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• Preface
• Remarks Concerning the Translation Its Method and Arrangement
• List of Abbreviations
• Errata
• An Outline of the Philosophy of the Upanishads
• Chapter I: The Place of the Upanishads In the History of Philosophy
• Chapter II: The Upanishads and Their Place In Indian Philosophy
• Chapter III: First Attempts At the Conception of a Unitary World-ground
• Chapter IV: The Development of the Conception of Brahma
• Chapter V: The Development of the Conception of the Atman and Its Union With Brahma
• Chapter VI: The Realistic Conception of the Ultimate Unity, and the Doctrine of Illusion
• Chapter VII: Idealism and the Conception of Pure Unity
• Chapter VIII: The Outcome On Religion and On the Doctrine of Karma
• Chapter IX: The Outcome On Practical Life and On Morals
• Chapter X: The Artificial Method of Unity In Renunciation and In Yoga
• Chapter XI: Concluding Estimate
• BṚihad-ĀraṆyaka Upanishad
• First AdhyĀya
• Second AdhyĀya
• Third AdhyĀya
• Fourth AdhyĀya
• Fifth AdhyĀya
• Sixth AdhyĀya
• ChĀndogya Upanishad
• First PrapĀṬhaka a Glorification of the Chanting of the Sāma-veda 1
• Second PrapĀṬhaka the Significance of the Chant In Various Forms
• Third PrapĀṬhaka Brahma As the Sun of the World-all
• Fourth PrapĀṬhaka Conversational Instructions
• Fifth PrapĀṬhaka Concerning Breath, the Soul, and the Universal Soul
• Sixth PrapĀṬhaka the Instruction of Śvetaketu By Uddālaka Concerning the Key to All Knowledge
• Seventh PrapĀṬhaka the Instruction of Nārada By Sanatkumāra
• Eighth PrapĀṬhaka Concerning the Nature of the Soul
• TaittirĪya Upanishad
• First VallĪ (Śikshā Vallī, ‘chapter Concerning Instruction’)
• Second VallĪ (brahmānanda Vallī, ‘bliss-of-brahma Chapter’)
• Third VallĪ (bhṛigu Vallī, ‘chapter Concerning Bhṛigu’)
• Aitareya Upanishad
• First AdhyĀya
• Second AdhyĀya
• Third AdhyĀya
• KaushĪtaki Upanishad 1
• First AdhyĀya the Course of Reincarnation, and Its Termination Through Metaphysical Knowledge 2
• Second AdhyĀya the Doctrine of Prāṇa, Together With Certain Ceremonies
• Third AdhyĀya Doctrine of Prāṇa (the Breathing Spirit)
• Fourth AdhyĀya a Progressive Definition of Brahma 2
• Kena Upanishad 1
• (first KhaṆḌa)
• (second KhaṆḌa)
• (third KhaṆḌa) 3
• (fourth KhaṆḌa)
• KaṬha Upanishad
• First VallĪ 1
• Second VallĪ
• Third VallĪ
• Fourth VallĪ
• Fifth VallĪ
• Sixth VallĪ
• ĪŚĀ Upanishad 1
• MuṆḌaka Upanishad
• First MuṆḌaka Preparation For the Knowledge of Brahma
• Second MuṆḌaka the Doctrine of Brahma-Ātman
• Third MuṆḌaka the Way to Brahma
• PraŚna Upanishad 1
• First PraŚna
• Second PraŚna
• Third PraŚna
• Fourth PraŚna
• Fifth PraŚna
• Sixth PraŚna
• MĀṆḌŪkya Upanishad
• ŚvetĀŚvatara Upanishad
• First AdhyĀya
• Second AdhyĀya
• Third AdhyĀya
• Fourth AdhyĀya
• Fifth AdhyĀya
• Sixth AdhyĀya
• Maitri Upanishad
• First PrapĀṬhaka
• Second PrapĀṬhaka
• Third PrapĀṬhaka
• Fourth PrapĀṬhaka
• Fifth PrapĀṬhaka
• Sixth PrapĀṬhaka
• Seventh PrapĀṬhaka
• A Bibliography of the Upanishads Selected, Classified, and Annotated

(THIRD KHAṆḌA)3

Allegory of the Vedic gods’ ignorance of Brahma

14 (1). Now, Brahma won a victory for the gods. Now, in the victory of this Brahma the gods were exulting. They bethought themselves: ‘Ours indeed is this victory!4 Ours indeed is this greatness!’

15 (2). Now, It understood this of them. It appeared to them. They did not understand It. ‘What wonderful being (yakṣa) is this?’ they said.

16 (3). They said to Agni (Fire): ‘Jātavedas,1 find out this—what this wonderful being is.’

‘So be it.’

17 (4). He ran unto It.

Unto him It spoke: ‘Who are you?’

‘Verily, I am Agni,’ said he. ‘Verily, I am Jātavedas.’1

18 (5). ‘In such as you what power is there?’

‘Indeed, I might burn everything here, whatever there is here in the earth!’

19 (6). It put down a straw before him. ‘Burn that!’

He went forth at it with all speed. He was not able to burn it. Thereupon indeed he returned, saying: ‘I have not been able to find out this—what this wonderful being is.’

20 (7) Then they said to Vāyu (Wind): ‘Vāyu, find out this—what this wonderful being is.’

‘So be it.’

21 (8). He ran unto It.

Unto him It spoke: ‘Who are you?’

‘Verily, I am Vāyu,’ he said. ‘Verily, I am Mātariśvan.’

22 (9). ‘In such as you what power is there?’

‘Indeed. I might carry off everything here, whatever there is here in the earth.’

23 (10). It put down a straw before him. ‘Carry that off!’

He went at it with all speed. He was not able to carry it off. Thereupon indeed he returned, saying: ‘I have not been able to find out this—what this wonderful being is.’

24 (11). Then they said to Indra: ‘Maghavan (‘Liberal’), find out this—what this wonderful being is.’

‘So be it.’

He ran unto It. It disappeared from him.

25 (12). In that very space he came upon a woman exceedingly beautiful, Umā,2 daughter of the Snowy Mountain (Himavat).

To her he said: ‘What is this wonderful being?’

[3 ]The Kena Upanishad consists of two quite distinct parts. The prose portion, §§ 14-34, is evidently the simpler and earlier. The portion §§ 1-13 (all in verse, except § 9) contains much more elaborated doctrine and would seem to be later in date of composition.

[4 ]An account of the victory of the gods over the demons (Asuras) occurs at Bṛih. 1. 3. 1-7.

[1 ]Meaning either ‘All-knower’ or ‘All-possessor.’

[2 ]Com. allegorizes her as ‘Knowledge,’ who dispels Indra’s ignorance. In later mythology Umā is an epithet, along with Durgā, Kālī, and Pārvatī, for the wife of Śiva; and she is represented as living with him in the Himālayas. Weber, Indische Studien, 2. 186-190, has an extended discussion of the identity of this personage and of the divinities in this passage in their significance for later mythological and sectarian developments.