| Aitareya-Âranyaka — Second Âranyaka — Second Adhyâya. | Title page | Aitareya-Âranyaka — Second Âranyaka — Fourth Adhyâya. |
THIRD ADHYÂYA [^548].
¶ FIRST KHANDA.
1. He who knows himself as the fivefold hymn (uktha), the emblem of Prâna (breath), from whence all this springs [^549], he is clever. These five are the earth, air, ether, water, and fire (gyotis). This is the self, the fivefold uktha. For from him all this springs, and into him it enters again (at the dissolution of the world). He who knows this, becomes the refuge of his friends.
2. And to him who knows the food (object) and the feeder (subject) in that uktha, a strong son is born, and food is never wanting. Water and earth are food, for all food consists of these two. Fire and air are the feeder, for by means of them [1] man eats all food. Ether is the bowl, for all this is poured into the ether. He who knows this, becomes the bowl or support of his friends.
3. To him who knows the food and the feeder in that uktha, a strong son is born, and food is never wanting. Herbs and trees are food, animals the feeder, for animals eat herbs and trees.
4. Of them again those who have teeth above [ p. 222 ] and below, shaped after the likeness of man, are feeders, the other animals are food. Therefore these overcome the other animals, for the eater is over the food.
5. He who knows this is over his friends.
¶ SECOND KHANDA [2].
1. He who knows the gradual development of the self in him (the man conceived as the uktha), obtains himself more development.
2. There are herbs and trees and all that is animated, and he knows the self gradually developing in them. For in herbs and trees sap only is seen [3], but thought (kitta) in animated beings.
Among animated beings again the self develops gradually, for in some sap (blood) is seen (as well as thought), but in others thought is not seen.
4. And in man again the self develops gradually, for he is most endowed with knowledge. He says what he has known, he sees what he has known [4]. He knows what is to happen to-morrow, he knows heaven and hell. By means of the mortal he desires the immortal—thus is he endowed.
5. With regard to the other animals hunger and thirst only are a kind of understanding. But they do not say what they have known, nor do they see [ p. 223 ] what they have known. They do not know what is to happen to-morrow, nor heaven and hell. They go so far and no further, for they are born according to their knowledge (in a former life).
¶ THIRD KHANDA.
1. That man (conceived as uktha) is the sea, rising beyond the whole world [5]. Whatever he reaches, he wishes to go beyond [6]. If he reaches the sky, he wishes to go beyond.
2. If he should reach that (heavenly) world, he would wish to go beyond.
3. That man is fivefold. The heat in him is fire; the apertures (of the senses) are ether; blood, mucus, and seed are water; the body is earth; breath is air.
4. That air is fivefold, viz. up-breathing, down-breathing, back-breathing, out-breathing, on-breathing. The other powers (devatâs), viz. sight, hearing, mind, and speech, are comprised under up-breathing and down-breathing. For when breath departs, they also depart with it.
5. That man (conceived as uktha) is the sacrifice, which is a succession now of speech and now of thought. That sacrifice is fivefold, viz. the Agnihotra, the new and full moon sacrifices, the four-monthly sacrifices, the animal sacrifice, the Soma sacrifice. The Soma sacrifice is the most perfect of sacrifices, for in it these five kinds of ceremonies are seen: the first which precedes the libations (the Dîkshâ, &c.), then three libations, and what follows (the Avabhritha, &c.) is the fifth.
[ p. 224 ]
¶ FOURTH KHANDA.
1. He who knows one sacrifice above another, one day above another, one deity above the others, he is clever. Now this great uktha (the nishkevalya-sastra) is the sacrifice above another, the day above another, the deity above others [7].
2. This uktha is fivefold. With regard to its being performed as a Stoma (chorus), it is Trivrit, Pañkadasa, Saptadasa, Ekavimsa, and Pañkavimsa. With regard to its being performed as a Sâman (song), it is Gâyatra, Rathantara, Brihat, Bhadra, and Râgana. With regard to metre, it is Gâyatrî, Ushnih, Brihatî, Trishtubh, and Dvipadâ. And the explanation (given before in the Âranyaka) is that it is the head, the right wing, the left wing, the tail, and the body of the bird [8].
in each hymn. This, is the first round. He then sings the three middle verses in each hymn. This is the second round. He lastly sings the last three verses in each hymn. This is the third round. This song is called Udyatî.
The Pañkadasa stoma is formed out of one Sûkta only, consisting of three verses. In the first round he sings the first verse p. 225 three times, the second and third once. In the second round he sings the middle verse three times, in the third round he sings the last verse three times. This song is called Vishtuti.
The Saptadasa stoma is formed in the same manner, only that in the first round he sings the first verse three times, in the second the middle verse three times, in the third round the middle and last verses three times. This song is called Dasasapta.
The Ekavimsa stoma is formed in the same manner, only that in the first round he sings the last verse once, in the second the first verse once, in the third the middle verse once, while the other verses are each repeated three times. This song is called Saptasaptinî.
The Pañkavimsa stoma is formed in the same manner, only that in the first round he sings the first verse three times, the second four times, the last once; in the second round the first once, the second three times, the third four times; in the third round the first five times, the second once, the last three times; or he sings in the third round the first verse four times, the second twice, the last three times.
Sâyana in his commentary on the Ait. Âr. takes the Trivrit stoma to be formed out of three hymns, each consisting of three verses, while he says that the other stomas are formed out of one hymn only. B. and R., sv. trivrit, state that this stoma consists of verses 1, 4, 7; 2, 5, 8; and 3, 6, 9 of the Rig-veda hymn IX, 11, but, according to Sâyana, the stoma consists (1) of the first verses of the three Sûktas, upâsmai gâyata, davidyutatyâ, and pavamânasya at the beginning of the Sâma-veda-Uttarârkika, (2) of the second, (3) Of the third verses of the same three hymns. Mahîdhâra (Yv. X, 9) takes the same view, though the MSS. seem to have left out the description of the second paryâya, while Sâyana in his commentary to the Tândya-brâhmana seems to support the opinion of B. and R. There is an omission, however, in the printed text of the commentary, which makes it difficult to see the exact meaning of Sâyana.
The Pañkadasa stoma is well described by Sâyana, Tândya Br. II, 4. Taking the Sûkta agna â yâhi (Uttarârkika I, 1, 4 = Rv. VI, 16, 10-12), he shows the stoma to consist of (1) verse 1 × 3, 2, 3 (2) verse 1, 2 × 3, 3; (3) verse 1, 2, 3 × 3.
The five Sâmans are explained by the commentator. The p. 226 Gâyatra is formed out of the Rik (III, 62, 10) tat savitur varenyam. The Rathantara is formed out of the Rik (VII, 32, 22) abhi tvâ sûra nonuma. The Brihat is formed out of the Rik (VI, 46, 1) tvâm id dhi havâmahe. The Bhadra is formed out of the Rik (X, 57, 1) imâ nu kam. The Râgana is formed out of the Rik (VII, 27, 1) indram naro nemadhitâ.
The metres require no explanation.
In identifying certain portions of the Nishkevalya hymn with a bird, the head of the bird corresponds to the hymns indram id gâthinah, &c.; the right wing to the hymns abhi tvâ sûra, &c.; the left wing to the hymns tvâm id dhi, &c.; the tail to the hymns imâ nu kam, &c.; the body to the hymns tad id âsa, &c. All this was explained in the first Âranyaka. [ p. 225 ] 3. He performs the Prastâva in five ways, he performs the Udgîtha in five ways, he performs the [ p. 226 ] Pratihâra in five ways, he performs the Upadrava in five ways, he performs the Nidhana in five ways [9]. All this together forms one thousand Stobhas, or musical syllables [10].
4. Thus also are the Rik verses, contained in the Nishkevalya, recited (by the Hotri) in five orders. What precedes the eighty trikas, that is one order, then follow the three sets of eighty trikas each, and what comes after is the fifth order [11]. [ p. 227 ] 5. This (the hymns of this Sastra) as a whole (if properly counted with the Stobha syllables) comes to one thousand (of Brihatî verses). That (thousand) is the whole, and ten, ten is called the whole. For number is such (measured by ten). Ten tens are a hundred, ten hundreds are a thousand, and that is the whole. These are the three metres (the tens, pervading everything). And this food also (the three sets of hymns being represented as food) is threefold, eating, drinking, and chewing. He obtains that food by those (three numbers, ten, hundred, and thousand, or by the three sets of eighty trikas).
¶ FIFTH KHANDA.
1. This (nishkevalya-sastra) becomes perfect as a thousand of Brihatî verses.
2. Some teachers (belonging to a different Sâkhâ) recognise a thousand of different metres (not of Brihatîs only). They say: ‘Is another thousand (a thousand of other verses) good? Let us say it is good.’
3. Some say, a thousand of Trishtubh verses, others a thousand of Gagatî verses, others a thousand of Anushtubh verses.
4. This has been said by a Rishi (Rv. X, 124, 9):—
5. ‘Poets through their understanding discovered Indra dancing an Anushtubh.’ This is meant to say: They discovered (and meditated) in speech (called Anushtubh)—at that time (when they worshipped [ p. 228 ] the uktha)—the Prâna (breath) connected with Indra.
6. He (who takes the recited verses as Anushtubhs) is able to become celebrated and of good report.
7. No! he says; rather is such a man liable to die before his time. For that self (consisting of Anushtubhs) is incomplete. For if a man confines himself to speech, not to breath, then driven by his mind, he does not succeed with speech [12].
8. Let him work towards the Brihatî, for the Brihatî (breath) is the complete self.
9. That self (gîvâtman) is surrounded on all sides by members. And as that self is on all sides surrounded by members, the Brihatî also is on all sides surrounded by metres [13].
10. For the self (in the heart) is the middle of these members, and the Brihatî is the middle of the metres.
11. ‘He is able to become celebrated and of good [ p. 229 ] report, but (the other) able to die before his time,’ thus he said. For the Brihatî is the complete self, therefore let him work towards the Brihatî (let him reckon the sastra recitation as a thousand Brihatîs).
¶ SIXTH KHANDA.
1. This (nishkevalya-sastra) becomes perfect as a thousand of Brihatî verses. In this thousand of Brihatîs there are one thousand one hundred and twenty-five Anushtubhs. For the smaller is contained in the larger.
2. This has been said by a Rishi (Rv. VIII, 76, 12):—
3. ‘A speech of eight feet;’—because there are eight feet of four syllables each in the Anushtubh.
4. ‘Of nine corners;’—because the Brihatî becomes nine-cornered (having nine feet of four syllables each).
5. ‘Touching the truth;’—because speech (Anushtubh) is truth, touched by the verse (Brihatî) [14].
6. 'He (the Hotri) makes the body out of Indra;—'for out of this thousand of Brihatî verses turned into Anushtubhs, and therefore out of Prâna as connected with Indra [15], and out of the Brihatî (which is Prâna), he makes speech, that is Anushtubh, as a body [16].
7. This Mahaduktha is the highest development [ p. 230 ] of speech, and it is fivefold, viz. measured, not measured, music, true, and untrue.
8. A Rik verse, a gâthâ [17], a kumbyâ [18] are measured (metrical). A Yagus line, an invocation, and general remarks [19], these are not measured (they are in prose). A Sâman, or any portion (parvan) of it, is music. Om is true, Na is untrue.
9. What is true (Om) is the flower and fruit of speech. He is able to become celebrated and of good report, for he speaks the true (Om), the flower and fruit of speech.
10. Now the untrue is the root [20] of speech, and as a tree whose root is exposed dries up and perishes, thus a man who says what is untrue exposes his root, dries up and perishes. Therefore one should not say what is untrue, but guard oneself from it.
11. That syllable Om (yes) goes forward (to the first cause of the world) and is empty. Therefore if a man says Om (yes) to everything, then that (which he gives away) is wanting to him here [21]. If he says Om (yes) to everything, then he would empty himself, and would not be capable of any enjoyments.
12. That syllable Na (no) is full for oneself [22]. If a man says No to everything, then his reputation [ p. 231 ] would become evil, and that would ruin him even here.
13. Therefore let a man give at the proper time only, not at the wrong time. Thus he unites the true and the untrue, and from the union of those two he grows, and becomes greater and greater.
14. He who knows this speech of which this (the mahaduktha) is a development, he is clever. A is the whole of speech, and manifested through different kinds of contact (mutes) and of wind (sibilants), it becomes manifold and different.
15. Speech if uttered in a whisper is breath, if spoken aloud, it is body. Therefore (if whispered) it is almost hidden, for what is incorporeal is almost hidden, and breath is incorporeal. But if spoken aloud, it is body, and therefore it is perceptible, for body is perceptible.
¶ SEVENTH KHANDA.
1. This (nishkevalya-sastra) becomes perfect as a thousand of Brihatîs. It is glory (the glorious Brahman, not the absolute Brahman), it is Indra. Indra is the lord of all beings. He who thus knows Indra as the lord of all beings, departs from this world by loosening the bonds of life [23]\—so said Mahidâsa Aitareya. Having departed he becomes Indra (or Hiranyagarbha) and shines in those worlds [24]. [ p. 232 ] 2. And with regard to this they say: ‘If a man obtains the other world in this form (by meditating on the prâna, breath, which is the uktha, the hymn of the mahâvrata), then in what form does he obtain this world 1?’
3. Here the blood of the woman is a form of Agni (fire); therefore no one should despise it. And the seed of the man is a form of Âditya (sun); therefore no one should despise it. This self (the woman) gives her self (skin, blood, and flesh) to that self (fat, bone, and marrow), and that self (man) gives his self (fat, bone, and marrow) to this self (skin, blood, and flesh). Thus 2 these two grow together. In this form (belonging to the woman and to fire) he goes to that world (belonging to the man and the sun), and in that form (belonging to man and the sun) he goes to this world (belonging to the woman and to fire 3).
¶ EIGHTH KHANDA.
1. Here (with regard to obtaining Hiranyagarbha) there are these Slokas: [ p. 233 ] 2. The fivefold body into which the indestructible (prâna, breath) enters, that body which the harnessed horses (the senses) draw about, that body where the true of the true (the highest Brahman) follows after, in that body (of the worshipper) all gods [25] become one.
3. That body into which goes the indestructible (the breath) which we have joined (in meditation), proceeding from the indestructible (the highest Brahman), that body which the harnessed horses (the senses) draw about, that body where the true of the true follows after, in that body all gods become one.
4. After separating themselves from the Yes and No of language, and of all that is hard and cruel, poets have discovered (what they sought for); dependent on names they rejoiced in what had been revealed [26].
5. That in which the poets rejoiced (the revealed nature of prâna, breath), in it the gods exist all joined together. Having driven away evil by means of that Brahman (which is hidden in prâna), the enlightened man goes to the Svarga world (becomes one with Hiranyagarbha [27], the universal spirit).
6. No one wishing to describe him (prâna, breath) by speech, describes him by calling him ‘woman,’ ‘neither woman nor man,’ or ‘man’ (all such names applying only to the material body, and not to prâna or breath). [ p. 234 ] 7. Brahman (as hidden beneath prâna) is called the A; and the I (ego) is gone there (the worshipper should know that he is uktha and prâna).
8. This becomes perfect as a thousand of Brihatî verses, and of that hymn, perfect with a thousand Brihad verses, there are 36,000 syllables. So many are also the thousands of days of human life [28]. By means of the syllable of life (the a) alone (which is contained in that thousand of hymns) does a man obtain the day of life (the mahâvrata day, which completes the number of the days in the Gavâmayana, sacrifice), and by means of the day of life (he obtains) the syllable of life.
9. Now there is a chariot of the god (prâna) destroying all desires (for the worlds of Indra, the moon, the earth, all of which lie below the place of Hiranyagarbha). Its front part (the point of the two shafts of the carriage where the yoke is fastened) is speech, its wheels the cars, the horses the eyes, the driver the mind. Prâna (breath) mounts that chariot (and on it, i. e. by means of meditating on Prâna, he reaches Hiranyagarbha).
10. This has been said by a Rishi (Rv. X, 39, 12):—
11. ‘Come hither on that which is quicker than mind,’ and (Rv. VIII, 73, 2) ‘Come hither on that which is quicker than the twinkling of an eye,’ yea, the twinkling of an eye [29].
[ p. 235 ]
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¶ Footnotes
221:1 In this adhyâya some more qualities are explained belonging to the Mahâvrata ceremonial and the hymns employed at it, which can be meditated on as referring to Prâna, life. ↩︎
221:2 Because the world is the result or reward for performing a meditation on the uktha. Comm. ↩︎
221:3 The digestive fire is lighted by the air of the breath. Comm. ↩︎
222:1 This treats of the gradual development of life in man, particularly of the development of a thinking soul (kaitanya). ↩︎
222:2 In stones there is not even sap, but only being, sattâ. Comm. ↩︎
222:3 What he has known yesterday he remembers, and is able to say before men, I know this. And when he has known a thing he remembers it, and goes to the same place to see it again. Comm. ↩︎
223:1 Bhûloka. Comm. ↩︎
223:2 Should it not be aty enan manyate? ↩︎
224:2 All these are technicalities connected with the singing and reciting of the uktha. The commentator says: The stoma is a collection of single Rik verses occurring in the trikas which have to be sung. The Trivrit stoma, as explained in the Sâma-brâhmana, is as follows: There are three Sûktas, each consisting of three verses, the first being upâsmai gâyata, S. V. Uttarârkika I, 1, 1 = Rv. IX, 11. The Udgâtri first sings the first three verses [30] ↩︎
224:a Hiṅkri with dative is explained as gai with accusative. ↩︎
226:1 The Sâmagas sing the Râgana at the Mahâvrata, and in that Sâman there are, as usual, five parts, the Prastâva, Udgîtha, pratihâra, Upadrava, and Nidhana. The Prastotri, when singing the Prastâva portions, sings them five times. The Udgâtri and Pratihartri sing their portions, the Udgîtha and Pratihâra, five times. The Udgâtri again sings the Upadrava five times. And all the Udgâtris together sing the Nidhana five times. ↩︎
226:2 The Stobha syllables are syllables without any meaning, added when verses have to be sung, in order to have a support for the music. See Kh. Up. I, 13. In singing the five Sâmans, each five times, one thousand of such Stobha syllables are required. ↩︎
226:3 There are in the Nishkevalya hymn, which the Hotri has to recite, three sets of eighty trikas each. The first, consisting of Gâyatrîs, begins with
indro ya ogasâ. The second, consisting of Brihatîs, begins with ya kid anyad. The third, consisting of Ushnihs, begins with ya indra somapâtama. These three sets form the food of the bird, as the emblem of the sastra. The hymns p. 227 which precede these, form the body, head, and wings of the bird. This is one order. Then follow the three sets of eighty trikas each; and lastly, the fifth order, consisting of the hymns which form the belly and the legs of the bird. ↩︎228:1 This passage is obscure, and probably corrupt. I have followed the commentator as much as possible. He says: ‘If the Hotri priest proceeds with reciting the sastra, looking to the Anushtubh, which is speech, and not to the thousand of Brihatîs which are breath, then, neglecting the Brihatî (breath), and driven by his mind to the Anushtubh (speech), he does not by his speech obtain that sastra. For in speech without breath the Hotri cannot, through the mere wish of the mind, say the sastra, the activity of all the senses being dependent on breath.’ The commentator therefore takes vâgabhi for vâkam abhi, or for some old locative case formed by abhi. He also would seem to have read prâne na. One might attempt another construction, though it is very doubtful. One might translate, ‘For that self, which is speech, is incomplete, because he understands if driven to the mind by breath, not (if driven) by speech.’ ↩︎
228:2 Either in the sastra, or in the list of metres, there being some that have more, others that have less syllables. ↩︎
229:1 Vâk, speech, taking the form of Anushtubh, and being joined with the Rik, or the Brihatî, touches the true, i. e. Prâna, breath, which is to be meditated on under the form of the Brihatî. Comm. ↩︎
229:2 Cf. Ait. Âr. II, 2, 3, 4. ↩︎
229:3 Because the Anushtubh is made out of the Brihatî, the Brihatî being breath, therefore the Anushtubh is called its body. ↩︎
230:1 A gâthâ is likewise in verse, for instance, prâtah prâtar anritam te vadanti. ↩︎
230:2 A kumbyâ is a metrical precept, such as, brahmakâryasyâposânam karma kuru, divi ma svâpsîh, &c. ↩︎
230:3 Such as arthavâdas, explanatory passages, also gossip, such as is common in the king’s palace, laughing at people, &c. ↩︎
230:4 As diametrically opposed to the flowers and fruits which represent the true. Comm. ↩︎
230:5 Then that man is left empty here on earth for that enjoyment. Comm. ↩︎
230:6 He who always says No, keeps everything to himself. ↩︎
232:2 The body consists of six elements, and is hence called shâtkausika. Of these, three having a white appearance (fat, bone, and marrow), come from the sun and from man; three having a. red appearance, come from fire and from the woman. ↩︎
232:3 It is well therefore to shake off this body, and by meditating on the uktha to obtain identity with Hiranyagarbha. Comm. ↩︎
233:1 The worshipper identifies himself by meditation with prâna, breath, which comprehends all gods. These gods (Agni and the rest) appear in the forms of speech, &c. Comm. ↩︎
233:2 The prâna, breath, and their identity with it through meditation or worship. Comm. ↩︎
233:3 Sarvâhammânî hiranyagarbha iti sruteh. Comm. ↩︎
224:1 The uktha is to be conceived as prâna, breath or life, and this prâna was shown to be above the other powers (devatâs), speech, hearing, seeing, mind. The uktha belongs to the Mahâvrata day, and that is the most important day of the Soma sacrifice. The Soma sacrifice, lastly, is above all other sacrifices. ↩︎