Jabala
Upanishad
Om ! That (Brahman) is infinite, and this
(universe) is infinite.
The infinite proceeds from the infinite.
(Then) taking the infinitude of the infinite (universe),
It remains as the infinite (Brahman) alone.
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-1. Brihaspati (the preceptor of the gods) asked (the sage) Yajnavalkya:
(Which is) the Kurukshetra, (the famous holy place that destroys sins
and protects the good, (the place) where the gods perform sacrifices and
which is the abode of Brahman in all beings ? (Yajnavalkya replied):
Avimukta is the Kurukshetra, (the place) where the gods perform
sacrifices to deities and which is the abode of Brahman in all beings
(i.e. the middle of the eye-brows). Hence wherever one goes one shall
think thus: This is the Kurukshetra, the place where the gods perform
sacrifices to the deities and which is the abode of Brahman in all
beings. This is the spot where, when the vital airs depart from the
living person, Rudra imparts the mantra (Taraka Brahman) to him by
which, becoming immortal, he attains liberation (final beatitude). Hence
one shall resort to the Avimukta; shall not desert the Avimukta. (Brihaspati
approved of the statement saying): ‘So it is, Yajnavalkya’, verily it is
so, O, revered one ! ‘It is so Yajnavalkya’.
II-1. Thereafter the sage Atri (son of the creator Brahma) asked of
Yajnavalkya: ‘How am I to realize the Self which is infinite and
unmanifest ?’ (To this) Yajnavalkya replied: That Avimukta (Lord Siva as
the redeemer) is to be worshipped; the Self which is infinite and
unmanifest, is established in (i.e., is non-different from) the Avimukta
(in Ishvara, possessed of attributes)’.
II-2. ‘Which is that (place) where Avimukta is established ?’ ‘He is
established in between varana and nasi’. ‘What is (meant by) varana and
what (by) nasi ?’ ‘The varana is so called as it wards off all the
faults committed by the (ten) organs (of perception and action). The
nasi is so named as it destroys all sins committed by the (ten) organs.
(The place between the varana and the nasi is the meeting place of the
upper part of the nose and the centre of the eye brows). ‘Which is the
seat of that (Avimukta) ?’ ‘That, which is the (well known) juncture of
the eye brows and the nose, is the juncture of heaven (in the form of
the crown of the head) and this world (in the form at the end of the
chin). The knowers of the Veda worship indeed this juncture (Samadhi) as
Sandhya (in their daily worship). That Avimukta is to be worshipped. He
who knows this thus (the true nature of the Avimukta), imparts the
wisdom of the Avimukta (that the individual Self is no other than the
attributeless Brahman, to his disciples).
III-1. Then the discipline students (Brahmacharins of Yajnavalkya) asked
him: ‘Pray, tell us, what is that mantra by reciting which one attains
immortality ?’ He replied: ‘By (reciting) Satarudriya’. These mantras
are indeed the names of (Rudra to achieve) immortality. By (reciting)
these (mantras) one becomes immortal.
IV-1. Then Janaka, the king of the Videhas (respectfully) approached
Yajnavalkya and requested him: ‘Revered Sir, expound (to me) the (tenets
of) renunciation (Sannyasa)’. He (Yajnavalkya) then replied: ‘After
completing the period of disciplined studentship (brahmacharya) one may
become a householder. After being a householder he may become a
forest-dweller (i.e., become a Vanaprastha). Having become a Vanaprastha
he may renounce the world (and thus become a mendicant monk). Or,
alternately, he may embrace renunciation from brahmacharya itself, or
from the (stage of a) householder, or from the forest(-life of a
Vanaprastha). (It can also be that) a person may renounce worldly life
that very day on which distaste for it dawns on him, whether he is one
not observing the vows (before the stage of renunciation) or observe
them, whether he has undergone the prescribed ablution on completing the
disciplined studentship or not, whether he is one who has discontinued
maintaining the sacred fire at the death of his wife (utsannagni) or is
one who does not maintain (for other causes) the sacred fire (anagnika).
Iv-2. Some (law givers) prescribe the sacrifice called prajapatya (of
which the god Brahma is the presiding deity, to a twice-born before he
embraces renunciation). But (though thus laid down) he may not do so. He
shall only perform the sacrifice in which Agni is the deity. For Agni is
the vital breath (Prana). Thereby he does (strengthen) the vital breath.
He shall then perform the traidhataviya sacrifice. For the three forms
of Agni in him, namely, Sattva, Rajas and Tamas are (strengthened) by
this sacrifice. (Having performed the sacrifice) he shall smell (the
smoke of) the holy fire, reciting the following mantra:
IV-3. ‘O Fire, this (vital breath) is your source; as you are born from
Sutratman (at the proper time) you shine forth. Knowing him (the Atman,
your ultimate source) may you merge (in him). May you increase our
wealth’ (here the transcendent knowledge). Verily, this is the source of
fire, namely the vital air. So what is said by this mantra is: ‘May you
go unto your source’. Svaha.
IV-4. Having procured the holy fire from (the house of a well-versed
Vedic scholar in) the village he shall smell the holy dire as described
previously. If he is unable to procure the holy fire he shall offer the
oblations in water. For water is, verily, all the gods. Reciting ‘I
offer the oblation to all the gods, Svaha’ he shall tender the oblation
and picking up (a small portion of) the offered oblation which is mixed
with ghee, he shall eat it, as this is beneficial. The mantra of
liberation (namely ‘Om’) is (the essence of) the three Vedas; this he
shall realize. It is Brahman and It is to be worshipped. Indeed, so it
is, O revered Yajnavalkya (said Janaka).
V-1. Then the (sage) Atri asked Yajnavalkya: ‘May I ask you Yajnavalkya,
how is one without the sacred thread a Brahmana ?’ Yajnavalkya replied:
(‘The conviction I am the) Self alone is his sacred thread. He shall
then sip water (ceremoniously thrice). This is the method enjoined on
those who renounce worldly life’.
V-2. (In the case of Kshatriyas and others not entitled to renunciation,
they may seek liberation) in the path of the brave (who court death in
the battle field) or fast (unto death as a discipline), or enter into
water (to rise no more) or enter fire (to be burnt to ashes) or
undertake the great journey (in which they collapse by exhaustion).
V-3. Then (in the case of those entitled to renunciation) the mendicant
monk wearing (ochre) coloured garment, with shaven head, accepting
nothing (excepting food for bare sustenance), being pure, injuring none
(in thought, word and deed), (austerity) living on alms, becomes fit for
realizing Brahman. If sorely afflicted (by disease, etc.,) he may
renounce the world by mental resolve, or by spoken words uttering
mantras. This way (of renunciation) has been prescribed by Brahma (the
creator, in the Vedanta); the ascetic (the Sannyasin who has renounced
the world) following this path realizes Brahman. ‘Thus indeed it is, O,
revered Yajnavalkya’ (appreciated Janaka).
VI-1. There are sages called Paramahamsas (as in the days of yore, the
sages) Samvartaka, Aruni, Svetaketu, Durvasas, Ribhu, Nidagha,
Jadabharata, Dattatreya, Raivataka and others, wearing no distinguishing
marks, with conduct beyond the ken (of worldly people) and who behaved
as though bereft of their senses though (perfectly) sane.
VI-2. Discarding all these, namely the threefold staff (of bamboo), the
water pot, the sling (to carry personal effects), the (alms-)bowl, the
cloth for purifying water (tied to the staff), tuft of hair and sacred
thread in water (i.e. a reservoir) by reciting ‘Bhuh Svaha’, the
Paramahamsa shall seek the Atman.
VI-3. Possessing a form as one just born (i.e. unclad), unaffected by
the pairs (of opposites, such as heat and cold, pleasure and pain),
accepting nothing (except bare sustenance), well established in the path
of the truth of Brahman, of pure mind, receiving alms into the mouth
(literally into the vessel of the belly) at the prescribed hour in order
to sustain life, becoming equanimous at gain or loss (of alms),
sheltering himself, without an abode (of his own), in an unoccupied
house, a temple, a clump of (tall) grass (or a heap of straw), an
anthill, the shade of a tree, a potter’s hut, a cottage where sacred
fire is kept, sandy bank of a river, a mountain thicket or cavity, a
hollow in a tree, the vicinity of a water fall or a piece of clean
ground; making no efforts (in any kind of gainful activity), free from
‘mineness’ (i.e. a sense of possessiveness), ever meditating on Brahman,
devoted to the Self, ever intent on eradication of the good and bad
karman, (the sage) finally gives up his body in the state of
renunciation – (such a sage) is indeed a Paramahamsa. Thus (ends) the
Upanishad.
Om ! That (Brahman) is infinite, and this (universe) is infinite.
The infinite proceeds from the infinite.
(Then) taking the infinitude of the infinite (universe),
It remains as the infinite (Brahman) alone.
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 Jabalopanishad belonging to the Sukla-Yajur-Veda. |