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 8.1.5

स ब्रूयात्नास्य जरयैतज्जीर्यति न वधेनास्य हन्यत एतत्सत्यं ब्रह्मपुरमस्मिकामाः समाहिताः एष आत्मापहतपाप्मा विजरो विमृत्युर्विशोको विजिघत्सोऽपिपासः सत्यकामः सत्यसंकल्पो यथा ह्येवेह प्रजा अन्वाविशन्ति यथानुशासनम् यं यमन्तमभिकामा भवन्ति यं जनपदं यं क्षेत्रभागं तं तमेवोपजीवन्ति ॥ ८.१.५ ॥

sa brūyātnāsya jarayaitajjīryati na vadhenāsya hanyata etatsatyaṃ brahmapuramasmikāmāḥ samāhitāḥ eṣa ātmāpahatapāpmā vijaro vimṛtyurviśoko vijighatso'pipāsaḥ satyakāmaḥ satyasaṃkalpo yathā hyeveha prajā anvāviśanti yathānuśāsanam yaṃ yamantamabhikāmā bhavanti yaṃ janapadaṃ yaṃ kṣetrabhāgaṃ taṃ tamevopajīvanti || 8.1.5 ||

5.—in reply the teacher will say: ‘The body may decay due to old age, but the space within [i.e., brahmapura] never decays. Nor does it perish with the death of the body. This is the real abode of Brahman. All our desires are concentrated in it. It is the Self—free from all sins as well as from old age, death, bereavement, hunger, and thirst. It is the cause of love of Truth and the cause of dedication to Truth. If a person strictly follows whatever the ruler of the country commands, he may then get as a reward some land, or even an estate’.

Word-for-word explanation:

Saḥ, he [the teacher]; brūyāt, will say; asya, its [the body’s]; jarayā, by old age; etat, this [i.e., the space within the heart—the Self]; na jīryati, is not affected; vadhena asya na hanyate, nor does it meet death by being killed; etat, this; satyam brahmapuram, city of Brahman is real; asmin, in this; kāmāḥ, all desires; samāhitāḥ, are contained; eṣaḥ ātmā, this Self; apahatapāpmā, is free from all sins [or, sorrows]; vijaraḥ, free from old age; vimṛtyuḥ, deathless; viśokaḥ, free from bereavement; vijighatsaḥ, without hunger; apipāsaḥ, without thirst; satyakāmaḥ, love of Truth; satyasaṅkalpaḥ, committed to Truth; yathā, like; hi eva iha, in this world; prajāḥ, people; anu-āviśanti, come and go; yathā-anuśāsanam, according to the law of the country; yam yam, whatever; antam, province; abhikāmaḥ bhavanti, they desire; yam janapadam, any village; yam kṣetrabhāgam, [or] any field; tam tam eva, that very [place]; upajīvanti, they enjoy.

Commentary:

The idea is that an ignorant person may get whatever he wants as the fruit of his actions, but he remains bound.

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