Chandogya Upanishad (Madhva commentary)

by Srisa Chandra Vasu | 1909 | 169,805 words | ISBN-13: 9789332869165

The English translation of the Chandogya Upanishad including the commentary of Madhva called the Bhasya. This text describes in seven sections the importance of speech, the importance of knowledge and the journey towards salvation.. It is one of the largest Upanishads and is associated with the Sama Veda. The Mundaka Upanishad is variously spelled...

Second Adhyaya, Twenty-second Khanda (5 mantras)

Mantra 2.22.1.

1. I choose the deep-sounding Udgītha, sacred to the Lord, (as the best of all notes.) The Udgītha sung in the note like that of the she-cattle belongs to Agni, that sung in the deep note of a bull under 20 years of age belongs to Brahmā, that sung in the well-defined note of a bell belongs to Soma, that sung in the soft and deep note of a hull above 20 years old belongs to Vāyu, that sung in the deep and strong note of thunder belongs to Indra, that sung in the note of heron belongs to Bṛhaspati, that sung in the note of a broken bell-metal belongs to Varuṇa. Let the singer cultivate all these, except that one only which belongs to Varuṇa.

[Note.—Vinardi—deep-sounding note, like the voice of a bull-calf one year and a quarter old, or like the sound of cloud.]

[Note,—Sāmnaḥ—of the Lord called Sāman. (The Udgītha sung to the Lord should have the tone just mentioned. Or the tone in which the Lord utters the Udgītha is Vinardi).]

[Note.—Aniruktaḥ—unmentioned, undefined, (of which no comparison is given in the scriptures. The deep as the note of a bull under 20 years of age.)]

[Note.—Prajāpateḥ—of Prajāpati, or Brahmā. (The Udgītha sung in honour of Brahmā should have the above note: for he sings it in that note.)]

[Note.—Niruktaḥ—mentioned, defined. Whose comparison is given. (The note like the sound of bell or gong).]

[Note.—Somasya—of Soma, (of the Udgītha sung in the honour of Soma:) for Soma sings in that note.]

[Note.—Mṛdu, mild, soft (like the sound of thunder cloud, like the sound of a bull above 20 years old) deep sound.]

Mantra 2.22.2.

[Note.—Āgāyāni—may I sing. The Udgātās should make this resolution (saṃkalpa) “may I by my singing, procure mokṣa for rhe Devas.” This is possible only when the Udgatā (Udgatā?) is Vāyu, the Beloved Son of God. But when the Udgātā is a human being, he should make the resolve “Let the Vāyu, within my heart, sing out for the release of the Devas.”]

2. Let the Udgatā sing with this resolution:—May I, by my singing, procure immortality to the Devas, willforce to the Pitṛs, desired objects to men, fodder and water to animals, heaven to the sacrificer and food for myself. Thus reflecting on these, in his mind, let the Udgātā sing praises without being heedless.

Mantra 2.22.3.

3. All vowels are symbols of Vāyu, all sibilants are symbols of Viṣṇu, all consonants are symbols of Rudra. If any (Asura [Asuraḥ]) should reprove him for his vowels (though rightly pronounced) let him answer him “I appeal to Vāyu, the Lord of vowels, (through whose grace I have pronounced my vowels correctly) let him teach thee.”

Mantra 2.22.4.

4. If any one should similarly reprove him for his sibilants, let him answer him “I appeal to Viṣṇu, the Lord of sibilants, let Him smash thee.” And if any one were to reprove him similarly for his consonants, let him answer him “I appeal to Rudra, the Lord of the consonants, He will reduce thee to ashes.”

Mantra 2.22.5.

5. With the prayer “May I give strength to Vāyu,” should be pronounced all vowels, with sound and strength (sonorously and emphatically), with the prayer “may I offer myself to Viṣṇu” should be pronounced all sibilants, in the mouth well-opened, not swallowed in the throat; nor thrown out. With the prayer “may I extricate myself from death and get mukti,” offered to Rudra should be pronounced all consonants, with full touching of the tongue with the proper place of utterance of the consonants.

[Note.—Ghoṣavantaḥ (Ghoṣavanta)—with sound, with voice. The ghoṣa is a particular kind of Dhvani.]

[Note.—Balavantaḥ (Balavanta)—with force, with strength sonorously, with emphasis. The grammatical prayatna or effort is meant by bala.]

[Note.—Vaktavyāḥ—should be pronounced (with the saṅkalpa that I may hereby give strength to Vāyu.)]

Madhva’s commentary called the Bhāṣya:

(Thus has been taught meditation on the Lord under the name of Sāman the Same the Harmonious, both collectively and separately. Now the Śruti teaches the different notes in which the Sāman hymn is sung by the Lord Himself, by His angels and arch-angels and how men should imitate those notes, so far as possible, when singing to the Lord and the Devas.)

(In the sentence “Vinārdi Sāmno Vṛṇe” the word) Sāman means the Lord, because He is always the same, the Harmonious. The method of His singing is like the deep note called vinārdi, the sound of a bull or the roar of a thunder cloud.

(The word vṛṇe is to be separately construed.)

I choose Him alone: because He is the Highest and the Best of all. (This is the meaning of the word vṛṇe).

(The Commentator now quotes an authority in support of his above interpretation)

Says a text:—The sound of Viṣṇu is like that of a bull or that of the roar of a thunder cloud; that of Agni (Fire Angel), like the sound of a female cattle (cow), that of the Lord Brahma a deep note unlike anything; while that of Soma is just like the ringing of the bell; that of Vāyu, like the soft roar of the thunder cloud, that of Indra like the harsh roar of the thunder cloud; that of Bṛhaspati like the note of the bird called heron; while that of Varuṇa is discordant.

It has been said that the sound of Viṣṇu is like that of a bull, of Vāyu like the soft roll of thunder, which is also like the sound of a bull, because the roar of the cloud and of the bull are alike. The note of Brahmā is also said to be deep, though for it no simile is given in the scriptures. Thus all these three have a common deep note. The quotation next gives the differences between these three.)

“The sound of Viṣṇu is like that of a bull calf one year and a quarter old; of the Vāyu like that of a bull under twenty years old; of Brahmā like that of a bull beyond twenty years of age.”

Therefore let (the human Udgātā) sing with all these notes, as far as possible, but not with the discordant (Vāruṇa note.)

(The sentence “Amṛtatvan Devebhya āgāyany, ity, āgāyet”, has been wrongly understood to mean “Let a man sing, wishing to obtain by his song, immortality for the Devas.” This would show, as if the ordinary Udgātā could confer immortality on the Devas. The text quoted further removes this doubt).

The Chief Prāṇa is the only person entitled always to sing the Sāman. He is the True Udgātā. Therefore lie is able to grant mokṣa to the Devas and others. (The human Udgātā should never say ‘let me confer immortality on the Devas,’ but) the other (singers) should before Udgāna singing have this thought “Let Vāyu, dwelling in my heart, confer immortality on the Devas and the rest.”

Let him not entertain any other vain thought, for if he does so, he would be the despiser of the Devas (a blasphemer); for no man has (lordly) power to confer mokṣa on the Devas. Therefore, the mental resolution of the human Udgātā should always be:—“The Chief Prāṇa dwelling in my heart confers immortality on the Devas.” For the Prāṇa is always the First or Primary Agent in this Saṅkalpa Utterance (formula): for the words “let me sing” are primarily appropriate in His case only.

The Saṅkalpa formula here is “let me sing in order to confer Mokṣa on the Devas.” This is the formula perfectly just and correct for the Beloved Son, the Chief Prāṇa and not for any human being. The human Udgātā must modify, the formula as shown above.

The phrase “annam ātmanā āgāyāni” has been misunderstood as meaning “may I sing food for myself.” The Commentator gives its true purport:—

“The word Ātmā here means the Lord Lord Viṣṇu, the Supreme Person residing in the Chief Prāṇa (Let one sing out to the Lord begging) food from him; because (by the eating of the Lord Hari) dwelling in the Prāṇa there takes place directly and actually the feeding of Prāṇa himself.

(The other meaning is not appropriate for the additional reason, that the Chief Prāṇa being inside of all Devas, if one sing with the object of conferring immortality on the Devas, he thereby not only confers immortality on the Devas, but, he thereby accomplishes immortality on Prāṇa also which is absurd; for Prāṇa is the giver of all Release. Therefore the true meaning is that Prāṇa sings to give. Release to the Devas and so to himself.

“Because the primary fruit is the procuring of Release for Prana even, because he is inside all Devas.

(Prāṇa being inside all Devas, gets release when the Devas get release. But so the Lord Visṇu will also get release, because He is also inside all Devas. Is not the pro-curing of the Release of the Lord also the primary object? No.)

“The getting of the Release for Viṣṇu who is inside all Devas) is not the primary object. Why not? Because He is eternally free (and though inside all Devas is not bound thereby).

(Now the Commentator explains the phrase “Indre balam dadāni”—“May I give strength to Indra.”)

“Let (the Chief Prāṇa) pronounce the vewels [vowels?] with force and sound with the resolve “May I give strength to Indra.” Let him pronounce the sibilants neither too fast nor too slowly, with the resolve “May I offer myself to Viṣṇu.” Let him pronounce the consonants fully, with the resolve “May I make them free from death, fit to get release.”

(Even hero when the resolve is made by any other than the Chief Prana ho should modify the formula.)

“That is, let the Chief Prana verily make the above resolves. Any being other than the Chief Prāṇa should modify the above Saṅkalpas by thinking: “The Chief Prāṇa within me is alone able to do all these let him produce these results.” Let him think so always, otherwise he would be guilty of showing disrespect to the Devas; and a blasphemer against the Devas goes verily to darkness. Therefore let him always meditate on Indra, on Viṣṇu, the Protector of all creatures, on Rudra the Lord of Death, and say “I take refuge with ye” thus let him think and say always and everywhere.

“The word Indra here means Vāyu because the word literally means “lordliness,” and Vāyu has rule over all vowels always. Lord Viṣnu called Prajāpati (the Lord of all creature») has alone sway over all sibilants. Rudra is called Death, because He causes dissolution. He is the Lord of all consonants.

(How is this explanation congruous when the Udgātā is the Chief Prāṇa himself? He being higher than Indra and Mṛtyu, how can he say “I take refuge in Indra, etc.?” There is no incongruity. The formula of taking refuge applies to human Udgātṛns only and not to the Divine Chief Prāṇa.)

With regard to human Udgātṛns the refuge is with (Vāyu, Viṣṇu and Rudra) with regard to Vāyu Udgātṛn, the giving of strength and Mokṣa is directly from Hari (who is inside Indra, etc.)

(It has been explained above that Indra here means Vāyu. When the Udgātā is Vāyu himself how can he say “I take refuge with Indra, i.e„ with Vāyu, i.e.,with myself?” Or how can he say “I give strength to Indra, i.e., himself?” To this the answer is:—)

“Because many are the Beings who are deserving candidates for filling the cosmic post of future Vāyu, and called Indras. Therefore the saying:—“May I give strength to Indra” is perfectly appropriate to the Chief Prāṇa who gives strength to such candidate Vāyus.” Thus in the Sāma Saṃhitā.

(Some hold that imprecations like “Viṣṇu will answer thee,” etc., refer as applying to any man who finds fault whether he is a good or a bad man. The Commentator shows that it is not so. The curse shows that Asuras only are meant.)

So also—If Asuras, creatures of evil understanding and authors of all mischief, find fault with his pronunciation, let him say “Viṣṇu will answer thee,” “Rudra will burn thee,” etc., but never otherwise. (The good should never be cursed.)

The phrase “mṛtyor ātmānam pariharāṇi” has been once explained as “may I withdraw them from death.”

The Commentator further explains it:—

(The phrase means) “I shall withdraw the selves from the vicinity of death.”

(The word Ātmānam’ is a class name here, and so implies all selves or beings; therefore, though singular it denotes plural. The words Prajāpati and Indra were explained as meaning Viṣṇu and Vāyu. The commentary now gives another authority for this interpretation.)

So also. The words Brahmā and Prajāpati denote Viṣṇu, when referring to something else. (Thus here they refer to sibilant letters.) Similarly, Indra denotes Vāyu, when expressive of something other than its proper name. The word Brahma derived from the root √brimh [bṛṃh?] means full, expanding and is the name of Viṣṇu. Prajāpati means literally “Lord of creatures” and is thus an appropriate designation of Viṣṇu. The word Indra is a compound of idam this, and rāti rules, gives—he who gives this.

Like what you read? Consider supporting this website: