FOURTH ADHY YA.
FIRST KHANDA.
With this adhyâya begins the real Upanishad, best known under the name of the Aitareya-upanishad, and often separately edited, commented on, and translated. If treated separately, what we call the fourth adhyâya of the second ranyaka, becomes the first adhyâya of the Upanishad, sometimes also, by counting all adhyâya from the beginning of the Aitareya-âranyaka, the ninth. The divisions adopted by Sâyana, who explains the Upanishad as part of the ranyaka, and by Saṅkara, who explains it independently, vary, though Sâyana states that he follows in his commentary on the Upanishad the earlier commentary of Saṅkara. I have given the divisions adopted by Sâyana, and have marked those of Saṅkara's by figures in parentheses, placed at the end of each paragraph. The difference between this Upanishad and the three preceding adhyâyas is easily perceived. Hitherto the answer to the question, Whence this world? had been, From Prâna, prâna meaning breath and life, which was looked upon for a time as a sufficient explanation of all that is. From a psychological point of view this prâna is the conscious self (pragñâtman); in a more mythological form it appears as Hiranyagarbha, 'the golden germ,' sometimes even as Indra. It is one of the chief objects of the prânavidyâ, or life-knowledge, to show that the living principle in us is the same as the living principle in the sun, and that by a recognition of their identity and of the true nature of prâna, the devotee, or he who has rightly meditated on prâna during his life, enters after death into the world of Hiranyagarbha.
This is well expressed in the Kaushîtaki-upanishad III, 2, where Indra says to Pratardana: 'I am Prâna; meditate on me as the conscious self (pragñâtman), as life, as immortality. Life is prâna, prâna is life. Immortality is prâna, prâna is immortality. By prâna he obtains immortality in the other world, by knowledge (pragñâ) true conception. Prâna is consciousness (pragñâ), consciousness is prâna.' This, however, though it may have satisfied the mind of the Brahmans for a time, was not a final solution. That final solution of the problem not simply of life, but of existence, is given in the Upanishad which teaches that tman, the Self, and not Prâna, Life, is the last and only cause of everything. In some places this doctrine is laid down in all its simplicity. Our true self, it is said, has its true being in the Highest Self only. In other passages, however, and nearly in the whole of this Upanishad, this simple doctrine is mixed up with much that is mythological, fanciful, and absurd, arthavâda, as the commentators call it, but as it might often be more truly called, anarthavâda, and it is only towards the end that the identity of the self-conscious self with the Highest Self or Brahman is clearly enuntiated.
Adoration to the Highest Self. Hari, Om!
1Verily, in the beginning 1 all this was Self, one only; there was nothing else blinking 2 whatsoever.
2He thought: 'Shall I send forth worlds?' (1) He sent forth these worlds, 3. Ambhas (water), Marîki (light), Mara (mortal), and Ap (water).
4That Ambhas (water) is above the heaven, and it is heaven, the support. The Marîkis (the lights) are the sky. The Mara (mortal) is the earth, and the waters under the earth are the Ap world 3. (2)
5He thought: 'There are these worlds; shall I send forth guardians of the worlds?' He then formed the Purusha (the person) 1, taking him forth from the water 2. (3)
6He brooded on him 3, and when that person had thus been brooded on, a mouth burst forth 4 like an egg. From the mouth proceeded speech, from speech Agni (fire) 5.
Nostrils burst forth. From the nostrils proceeded scent (prâna) 6, from scent Vâyu (air).
Eyes burst forth. From the eyes proceeded sight, from sight ditya (sun).
Ears burst forth. From the ears proceeded hearing, from hearing the Dis (quarters of the world), Skin burst forth. From the skin proceeded hairs (sense of touch), from the hairs shrubs and trees.
The heart burst forth. From the heart proceeded mind, from mind Kandramas (moon).
The navel burst forth. From the navel proceeded the Apâna (the down-breathing) 7, from Apâna death.
The generative organ burst forth. From the organ proceeded seed, from seed water. (4)