Atharvasikha
Upanishad
Om ! O Devas, may we hear with our ears
what is auspicious;
May we see with our eyes what is auspicious, O ye worthy of worship !
May we enjoy the term of life allotted by the Devas,
Praising them with our body and limbs steady !
May the glorious Indra bless us !
May the all-knowing Sun bless us !
May Garuda, the thunderbolt for evil, bless us !
May Brihaspati grant us well-being !
Om ! Let there be Peace in me !
Let there be Peace in my environment !
Let there be Peace in the forces that act on me !
I meditate on that “ultimate truth”, which explains the meaning “of the
sound of Om”, which shines as the fourth leg of Om, which is Thureeya of
Thureeyas (A super divine state of oneness with God, which is beyond the
three states of wakefulness, sleep and dream), which enjoys being in
three legs (syllables) and which is one and only one.
Om!
The sages Pippalada, Aangiras and Sanath Kumara approached the great God
like sage, Atharva Maharshi and asked him, “Oh, God like sage, what is
the chief aspect of meditation? What is the mantra (holy syllable) on
which to meditate? Who can meditate? Who is the God of meditation?” 1.1
The sage Atharva replied to them,” Mainly meditation has to be done on
the single letter Om. It itself is the mantra for meditation. The four
legs of that mantra are the four devas and the four Vedas. The letter
has to be recognized as the Para Brahman (Ultimate reality) and
meditated upon. 1.2
The first syllable Aa, indicates earth, the Rig Veda along with its holy
chants, Brahma the creator, Ashta Vasus among devas, “Gayathry” among
meters, and Garhapthya (the fire of the household) among fires. 1.3
The second syllable Uu denotes the ether, the Yajur Veda, Rudra who is
the God of destruction, the eleven Rudras among devas, “Trishgup” among
meters and dakshinagni (fire of the south - funeral pyre) among the
fires. 1.4
The third syllable Ma indicates the heavens, Sama Veda with its musical
sounds of Sama, Vishnu who looks after the worlds, the twelve Adithyas
(suns) among devas, “jagathichanda” among meters and Ahavagni (the fire
used in fire sacrifice) among the fires. 1.5
That half fourth syllable which is the hidden Ma, is the magical chants
of Atharva Veda, Samvarthaka (the fire of exchange) fire among fires,
marud Ganas among devas. It is the self glittering Brahman which shines
alone and sees everything. 1.6
The first is the red Brahma (creative aspect) , the second the holy
white Rudra (destructive aspect), the third the black Lord Vishnu (the
administrative aspect) and the fourth which is like lightning is the
multi coloured Purushothama (best among males). 1.7
This Omkara has four legs and four heads (fires). The fourth is the half
syllable sound of “Ma” which is hidden. That is pronounced in a small
short form, slightly extended form (pluthyaga) and much extended form.
It is pronounced as Om with one mathra, Om in two mathras and Om in the
extended three mathras (mathra is the unit of pronunciation). 1.8
The fourth peaceful half syllable is hidden in the long ended
pronunciation. It is the incomparable glitter of the soul. It is that
sound which was never there and which will be never there. If not
pronounced earlier but pronounced for the first time it, takes one via
the Sushumna Nadi to the lotus with thousand petals (Sahasrara). 1.9.
The pranava (the sound of Om) makes all the souls to bow before it. It
is the one and only one which has to be meditated upon as the four Vedas
and the birth place of all devas. One who meditates like that goes away
from all sorrows and fears and gets the power to protect all others who
approach him. It is because of this meditation only that Lord Vishnu who
is spread every where, wins over all others. It is because Lord Brahma
controlled all his organs and meditated upon it, he attained the
position of the creator. Even Lord Vishnu , parks his mind in the sound
(Om) of the place of Paramathma (ultimate soul) and meditates upon
Eeshana, who is most proper to be worshipped. All this is only proper in
case of Eeshana. 2.1
Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra and Indra are creating all beings, all organs and
all karanas. They are also capable of controlling them. But Lord Shiva
exists in between them like sky and is permanently stable. 2.2
It is advised that the five gods Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra, Ishwara and
Shiva should be worshipped in the form of pranava [Aa+Uu+Ma+sound+Bindu(full
stop)]. 2.3
Even if for one second, if one can stay and meditate on these, he gets
more results than that of performing one hundred fire sacrifices. With
the full understanding and knowledge, one should only meditate on
paramashiva, which would give rise to all benefits. It is definite that,
by sacrificing all other things, the twice born, should learn and
understand this and he would get rid of the suffering of living in the
womb and attain salvation. 2.4
Om ! O Devas, may we hear with our ears what is auspicious;
May we see with our eyes what is auspicious, O ye worthy of worship !
May we enjoy the term of life allotted by the Devas,
Praising them with our body and limbs steady !
May the glorious Indra bless us !
May the all-knowing Sun bless us !
May Garuda, the thunderbolt for evil, bless us !
May Brihaspati grant us well-being !
Om ! Let there be Peace in me !
Let there be Peace in my environment !
Let there be Peace in the forces that act on me !
Here ends the Atharvasikhopanishad, as contained in the Atharva-Veda |