Section 6.8 (eighth khaṇḍa) (seven texts)

Upaniṣad text:

Uddālaka—Āruṇi said to his son, Śhvetaketu— ‘Learn from me, my dear, the ultimate stage of sleep. When a man is said to be sleeping, then, my dear, does he become imbued with Being, and goes to his own. Hence, people say ‘he sleeps’ (Svapiti), because he is gone to his own.’—(1)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

The Mind which was entered into by the Supreme Deity, through the ‘Living Self’ (Individualised),—just as the man enters into the mirror through his reflection, or as the Sun and other bodies enter into water and other reflecting surfaces, through their reflection and that Mind made up of Food, because combined with Speech and Life-breath made up of Fire and Water respectively;—all this has been understood. And that this (combined Trinity) is what the ‘Living Self’ consists of, and wherein resident, he is enabled to carry on the functions of reflecting, seeing, hearing and so forth,•—and on the cessation of which he reverts to his own form of the Deity. This has been spoken of in other Vedic texts—e.g. ‘As if reflecting, as if scintillating, becoming dream, he passes beyond the world.’ (Bṛhadā. Upa. IV. iv. 5.)—‘This Self indeed is Brahman.’ (Bṛhadā. Upa. II. iv. 1.) ‘Consisting of cognitions, consisting of the Mind.’ (Bṛhadā. Upa. IV. iv. 5.) ‘Through dream, entering the body etc.,’ (Bṛhadā. Upa. IV. iii. 1.) ‘While breathing, he becomes the Life-Breath’ (Bṛhadā. Upa. I. iv. 7.) and so forth. Now this ‘Living Self’, subsisting in the Mind and coming to be called by the name of ‘Mind’, becomes turned away from the objects of sense-experience, on the cessation of the Mind, and retires into and subsists in the Supreme Deity which is his own Self;—in order to explain all this to his son,—Uddālaka—Āruṇi, said to his son, Śvetaketu, as follows:—

‘Learn from me the ultimate stage of sleep;’—i.e. the internal cere of sleep sleep’ is the name of that stage of sleep during which consciousness is still functioning; and the ‘internal core’ or ‘ultimate stage’ is Deep sleep;— or the term ‘Svapnānta’ may be interpreted as the ‘satattva’, cause, ‘of Svapna’, of sleep; thus too it would stand for Deep sleep: that such is the meaning is also indicated by the assertion ‘He goes to his own’; because apart from Deep sleep, there is no condition during which the Knowers of Brahman regard the ‘Living Self’ as ‘going to his own Just as, when the mirror has been removed, the reflection of the man in the mirror ‘goes into its own,’ that is, the Man (self) himself,—in the same manner, when the Mind and other sense-organs have ceased to exist, the Supreme Deity, which had entered the Mind through the ‘Living Self’, for the purpose of differentiating Names and Forms goes to Its own Self, after having abandoned the ‘living individualised form called ‘Mind’.—From all this it follows that it is Deep sleep that is meant by the term ‘ultimate stage of sleep.’—That stage of sleep during which one sees dreams, is ‘Dream-cognition’ which is accompanied by pleasure and pain, and as such is the effect of Merit and Demerit; it is well-known that Merit and Demerit are productive of Pleasure and Pain; as for merit and demerit again, they can be productive of such effects as Pleasure and Pain and their cognition only through the momentum imparted by Ignorance and Desire, never otherwise; hence, Dream-cognition is always combined with such causes of Birth and Rebirth as Ignorance; Desire and Kārmic Residua; so that in this condition, the Self cannot be gone to his own. That this is so is clear from such Vedic texts as—‘Not followed by Merit, not followed by Demerit.’ (Bṛhadā. Upa. IV. iii. 22.). ‘Then he has crossed beyond all sorrows of the heart.’ (Bṛhadā. Upa. IV. iii. 22.). ‘This is absolute freedom, it is Supreme Bliss’ (Bṛhadā. Upa. IV. iii. 21.) and so forth.

What thus the Father said was that ‘I am going to show that it is only Deep Sleep the Supreme Deity rests in its own Divine Form, entirely freed from the character of the ‘Living Individualised Self’; which is what is meant by the assertion ‘learn from ṇie—while I am expounding it—my dear, the ultimate stage of Sleep—please grasp it carefully and clearly.

It is now going to be explained when the ‘ultimate stage of sleep’ is reached. When,—at which time—this name is applied to the man who is going to sleep,—the well-known—name—that ‘he is sleeping’;—this name is indirect, figurative;—so that the meaning is—‘when the Man is said to be sleeping—at that time does he become imbued with Being,—i.e. imbued, united, merged in, the Supreme Deity spoken of as ‘Being’; abandoning the form of the ‘Living Self’ due to his entering into the Mind and becoming connected with the Mind and other organs,—he goes to his own, retires to his own form of ‘Being’, which is really true; and it is for this reason that people say ‘He sleeps (Svapiti), because he is gone to his own, i.e. to his own Self. The sense is that the said going to his own is indicated by the well-known nature and name (of sleep).

Question:—“How is this merging into one’s own known to ordinary men (who are not expected to have the experience)?”

They say that they infer it from the fact of Sleep being due to fatigue incurred during the waking state. What happens is that during the waking state, man becomes fatigued through experiencing exertions involved in the pleasures and pains brought about by Merit and Demerit,—the organs also, becoming tired by numerous functionings, retire from further functioning; this is what has been thus declared in Vedic texts ‘Speech is tired, Eye is tired’ etc., etc., (Bṛhadā. Upa. 1. v. 21.) and again, ‘Speech’ is held up, Eye is held up, Mind is held up’, (Bṛhadā. Upa. II. i. 17.) which shows that the organs are all swallowed up by the Life-breath;—it is Life-breath alone which is not tired and lies awake in the nest of the body; it is in this state that the ‘Living Self for the removal of fatigue, retired into its own self, in the form of the Deity; inasmuch as no removal of fatigue would be possible apart from this resting within his own,— it is only right that people should entertain the idea that ‘he is gone to his own’. In the ordinary world, it is seen that when people suffering from fever and other diseases are cured of them, they regain their own and rest; similar is the case here also’, hence, what has been said is quite right; this has also been made clear by such texts as ‘just as, the Kite or the Heron having flown and becoming tired etc., etc.,’ (Bṛhadā. Upa. IV. iii. 19.)—(1)

Upaniṣad text:

‘Just as, a bird tied to a string, having flown in several directions and finding no resting place elsewhere, settles down at the place to which it is fastened,—so also the Mind, my dear, flying in several directions and finding no resting place elsewhere, settles down at the Life-breath; because, my boy, the Mind is fastened to the Life-breath.’—(2)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

The following example illustrates what has been said above. Just as, a bird, tied to a string—in the hands of the Bird-killer,—having flown in several directions, with a view to extricate himself from the bondage, having flown in all directions,—and finding no resting place— support for rest—elsewhere—apart from the place to which it is fastened,—settles down at the place to which it is fastened;—in the same manner, as has been seen in this example cited, the Mind,—which has been the subjectmatter of our conversation, which has been found to have sixteen parts developed by food; the term ‘Mind’ stands for the ‘Living Self’ entering and residing in the Mind and characterised by it,—just as, when it is said that ‘the Raised platform shouts’, the terrp ‘Raised platform’ stands for the man on the platform;—now, this ‘Living Self’ along with its limiting adjunct called ‘Mind’,—having flown in several directions, in the shape of pleasure and pain and other experiences during the waking state and during dreams led thither by his ignorance, desires and Kārmic Residua,—i.e. having experienced all these,—and not finding any resting place,—shelter for resting—elsewhere—apart from his own Self called ‘Being’,—settles down at the Lifebreath;—the term ‘Prāṇa’, ‘Life-breath here stands for the Supreme Deity named ‘Being’ as characterised (circumscribed) by the aggregate of all causes and effects,—as is indicated by such Vedic texts as—‘the Life-breath of lifebreath, (Bṛhadā. Upa. IV. iv. 18.) ‘Having Life-breath for his body, in the form of Light etc’ Hence, it is this ‘Lifebreath the Deity named ‘Life-breath’, at which he settles down.—‘Because, my dear, Mind is fastened to the Lifebreath—‘Mind’ here standing for that Mind in which the said Deity is resting,—that is, the ‘Living Self’ characterised by the said ‘Mind’.—(2)

Upaniṣad text:

‘Learn from me, my dear, what Hunger and Thirst are. When such and such a Man desires to eat, Water is carrying away what has been eaten by him (before). Hence, just as, they speak of the cow-carrier, the horse-carrier and the man-carrier, so they speak of water as the food-carrier. Thus, my dear, know this to be the sprout shot up; and it could not be without a root.—(3)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

The father has so far shown to the son that the root of the universe lies in the real form of the ‘Living Self’.—through the well-known name ‘Svapiti’ (sleep); and now he is going to show by tracing the series of causes and effects, from Food onwards that the same Being is the root of the Universe.

‘Hunger and Thirst’;—hunger is I desire for eating’; the changes due to the desiderative affix being dropped;—thirst is ‘desire for drinking’; the two together are ‘Hunger and Thirst’; of these two, learn the exact nature, from me. It is as follows:—When,—at what time—such and such— naming the man;—man desires to eat;—

Question:—“Why is the man so called (as desiring to eat)?”

Answer:—Whatever solid food had been eaten by him,—all that the water he has drunk is carrying away,—i.e. it liquified the solid food turning it into juices and then it is that the food eaten becomes digested; this is what really happens to him; and when he is said to be ‘desirous of eating’, this appellation is applied to him only figuratively. It is a well-known fact, all animals become hungry only when the food they had eaten has become digested.

Thus, then, inasmuch as water carries the food that has been eaten, it comes to be known as ‘food-arrier’; and in support of this usage there are the following examples—(1) the cowherd is called the ‘cow-carrier’ because he carries—leads along—the cows; (2) the groom is called the ‘horse—carrier’, because he carries—leads—the horses;—(3) the king or the army-commander is called ‘man-carrier because he carries—leads—the men. It is thus that people, in ordinary usage, come to call Water

‘food-carrier ‘ashanāya dropping the final Visarga ‘ḥ’ (which is called for by the necessity of makings the word Feminine Plural, as qualifying ‘āpaḥ’). Such being the case, this body is nourished by the food which is carried along, in the shape of juices, by Water,—is like the sprout that has shot out of the seed of the fig tree; therefore, my dear, know this—product called ‘Body’ to be a sprout shot out like the sprout of the fig and other trees.

Question:—“What is there to be known in this?”.

Answer:—Listen; the Body, being a product like the sprout, cannot be without a root.

Having been told this—Śvetaketu said (as follows).—(3)

Upaniṣad text:

‘Where could its root be apart from food? So, my boy, from food as the sprout, infer water as the root; from water as the sprout, infer fire as the root; from fire as the sprout, infer the Being as the root. All these creatures, my dear, have their root in Being, reside in Being and rest in Being.—(4)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

Śvetaketu said—‘If the body has a root, like the sprout of the fig and other trees, and where could the root of the Body be?’—Being thus asked, the father said—‘Where could its root be, apart from food?, that is to say, food is the root of the body.—“In what way?”—when food is eaten, it is liquified by water,—it is cooked by the stomachic fire, and then becomes changed into juices, from the juices, proceeds Blood, from Blood, Flesh—from Flesh, Fat—from Fat, Bones—from Bones, Marrow,—from Marrow, Semen;—similarly when Food eaten by the woman, becomes modified, in the same way, into blood (ovular);—it is by these two—semen and ovular blood come together,—which are the products of food, and which are fostered and nourished by the food eaten day by day,—that the body becomes developed, and built up just as the wall is built up day by day by lumps of clay laid on—and thus does this sprout of the body become accomplished out of food as its root.

As regards the Food which has been pointed out as the sprout of the Body, that food also, like the body, is liable to production and destruction, and as such, it also is a sprout that has shot out of a root;—with this idea in his mind, he says—‘Just as the sprout of the body has its root in food, so, my dear, from the food as sprout—which is a product, effect,—infei—understand—water as the root of the sprout in the shape of Food;—water also is liable to production and destruction, and hence, it also is a sprout, hence, from water as sprout—a product,—my dear, infer as its Cause, Root, Fire;—inasmuch as Fire also is liable to production and destruction, that also is a sprout; hence from fire as the sprout,—the product—my dear, infer its root in Being, which is one only, without a second, and really and absolutely Real; all the Universe is a mere modification of words, a mere name,—superimposed by Nescience, upon the said Being,—in the same manner as the Serpent and other imaginary things are superimposed upon the Rope; hence, this Being is the root of the Universe. Hence, my dear, all the creatures—in the shape of animate and inanimate things—have their root—cause —in Being. It is not only that they have their root in Being,—even now, during the time of their existence, they reside in Being—subsisting in Being itself; as for example, without subsisting in clay, the jar has no existence or continuance; hence, as Being is the root of all creatures,—like the clay of jar etc.—These creatures reside in Being; and at the end they rest in Being,—that is, they have their rest,^:they become merged,—and have their end, in the same said Being.—(4)

Upaniṣad text:

‘Now, when such and ṣuch a man desires to drink, fire is carrying away what has been drunk by him (before). Hence, just as they speak of the cow-carrier, the horse-carrier and the man-carrier, so they speak of the fire as water-carrier, Thus, my dear, know this to be the sprout shot up; it could not be without a root.’—(5)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

Proceeding to show that through water as sprout, Being is the root here also, he says—‘When,—at which time, such and such a man—naming him—desires to drink—that is, becomes a man desirous oj drinking; like ‘desires to eat the phrase ‘desires to drink’ also is only a figurative name for the Man. When food eaten has been liquified, water carries it away; when they thus set the food-sprout, Body, it would, through excess of water, make the body benumbed, if the water died,—become dried up—by fire; when the water is being dried up, and the water is becoming developed into the Body, there arises desire to drink, in the man, and then it is said that ‘the man desires to drink’. And when fire is drying up the water that has been drunk, it carries and modifies this water into Blood and Life-breath.—Just as they speak of the cow-carrier, etc., etc.,—as before;—so they speak of Fire as the water-carrier,—‘Udanya’, water-carrier, being that which carries (nayati) water (udaka [udakam]); this form of the word being a Vedic anomaly,—as above. Thus of water also, this sprout is the same, that is, called Body’, and nothing else.—The rest is all as before.—(5)

Upaniṣad text:

‘Where could its root be, apart from Water?—so, my boy, from Water as sprout, infer Fire as the root; from Fire as Sprout, infer Being as the root. All these creatures, my dear, have their root in Being, reside in Being and rest in Being.—And now, how each of these three deities, on reaching;man, becomes triplicated has been explained to you before. When, my dear;the man is departing, his Speech merges into the Mind, Mind merges into Life-breath, Life-breath into Fire, and Fire into the Supreme Deity.—(6)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

From the force of circumstances it follows that of Fire also, this, that is called ‘Body,’ is the Sprout. Hence, from Water as sprout, in the form of the Body, is inferred the root of that Water; and from Water as the Sprout is inferred Fire as its root;—from Fire as Sprout is inferred Being as its root;—as before.

Thus, then, of the Body—Sprout which consists of Fire, Water and Food,—which is a mere modification of words, infer the root—through the series beginning with food—consists in Being, which is absolutely real, free from fear and danger and trouble.—Having explained all this to his son, by means of the well-known phrases ‘desirous of eating’ and ‘desirous of drinking’, he points out that whatever else has got to be explained in this connection,—with regard to the fact of Fire, Water and Food, as used up by man, making up the Body-Sprout, which is an aggregate of causes and effects, without intermixing,—all this should be taken as already explained. Hence, he refers to what has been said before:—And now, how etc., etc.,—in what manner,—each of these three divinities,—Fire, Water and Food, —on reaching Man, becomes triplicated) has been explained to you before;—under the text ‘Food, eaten, is made threefold’ (Chāndo. Upa. VI. v. 1.). In that connection it has been asserted that of the food etc. that are eaten, the middling substances go to develop the Body made up of seven substances,—‘It becomes Flesh, it becomes Blood, it becomes Marrow and it becomes Bone;—while the subtlest substances go to develop Mind, Life-breath, Speech and the aggregate of the internal organs of the Body: ‘It becomes Mind, it becomes Life-breath, it becomes Speech’.

When the Body becomes torn up, the said aggregate of Life-breath and Organs, occupied by the ‘Living Self’, slips off from the previous body and enters a fresh body, in a separate order of sequence;—this is what the text next describes—‘When, my dear, the Man is departing,—dying,—his Speech merges into the Mind,—it becomes summated in the Mind,—and his relatives say He speaks not’; the functioning of Speech is always preceded by the Mind; as declared in the Vedic text—‘What one thinks of in the Mind, that he speaks by speech’. When speech has become merged into the Mind, then the Mind remains functioning by itself alone;—when the Mind also becomes summated, then the Mind merges into the Life-breath;—as during Deep Sleep; at this time, the relatives by his side say ‘He is not thinking (not conscious) At this time, the Life-breath, moving in upward exhalation, withdraws into itself all the external organs as described under the Samvarga—Vidyā, brings about the throwing about of hands and legs, and cutting into the vital parts of the body, becomes merged,—in the same order in which it had gone forth,—into Fire; when the relatives say ‘He moves not’, and being in doubt as to whether he is alive or not, they touch the body, and if they find the body warm, they say ‘the body is still warm,’ ‘he is alive’. Lastly, when the Fire also as indicated by the warmth, becomes withdrawn, then this Fire becomes merged into the Supreme Divinity.

When, in this way, the Mind has become summated and merged into its source, the ‘Living Self’ resident therein also becomes withdrawn, as during deep sleep, on account of the merging of his accessories (Mind and the rest); and if this withdrawing is preceded by the realisation of Truth, he becomes merged in Being itself; and does not enter into another body, in the way in which the man in deep sleep returns (to physical consciousness, after the cessation of the sleep). For instance, in the ordinary world, a man living in a place full of dangers, on reaching a place of safety, never returns to the former place. A ‘Living Self’ other than this one, who has not realised his Self, rises again from his source (Being),—like a man awaking after deep sleep.—after death, and again enters into the meshes of the Body.—(6)

Upaniṣad text:

‘Now, that which is this Subtle Essence,—in that has all this its Self; that is the Self; that is the Truth; that thou art, O ‘Śvetaketu’.—‘Revered Sir, please explain this to me again’.—‘Be it so, my boy’,—he said.—(7)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

That which has been spoken of above as named ‘Being’—which is the subtlest essence,—the point of ultimate subtlety,—source of the Universe—in that has all this its Self:—‘that which has this Being for its Self’ is Sadātmā’, and the abstract form of this is ‘aitadātmya’. That is, it is through this Self known as ‘Being’ that all this Universe is imbued with Self; and there is no other Self for this which passes through births and deaths; as has been declared in such other Vedic texts as—‘other than this, there is no Seer, other than this, there is no Heaven’ (Bṛhadā. Upa. III. viii. 11.)—that through which all this Universe becomes imbued with Self is its origin, called ‘Being’, which is True and Absolutely Real. Hence, it is this that is the Self of the Universe, its counter-form, its very essence, its very Soul. The term ‘Self’ (Ātman), without any qualifying prefix has its denotation restricted by convention to the Self in Evolution, (Jīvātmā), like the term ‘cow’ and the like; hence, thou art that Being, O Śvetaketu.—Having been thus taught, the son said—‘Revered Sir, please explain to me again; I still have doubts with regard to what you have told me in regard to all creatures, during deep sleep, becoming merged in Being; if that is so, then, having become so merged, that they do not know that they had been so merged in Being, seems to me doubtful. Hence, please explain this to me further, by means of illustrations.’—Being thus addressed, the father said—‘Be it so, my dear’.—(7)

End of Section (8) of Discourse VI.