Section 3.13 (thirteenth khaṇḍa) (seven texts)

Upaniṣad text:

In that Heart, there are five divine holes; that which is its Eastern Hole is Prāṇa, it is the Eye, it is the Sun. One should meditate upon this, as light, water and food; one who knows this becomes resplendent and Eater of Food.—(1)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

With the words ‘In that Heart etc.,’ the text proceeds to describe the gates, results and other details as forming part of the meditation of Brahman called ‘Gāyatrī’. In the ordinary world, when the Gate-keepers of the King, on being won over, help a person (desiring to see the King) to approach the King; so it is in the present instance also.

If that,—i.e. if the Heart, which forms the subjectmatter of the context—‘etasya’ stands for what is mentioned next;—there are five—in number—divine holes,—i.e. the ‘holes of Deities’; these are the holes which serve as gates through which persons, proceed to the celestial regions; and these holes are guarded by Prāṇa (life-breath), Āditya (Sun) and other divinities; hence they are called ‘Divine holes’.

Of this Heart, which is the Palace of the Regions, that which is the Eastern Hole,—i.e. the hole-gate towards the East where the person is standing facing the East,—is the Life-breath, Prāṇa; located therein, it is so called because the air (breath) that passes through that hole moves eastward (prāg-aniti-Prāṇiti). Connected with this same Life-breath, and not quite different from it, is the Eye, and also the Sun; as declared in the Vedic Text The Sun indeed is the exterior Life-breath’; this Prāṇa resides in the Heart, in the order of (1) Eye, (2) Colour and (3) Residence [the Sun residing in the Eye, the Eye apprehending Colour and hence residing therein; and thus the Life-breath is the same as the Eye.—says Ānandagiri]; all this is thus stated in the Vājasaneyaka (the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad) in the words—‘Wherein does the Sun reside In the Eye’ and so on. The one Divinity of the Life-breath is the eye as well as the sun along with their substrates. The Text itself is going to declare later on that ‘when the offering is formed with words ‘Prāṇāya-svāhā (this to the Life-breath), it satisfies all this’.—This Hole then, which is called ‘Life-breath’ is the gate-keeper of the celestial regions, and hence it is Brahman. Therefore one who seeks to reach the celestial Regions should meditate upon this through the qualities of Light,— in the form of the Eye and the Sun,—and food,—on account of the Sun being the giver of food. By so doing, the man becomes resplendent and Eater of food;—he becomes free from disease. This reward accrues to one who knows this subject thus.—Thus the gate-keeper, having become pleased by the meditation (attendance), helps the man to enter the celestial Regions. This is the main reward (becoming resplendent and food-eater being subsidiaries).—(1)

Upaniṣad text:

That which is its Southern Hole is Vyāna; it is the Ear; it is the Moon. One should meditate upon this as Prosperity and Glory. One who knows thus becomes prosperous and glorious.—(2)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

That which is its Southern Hole,—the Air (Breath) located therein is Vyāna;—so called because it performs vigorous functions, or functions (Aniti) through setting Prāṇa against Apāna, or functions in various ways.—Related to this is the Ear, the Auditory Organ,—and also the Moon; this is on the basis of the Vedic Text that ‘It was through the auditory organ that the quarters of the moon were created’; hence these two have the same substratum (Ākāśa).—One should meditate upon this as Prosperity and Glory—because the Ear and the Moon are the origin respectively of perception and food, they have the character of prosperity.—and as the man with knowledge and food becomes famous, and hence as being the source of knowledge and fame, they have the character of glory; hence one should meditate upon the Hole through these two qualities etc., etc.,—as before.—(2)

Upaniṣad text:

That which is its western Hole is Apāna; it is Speech and it is Fire. One should meditate upon this as Brahmic Glory and Food. One who knows this becomes endowed with Brahmic glory and an eater of, food.—(3)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

That which is its Western Hole is Apāna; the particular Air (Breath) located there,—so called because as tending to the evacuation of urine and fæces, it operates downwards (adhaḥ aniti). It is speech,—being related thereto;—it is also Fire.—This should be meditated upon as Brahmic glory—glory that comes to one from the complete mastery of the Veda; it is so called because the completion of Vedic study is connected with fire,—and as food,—the Apāna Breath being the means whereby food is swallowed;—the rest is as before.:—(3)

Upaniṣad text:

That which is its northern Hole is Samāna; it is Mind; it is Parjanya; one should meditate upon this as Fame and Lustre. One who knows this becomes famous and lustrous.—(4)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

That which is its northern Hole,—i.e. the one towards the North,—that is, the particular Air located therein,—is Samāna, in the sense that it levels up (Samānayati) what is eaten and drunk. Related to that is the Mind,—the Internal Organ; it is Parjanya, i.e. the deity consisting of Rain, as also water, which is the origin of Parjanya as declared in the Vedic Text.—‘By the Mind are created Water and Varuṇa’.—This is also fame,—the knowledge of Mind being a source of fame. Fame consists in being known and talked of behind one’s back; while glory (spoken in text 2) is self-recogniśed worthiness; and lustre is brightness of the body, charm; this also is a sort of fame, as it is a source of fame.—The rest is as before.—(4)

Upaniṣad text:

That which is its upper Hole is Udāna; it is Air; it is Ākāśa; one should meditate upon it as Strength and Greatness; one who knows this becomes strong and great.—(5)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

That which is its upper Hole is Udāna; so called because it proceeds upward from the sole of the feet, and also because it aids all acts for one’s improvement.—It is Air, and also Ākāśa, the substratum of Air. As these two, Air and Water, are the source of strength, it should be meditated upon as strength and as greatness, because it is great.—The rest is as before—(5).

Upaniṣad text:

Verily these are the five Brahmic Personalities, the Gate-keepers of the Region of Heaven. If one who thus knows these five Brahmic Personalities as the Gate-keepers of the Region of Heaven,—in his family is born a heroic person. One who thus knows these five Brahmic Personalities as the Gate-keepers of the Region of Heaven, himself reaches the Region of Heaven.—(6)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

These five,—as described above—personalities connected with the five Holes,—the Brahmic Personalities—personalities related to the Brahman in the Heart,—in the same way as the Gate-keepers are related to the King,—so are these personalities the Gate-keepers—keepers of the gate—of the Region of Heaven,—i.e. of the Heart. In fact all the doors of approaching the Brahman within the Heart are barred by these Personalities, in the form of eyes, ear, speech, mind and life-breath,—as functioning outwards. It is a well-recognised fact that, so long as the said organs have not been brought under control, the mind remains attached to external things, and thus rooted in unreality, it cannot be fixed upon Brahman. Hence it has been rightly said that these five Brahmic Personalities are the Gate-keepers of the Region of Heaven, As a consequence of this, if one knows—i.e. meditates upon—controls by meditation—these Gate-keepers of the Region of Heaven, as described above with certain qualifications, —reaches the Region of Heaven, and also the Brahman in the Heart,—just as a man who has won over the warders of the King, is not prevented by them and hence reaches the King. Further, in the family of this knowing person, a heroic son is born, through his attendance upon a heroic Personality. And inasmuch as such a person would clear off his father’s debts, he would be the indirect cause of turning his father’s attention towards meditation upon Brahman; and thus indirectly he becomes capable of reaching the Heavenly Region;—so that the reaching of the Heavenly Region is the one great Reward.—(6)

Upaniṣad text:

Now, that light which shines above this Heaven,—above the Universe, above all,—in Unexcelled Regions,—in highest Regions,—is this same light within the man.—Its visibility lies in this that on touching the body one has the perception of warmth. Its audibility lies in this that on closing the ears, one hears something like rumbling, like bellowing,—like the flaming of fire.—One should meditate upon this as seen and heard,— One who knows this, thus becomes conspicuous and celebrated,—yea, one who knows this.—(7)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

Two statements have been made in this Discourse—(1) that the man who knows all this reaches the Heavenly Region by attending upon a heroic person, and (2) that ‘He is the three-footed immortal in its Heaven’ (Sec. 12, verse 6);—and all this has been rendered—by means of a proper indicative—amenable to perception by the eye and ear; just as fire is rendered cognisable by means of smoke as the indicative;—in this way would follow the firm conviction that the fact is really as stated; and that the truth could not be otherwise than this. This is what is asserted in the present text.

That light which shines above this Heaven,—the neuter form ‘param’ being construed as masculine, ‘paraḥ’, which is self-luminous, and ever-luminous,—it appears to be shining; actual shining like fire being impossible in this case;—above the Universe,—this phrase is explained by the next phrase, above all,—i.e. above the world, the world being all, what is not-worldly being one and without distinction; —in unexcelled regions; in order that the compound “Anuttaṃeṣu [Anuttameṣu?]” may not be taken as a Tatpuruṣa compound, in the sense of ‘not-uttama’, the text has added the explanatory phrase in the highest regions. Inasmuch as in the Satya and other high regions the Supreme Lord residing in Hīraṇyagarbha [Hiraṇyagarbha?] and other manifestations, is not far off, it is said to shine in the highest regions,—It is this same light which is Within the Man,—which is apprehended by means of such indicatives as warmth and sound, as perceived by the Eye and the Ear respectively. When something is apprehended by Touch, it is as good as apprehended by the Eye; because the organ of touch brings about a firm conviction; and also because colour and touch are invariable concomitants.

Question:—“In what way does the indicative of the Light become perceptible by the organs of Touch and Vision?”

Answer:—Where,—at which time,—‘etat’ being an adverb,—the body is touched by the hand, one feels, by the organ of Touch, warmth,—i.e. there is a feeling of warmth which is concomitant with colour. When this warmth enters the body, it becomes an infallible indicative of the light of the Self which has entered therein for the differentiation of names and forms. As a matter of fact, so long as the man is alive, the said warmth is inseparable from his Self; it is when the body is warm that the man is regarded as living and he is regarded as dead when the body is cold. It has also been declared that ‘at the time of death, the fire goes over to the Highest Deity’, which means that there is no separation between warmth and the Highest Self. Hence it follows that Warmth is a distinctive indicative of the Self,—just as smoke is of fire.... Hence this is the vision, the direct perception,—the means of perceiving—the Supreme Self.

Of this light, the audioility,—hearing—means of hearing—also is as is going to be described.—When a man wishes to hear this indicative of the light, then he closes his ears thus—‘etat’ is an adverb;—closes, shuts up with the fingers,—he hears sounds like rumbling—the sound made by the moving chariot,—like bellowing,—the sound made by the bull,—like the sound made by fire flaming upward,—this sound he hears within his own body.

For these reasons, one should meditate upon this light as seen and heard. By this meditation, the man becomes conspicuous—nice to look at—and celebrated—well-known. That is, the effect of the meditation of the quality of colour is transmitted to the colour of the body,—which becomes conspicuous in appearance; and the reason for this lies in the fact that colour and touch are concomitants of one another; and also because conspicuousness of appearance is very desirable. In this way would the result of knowledge become properly accomplished,—which would not be the case if the body only became soft to the touch.—One who knows the two qualities as described here attains this visible result.—As for the invisible (super-sensuous) result, that has already been described as consisting in the attaining of the Heavenly Region.—The repetition is meant to indicate the importance of the subject.—(7)

End of Section (13) of Discourse III.