Sections 3.8-10 (eigth-tenth khaṇḍa) (twelve texts)

Upaniṣad text:

That which is the third nectar, upon that the Ādityas live; through the lead of Varuṇa. Verily, the Deities do not eat, nor do they drink, they are satisfied by merely looking upon this nectar. (8.1)

They retire into this colour; as they rise from this colour.—(8.2)

One who knows this nectar thus becomes one of the Ādityas, and through the lead of Varuṇa, becomes satisfied by looking upon this nectar; he retires into this colour and rises out of this colour.—(8.3)

As long as the Sun rises towards the South and sets towards the North,—twice as long does it rise in the West and set in the East; and so long the man attains the sovereignty of the Ādityas, the kingdom of Heaven.—(8.4)

That which is the fourth nectar, upon that the Maruts live through the lead of Soma. Verily, the Deities do not eat, nor do they drink; they are satisfied by merely looking upon this nectar.—(9.1)

They retire into this colour, and they rise from this colour.—(9.2)

One who knows this nectar thus becomes one of the Maruts, and through the lead of the Maruts, becomes satisfied by looking upon this nectar; he retires into the colour and rises from this colour.—(9.3)

So long as the Sun rises in the West and sets in the East,—twice as long does it rise in the North and set in the South,—so long does the man attain the sovereignty of the Maruts, the kingdom of Heaven.—(9.4)

That which is the fifth nectar, upon that the Sādhyas live through the lead of Brahman. Verily, the Deities do not eat, nor do they drink; they are satisfied by merely looking upon this nectar.—(10.1)

They retire into this colour, and they rise from this colour.—(10.2)

One who knows this nectar thus becomes one of the Sādhyas, and through the lead of Brahman, becomes satisfied by looking at this colour, and rises from this colour.—(10.3)

So long as the Sun rises in the North and sets in the South,—and twice as long does it rises overhead and sets below,—so long does the man attain the sovereignty of the Sādhyas, the kingdom of Heaven.—(10.4)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

(On Sections 8-10)—Objection—“Rising in the West, rising in the North, rising overhead,—and setting in the respective contrary directions,—and each of the succeeding being twice as long as the preceding one,—and all the rest of it is quite contrary to what we learn from the Purāṇas. Persons versed in the Purāṇas have declared that the time of the rising and setting of the Sun, in all directions, in the regions of Indra (East), Yama (South), Varuṇa (West) and Soma (North), is equal; the reason for this lying in the fact that the circular path of the Sun;—which lies over the top of mount Meru situated on the North of the Mānas Lake,—is always the same (irrespective of the direction of the rising or setting of the Sun), (as has been described in detail in the Viṣṇu-Purāṇaa)”.

The answer to this has been thus explained by the revered teacher (Draviḍācārya, acc. to Ānandagiri)—In the case of Amarāvatī (Indra’s city in the East) and the cities of other Deities (in the South and other directions), the time taken by the depopulation of the succeeding one would be twice of that taken by the depopulation of the other; (this would naturally mean that the period of enjoyments in the preceding City and Region would be half of that of the enjoyments in the succeeding City and Region); the ‘rising’ of the Sun also in a certain region consists only in its becoming visible to the eyes of the persons living in that region,—and its ‘setting’ consists, in its becoming invisible; and «n reality, there is neither ‘rising’ nor ‘setting’ of the Sun;—so that when there are no inhabitants in any region,—even though the Sun may be going by that path,—there is neither ‘rising’ nor ‘setting’ so far as that region is concerned; as there can be no visibility or invisibility.—Thus then, inasmuch as the city of Saṃyamanī (of Yama, in the South) remains inhabited twice as long as the city of Amarāvatī (of Indra in the East),—so far as the inhabitants of the city of Samyamanī arc concerned, the Sun is said to rise in the South and set in the Norths—this assertion being made from the viewpoint of ourselves (inhabitants of the Earth).—Similar explanation applies to the case of the other cities (and Regions.)”

As a matter of fact, mount Meru lies to the North of all these ‘cities’ (and Regions); so that when, in the city of Amarāvatī (the Eastern region), the Sun is at meridian, then at that time, in the city of Saṃyamanī (the Southern Region), the Sun is seen ‘rising’, and when it is seen at meridian in the southern region, it is seen ‘rising’ in the city of Vāruṇī (the Western Region); similarly in the Northern Region;—encircling path being the same in all cases.

As regards the Ilāvṛta continent (which surrounds the mount Meru), people who live there have the Sun’s rays shut out from them by the encircling wall of mountains; so that for them, the Sun always appears to rise ‘overhead’ and set ‘below’;—the rays of the Sun piercing through the crevices in the mountain.

Similarly, as regards the beings living upon the ‘Ṛk’ and other ‘Nectars’—as also the Nectars’ themselves,—their gradual increase in their strength and visibility is inferred from the fact that the time of experience and enjoyment becomes gradually doubled.

The ‘retiring’ and ‘rising’ is the same in the case of the Rudras and other Deities as in the case of persons knowing them.

End of Section (10) of Discourse III.