Third Adhyaya, Sixteenth Khanda (7 mantras)

Mantra 3.16.1.

1. Let a man meditate always:—“I am sacrifice.” That which is the first twenty-four years of his life is the morning libation. The Gāyatrī has twenty-four syllables, the morning libation is offered with Gāyatrī hymns. Of this man-sacrifice the Vasus are the lords. The prāṇas are verily the Vasus, for all these Jīvas abide in the bodies, so long as the Prāṇas make them so to abide.—210.

[Note.—Vāsayanti—make to abide. The Jīvas abide in the bodies, so long as the Prāṇas abide therein. Therefore, the prāṇas are called Vasus.]

Mantra 3.16.2.

2. If any illness pain him in this period of his life, let him pray to the Vasus thus:—O! Prāṇas! O! Vasus! unite this my morning period of life with the mid-day period. Let me, the sacrifice, be not cut off while you prāṇas and Vasus are reigning. Then he recovers from his illness, he recovers from his illness, and becomes free from disease.—211.

Mantra 3.16.3.

3. The next forty-four years are the midday libation. The Triṣṭup has forty-four syllables, and the midday libation is offered with Triṣṭup hymns. The Rudras are the lords of this (period of the life of the consecrated man). The Prāṇas are the Rudras, for they make all this to cry when they leave the human body.—212.

Mantra 3.16.4.

4. If any illness pain him in this period of his life, let him pray to the Rudras thus:—O! Prāṇas! O! Rudras! unite this my midday period of life with the evening period. Let me the Sacrifice be not cut off, while you Prāṇas and Rudras are reigning. Then he recovers from that illness. And becomes free from disease.—213.

Mantra 3.16.5.

5. The next forty-eight years are the evening libation. The Jagatī has forty-eight syllables, the third libation is offered with Jagatī hymns. The Adityas are the lords of this period of life. The Prāṇas are the Adityas, for they manifest (or take up) all this.—214.

Mantra 3.16.6.

6. If any illness pain him in this period of his life, let him pray to the Ādityas thus:—O! Prāṇas! O! Ādityas! stretch this my evening period of life to its full, length. Let me the Sacrifice be not cut off, while ye Prāṇas and Ādityas are reigning. Then he recovers from his illness and becomes free from disease.—215.

Note.—But did any one ever attain by such prayers and meditation to health and 116 years of age? Or is this a mere fancy? The Śruti answers this by quoting the case of the sage Mahidāsa.

Mantra 3.16.7.

7. Mahidāsa, the son of Itara [Itarā?], who knew this meditation, thus addressed a disease:—‘Why vainly troublest thou me, as I shall not die by thee?’ He lived a hundred and sixteen years. He too who knows this, lives on to a hundred and sixteen years.—216.

Madhva’s commentary called the Bhāṣya:

Meditations are many and life is short, subject to ailments. The present chapter teaches how to prolong life and ward off diseases, it takes the whole life of man as a sacrifice; and as an ordinary sacrifice is divided into three periods, morning, midday and evening, so the life of man is divided into three periods, youth, manhood, and old age, consisting of twenty-four, forty-four, and forty-eight years respectively, in all 116 years.

Let a man always meditate with reverence and love thinking, “I am the sacrifice in this worship of the Lord.” The 116 years of man’s life are divided into three sacrificial periods. The first twenty-four years of his life is the morning libation. If he falls ill during this period, he should pray to the Vasus and ward oil disease. The middle 44 years, are said to be the midday oblation, wherein he must worship the Rudras to ward off all disease and death. The last 48 years of his life are the evening libation, in which he should pray to the Ādityas when ill, and thus ward off disease and death. Thus it is written in the Sarva-Yajña.

(The word Mahidāsa occurs in this chapter, and is an ambiguous word. There was an avatāra of the Lord called Mahidāsa, just as an avatāra was called Kṛṣṇa. Now curiously enough, both these names occur in this Upaniṣad. Mahidāsa in this chapter and Kṛṣṇa Devaki-putra in the next chapter; These, however, do not refer to the avatāras, but to different persons.)

The Mahidāsa is a different person and so also is the Kṛṣṇa of the next chapter. The Mahidāsa here is an Aitareya, and Kṛṣṇa Devaki-putra is not the avatāra Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Similarly, the Kapila mentioned in this Upaniṣad is different from the avatāra of that name.

Says an objector “But this is rather arbitrary. Had there been merely similarity of names, you might have said they were different persons, from the avatāras of those names. But the similarity extends further than this, Mahidāsa the Avatāra was the son of Itarā, and so the Mahidāsa here is also called the son of Itarā, for Aitareya means he whose mother is Itarā. Similarly, the avatāra Kṛṣṇa was the son of Devaki, and the Kṛṣṇa of the Upaniṣad here is also called the son of Devaki. Similarly, Kapila the avatāra had a disciple called Āsuri, and the Kapila of the Upaniṣad has also a disciple called Āsuri. These coincidences are to say the least very curious.”

To this the Commentator replies:—

These three persons had performed high and strict penance in ancient times, and had obtained a boon from Brahimi, the Parameṣṭhin, to this effect, that two of them should get the names of the avatāras, in their next lives, and the names of their mothers should also be the same as the names of the mothers of Viṣṇu. While Kapila asked the boon that his disciples and disciples of his disciples should have the same names as the disciples, etc., of the avatāra Kapila. They further asked that their names should be immortalised by being recorded in the Vedas. Brahmā, the Grand Sire of all creatures, granted this boon to them. Therefore, it is that these three well-known Ṛṣis bear not only the names of divine incarnations, but the names of their mothers and disciples, etc., are also similar. In the Kālikā Purāṇa also we find the same account of this curious coincidence:—

“Mahidāsa, the son of Itarā, mentioned in the Bahvṛca Upaniṣad is the Lord Viṣṇu Himself directly: while there was another Mahidāsa, son of Itarā, who was a sage. Similarly Kṛṣṇa called Vāsudeva is the Supreme Spirit Himself; while there was another person called Kṛṣṇa Devaki-putra mentioned in the Upaniṣad. Kapila called Vāsudeva is the Lord Nārāyaṇa Himself; while Kapila is the name of a sage also, and whose pupils were also called Āsuri, etc. The sage Mahidāsa lived for 116 years by learning the secret doctrine taught in the Upaniṣad; the sage Kṛṣṇa Devaki-putra was the disciple of Ghora Aṅgiras, the sage Kapila was the founder of the perverse doctrine (atheistic Sāṅkhya). These three obtained boon from Brahmā the Parameṣṭhin, and thus came to possess names similar to those of the avatāras, and became famous by realising their desires and enjoyed happiness.” Thus in the Kalikā [Kālikā?].