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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

SIXTH ADHYĀYA

The One God, Creator and Lord, in and over the world

1. Some sages discourse of inherent nature (sva-bhāva);

Others likewise, of time.1 Deluded men!

It is the greatness of God in the world

By which this Brahma-wheel is caused to revolve.

2. He by whom this whole world is constantly enveloped

Is intelligent, the author of time, possessor of qualities (guṇin), omniscient.

Ruled o’er by Him, [his] work (karman)2 revolves—

This which is regarded as earth, water, fire, air, and space!3

3. He creates this work, and rests again.

Having entered into union (yoga) with principle (tattva) after principle,

With one, with two, with three, or with eight,4

With time, too, and the subtile qualities of a self—

4. He begins with works which are connected with qualities (guṇa),

And distributes all existences (bhāva).5

In the absence of these (qualities) there is a disappearance of the work that has been done.

[Yet] in the destruction of the work he continues essentially other [than it].

5. The beginning, the efficient cause of combinations,

He is to be seen as beyond the three times (kāla),1 without parts (a-kala) too!

Worship Him as the manifold, the origin of all being,

The adorable God who abides in one’s own thoughts, the primeval.

6. Higher and other than the world-tree,2 time, and forms

Is He from whom this expanse proceeds.

The bringer of right (dharma), the remover of evil (pāpa), the lord of prosperity—

Know Him as in one’s own self (ātma-stha), as the immortal abode of all.

7. Him who is the supreme Mighty Lord (maheśvara) of lords,

The supreme Divinity of divinities,

The supreme Ruler of rulers, paramount,

Him let us know as the adorable God, the Lord (īś) of the world.

8. No action or organ of his is found;

There is not seen his equal, nor a superior.

His high power (śakti) is revealed to be various indeed;

And innate is the working of his intelligence and strength.

9. Of Him there is no ruler in the world,

Nor lord; nor is there any mark (liṅga) of Him.

He is the Cause (kāraṇa), lord of the lords of sense-organs.

Of Him there is no progenitor, nor lord.

10. The one God who covers himself,

Like a spider, with threads

Produced from Primary Matter (pradhāna), according to his own nature (svabhāvatas)—

May He grant us entiance into Brahma!

11. The one God, hidden in all things,

All-pervading, the Inner Soul of all things,

The overseer of deeds (karman), in all things abiding,

The witness, the sole thinker,3 devoid of qualities (nir-guṇa),

12. The one controller of the inactive many,

Who makes the one seed manifold—

The wise who perceive Him as standing in one’s self—

They, and no others, have eternal happiness.4

13. Him who is the constant among the inconstant, the intelligent among intelligences,

The One among many, who grants desires,1

That Cause, attainable by discrimination and abstraction (sāṅkhya-yoga)—

By knowing God, one is released from all fetters!2

14. The sun shines not there, nor the moon and stars;

These lightnings shine not, much less this [earthly] fire!

After Him, as He shines, doth everything shine.

This whole world is illumined with his light.3

15. The one soul (haṁsa) in the midst of this world—

This indeed is the fire which has entered into the ocean.

Only by knowing Him does one pass over death.

There is no other path for going there.4

16. He who is the maker of all, the all-knower, self-sourced,

Intelligent, the author of time, possessor of qualities, omniscient,5

Is the ruler of Primary Matter (pradhāna) and of the spirit (ksetra-jña), the lord of qualities (guṇa),

The cause of transmigration (saṁsāra) and of liberation (mokṣa), of continuance and of bondage.

17. Consisting of That, immortal, existing as the Lord,

Intelligent, omnipresent, the guardian of this world,

Is He who constantly rules this world.

There is no other cause found for the ruling.

18. To Him who of old creates Brahmā,

And who, verily, delivers to him the Vedas—

To that God, who is lighted by his own intellect,6

Epilogue

21. By the efficacy of his austerity and by the grace of God (devaprasāda)

The wise Śvetāśvatara in proper manner declared Brahma

Unto the ascetics of the most advanced stage as the supreme means of purification—

This which is well pleasing to the company of seers.

The conditions for receiving this knowledge

22. The supreme mystery in the Veda’s End (Vedānta),

Which has been declared in former time,

Should not be given to one not tranquil,

Nor again to one who is not a son or a pupil.2

23. To him who has the highest devotion (bhakti) for God,

And for his spiritual teacher (guru) even as for God,

To him these matters which have been declared

Become manifest [if he be] a great soul (mahātman)—

Yea, become manifest [if he be] a great soul!

MAITRI UPANISHAD

[1 ]As the First Cause—as in 1. 2. See Introduction, p. 8.

[2 ]That is, the world.

[3 ]The same list of five cosmic elements as in 2. 12 b.

[4 ]That is, the principles as arranged in groups by systematized Sāṅkhya philosophy: the sole principle—the Person (Purusha); dual principles—the Unmanifest (avyakta) and the Manifest (vyakta); triple principles—the three Qualities (guṇa), i. e. Pureness (sattva), Passion (rajas), and Darkness (tamas); eight principles—the five cosmic elements together with mind, intellect, and self-consciousness (so enumerated, e. g., at BhG. 7. 4.)

[5 ]Compare the similar line 5. 5 c.

[1 ]That is, without past, present, or future—as in Māṇḍ. 1.

[2 ]Which is described in Katha 6. 1.

[3 ]Reading cettā instead of the tautologous cetā, ‘observer.’

[4 ]This stanza = Kaṭha 5. 12 with slight variation in a and b.

[1 ]These first two lines = Kaṭha 5. 13 a and b.

[2 ]The last line of the stanza is repeated at 5. 13 d, etc.

[3 ]This stanza = Katha 5. 15 and Muṇḍ. 2. 2. 10.

[4 ]The last two lines = 3. 8. c, d and VS. 31. 18 c, d.

[5 ]This line = 6. 2 b.

[6 ]Or, ‘who is the light of self-knowledge’; or, according to the variant reading ātma-buddhi-prasādam, ‘who through his own grace lets himself be known.’

[7 ]Cf. Kaṭha 4. 13 b, ‘Like a light without smoke.’

[1 ]That is, when the impossible becomes possible.

[2 ]Similar restrictions are imposed at Bṛih. 6. 3. 12 and Maitri 6. 29.