Chandogya Upanishad (english Translation)

by Swami Lokeswarananda | 165,421 words | ISBN-10: 8185843910 | ISBN-13: 9788185843919

This is the English translation of the Chandogya-upanishad, including a commentary based on Swami Lokeswarananda’s weekly discourses; incorporating extracts from Shankara’s bhasya. The Chandogya Upanishad is a major Hindu philosophical text incorporated in the Sama Veda, and dealing with meditation and Brahman. This edition includes the Sanskrit t...

Verse 4.8.4

स यै एतमेवं विद्वांश्चतुष्कलं पादं ब्रह्मण आयतनवानित्युपास्त आयतनवानस्मिँल्लोके भवत्यायतनवतो ह लोकाञ्जयति य एतमेवं विद्वांश्चतुष्कलं पादं ब्रह्मण आयतनवानित्युपास्ते ॥ ४.८.४ ॥
॥ इति अष्टमः खण्डः ॥

sa yai etamevaṃ vidvāṃścatuṣkalaṃ pādaṃ brahmaṇa āyatanavānityupāsta āyatanavānasmim̐lloke bhavatyāyatanavato ha lokāñjayati ya etamevaṃ vidvāṃścatuṣkalaṃ pādaṃ brahmaṇa āyatanavānityupāste || 4.8.4 ||
|| iti aṣṭamaḥ khaṇḍaḥ ||

4. ‘He who knows this foot of Brahman, which has four parts and is known as “the Support,” and worships it as such becomes a support [to others] in this world. He who knows this foot of Brahman, which has four parts and is known as “the Support,” and worships it as such attains worlds which are spacious’.

Word-for-word explanation:

Saḥ yaḥ etam evam vidvān, he who knows this thus; catuṣkalam pādam brahmaṇaḥ, one foot [or quarter] of Brahman having four parts; āyatanavān iti, known as the Support; upāste, [and] meditates on it; āyatanavān asmin loke bhavati, becomes āyatanavān [i.e., a support to others] in this world; yaḥ etam evam vidvān, he who knows this thus; catuṣkalam pādam brahmaṇaḥ, one foot of Brahman having four parts; āyatanavān iti, known as the Support [i.e., it is spacious and therefore able to support things]; upāste, [and] meditates on it; āyatanavataḥ ha lokān jayati, wins spacious worlds after death. Iti aṣṭamaḥ khaṇḍaḥ, here ends the eighth section.

Commentary:

If a person worships this foot of Brahman as āyatanavān—that is, as spacious—he himself becomes spacious. Being spacious means that he can give shelter to many. He has this advantage as long as he is alive. Then when he dies he is able to attain many larger worlds.

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