Chapter III, Section III, Adhikarana XXXII

Adhikarana summary: Vaisvanara Upasana is one entire Upasana

 Sutra 3,3.57

भूम्नः क्रतुवज्ज्यायस्त्वं, तथा हि दर्शयति ॥ ५७ ॥

bhūmnaḥ kratuvajjyāyastvaṃ, tathā hi darśayati || 57 ||

bhūmnaḥ—On the entire form; kratuvat—as in the case of sacrifice; jyāyastvaṃ—importance; tathā—so; hi—for; darśayati—(the Sruti) shows.

57. Importance (is given to the meditation) on the entire form (of Vaisvanara) as in the case of sacrifice ; for so (the Sruti) shows.

In the Chhandogya Upanishad 5. 11-18 we have the Vaisvanara Vidya, the meditation on the cosmic form of the Lord, where we are asked to imagine that His head is the heavens, His eye the sun, and so on. In those sections we find different results mentioned for each part of the Upasana. For example, the result of meditating on His head as the heavens is: “He eats food, sees his dear ones, and has Vedic glory in his house” (Chh. 5. 12. 2). Now the question is whether the Sruti here speaks only of one Upasana on the ^vhole cosmic form, or also piecemeal Upasanas. This Sutra says that it is the former. The separate results mentioned for detached Upasanas are to be combined into one aggregate with the principal meditation. That the Sruti intends only the entire Upasana is moreover known from the fact that it discourages part Upasana in such expressions as “Your head would have fallen if you had not come to me” (Chh. 5. 12. 2). The case is similar to certain sacrifices which include several minor sacrifices, the combined result of which completes that of the main sacrifices. That only one entire Upasana is intended is also inferred from the fact that the section begins thus: “Which is our Self, which is the Brahman” (Chh. 5. 11. 1)—which shows that the entire Brahman is sought as the object of meditation. It ends also thus: “Of that Vaisvanara Self Sutejas is the head” etc. (Chh. 5. 18. 2).