Section 6.7 (seventh khaṇḍa) (six texts)

Upaniṣad text:

‘Man, my dear, is made up of sixteen parts.—For fifteen days, do not eat; drink as much water as you like; Life-breath is made of water; and if you did not drink water, the Life-breath would be cut off.’—(1)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

It has been asserted that the subtlest part of the Food eaten infused force into the Mind; this force, developed through the help accorded by the Food, is divisible into sixteen parts, and is part of the Man;—this is what is meant to be asserted here. As a matter of fact, the man is endowed with this force infused into Mind by Food, and divisible into sixteen parts:—and being endowed with this, the Man,—which here stands for the entire Man consisting of the aggregate of causes and effects (in the shape of the physical Body) and equipped with the Self (Soul); this is the ‘Man that is spoken of here as ‘made up of sixteen parts’. It is only when the said Force of Mind is present that the man becomes capable of seeing, hearing, thinking, cognising, moving, knowing and carrying on all kinds of activities,—and all these capacities become lost when the said Force becomes weakened. It is going to be said later on that, ‘It is through Food that one becomes the Seer.’ In fact, the capacity of all aggregates of causes and effects is one to the mind; it is only persons endowed with strength of Mind are found to be strong and powerful, in the world. In fact, some people are found to feed upon contemplation alone; as food consists of all things.—This Virility of Mind brought about by food constitutes the ‘sixteen parts’ of Man; and Man thus is made up of sixteen parts.—If you wish to perceive this directly, then do not eat for fifteen days; drink as much water as you like; because if you were not to drink water, your Life-breath would be cut off; because if your Life-breath is a product of water, as we have explained already; and a product cannot stay safely, except with the support of its cause.—(1)

Upaniṣad text:

For fifteen days he did not eat; then he approached him and said—‘What shall I say, Sir?’—‘The Ṛks, the Yajus and the Sāmas, my dear.’—They do not appear to me, Sir.’—(2)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

Having heard this fact of Mind consisting of Food and in order to prove this by direct perception, he did not eat for fifteen days,—he did not take any food;—on the sixteenth day, he approached his father, and having approached him, he said—‘What shall I say, Sir?’—The father said—‘Recite the Ṛks, Yajus and Sāmas, my dear’.— Having been thus addressed by his father, he said—‘The Ṛks etc. do not appear to me; that is, they are not found to my course to my Mind, Sir.’—(2)

Upaniṣad text:

He said—‘Just as, my dear, of a large blazing fire, if a single ember of the size of a firefly is left, it cannot burn any more, than that,—so, my dear, of the sixteen parts, only one part should be heft now; by that, therefore, thou dost not perceive the Vedas. Now, eat; then thou wilt know.’—(3)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

When the son had said as above, the father said—‘Hear what the reason is for the fact that the Ṛk etc. do not appear to you.’ Then he proceeded to say—‘In the ordinary world, my dear, just as of a large—largesized,—blazing fire—burning with fuel,—if a single ember of the size of a firefly—as large as a firefly—remained, after the fire has been extinguished,—by that ember, even a thing smaller than that ember itself would not be burnt,—so my dear, of thy sixteen parts,—nourished by food,—only one part—portion,—should be left now; therefore, by that part—which must be of the same size as the fire—ember of the size of firefly,—thou dost not perceive the Vedas,—thou dost remember them; after hearing my discourse, thou wilt know it all,—now eat.’—(3)

Upaniṣad text:

Then he ate; and- approached him; whatever he asked him, he knew it all.—(4)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

Then he ate; and after that with a view to attending upon his father, he approached him; when he saw his son, whatever he—the father—asked him—either words of the text or their contents,—he—Śvetaketu—knew it—Ṛk and the rest—all, i.e. the text as well as the contents.—(4)

Upaniṣad text:

He said to him—‘Just as, my dear, of a large blazing fire, if a single ember, of the size of a firefly, is left,—if one were to flare it up by means of grasses, it would burn even more than that.—(5)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

The Father said to him again—‘Just as, my dear, of a large blazing fire, if a single ember etc., etc.,—as before—of the extinguished fire, of the size of a firefly, is left,—if one were to flare it up—to make it large,—by means of grasses and powders,—then, by this kindled ember, one would burn even more than the former size.—(5)

Upaniṣad text:

‘So, my dear, of thy sixteen parts, only one part remained, and that being nourished by food, was made to flare up; and by that thou perceivest the Vedas. Thus, the Mind is made up of Food, the Lifebreath is made up of Water, and Speech is made up of Fire—Then he understood it,—yea, he understood it.—(6)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

‘So, my dear, of thy sixteen parts,—the parts of food, which represent strength,—only one was left,—the other fifteen parts disappeared one by one, day by day, like the digits of the Moon during the darker fortnight;—this remaining part, nourished—enlarged and magnified—by Food, was made to flare up;—the correct form is ‘Prājvāli’, elongation of the final ‘ī’ is a Vedic anomaly; ‘Prājvālīt’ is another reading, under which the meaning would be that it flared up of itself.—By that—as thus enlarged—thou—now perceivest the Vedas,—you remember them.

Thus, the fact of the Mind being made up of food is demonstrated by positive as well as negative illustrations; and recapitulating all that he has said, the father said—‘Thus, the Mind is made up of Food etc., etc. That is, just as the fact of the Mind being made up of Food has been demonstrated to thee, so also has been demonstrated the fact of the Life-breath consisting of Water and of Speech consisting of Fire.

Then he understood it,—what the father taught about Mind being made up of food, he—Śvetaketu—understood.—The repetition is meant to indicate the end of the treatment of the subject of Triplication.—(6)

End of Section (7) of Discourse VI.