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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 VALLĪ

The universal and the individual soul

1. There are two that drink of righteousness (ṛta) in the world of good deeds;

Both are entered into the secret place [of the heart], and in the highest upper sphere.

Brahma-knowers speak of them as ‘light’ and ‘shade,’

And so do householders who maintain the five sacrificial fires, and those too who perform the triple Naciketas-fire.

The Naciketas sacrificial fire as an aid

2. This which is the bridge for those who sacrifice,

And which is the highest imperishable Brahma

For those who seek to cross over to the fearless farther shore—

The Naciketas-fire may we master!

Parable of the individual soul in a chariot

3. Know thou the soul (ātman, self) as riding in a chariot,

The body as the chariot.

Know thou the intellect (buddhi) as the chariot-driver,

And the mind (manas) as the reins.

4. The senses (indriya), they say, are the horses;

The objects of sense, what they range over.

The self combined with senses and mind

Wise men call ‘the enjoyer’ (bhoktṛ).

5. He who has not understanding (a-vijñāna),

Whose mind is not constantly held firm—

His senses are uncontrolled,

Like the vicious horses of a chariot-driver.

6. He, however, who has understanding,

Whose mind is constantly held firm—

His senses are under control,

Like the good horses of a chariot-driver.

Intelligent control of the soul’s chariot needed to arrive beyond transmigration

7. He, however, who has not understanding,

Who is unmindful and ever impure,

Reaches not the goal,

But goes on to transmigration (saṁsāra).

8. He, however, who has understanding,

Who is mindful and ever pure,

Reaches the goal

From which he is born no more.

9. He, however, who has the understanding of a chariot-driver,

A man who reins in his mind—

He reaches the end of his journey,

That highest place of Vishṇu.1

The order of progression to the supreme Person

10. Higher than the senses are the objects of sense.

Higher than the objects of sense is the mind (manas);

And higher than the mind is the intellect (buddhi).

Higher than the intellect is the Great Self (Ātman).

11. Higher than the Great is the Unmanifest (avyakta).

Higher than the Unmanifest is the Person.

Higher than the Person there is nothing at all.

That is the goal. That is the highest course.

The subtle perception of the all-pervading Soul

12. Though He is hidden in all things,

That Soul (Ātman, Self) shines not forth.

But he is seen by subtle seers

With superior, subtle intellect.

The Yoga method—of suppression

13. An intelligent man should suppress his speech and his mind.

The latter he should suppress in the Understanding-Self (jñāna ātman).

The understanding he should suppress in the Great Self [= buddhi, intellect].

That he should suppress in the Tranquil Self (śānta ātman).

Exhortation to the way of liberation from death

14. Arise ye! Awake ye!

Obtain your boons1 and understand them!

A sharpened edge of a razor, hard to traverse,

A difficult path is this—poets (kavi) declare!

15. What is soundless, touchless, formless, imperishable,

Likewise tasteless, constant, odorless,

Without beginning, without end, higher than the great, stable—

By discerning That, one is liberated from the mouth of death.

The immortal value of this teaching

• • 16.

    The Naciketas tale,
  • Death’s immemorial teaching—
  • By declaring and hearing this, a wise man
  • Is magnified in the Brahma-world.

• • 17.

    If one recites this supreme secret
  • In an assembly of Brahmans,
  • Or at a time of the ceremony for the dead, devoutly—
  • That makes for immortality!
  • —That makes for immortality!

[1 ]The last line of this stanza = RV. 1. 22. 20 a, and also, with a slight change, RV. 1. 154. 5 d.

[1 ]The commentators interpret ‘boons’ as referring to ‘teachers.’ But the word may imply ‘answers to your questions.’