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 5.13.2

प्रवृत्तोऽश्वतरीरथो दासीनिष्कोऽत्स्यन्नं पश्यसि प्रियमत्त्यन्नं पश्यति प्रियं भवत्यस्य ब्रह्मवर्चसं कुले य एतमेवमात्मानं वैश्वानरमुपास्ते चक्षुषेतदात्मन इति होवाचान्धोऽभविष्यो यन्मां नागमिष्य इति ॥ ५.१३.२ ॥
॥ इति त्रयोदशः खण्डः ॥

pravṛtto'śvatarīratho dāsīniṣko'tsyannaṃ paśyasi priyamattyannaṃ paśyati priyaṃ bhavatyasya brahmavarcasaṃ kule ya etamevamātmānaṃ vaiśvānaramupāste cakṣuṣetadātmana iti hovācāndho'bhaviṣyo yanmāṃ nāgamiṣya iti || 5.13.2 ||
|| iti trayodaśaḥ khaṇḍaḥ ||

2. ‘You now have chariots drawn by mules. You are served by maidservants, and you have a necklace. You enjoy eating food and you see your dear ones and everything pleasant. He who worships the Vaiśvānara Self thus enjoys eating food and is able to see his dear ones. He also has children in his family who shine with the radiance of Brahman [i.e., they become well known for their good conduct and scholarship]. But this Āditya is like the eye of the Self.’ Then the king said, ‘If you had not come to me you would have become blind’.

Word-for-word explanation:

Aśvatarīrathaḥ, a chariot drawn by mules; dāsī-niṣ-kaḥ, maidservants and a necklace; pravṛttaḥ, you have; annam atsi, you eat food; priyam paśyasi, you see everything pleasant [i.e., your children, grandchildren, etc.]; yaḥ, he who; etam evam vaiśvānaram ātmānam upāste, worships this Vaiśvānara Ātman thus; annam atti, eats food; priyam paśyati, [and] sees everything pleasant [or, sees his dear ones]; asya kule, in his family; brahmavarcasam bhavati, are born those who shine with the brightness of Brahman; eṣaḥ tu ātmanaḥ cakṣuḥ iti, but this [Āditya] is like the eye of the Self; ha uvāca, he [the king] said; andhaḥ abhaviṣyaḥ, you would have become blind; yat mām na āgamiṣyaḥ iti, if you had not come to me. Iti trayodaśaḥ khaṇḍaḥ, here ends the thirteenth section.

Commentary:

Āditya is like the eye of the Vaiśvānara Ātman, but it is not the whole of it. If one mistakes the part for the whole, that is a great blunder. He misses the truth and is like one who is blind. The king says to Satyayajña, ‘Luckily you have come to me and have been saved from that misfortune.’

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