, and perfect freedom (from death).'\n4. 'Y\u00e2g\u00f1avalkya,' he said, 'everything here is reached by day and night, everything is overcome by day and night. By what means then is the sacrificer freed beyond the reach of day and night?'\nY\u00e2g\u00f1avalkya said: 'By the Adhvaryu priest, who is the eye, who is \u00c2ditya (the sun) 1. For the eye is the Adhvaryu of the sacrifice, and the eye is the sun, and he is the Adhvaryu. This constitutes freedom, and perfect freedom.'\n5. 'Y\u00e2g\u00f1avalkya,' he said, 'everything here is reached by the waxing and waning of the moon, everything is overcome by the waxing and waning of the moon. By what means then is the sacrificer freed beyond the reach of the waxing and waning of the moon?'\nY\u00e2g\u00f1avalkya said: 'By the Udg\u00e2tri priest, who is V\u00e2yu (the wind), who is the breath. For the\nbreath is the Udg\u00e2tri of the sacrifice, and the breath is the wind, and he is the Udg\u00e2tri. This constitutes freedom, and perfect freedom.'\n6. 'Y\u00e2g\u00f1avalkya,' he said, 'this sky is, as it were, without an ascent (staircase.) By what approach does the sacrificer approach the Svarga world?'\nY\u00e2g\u00f1avalkya said: 'By the Brahman priest, who is the mind (manas), who is the moon. For the mind is the Brahman of the sacrifice, and the mind is the moon, and he is the Brahman. This constitutes freedom, and perfect freedom. These are the complete deliverances (from death).'\nNext follow the achievements.\n7. 'Y\u00e2g\u00f1avalkya,' he said, 'how many Rik verses will the Hotri priest employ to-day at this sacrifice?'\n'Three,' replied Y\u00e2g\u00f1avalkya.\n'And what are these three?'\n'Those which are called Puronuv\u00e2ky\u00e2, Y\u00e2gy\u00e2, and, thirdly, Sasy\u00e2 1.'\n'What does he gain by them?'\n'All whatsoever has breath.'\n8. 'Y\u00e2g\u00f1avalkya,' he said, 'how many oblations (\u00e2huti) will the Adhvaryu priest employ to-day at this sacrifice?'\n'Those which, when offered, flame up; those which, when offered, make an excessive noise; and those which, when offered, sink down 2.'\n'By those which, when offered, flame up, he gains the Deva (god) world, for the Deva world flames up, as it were. By those which, when offered, make an excessive noise, he gains the Pitri (father) world, for the Pitri world is excessively (noisy) 1. By those which, when offered, sink down, he gains the Manushya (man) world, for the Manushya world is, as it were, down below.'\n9. 'Y\u00e2g\u00f1avalkya,' he said, 'with how many deities does the Brahman priest on the right protect to-day this sacrifice?'\n'By one,' replied Y\u00e2g\u00f1avalkya.\n'And which is it?'\n'The mind alone; for the mind is endless, and the Visvedevas are endless, and he thereby gains the endless world.'\n10. 'Y\u00e2g\u00f1avalkya,' he said, 'how many Stotriy\u00e2 hymns will the Udg\u00e2tri priest employ to-day at this sacrifice?'\n'Those which are called Puronuv\u00e2ky\u00e2, Y\u00e2gy\u00e2, and, thirdly, Sasy\u00e2.'\n'And what are these with regard to the body (adhy\u00e2tmam)?'\n'The Puronuv\u00e2ky\u00e2 is Pr\u00e2na (up-breathing), the Y\u00e2gy\u00e2 the Ap\u00e2na (down-breathing), the Sasy\u00e2 the Vy\u00e2na (back-breathing).'\n'He gains the earth by the Puronuv\u00e2ky\u00e2, the sky by the Y\u00e2gy\u00e2, heaven by the Sasy\u00e2.'\nAfter that Asvala held his peace.\n121:1 M\u00e2dhyandina text, p. 1067.\n121:2 Palakaturbh\u00e2gah p\u00e2dah suvarnasya. Comm.\n121:3 One expects iti after udaga, but S\u00e2masravas is applied to Y\u00e2g\u00f1avalkya, and not to the pupil. Y\u00e2g\u00f1avalkya, as the commentator observes, was properly a teacher of the Yagur-veda, but as the pupil calls him S\u00e2masravas, he shows that Y\u00e2g\u00f1avalkya knew all the four Vedas, because the S\u00e2mans are taken from the Rig-veda, and the Atharva-veda is contained in the other three Vedas. Regnaud, however, refers it to the pupil, and translates, '\u00d4 toi qui apprends le S\u00e2ma-veda.'\n122:1 One expects \u00e2dityena kakshush\u00e2, instead of kakshush\u00e2dityena, but see \u00a7 6.\n123:1 The Puronuv\u00e2ky\u00e2s are hymns employed before the actual sacrifice, the Y\u00e2gy\u00e2s accompany the sacrifice, the Sasy\u00e2s are used for the Sastra. All three are called Stotriy\u00e2s.\n123:2 These oblations are explained as consisting of wood and oil, of flesh, and of milk and Soma. The first, when thrown on the p. 124 fire, flame up. The second, when thrown on the fire, make a loud hissing noise. The third, consisting of milk, Soma, &c., sink down into the earth.\n124:1 On account of the cries of those who wish to be delivered out of it. Comm.","title":"The Upanishads, Part 2 (SBE15): Brihad\u00e2ranyaka Upan...","type":"page"}