Vajrasuchika
Upanishad
Om ! Let my limbs and speech, Prana, eyes,
ears, vitality
And all the senses grow in strength.
All existence is the Brahman of the Upanishads.
May I never deny Brahman, nor Brahman deny me.
Let there be no denial at all:
Let there be no denial at least from me.
May the virtues that are proclaimed in the Upanishads be in me,
Who am devoted to the Atman; may they reside in me.
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 Shall set for Vajrasuchi (the diamond needle) which pierces ignorance,
rebukes the ignorant and ornaments those who have wisdom as eye.
The Smritis affirm, following the Vedas
that the Brahmana is the most important of the four castes. It must be
asked, ‘Who is a Brahmana’ – the self, body, class, knowledge, action or
virtue ? The soul is not a Brahmana because the soul is the same in all
bodies past and future. The same person takes many bodies according to
karma, nor is the body Brahmana – the body is the same from the Chandala
(to the highest caste) being made of the five elements and is seen to
have old age, death etc., alike. There is no fixity (of colour) such as
Brahmana is white, Kshatriya is red, Vaishya is yellow and Sudra is
black; also when the father’s body is cremated, the son etc., may be
guilty of killing a Brahmana. Nor is the class a Brahmana. Then there
would be many classes within the classes. Many are the great sages: Rishyasringa
born of a deer, Kausika of reed, Jambuka of a jackal, Valmiki of an
ant-hill, Vyasa of a fisher-girl, Gautama of a hare’s back, Vasistha of
Urvasi, Agastya of a pot according to tradition. These are not Brahmanas
by birth but by their knowledge. Nor is knowledge Brahmana: Kshatriyas
and others also have knowledge. Nor is karma: all creatures are seen to
have similar karma of Prarabdha etc., and all creatures act being
impelled by karma. Nor is a man of virtue: There are many givers of
gold – Kshatriyas etc. One who has directly realized, like the berry in
the palm, the Atman without a second, devoid of class, quality and
action and of defects like the six waves (like hunger), the states (like
birth and death), of the nature of truth, knowledge and bliss, free
from adjuncts, the basis of all thoughts, immanent in all creatures,
present inside and outside like space. Bliss impartite,
beyond (ordinary) knowledge, to be realized by experience alone – and
having become successful, free from lust etc., rich in mental
control, without greed etc., mind untouched by hypocrisy etc.
This is the intention of Veda etc.
Otherwise the nature of Brahmana cannot be achieved. One should
contemplate one’s self as the spirit without a second, truth, knowledge
and bliss.
This is the Upanishad.
Om ! Let my limbs and speech, Prana, eyes, ears, vitality
And all the senses grow in strength.
All existence is the Brahman of the Upanishads.
May I never deny Brahman, nor Brahman deny me.
Let there be no denial at all:
Let there be no denial at least from me.
May the virtues that are proclaimed in the Upanishads be in me,
Who am devoted to the Atman; may they reside in me.
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 Vajrasuchika Upanishad, included in the Sama-Veda |