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 7.4.3

स यः संकल्पं ब्रह्मेत्युपास्ते संकॢप्तान्वै स लोकान्ध्रुवान्ध्रुवः प्रतिष्ठितान् प्रतिष्ठितोऽव्यथमानानव्यथमानोऽभिसिध्यति यावत्संकल्पस्य गतं तत्रास्य यथाकामचारो भवति यः संकल्पं ब्रह्मेत्युपास्तेऽस्ति भगवः संकल्पाद्भूय इति संकल्पाद्वाव भूयोऽस्तीति तन्मे भगवान्ब्रवीत्विति ॥ ७.४.३ ॥
॥ इति चतुर्थः खण्डः ॥

sa yaḥ saṃkalpaṃ brahmetyupāste saṃkḷptānvai sa lokāndhruvāndhruvaḥ pratiṣṭhitān pratiṣṭhito'vyathamānānavyathamāno'bhisidhyati yāvatsaṃkalpasya gataṃ tatrāsya yathākāmacāro bhavati yaḥ saṃkalpaṃ brahmetyupāste'sti bhagavaḥ saṃkalpādbhūya iti saṃkalpādvāva bhūyo'stīti tanme bhagavānbravītviti || 7.4.3 ||
|| iti caturthaḥ khaṇḍaḥ ||

3. ‘One who worships saṅkalpa as Brahman can attain any world he wills. He becomes true and attains the world of truth. He is firmly established and also attains a world which is firmly established. He is free from pain and attains also a world free from pain. One who worships saṅkalpa as Brahman can do what he pleases within the limits of saṅkalpa.’ Nārada asked, ‘Sir, is there anything higher than saṅkalpa?’ ‘Of course there is something higher than saṅkalpa,’ replied Sanatkumāra. Nārada then said, ‘Sir, please explain that to me’.

Word-for-word explanation:

Saḥ yaḥ saṅkalpam brahma iti upāste, he who worships will-power as Brahman; klṛptān vai saḥ lokān dhruvān, the true worlds he wishes for; dhruvaḥ, being true himself; pratiṣṭhitān, the well-established [worlds]; pratiṣṭhitaḥ, [himself being] well-established; avyathamānān, [the worlds] free from pain; avyathamānaḥ, [himself being] free from pain; abhisidhyati, he attains; yāvat saṅkalpasya gatam, as far as will can go; tatra, that far; asya yathā-kāmacāraḥ bhavati, as he wishes he can go; yaḥ saṅkalpam brahma iti upāste, he who worships saṅkalpa as Brahman; bhagavaḥ, sir; saṅkalpāt bhūyaḥ asti iti, is there anything higher than saṅkalpa; saṅkalpāt vāva bhūyaḥ asti iti, there is certainly something higher than saṅkalpa; bhagavān, sir; tat me bravītu iti, please explain it to me. Iti caturthaḥ khaṇḍaḥ, here ends the fourth section.

Commentary:

The will is the beginning and end of everything concerning the ṃind. Not only that—the will is the root of the earth, heaven, of all the worlds, of space, air, fire, water, food, life, the mantras, and work. The will is the origin and end of the phenomenal world. If you meditate on this, you learn the secret of progress in life.

But if you are a true seeker of Truth, you soon begin to feel that there must be something higher. This is divine discontent. And this is why Nārada asks Sanatkumāra if there is anything higher. Sanatkumāra takes him step by step, from a lower truth to a higher truth.

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