Verse 2.160

Sanskrit text and transliteration:

व्युत्ताप्यान्नमयादिभ्यो ह्यन्नं प्राणमितीरणात् ।
उपासनोपदेशाच्च सूत्रमत्र विवक्षितम् ॥ १६० ॥

vyuttāpyānnamayādibhyo hyannaṃ prāṇamitīraṇāt |
upāsanopadeśācca sūtramatra vivakṣitam || 160 ||

English translation of verse 2.160:

Here, the Sūtrātman is sought to be conveyed, since by making us proceed inward from the annamaya-kośa, etc., śruti, indeed, speaks of food, vital force, and so on, and since meditation (on the Sūtrātman) is enjoined.

Notes:

In the Bhṛguvallī, which is the concluding chapter or the Taittirīya Upaniṣad, an account is given as to how Bhṛgu is gradually led to realize Brahman as bliss by discarding annamaya, etc., which are not-Self. Bhṛgu first thought of food (i.e., the Virāj, the cosmic being in its gross aspect) as Brahman; then he thought of the vital force (i.e., the

Hiraṇyagarbha, the cosmic being in the subtle aspect) as Brahman. The subtle body of the Sūtrātman is associated with the sheaths of vital force, consciousness, and self-consciousness, while the sheath of food is associated with the gross physical body of the Virāj. When Bhṛgu requested his father to teach him Brahman, the latter said: “Food, vital force, eye, ear, mind, speech”" (annaṃ prāṇaṃ cakṣuḥ śrotraṃ moano vācamiti). The idea is that after mentioning the body (annam) and the vital force (prāṇam) which is within the body, Varuṇa mentions eye, ear, mind, and speech as the aids to the realization of Brahman. Here the word prāṇa refers to the Sūtrātman.

Reference has already been made in the previous verse to the Taittirīya text (II, v, 1) where meditation on the Sūtrātman., the firstborn, is enjoined.

The word vijñāna which occurs in this text cannot mean the act of knowing (dhātvartha) for two reasons. A mere act cannot be an object of meditation. Further, the word vijñāna is qualified as “Brahman, the first-born” (vijñānaṃ brahma jyeṣṭham). Such a qualification is not possible if the word vijñānam means the act of knowing. Nor can it refer to the individual soul, for one cannot meditate on oneself. It cannot even be said that it refers to Brahman, the first cause, because the first cause cannot be spoken of as vijñāna (kāraṇabrahmaṇaśca vijñāna-padena agrahaṇāt). So the word vijñāna in this text means only the Sūtrātman.