The Online Library of Liberty

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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

FIFTH ADHYĀYA

Brahma, the One God of the manifold world

1. In the imperishable, infinite, supreme Brahma are two things;

For therein are knowledge and ignorance placed hidden.

Now, ignorance is a thing perishable, but knowledge is a thing immortal.

And He who rules the ignorance and the knowledge is another,

2. [Even] the One who rules over every single source,

All forms and all sources;

Who bears in his thoughts, and beholds when born,

That red (kapila2 ) seer who was engendered in the beginning.

3. That God spreads out each single net [of illusion] manifoldly,

And draws it together here in the world.3

Thus again, having created his Yatis,4 the Lord (īśa),

The Great Soul (mahātman), exercises universal overlordship.

4. As the illumining sun shines upon

All regions, above, below, and across,

So that One God, glorious, adorable,

Rules over whatever creatures are born from a womb.

5. The source of all, who develops his own nature,

Who brings to maturity whatever can be ripened,

And who distributes all qualities (guṇa)—

Over this whole world rules the One.

6. That which is hidden in the secret of the Vedas, even the Upanishads—

Brahmā knows That as the source of the sacred word (brahman).

The gods and seers of old who knew That,

They, [coming to be] of Its nature, verily, have become immortal.

The reincarnating individual soul

7. Whoever has qualities (guṇa, distinctions) is the doer of deeds that bring recompense;

And of such action surely he experiences the consequence.

Undergoing all forms, characterized by the three Qualities1 treading the three paths,2

The individual self3 roams about4 according to its deeds (karman).

8. He is of the measure of a thumb, of sun-like appearance,

When coupled with conception (saṁkalpa) and egoism (ahaṁkāra).

But with only the qualities of intellect and of self,

The lower [self] appears of the size of the point of an awl

• • 9.

    This living [self] is to be known as a part
  • Of the hundredth part of the point of a hair
  • Subdivided a hundredfold;
  • And yet it partakes of infinity.

• • 10.

    Not female, nor yet male is it:
  • Nor yet is this neuter.
  • Whatever body he takes to himself,
  • With that he becomes connected.

11. By the delusions (moha) of imagination, touch, and sight,

And by eating, drinking, and impregnation there is a birth and development of the self (ātman).

According unto his deeds (karman) the embodied one successively

Assumes forms in various conditions.

12. Coarse and fine, many in number,

The embodied one chooses forms according to his own qualities.

[Each] subsequent cause of his union with them is seen to be

Because of the quality of his acts and of himself.

Liberation through knowledge of the One God

13. Him who is without beginning and without end, in the midst of confusion,

The Creator of all, of manifold form,

The One embracer of the universe5 —

By knowing God (deva) one is released from all fetters.6

14. Him who is to be apprehended in existence, who is called ‘incorporeal,’

The maker of existence (bhāva) and non-existence, the kindly one (śiva),

God (deva), the maker of the creation and its parts—

They who know Him, have left the body behind.

[2 ]The reference may be to ‘the sage Kapila,’ the founder of the Sāṅkhya philosophy. But in the similar stanza 4. 12 (compare also 3. 4) the reference is clearly to the Demiurge Hiraṇyagarbha, ‘The Golden Germ.’

[3 ]Literally, ‘in this field.’

[4 ]‘Marshals’; literally, ‘Exercisers’ According to RV. 10. 72. 7 they were Demiurges who assisted in the creation of the world.

[1 ]Namely, pureness (sattva), passion (rajas), and darkness (tamas)

[2 ]Namely, religiousness (dharma), irreligiousness (adharma), and knowledge (jñāna) Cf. Śvet. 1. 4 d.

[3 ]Literally ‘ruler of the vital breaths’ (prānādhipa).

[4 ]In transmigration.

[5 ]This third line = 3. 7 c; 4. 14 c; 4. 16 c.

[6 ]The fourth line of this stanza = 1. 8 d; 2. 15 d; 4. 16 d; 6. 13 d.