Mantrika
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 !
1. The eight-footed immaculate Swan, bound with three cords, subtle and
imperishable, to whom three ways lead, I see not though I see it
everywhere.
2. At the time all living beings are confounded (in the darkness of
nescience) when (however) the pileless darkness is shattered (by the sun
of saving knowledge). The sages established in Sattva behold the
Absolute beyond Gunaa (right) in the sphere of gunas.
3 (a). Contemplated by sages like Kumara, etc.; the Absolute is not
otherwise capable of being perceived (at all).
3(b)-4. The agent of superimposition the Unborn (Maya), the nescient
eight-fold inveterate mother of modifications; thus it is extended and
again prodded. The world under such power and guidance gives rise to the
values of man.
5. The Lord’s mighty Maya, having both a beginning and end, the creatrix,
brings beings into existence; white, black and red (She) fulfils all
desires.
6. (The ignorant) experiences this non-objective Maya (whose real nature
is) unknown (even) to sages like Kumara. The Lord alone freely following
(Her) enjoys Maya (as Her Lord and Companion).
7. He enjoys (Her) through both contemplation and action. He, the
omnipresent one, sustains (Her) who is common to one and all, the
yielder (of desired objects) and is enjoyed by the sacrificers.
8. The magnanimous (sages) behold in (the sphere of) Maya the bird
eating the fruits (of Karmas). The priests who have completed their
Vedic training have declared the Other to be detached.
9. The masters of the Rig-Veda, well-versed in the Shastras repeat what
the Yajur-Vedins have declared. The adepts in Sama-Veda singing
Brhatsama and Rathantara also (reaffirm this truth).
10. (Vedic) sages like Bhrigu and the Bhargavas – these followers of the
Atharva-Veda, practising the Veda, the mantras and the secret doctrines,
in the sequence on Words, (all set forth the same doctrine).
11-13. The faithful co-disciple, firm and accomplished, the red Bull,
the sacrificial Remainder – as all these, in regard to Its immensity;
and as Time, Life, the divine wrath, the Destroyer, the great Lord, the
Becoming, Rudra, the Protector of Jivas, the Rewarder of the virtuous,
the Lord of living beings, the Virat, the sustainer and the Waters (of
life), is the all-Pervader lauded by beings magnified in the mantras and
well-known to the Atharva-Veda.
14. Some aver Him (the great Lord) as the twenty sixth (Principle);
others as the twenty seventh; the masters of the Atharva-Veda and the
Atharva Upanishads know the Spirits beyond qualities, as set forth in
the Sankhya.
15. The manifest and the unmanifest have been counted (together) as
twenty four. (Some) declare Him non-dual; as dual; as three-fold; and
similarly as five-fold.
16. Those who see with the eye of wisdom, the twice-born, perceive Him
as comprising everything from Brahma to sticks, as one only, pure
through and through, all pervading.
17. That in which this might manifold, moving and unmoving, is woven –
in that very thing it also merges as the rivers do in the sea.
18. In That in which the objects are dissolved, and, having been
dissolved, become unmanifest, once more they attain manifestation; they
are again born like bubbles.
19. They come into being by virtue of causes supervised by individual
selves that know ‘the field’. Such is the blessed Lord, so others
repeatedly, declare.
20. Those Brahmanas who (just) know Brahman – here only they are
dissolved; and being dissolved they exist in the Avyakta. Having been
dissolved they exist in the Avyakta – this is the secret doctrine.
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 Mantrikopanishad belonging to the Sukla-Yajur-Veda. |