Introduction

The present volume contains the English translation of the Chāndogya Upaniṣad along with the Bhāsya of Śaṅkarācārya by the great teacher of Vedānta, the late Mahāmahopādhyāya Dr Sir Gangānātha Jhā. Dr Jhā had translated both the text and the Bhāṣya as early as 1899 and they were published from Madras. At the request of Dr. N. G. Sardesai, Proprietor of the Poona Oriental Book Agency, Dr. Jhā revised the translation in 1935. Due to his weak health he could not correct the proofs of the the whole of the book himself and handed over the work to me after a short time. The editing work was complete sometimes in October 1940, and had Dr. Jhā been in good health, the book would have been published long before along with an Introduction from his own pen. He was anxious to write the Introduction himself as he wanted to present to the readers what actually Śaṅkara himself has said about this Upaniṣad. But unfortunately, he could not be spared to fulfil his last wishes. So the work had to be entrusted to me as was desired by Dr. Jhā himself. As I have had enough opportunity to sit at his feet and know his thoughts very closely, 1 could understand what he wanted to include in his Introduction. So I have done my duty by writing an Introduction to this work and now, it is for the readers, in the absence of that great teacher, to say how far my efforts are successful. With these few words 1 proceed with the Introduction.

The earliest and most authentic record of Indian thought and culture is found treasured up in the Vedas. The term ‘Veda’, derived from the root ‘Vid’ to know, means ‘knowledge’. This knowledge is the Divine Revelation and has been rightly called the ‘Divine Eye’ (; and so, it is infallible and imperishable. The great sages of the past had visualised this Divine knowledge as the result of their austere penances. It is this eternal light which illumines the Path in every sphere of our life. It has been identified with the Absolute, called Brahman, wherefrom all the activities of the universe have sprung up.

Vide—

anādinidhanaṃ brahmā śabdatattvaṃ yadakṣaram |
vivartate'rthabhāvena prakriyā jagato yataḥ
  —Bhartṛhari, Vākyapadīya, I. 1.

It is not the composition of any human being. Either God is the author of the Veda, as the Naiyāyikas hold, or it is as much eternal and real as God Himself and which has revealed itself to the great Ṛṣis of the past. This has been, therefore, handed down from generation to generation through verbal transmission, wherefore it is also called Śruti; and with a view to preserve its chastity the Vedic teachers did not like the idea of putting it down in black and white. But due to various reasons it became necessary, in course of time, to have the entire Vedic literature in writing.

The entire Vedic literature may be roughly divided into two broad heads—Karma-kāṇḍa and Jñāna-kāṇḍa. The former deals with the sacrificial rites and rituals, while the latter confines itself to the ādhyātmika aspect. The generally known divisions of it are (1) Saṃhitās, that is, collections of hymns, prayers, incantations, sacrificial formulas etc; (2) Brāhmaṇas, which mainly deal with sacrificial rites and ceremonies, and (3) Āraṇyakas and Upanisads.

The Āraṇyakas are like appendices to the Brāhmaṇas and they contain everything which was of a secret, mysterious nature and spelt danger to the uninitiated, and which, for that reason, might only be taught and learnt in the forest.

“The main contents of these are no longer rules for the performance of the sacrifices and the explanation of ceremonies, but the mysticism and symbolism of sacrifice, and priestly philosophy” (Winternitz—History of Indian literature, Vol. I, p. 233).

Upaniṣads deal with the philosophy of the Absolute and also the upāsanā of the saguṇabrahma.

Upaniṣads and such portions of the Āraṇyakas as deal with the Jñānakāṇḍa form the very background of all the later philosophical literature. The various problems of the philosophical thought, which came to be associated with the different schools of Darśana in later period, are found scattered here and there in these works, as common property of all. So, it is from these that the philosophical sūtras of all the systems of thought have been formulated (vide— Umesha Mishra—Background of the Bādarāyana Sūtras, Kalyāṇa Kalpataru, Vol. III. 1, 1936). In fact, the entire philosophical literature, from the sūtra-period down to the present day, is based on these works. But it should not be forgotten that although these works contain problems of every sort, yet they are not unconnected. The central theme of this portion of the literature, namely Brahman, the Absolute, in all its aspects and such other allied problems as, the Individual Self, its relation with the Supreme Self, the nature of Reality, the universe etc., is always before the mind in course of the treatment of every other topic. It is, therefore, that the term ‘upaniṣad’ has been explained so as to indicate directly or indirectly the same Brahman (vide Śaṅkara’s Introduction to his Kathopaniṣad-Bhāṣya). As this portion forms the last part of the Vedic literature in the chronological order, it has been rightly called ‘Vedānta’, i.e. ‘the end of the Veda So it is one of the three Prasthānas of the Vedānta. It has been variously called Brahmavidyā Rahasya (the secret) etc.

The Saṃhitās arc divided into four—Ṛk-Saṃhitā, Sāma-Saṃhitā, Yajus-Saṃhitā and Atharvaṇa-Saṃhitā. The Ṛk-Saṃhitā is called the Ṛgveda. It contains mantras, called ṛks which are in the form of prayers and praises of Gods. The Sāma-Saṃhitā is the Sāmaveda dealing with the melodious chants in praise of Gods. The Yajus-Saṃhitā is called the Yajurveda which deals with the sacrifices and the sacrificial formulas. The Atharvaṇa-Saṃhitā is the Athervaveda which deals with the various Arts and Sciences even including magic.

To each of these four Saṃhitās are attached different Brāhmaṇas, Āraṇyakas and Upaniṣads. As all our activities are guided by the rules laid down in the Karmakāṇḍa-section of the Veda and as the Karmakāṇḍa-portion of each Veda differs from one another in details, the Brāhmaṇas, also separately grouped themselves as the followers of one or the other Veda accordingly. Thus, to the Ṛgveda are attached the Aitareya-Brāhmaṇa, the Kauṣītakī or the Sāṅkhyāyana. To the Aitareya-Brāhmaṇa belongs the Aitareya-Araṇyaka, the third part of which is called the Aitareya-Upaniṣad. Similarly, to the Kauṣītakī-Brāhmaṇa belongs the Kauṣītakī-Āraṇyaka of which the chapters 3 to 6 are designated as the Kauṣītakī-Upaniṣad.

To the Sāmaveda belong several important and unimportant Brāhmaṇas. The important Brāhmaṇas are—(1) the Talavakāra, also called the Jaiminīya-Brāhmaṇa, (2) the Tāṇḍya-Mahā-Brāhmaṇa, also known as the Pañca-viṃśa and (3) the Chāndogya-Brāhmaṇa; while the (4) Sāmavidhāna, 5) the Devatādhyāya, (6) Vaṃsa, (7) Ārṣeya etc. are the minor and unimportant Brāhmaṇas,

To the Talavakāra-Brāhmaṇa belongs the Talavakāra-Upaniṣad, which, later on, came to be called Kena Upaniṣad. Of the Chāndogya-Brāhmaṇa, the first two chapters alone are called Brāhmaṇa, while the remaining eight chapters constitute what is called the Chāndogya-Upaniṣad.

The Yajurveda has two main divisions—Kṛṣṇa-Yajur-veda and Śukla-Yajurveda. The farmer has three recensions (Śākhās)—Kāṭhaka, Maitrāyaṇī and Kāpiṣṭhala. To the Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda belongs the Taittirīya-Brāhmaṇa, which has the Taittirīya-Āraṇyaka attached to it. The Taittirīya-Āraṇyaka consists of ten sections (prapāṭhaka), the last four sections whereof constitute the three Upaniṣads, that is, the seventh Prapāṭhaka is called the Sāṃhitī-Upaniṣad, the eighth and the ninth sections constitute the Vāruṇī-Upaniṣad, while the tenth constitutes the Nārāyaṇī, also called the Yājñikī or the Mahā-Nārāyaṇa Upaniṣad. The last three sections of Book III of the Taittirīya-Brāhmaṇa and the first two Prapāṭhakas of the Āraṇyaka appear to follow the Kaṭha recension. The other Upaniṣads of this Veda are (i) Katha, (ii) Śvetāśvatara and (iii) Maitrāyaṇī.

The Śukla-Yajurveda, on the other hand, has only two Śākhās—Mādhyandinī or Vājasaneyi and Kāṇva. To this Veda belongs the Śatapatha-Brāhmaṇa. The Mādhyandinī text of it consists of 14 Kāṇḍas, while the Kāṇva has 17 Kāṇḍas. Of the former, the first third of Kāṇḍa X1V is an Āraṇyaka of which the last six chapters form the greatest and the most important of the Upaniṣads, called Bṛhadāraṇyaka-Upaniṣad. The other important, though quite a small one, is the Īśāvāsya Upaniṣad.

To the Atharva-Veda belongs the Gopatha-Brāhmaṇa. It has about 27 Upaniṣads, of which Muṇḍaka, Praśna, Māṇḍūkya and Jābāla are the more important ones.

The difference between the Brāhmaṇas belonging to the different Vedas lies mainly in the fact that the Brāhmaṇas of the Ṛg-Veda, in the presentation of the rituals, emphasise that which is of importance to the Hotṛ-priest. Similarly, the Brāhmaṇas of the Sāma-Veda are chiefly concerned with the duties of the Udgātṛ-priest and those of the Yajur-Veda with the sacrificial acts to be performed by the Adhvaryu-priest. In the essentials of their contents the Brāhmaṇas do not differ from one another. The oldest Upaniṣads are partly included in their Āraṇyakas and in part appended to them; and sometimes, it is quite difficult to draw the line between the two. But if we keep in view the fact that the Upaniṣads alone deal with the Jñāna-Kāṇḍa, it will not be very difficult to make distinction between them.

The Chāndogya-Upaniṣad is one of the most important Upaniṣads and is slightly smaller in extent than the Bṛhadāraṇyaka-Upaniṣad. Its importance is due to the fact that it directly deals with the true nature of Brahman, the Supreme Self, without a second, and its identity with the Individual Self.

The reason why a Upaniṣad should be expounded is that the entire course of Action, as propounded in the Karmakāṇḍa section, when accompanied by a full comprehension of the true nature of such deities as Prāṇa and the rest, is conductive to the attainment of either the Regions of the Moon through the ‘Path of Smoke or the Regions of Brahman (Brahmaloka) through the ‘Path of Light’; and those, who follow their own natural benṭ of mind and have thus deviated from both the paths, fall downwards and experience pain. Through neither of these two paths one can achieve the Highest Aim of man. Hence, it is necessary to expound the true knowledge of the Self, without a second, independent of Action, which puts an end to the cause of the process of births and rebirths, as shown by the three paths referred to above.

The attainment of the Absolute Highest Good (which is the chief aim of life), is not possible by any other means than the true knowledge of the Secondless Self, as the Upaniṣad says—“those who know otherwise than this go to the perishable regions, while he who takes to the different path attains Self-Sovereignty.” So one who believes in the false Doctrine of Duality falls into bondage, while for one who has firm belief in the true Doctrine of the Secondless Self, there is the cessation of the pain caused by births and rebirths and the attainment of Final Liberation. It is clear from this that the vision of the Secondless Self cannot go together with the Course of Action. The Course of Action, however, is meant for one who is beset with the evils of Nescience and the rest and not for one who possesses the knowledge of non-Duality (advaita). So says the Śruti—“all these persons attain pure regions, while the man centered in Brahman (brahmasaṃstha [brahmasaṃsthaḥ]) attains immortality.”

This Upaniṣad though mainly deals with the Science of Non-Duality, yet in it are described the forms of Upāsanā (meditation and worship) as the means of the attainment of good results; for, these bring about results which are as good as Liberation itself. There is also a similarity between the Upāsanā and the knowledge of NonDuality in that both are esoteric in their character and both fall within the purview of the functions of the Mind. These forms of Upāsanā. purify the inner-sense-organs and thereby become illuminative of the true nature of the reality, and so they are helpful in bringing about the Cognition of the Absolute (advaitajñāna); and as they (Upāsanās) have got some definite substratum as their object (ālambanaviṣaya), it is also easier to achieve success in it. It is clear from this that Śaṅkarācārya wants to emphasise the fact that for the realisation of Brahman, the Savikalpaka form of Meditation is more useful. It is therefore, that the Upāniṣad [Upaniṣad?] sets forth in the very beginning various forms of Upāsanā of Brahman. These, too, inasmuch as it is the performance of Action to which people are accustomed, and a relinquishment of Action would make the concentration of the Mind upon any form of Upāsanā extremely difficult, the Upaniṣad introduces, at the very outset, only such forms of Upāsanā as form parts of Action.

After this the Upaniṣad proceeds to deal with the syllable ‘Om’, the Udgītha. The first chapter—beginning with the words—‘One should meditate upon the syllable Om’, has been devoted to the treatment of the manner of Meditation of the constituent factors of the Sāma which leads to various results; after that towards the end, the Upāsanā of the Stobha syllables has been described. In the second chapter the Upāsanā of the entire Sāma has been given. The third chapter proceeds with the Upāsanā of the Sun, who is identified with and Brahman who is the summation of the results of all sacrifices. By the way, the Upaniṣad tells us of the excellent results which the Brahmavidyā brings about. Then the same Vidyā is expounded through the Gāyatrī; because directly, by itself Brahman, devoid of all qualities and comprehensible only through such negation of qualities as ‘Not this’, ‘Not this cannot be apprehended. Although there are several metres, yet it is the Gāyatrī which has been chosen as the means of teaching of Brahman, because of its being the most important of all the metres. The importance of the Gāyatrī is proved by the facts (1) that it was the Gāyatrī which carried the Soma to the deities in the sacrifice, (2) that it has absorbed the akṣara metres and as such, pervades over all of them, and (3) that it pervades over all the Savanas (extractions). Its importance is also due to the facts (4) that the Gāyatrī is the very essence of a Brāhmaṇa and (5) that. Brahman itself regards the Gāyatrī as its mother and never considers anything more important than this; and (6) also because of the fact that the supreme importance of the Gāyatrī is universally recognised.

After describing the Upāsanā through images,the Upaniṣad proceeds to deal with the meditation of the Brahman itself as equipped with qualities and powers. Then is described the philosophy of Coffer () followed by the method of the Upāsanā for the sake of one’s own longevity. Then follows the Upāsanā of the Manas, Ākāśa and the Sun as Brahman. In the fourth chapter we have the story of Jānaśrutī and Bhallākṣa and Raikva which shows how the attainment of knowledge of the teaching is to be brought about by such means as Faith, giving of food, absence of haughtiness etc. Then Vāyu and Prāṇa have been described as Brahman, and for the purpose of eulogising these two the story of Śaunakakāpeya and Abhipratārin-Kākṣasenī has been introduced. This is followed by the story of Satyakāma-Jābāla showing that Faith and Austerity (śraddhā and tapas) are necessary adjuncts for the Upāsanā of Brahman. With a view to expound the Science of Brahman in another manner, the Upaniṣad proceeds to expound the Agnividyā, and the story of Upakośala is introduced to show that both faith and austerity are necessary for the attainment of the Brahmavijñāna. By the way, the Upaniṣad then proceeds with the Vyāhṛtis which help one to expiate the wrong.

In the first four chapters the Northern Path (uttarā gatiḥ) has been described as following from the Now, in the fifth chapter the Upaniṣad describes the same path as relating to the Householders, who are and also to such ascetics as are imbued with faith and are well versed in other Vidyās. After this, the Southern Path, which lies through Smoke and is meant for those who merely perform rites and rituals and which leads to rebirths, is described. Then follows the description of the Third Path which is the Path of the ordinary world and is more painful, and which is described to create disgust in the mind of people against worldliness. For the purpose of creating the feeling of disgust in the minds of persons seeking for Mokṣa, the Upaniṣad proceeds to describe the process of births and deaths,—and the passage to the other Lokas through the two Paths. To illustrate the above the story of Śvetaketu-Āruṇeya and Pravāhaṇa-Jaibali has been introduced. The subject matter of this portion of the chapter is also found in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka—Upaniṣad (VI. ii). Then there is the Philosophy of the Vaiśvānara Fire.

The Sixth Chapter deals with the Philosophy of Being. This is the most important part of the Upaniṣad. It shows that there is only one Self in all beings. To illustrate this again, the story of Śvetaketu is introduced.

Some of the most important Śrutis are found in this Chapter, for instance,

‘saumyaikena mṛtpiṇḍena sarvaṃ mṛnmayaṃ vijñātaṃ syādvācārambhaṇaṃ vikāro nāmadheyaṃ mṛttiketyeva satyam’ (VI. i. 4),

‘sadeva saumyedamagra āsīt’, ‘ekamevādvitīyam’, ‘asadevedamagra āsīt’, ‘asataḥ sajjāyat’ (VI. ii. 1);

‘saumyedamagra āsīt’ (VI. ii. 2);

‘tadaikṣata bahu syāṃ prajāyeya’ ‘etc.’ (VI. ii. 3),

‘seya daivataikṣata hantāhamimāsmisro devatā anena jīvenātmanā'nupraviśya nāmarūpe vyākaravāṇi’ (VI. iii. 2);

‘tāsāṃ trivṛtaṃ trivṛtamekaikāṃ karavāṇi’ (VI. iii. 3),

‘etadātātmyamidam sarvam’ (VI. ix. 4),

‘tattvamasi śvetaketo’ (VI. ix. 4) etc.

Here the Upaniṣad for the first time asserts that the manifold world is unreal. The above-quoted Śrutis themselves show the nature of topics discussed in this chapter. The teachings of the Sixth chapter meant for the disciple of the Highest grade, but as all the disciples are not of the same equipment, the Upaniṣad, in the next Chapter, describes the same thing through the lower grades. It begins with Name and ends with the Life-Breath with fourteen more forms between these two; and through these Sixteen forms, step by step, in accordance with the leads up to the Highest Truth, called Bhūman. To eulogise the Highest philosophy the story of Nārada and Sanat-Kumāra has been introduced. It is here that we are told of the various Vidyās, Sciences which then existed in India in flourishing condition.

Though under chapters Sixth and Seventh, it has been taught that ‘Brahman is real (Sat), one, without a second’, and ‘the Self is all this’, free from all diversities of space, place, time and the rest, yet in the world, there are many persons of dull intellect, among whom the conviction is so strong to the effect that everything real is beset with diversities of space, place and the rest, that it cannot, all at once, be turned towards the Eternal Truth and without understanding the real nature of Brahman, the Highest Aim of man cannot be fulfilled. So, for the benefit of the duller persons, it is necessary to convey the teaching indirectly, by indicating, in the first instance, the particular spot within the Lotus of the Heart (hṛtpuṇḍarīkadeśaḥ) as the abode of Brahman. Again, though the Ātmatattva is the object of the single true cognition of Being (Sat) and is devoid of all qualities, yet for the good of the dullards who have their hearts so fixed upon the Highest Being possessing the highest qualities, that it is necessary to speak of such qualities belonging to Him as etc. Again, though the persons, who have realised the true nature of Brahman, themselves have turned their mind from worldly objects, woman etc., yet it is not easy to direct all at once, the longing for worldly objects that has come to a man from several births; hence, it is necessary to enjoin such means, for the realisation of the aim, as Brahmacarya and the like. And lastly, though in the case of persons who have realised the unity of the Self, there does not exist goer, going, or place to go to, and what happens is that on the disappearance of the root cause—the Nescience, they dissolve themselves, on death, into their own Self, yet there are many persons whose minds are still beset with the diversities of goer, going and the place to go to and who are still engaged in the Upāsanā of the saguṇabrahma their heart and so for the good of such persons the Upaniṣad points out that on death the Jīva passes out through an Artery in the Head. All these topics are dealt with in the last chapter.

It is quite clear from the above that the means to achieve the Highest aim of man has been very clearly expressed in the Upaniṣad for the good of both types of disciples—intelligent and dull. This is in brief the summary of the Upaniṣad as represented by the great teacher of Vedānta—Śaṅkarācārya.

Although due to the peculiar nature of the text the great philosophical Ācāryas have not only been able to explain their individual philosophy and support their view-point by quoting the text, but have even interpreted the text itself in the light of their own individual philosophy, and so the summary of the Upaniṣad as given above may not satisfy all the shades of opinion, yet as the present text has been interpreted in the light of the Advaita philosophy of Śaṅkara and as it contains the translation of the Bhāṣya of Śaṅkara, I think I need no apology in presenting to the public the Advaitic summary of the Upaniṣad.

UMESHA MISHRA.

The University,
Allahabad. 
May 5, 1942.