Section 3.17 (seventeenth khaṇḍa) (seven texts)

Upaniṣad text:

That he hungers, that he thirsts and that he is not happy,—these are his Initiations,—(1)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

That he hungers etc.,—points out the similarity of Man to the Sacrifice in general, and as such is connected with what has been declared above.—That he hungers,—wishes to eat,—similarly, that he thirsts,—wishes to drink,—and that he is not happy,—i.e. when he suffers pain on not getting what he desires,—these are his Initiations,—so called because they are painful, like the Initiatory Rites (of fasting etc.,) of the Ritualistic Sacrifice.—(1)

Upaniṣad text:

And that he eats, that he drinks, and that he is happy,—thereby he becomes one with the Upasadas.— (2)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

That he eats, that he drinks and that he is happy,—i.e. feels pleasure by coming by what he desires,—thereby he becomes one with—similar to—the Upasadas, At the Upasadas there is happiness due to the drinking of milk (which is permitted at them); and this brings about the consolation that the days are not far off when small quantities of food will be permitted;—this is the point of similarity between ‘eating’ etc., and the Upasadas,—(2)

Upaniṣad text:

That he laughs, that he eats and that he dallies in couples,—thereby he becomes one with the Stuta and Śāstra hymns.—(3)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

That he laughs, that he eats and that he dallies in couples,—by these he becomes one with,—similar to—the Stuta and Śāstra Hymns (the recited hymns and the hymns set to music): the similarity consisting in being accompanied by some sort of sound.—(3)

Upaniṣad text:

Now, Austerity, Charity, Uprightness, Non-Violence and Truthfulness,—these are his Sacrificial Fees.—(4)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

Now Austerity, Charity, Uprightness, Nonviolence and Truthfulness, these are his sacrificial fees; the point of similarity consisting in the fact that, like the Sacrificial Fee, they serve to strengthen the merit (of the Sacrifice).—(4)

Upaniṣad text:

Hence, when they say ‘Soṣyati’, ‘shall give birth’ and ‘Aṣoṣṭa’, ‘has given birth’—that is his Rebirth. His Death is the Avabhṛtha-Bath.—(5)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

Because the Man is the Sacrifice, therefore, when his Mother shall give birth to him, they will say ‘she shall give birth’, referring to his Mother; and after she has given birth to him, then they say ‘Purṇikā (the Mother) has given birth’;—just as at the Ritualistic Sacrifice, they say ‘Soṣyati Somam Devdattaḥ’ (Devadatta shall extract the Soma-juice) and ‘Aṣoṣṭa Somam Yajñadattaḥ’ (Yajñadatta has extracted the Soma-juice).—From this similarity of verbal expressions (Soṣyati-Aṣoṣṭa), used in both cases, it follows that the Man is the Sacrifice. When the expressions ‘Soṣyati—Aṣoṣṭa’ are used in connection with the Sacrifice called ‘Man’, it is his Rebirth,—just as in the case of the Ritualistic Sacrifice. Further, it is the Death of the Sacrifice-Man that is the final Avabhṛtha-Bath of the Ritualistic Sacrifice; as both have the common character of being the End.—(5)

Upaniṣad text:

Having expounded this to Kṛṣṇa-Devakīputra, Ghora-Āṅgirasa said to him as follows, and he became thirstless,—‘At the time of the end, one should have recourse to these three—(1) Akṣitamasi, (2) Acyutamasi and (3) Prāṇa-saṃśitamasi.’—On this subject, there are these two verses.—(6).

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

This-Philosophy of the Sacrifice,—the sage, Ghora—by name—Āṅgirasa—by Gotra—having expounded to Kṛṣṇa, the son of Devakī,—his disciple, said to him—‘These three etc.,’ following in the next sentence. Kṛṣṇa, on listening to this Philosophy, became thirstless,—that is, he ceased to have a desire for learning other sciences. By this the Text means to eulogise the Philosophy of the Sacrifice-Man as being so effective as to have relieved Kṛṣṇa-Devakīputra of thirst for all other sciences.—

Question:—“Having expounded this Philosophy to Krṣṇa, what did Ghora-Āṅgirasa say to him?”—

Answer:—The man who knows the Sacrifice as here expounded should, at the time of the end—i.e., at the time of death,—have recourse to—repeat—the following three Mantras—“Which three Mantras?”—First, the Yajus-Text, ‘Akṣitamasi etc.’ (Maitrā-Saṃhitā, 1, 4, 2)—‘Akṣitam’ meaning unperished, undimmed, applies, by implication, to the Sun as identified with Prāṇa;—again, the second Yajus-text was pointed out as ‘Acyutamasi’, meaning ‘You have not fallen off from your own form’;—and the third Yajuṣ-text mentioned was ‘Prāṇasaṃśitamasi’, meaning ‘You are Prāṇa properly refined and rendered subtle—On this sifbject of eulogising the Philosophy—there are two verses—Mantras; these two are not meant for being repeated by the dying man; if these were so meant, then that would be incompatible with the number ‘three’ specified in the preceding sentence; as in that case, the number of texts would be five....—(6).

Upaniṣad text:

(I) ‘Āditpratnasya retasaḥ (jyotiḥ paśyanti vāsaram, paro yadidhyate diva) (Of the ancient germ, they see the day-like light which shines supreme in the Effulgent’.—Ṛgveda; 8, 6, 30).—

(II) ‘Udvayantamasaḥ...... jyotiruttamam’ (‘Perceiving above darkness, the Supreme Light, our own, we reached the effulgent divine source of energy, the Sun, the Highest Light,—yea, the Highest Light’—Ṛgveda; 1, 50, 10).—(7)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

(I) [Of the first mantra, the Text quotes only the opening words, the rest of it has been supplied above). In the text ‘Ādit pratnasya’;—the ‘t’ that appears with ‘ā’ is only its appendage and signifies nothing; so also is the term ‘it’ [so that the whole expression ‘Ādit’ is meaningless]—Of the Ancient i.e. Long-standing, prime —germ—cause, seed—of the Universe, which is called ‘Sat ‘Being’—they see the Light—the effulgence.—The Syllable ‘ā’ (with which the sentence begins), having dropped its appendage ‘t’ becomes connected with the verb ‘paśyanti’, they see’.—

Question:—“Which is the light that they see?”—

Answer:—It is the light that is daylike,—like the day. i.e. it is the light of Brahman which pervades over all things. What is meant is that those persons who have turned back their visual and other organs from their external objectives, and have come to know Brahman and having their inner organ (mind) clarified by such means of abstinence as Celibacy and the like, see this light on all sides.—‘[?]Parān[?]’ has to be construed by changing its gender into the neuter, as it is meant to qualify the word ‘Jyotiḥ’—light—which is Neuter;—which shines—glimmers—in the Effulgent;—i.e. subsisting in the Effulgent Supreme Brahman,—that light, being illumined by which, the Sun blazes, the Moon shines, the lightning flashes and the hosts of planets and stars twinkle.

(II) Further, another Mantra-Seer (Sage) having seen the above-mentioned Light, says as follows (the second Mantra quoted in the Text in full).—Above darkness,—i.e. beyond Ignorance; or destructive of ignorance,—the light which is supreme—subsisting in the Sun;—perceiving this light, we reached (this verb has to be construed from the latter part of the Mantra);—this light is our own,—our very own, i.e. shines in our heart;—the light subsisting in the Sun is one light which is supreme, more excellent, higher than the other light;—and on perceiving this, we reached,—what?—the effulgent divine source of energy, the Sun,—so called because He energises the Essences, the rays, the organs and the entire universe,—we reached this Highest Light, the highest of all lights;—the most wonderful!

This is the Light which has been eulogised by these two verses and which had been indicated by the three Yajuṣ-Texts referred to above.

The repetition—‘Yea, the Highest Light’ is meant to indicate the end of the Section dealing with the assumption of Sacrifice as representing the Man.—(7).

End of Section (17) of Discourse III.