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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

SECOND ADHYĀYA

Invocation to the god of inspiration for inspiration and self-control2

• • 1.

    Savitṛi (the Inspirer), first controlling mind
  • And thought for truth,
  • Discerned the light of Agni (Fire)
  • And brought it out of the earth.3

• • 2.

    With mind controlled, we are
  • In the inspiration of the god Savitṛi,
  • For heaven and strength.

• • 3.

    With mind having controlled the powers
  • That unto bright heaven through thought do go,
  • May Savitṛi inspire them,
  • That they may make a mighty light!

4. The sages of the great wise sage

Control their mind, and control their thoughts.

The One who knows the rules has arranged the priestly functions.

Mighty is the chorus-praise of the god Savitṛi.4

5. I join your ancient prayer (brahma pūrvyam) with adorations!

My verses go forth like suns upon their course.

All the sons of the immortal listen,

Even those who ascended to heavenly stations!5

Spiritual significance of the sacrificial worship

• • 6.

    Where the fire is being kindled,
  • Where the wind is applied thereto,
  • Where the Soma overflows,
  • There is inspiration (manas) born.

• • 7.

    With Savitṛi as the inspirer
  • One should delight in the ancient prayer (brahma pūrvyam).
  • If there thou make thy source,
  • The former [work] besmears thee not.1

Rules and results of Yoga

8. Holding his body steady with the three [upper parts2 ] erect,

And causing the senses with the mind to enter into the heart,

A wise man with the Brahma-boat should cross over

All the fear-bringing streams.

9. Having repressed his breathings here in the body, and having his movements checked,

One should breathe through his nostrils with diminished breath.

Like that chariot yoked with vicious horses,3

His mind the wise man should restrain undistractedly.

10. In a clean level spot, free from pebbles, fire, and gravel,

By the sound of water and other propinquities

Favorable to thought, not offensive to the eye,

In a hidden retreat protected from the wind, one should practise Yoga.

11. Fog, smoke, sun, fire, wind,

Fire-flies, lightning, a crystal, a moon—

These are the preliminary appearances,

Which produce the manifestation of Brahma in Yoga.

12. When the fivefold quality of Yoga has been produced,

Arising from earth, water, fire, air, and space,4

No sickness, no old age, no death has he

Who has obtained a body made out of the fire of Yoga.

13. Lightness, healthiness, steadiness,5

Clearness of countenance and pleasantness of voice,

Sweetness of odor, and scanty excretions—

These, they say, are the first stage in the progress of Yoga.

The vision of God

14. Even as a mirror stained by dust

Shines brilliantly when it has been cleansed,

So the embodied one, on seeing the nature of the Soul (Ātman),

Becomes unitary, his end attained, from sorrow freed.

15. When with the nature of the self, as with a lamp,

A practiser of Yoga beholds here the nature of Brahma,

Unborn, steadfast, from every nature free—

By knowing God (deva) one is released from all fetters!

The pantheistic God

16. That God faces all the quarters of heaven.

Aforetime was he born, and he it is within the womb.

He has been born forth. He will be born.

He stands opposite creatures, having his face in all directions.1

17. The God who is in fire, who is in water, who has entered into the whole world, who is in plants, who is in trees—to that God be adoration!—yea, be adoration!

[2 ]These five stanzas = TS. 4. 1. 1. 1-5 and with variation also = VS. 11. 1-5, from which again they are cited and applied liturgically at Śat. Br. 6. 3. 1. 12-17.

[3 ]Or possibly dative, ‘to the earth.’

[4 ]In addition to the references cited in note 2, above, this stanza also = RV. 5. 81. 1; VS. 5. 14 and 11. 4. It is quoted in Śat. Br. 3. 5. 3. 11, 12.

[5 ]This stanza also = RV. 10. 13. 1; VS. 11. 5. Lines a, b, c with slight variants = AV. 18. 3. 39 b, c, d.

[1 ]Such is the traditional interpretation of a line which, even in its original source (RV. 6. 16. 18a with a very slight alteration), is of doubtful meaning.

[2 ]Head, chest, and neck—so prescribed at BhG. 6. 13.

[3 ]Described at Kaṭha 3. 4.

[4 ]That is, the five cosmic elements.

[5 ]Or, with another reading, alolubhatvam, ‘freedom from desires.’

[1 ]This stanza = VS. 32. 4.