1) 

Realizing that from which all words turn back

     And thoughts can never reach, one knows

    The bliss of Brahman and fears no more.

2) 

May my life merge in the Immortal

     When my body is reduced to ashes.

     O mind, meditate on the eternal Brahman.

     Remember the deeds of the past.

      Remember, O mind, remember.

3) 

Waste not food, waste not water, waste not fire;

Fire and water exist to serve the Self.

Those who realize the Self within the heart

Stand firm, grow rich, gather a family

Around them, and receive the love of all.

4) 

In paradise there is [no such thing as] fear;

Thou art not there, nor shrinks one from old age.

Hunger and thirst, these two transcending,

Sorrow, surpassing, a man makes merry in paradise.

5) 

 Fire is not seen until one firestick rubs

Against another, though fire is still there,

Hidden in the firestick. So does the Lord

Remain hidden in the body until

He is revealed through the mystic mantram.

Let your body be the lower firestick;

Let the mantram be the upper. Rub them

Against each other in meditation

And realize the Lord.

6) 

 Fire is not seen until one firestick rubs

Against another, though fire is still there,

Hidden in the firestick. So does the Lord

Remain hidden in the body until

He is revealed through the mystic mantram.

Let your body be the lower firestick;

Let the mantram be the upper. Rub them

Against each other in meditation

And realize the Lord.

7) 

On this ever-revolving wheel of being

The individual self goes round and round

Through life after life, believing itself

To be a separate creature, until

It sees its identity with the Lord of Love

And attains immortality in the indivisible whole.

8) 

The mantra AUM stands for the supreme state

Of Turiya, without parts, beyond birth

And death, symbol of everlasting joy.

Those who know AUM as the Self become the Self;

Truly they become the Self.

Om shanti shanti shanti

9) 

The Lord is enshrined in the hearts of all.

The Lord is the supreme Reality.

Rejoice in him through renunciation.

Covet nothing. All belongs to the Lord.

Thus working may you live a hundred years.

Thus alone will you work in real freedom.

10) 

This universe comes forth from Brahman and will return to Brahman. Verily, all is Brahman.

A person is what his deep desire is. It is our deepest desire in this life that shapes the life to come. So let us direct our deepest desires to realize the Self.

11) 

As great as the infinite space beyond is the space within the lotus of the heart. Both heaven and earth are contained in that inner space, both fire and air, sun and moon, lightning and stars. Whether we know it in this world or know it not, everything is contained in that inner space.

12) 

He runs without feet and holds without hands.

He sees without eyes and hears without ears.

He knows everyone, but no one knows him.

He is called the First, the Great, the Supreme.

13) 

As an eagle, weary after soaring in the sky, folds its wings and flies down to rest in its nest, so does the shining Self enter the state of dreamless sleep, where one is freed from all desires.

14) 

One who meditates upon and realizes the

self discovers that everything in the cosmos--

energy and space, fire and water, name and

form, birth and death, mind and will, word

and deed, mantram and meditation--all come

from the Self.

15) 

As a man from Gandhara, blindfolded,

Led away and left in a lonely place,

Turns to the east and west and north and south

And shouts, 'I am left here and cannot see!'

Until one removes his blindfold and says,

'There lies Gandhara; follow that path,'

And thus informed, able to see for himself,

The man inquires from village to village

And reaches his homeland at last--just so,

My son, one who finds an illumined teacher

Attains to spiritual wisdom in the Self.

16) 

In the city of Brahman is a secret dwelling,

the lotus of the heart. Within this dwelling is a

space, and within that space is the fulfillment

of our desires. What is within that space

should be longed for and realized.

17) 

Having renounced every selfish desire,

He has found his rest in the Lord of Love.

Wisdom is the staff that supports him now.

Those who take a mendicant's staff while they

Are still at the mercy of their senses

Cannot escape enormous suffering.

The illuminated man knows this truth of life.

18) 

In dark night live those for whom

The world without alone is real; in night

Darker still, for whom the world within

Alone is real. The first leads to a life

Of action, the second to a life of meditation.

But those who combine action with meditation

Cross the sea of death through action

And enter into immortality

Through the practice of meditation.

So have we heard from the wise.

21)

From his divine power comes forth all this

Magical show of name and form, of you

And me, which casts the spell of pain and pleasure.

Only when we pierce through this magic veil

Do we see the One who appears as many.
 

22)

Brahman is indivisible and pure;

Realize Brahman and go beyond all change.

He is immanent and transcendent.

Realizing him, sages attain freedom

And declare there are no separate minds.

They have but realized what they always are.

23)

"The wise see the Lord of Love in the month;

Rayi is the dark half, prana the bright.

The wise worship in the light of wisdom,

Others in the darkness of ignorance."

24)

As a person acts, so he becomes in life. Those who do good become good; those who do harm become bad. Good deeds make one pure; bad deeds make one impure. So we are said to be what our desire is. As our desire is, so is our will. As our will is, so are our acts. As we act, so we become.

25)

As rivers lose their private name and form

When they reach the sea, so that people speak

Of the sea alone, so all these sixteen

Forms disappear when the Self is realized.

Then there is no more name and form for us,

And we attain immortality."

26)

"When a spiritual guest enters the house,

Like a bright flame, he must be received well,

With water to wash his feet. Far from wise

Are those who are not hospitable

To such a guest. They will lose all their hopes,

The religious merit they have acquired,

Their sons and their cattle."

27)

 "That which makes the eye see but cannot be

Seen by the eye, that is the Self indeed.

This Self is not someone other than you."

 

28)

"That which moves about in joy in the dreaming state is the Self, fearless and deathless. That is Brahman, the supreme."

29)

The light of Brahman flashes in lightning;

The light of Brahman flashes in our eyes.

It is the power of Brahman that makes

The mind to think, desire, and will.

Therefore

Use this power to meditate on Brahman.

He is the inmost Self of everyone;

He alone is worthy of all our love.

Meditate upon him in all. Those who

Meditate upon him are dear to all.

-Kena Upanishad

30)

He has no staff nor tuft nor sacred thread.

He faces heat and cold, pleasure and pain,

Honor and dishonor with equal calm.

He is not affected by calumny,

Pride, jealousy, status, joy or sorrow,

Greed, anger, or infatuation,

Excitement, egoism, or other goads;

For [the illuminated man] knows he is neither body nor mind.

-Paramahamsa Upanishad

31)

AUM has three sounds. Those who meditate on A

Come back to earth, led by the Rig Veda,

To lead a pure life, full of faith and love.

Those who meditate on the first two sounds,

A and U, led by the Yajur Veda,

Go to the lunar world, full of pleasure,

From which they come back cloyed to earth again.

But those who meditate on A, U, and M

Are led by the Sama chants to the sun,

Where freed from sin, as a snake sheds its skin,

They see the supreme Lord, who lives in all.

32)

As a heavily laden cart creaks as it moves along, the body groans under its burden when a person is about to die. When the body grows weak through old age or illness, the Self separates himself as a mango or fig or banyan fruit frees itself from the stalk, and returns the way he came to begin another life.

33)

 Like oil in sesame seeds, like butter

In cream, like water in springs, like fire

In firesticks, so dwells the Lord of Love,

The Self, in the very depths of consciousness.

Realize him through truth and meditation.

34)

Know him to be the supreme God of gods,

From whom all the worlds draw their breath of life

And who rules every creature from within.

May he be worshipped by everyone!

35)

It is true the body is perishable, but

within it dwells the imperishable Self. This

body is subject to pleasure and pain; no one

who identifies with the body can escape from

pleasure and pain. But those who know they

are not the body pass beyond pleasure and

pain to live in abiding joy.

36)

 In dark night live those for whom

The world without alone is real; in night

Darker still, for whom the world within

Alone is real. The first leads to a life

Of action, the second to a life of meditation.

But those who combine action with meditation

Cross the sea of death through action

And enter into immortality

Through the practice of meditation.

So have we heard from the wise.

37)

The milk of cows of any hue is white.

The sages say that wisdom is the milk

And the sacred scriptures are the cows.

38)

For Brahmins confused those who regard them as separate from the Self. Kshatriyas confuse those who regard them as separate from the Self. The universe confuses those who regard it as separate from the Self. Gods and creatures confuse those who regard them as separate from the Self. Everything confuses those who regard things as separate from the Self.

39)

As the rays of the sun,

When night comes, become all one in his disk

Until they spread out again at sunrise,

Even so the senses are gathered up

In the mind, which is master of them all.

Therefore when a person neither hears, sees, smells,

Tastes, touches, speaks, nor enjoys, we say he sleeps.

40)

As a caterpillar, having come to the end of one blade of grass, draws itself together and reaches out for the next, so the Self, having come to the end of one life and dispelled all ignorance, gathers in his faculties and reaches out from the old body to a new.

41)

The Self is hidden in the hearts of all,

As butter lies hidden in cream. Realize

The Self in the depths of meditation -

The Lord of Love, supreme Reality,

Who is the goal of all knowledge.

42)

That through which one enjoys form,

Taste, smell, sound,

Touch, and sexual union is the Self.

Can there be anything not known to That

Who is the One in all? Know One, know all.

That through which one enjoys the waking

And sleeping states is the Self. To know That

As consciousness is to go beyond sorrow.

43)

The all-knowing Self was never born,

Nor will it die. Beyond cause and effect,

This Self is eternal and immutable.

When the body dies, the Self does not die.

If the slayer believes that he can slay

Or the slain believes that he can be slain,

Neither knows the truth. The eternal Self

Slays not, nor is ever slain.

44) Having realized his own self as the Self a person becomes selfless.

45) Never fear that old age will invade that

city; never fear that this inner treasure of all

reality will wither and decay. This knows no

age when the body ages; this knows no dying

when the body dies. This is the real city of

Brahman; this is the Self, free from old age,

from death and grief, hunger and thirst. In the

Self all desires are fulfilled.

46) In deep meditation aspirants may

See forms like snow or smoke. They may feel

A strong wind blowing or a wave of heat.

They may see within them more and more light:

Fireflies, lightning, sun, or moon. These are signs

That one is far on the path to Brahman.

47) Like the wind, like clouds, like thunder and

lightning, which rise from space without

physical shape and reach the transcendent

light in their own form, those who rise above

body-consciousness ascend to the transcendent

light in their real form, the Self.

48) The Self thought, "How can this be without me?

If speaking is done by speech, breathing by

Breath, seeing by eyes, hearing by ears, smelling

By nose, and meditation by the mind,

Then who am I?" Entering the body

Through the gateway at the crown of the head,

He passed into the three states of consciousness

In which the Self resides.

49) There is only one Self in all creatures.

The One appears many, just as the moon

Appears many, reflected in water.

The Self appears to change its location

But does not, just as the air in a jar

Changes not when the jar is moved about.

When the jar is broken, the air knows not;

But the Self knows well when the body is shed.

50) Said Uddalaka to Shvetaketu:

"In the beginning was only Being,

One without a second.

Out of himself he brought forth the cosmos

And entered into everything in it.

There is nothing that does not come from him.

Of everything he is the inmost Self.

He is the truth; he is the Self supreme.

You are that, Shvetaketu; you are that."

51)Smaller than a grain of rice, smaller than a grain of barley, smaller than a mustard seed, smaller than a grain of millet, smaller even than the kernel of a grain of millet is the Self. This is the Self dwelling in my heart, greater than the earth, greater than the sky, greater than all the worlds.

52) All is change in the world of the senses,

But changeless is the supreme Lord of Love,

Meditate on him, be absorbed in him,

Wake up from this dream of separateness.

53) The study of the Vedas, linguistics,

Rituals, astronomy and all the arts

Can be called lower knowledge. The higher

Is that which leads to Self-realization.

The eye cannot see it; mind cannot grasp it.

The deathless Self has neither caste nor race,

Neither eyes not ears nor hands nor feet.

Sages say this Self is infinite in the great

And in the small, everlasting and changeless,

The source of life.

54) It is true the body is perishable, but

within it dwells the imperishable Self. This

body is subject to pleasure and pain; no one

who identifies with the body can escape from

pleasure and pain. But those who know they

are not the body pass beyond pleasure and

pain to live in abiding joy.

55) If one fails to realize Brahman in this life

Before the physical sheath is shed.

He must again put on a body

In the world of embodied creatures.

56) Before the world was created, the Self

Alone existed; nothing whatever stirred.

Then the Self thought: "Let me create the world."

He brought forth all the worlds out of himself:

Ambhas, high above the sky; Marichi,

The sky; Mara, the middle region that is earth;

And Apa, the realm of waters below.

57) "When a person is sleeping soundly, free from dreams, with a still mind, that is the Self, fearless and deathless. That is Brahman, the supreme."

58) The Self is the hub of the wheel of life,

And the sixteen forms are only the spokes.

The Self is the paramount goal of life.

Attain this goal and go beyond death!

59) Imperishable is the Lord of Love.

As from a blazing fire thousands of sparks

Leap forth, so millions of beings arise

From the Lord of Love and return to him.

60)

As an eagle, weary after soaring in the sky, folds its wings and flies down to rest in its nest, so does the shining Self enter the state of dreamless sleep, where one is freed from all desires.

61) "I am the food of life, I am, I am;

I eat the food of life, I eat, I eat.

I link food and water, I link, I link.

I am the first-born in the universe;

Older than the gods, I am immortal.

Who shares food with the hungry protects me;

Who shares not with them is consumed by me.

I am this world and I consume this world.

They who understand this understand life."

62) To know the unity of all life leads

To deathlessness; to know not leads to death.

Both are hidden in the infinity

Of Brahman, who is beyond both.

63) But if you know you are the Self, the Lord of Life, you will be free from suffering; the supreme source of light; the supreme source of love. You will transcend duality and live in a state of Oneness.

64) Worshipping this Self in the world of Brahman, the gods obtained all worlds and all desires. Those who know this Self and realize this Self obtain all worlds and all desires.

65) Those who see all creatures in themselves

And themselves in all creatures know no fear.

Those who see all creatures in themselves

And themselves in all creatures knows no grief.

How can the multiplicity of life

Delude the one who sees its unity?

66) Satyakama approached the sage and asked:

"Those who have become established in AUM,

What happens to them after death?"

The sage replied: "AUM is both immanent

And transcendent. Through it one can attain

The personal and the impersonal."

67) Smaller than a grain of rice, smaller than a grain of barley, smaller than a mustard seed, smaller than a grain of millet, smaller even than the kernel of a grain of millet is the Self. This is the Self dwelling in my heart, greater than the earth, greater than the sky, greater than all the worlds.

68) Perennial joy or passing pleasure?

This is the choice one is to make always.

The wise recognize these two, but not

The ignorant. The first welcome what leads

To abiding joy, though painful at the time.

The latter run, goaded by their senses,

After what seems immediate pleasure.

69) This Self who gives rise to all works, all desires, all odors, all tastes, who pervades the universe, who is beyond words, who is joy abiding, who is ever present in my heart, is Brahman indeed. To him I shall attain when my ego dies.

70) There is a city with eleven gates

Of which the ruler is the unborn Self,

Whose light forever shines. They go beyond

Sorrow who meditate on the Self

And are freed from the cycle of birth and death.

For this Self is supreme!

71) OM is the supreme symbol of the Lord.

OM is the whole, OM affirms; OM signals

The chanting of the hymns from the Vedas.

The priest begins with OM; spiritual teachers

And their students commence with OM.

The student who is established in OM

Becomes united with the Lord of Love.

72) OM is the supreme symbol of the Lord.

OM is the whole, OM affirms; OM signals

The chanting of the hymns from the Vedas.

The priest begins with OM; spiritual teachers

And their students commence with OM.

The student who is established in OM

Becomes united with the Lord of Love.

73) He is the eternal Reality, sing the scriptures,

And the ground of existence.

Those who perceive him in every creature

Merge in him and are released from the wheel

Of birth and death.

74) What is the cause of the cosmos? Is it Brahman?

From where do we come? By what live?

Where shall we find peace at last?

What power governs the duality

Of pleasure and pain by which we are driven?

Time, nature, necessity, accident,

Elements, energy, intelligence--

None of these can be the First Cause.

They are effects, whose only purpose is

To help the self rise above pleasure and pain.

75) Like strangers in an unfamiliar country

walking over a hidden treasure, day by day

we enter the world of Brahman while in deep

sleep but never find it, carried away by what

is false.

76) In the world people think they can attain glory by having cows and horses, elephants and gold, family and servants, fields and mansions. But I do not call that glory, for here one thing depends on another. Utterly independent is the Infinite.

Know the Self as lord of the chariot,

The body as the chariot itself,

The discriminating intellect as charioteer,

And the mind as reins.

The senses, say the wise, are the horses;

Selfish desires are the roads they travel.

When the Self is confused with the body,

Mind, and senses, they point out, he seems

To enjoy pleasure and suffer sorrow.

78) Just as rivers flow from east and west

to merge with the one sea,

forgetting that they were ever separate rivers,

so all beings lose their separateness

when they eventually merge into pure Being.

79) The Self cannot be known by anyone

Who desists not from unrighteous ways,

Controls not his senses, stills not his mind,

And practices not meditation.

None else can know the omnipresent Self,

Whose glory sweeps away the rituals

Of the priest and the prowess of the warrior

And puts death itself to death.

80) The great teacher Prajapati said: “The Self is pure, free from decay and death, free from hunger and thirst, and free from sorrow. The Self desires nothing that is not good, wills nothing that is not good. Seek and realize the Self! Those who seek and realize the Self fulfill all their desires and attain the goal supreme.”

81) From the heart there radiate a hundred

And one vital tracks. One of them rises

To the crown of the head. This way leads

To immortality, the others to death.

82)
Fire is not seen until one firestick rubs

Against another, though fire is still there,

Hidden in the firestick. So does the Lord

Remain hidden in the body until

He is revealed through the mystic mantram.

Let your body be the lower firestick;

Let the mantram be the upper. Rub them

Against each other in meditation

And realize the Lord.

83) It is but few who hear about the Self

Fewer still dedicate their lives to its

Realization. Wonderful is the one

Who speaks about the Self; rare are they

Who make it the supreme goal of their lives.

84) Not by the weak, not by the unearnest,

Not by those who practice wrong disciplines

Can the Self be realized. The Self reveals

Himself as the Lord of Love to the one

Who practices right disciplines.

85) Ignorant of their ignorance, yet wise

In their own esteem, these deluded men,

Proud of their vain learning go round and round

Like the blind led by the blind. Far beyond

Their eyes, hypnotized by the world of sense,

Opens the way to immortality.

"I am my body; when my body dies,

I die." Living in this superstition

They fall life after life under my sway.

86) He is the source of all powers of life.

He is the lord of all, the great seer

Who dwells forever in the cosmic womb.

May he purify our consciousness!

O Lord, in whom alone we can find peace,

May we see your divine Self and be freed

From all impure thoughts and all fear.

87) Even as the sun shines and fills all space

With light, above, below, across, so shines

The Lord of Love and fills the hearts of all created beings.

From him the cosmos comes, he who teaches

Each living creature to attain perfection

According to its own nature. He is

The Lord of Love who reigns over all life.

88) As a great fish swims between the banks of a river as it likes, so does the shining Self move between the states of dreaming and waking.

89) As great as the infinite space beyond is the space within the lotus of the heart. Both heaven and earth are contained in that inner space, both fire and air, sun and moon, lightning and stars. Whether we know it in this world or know it not, everything is contained in that inner space.

90) Hear, O children of immortal bliss,

You are born to be united with the Lord.

Follow the path of the illumined ones

And be united with the Lord of Life.

Kindle the fire of kundalini deep

In meditation. Bring your mind and breath

Under control. Drink deep of divine love,

And you will attain the unitive state.

Dedicate yourself to the Lord of Life,

Who is the cause of the cosmos. He will

Remove the cause of all your suffering

And free you from the bondage of karma.

91) But not those who are free from desire; they

Are free because all their desires have found

Fulfillment in the Self. They do not die like the

Others; but realizing Brahman, they merge in

Brahman.

92) Hidden in the cave of the heart,

Leave pain and pleasure far behind.

Those who know they are neither body nor mind

But the immemorial Self, the divine

Principle of existence, find the source

Of all joy and live in joy abiding.

I see the gates of joy are opening

For your Nachiketa.

93) He is the inner Self of all,

Hidden like a little flame in the heart.

Only by the stilled mind can he be known.

Those who realize him become immortal.

He has thousands of heads, thousands of eyes,

Thousands of feet; he surrounds the cosmos

On every side. This infinite being

Is ever present in the hearts of all.

He has become the cosmos. He is what was

And what will be. Yet he is unchanging,

The lord of immortality.

94) Children, when they have long lived in ignorance, consider themselves happy. Because those who depend on their good works are, owing to their passions, improvident, they fall and become miserable when their life (in the world which they had gained by their good works) is finished.

Considering sacrifice and good works as the best, these fools know no higher good, and having enjoyed (their reward) on the height of heaven, gained by good works, they enter again this world or a lower one.

But those who practice penance and faith in the forest, tranquil, wise, and living on alms, depart free from passion through the sun to where that immortal Person dwells whose nature is imperishable.

95) Conscious spirit and unconscious matter

Both have existed since the dawn of time,

With maya [illusion] appearing to connect them,

Misrepresenting joy as outside us.

When all these three are seen as one, the Self

Reveals his universal form and serves

As an instrument of the divine will.

96) As there can be no water without the sea,

No touch without the skin, no smell without

The nose, no taste without the tongue, no form

Without the eye, no sound without the

Ear, no thought without the mind, no wisdom

Without the heart, no work without hands, no

Walking without feet, no scriptures without the

Word, so there can be nothing without the Self.

97) All is change in the world of the sense,

But changeless is the supreme Lord of Love.

Meditate on him, be absorbed in him,

Wake up from this dream of separateness.

Fire is not seen until one firestick rubs

Against another, though fire is still there,

Hidden in the firestick. So does the Lord

Remain hidden in the body until

He is revealed through the mystic mantram.

98) In that unitive state there is neither father

Nor mother, neither worlds nor gods nor even

Scriptures. In that state there is neither thief

Nor slayer, neither low caste nor high, neither

Monk nor ascetic. The Self is beyond good

And evil, beyond all the suffering of the human

Heart.

99) In paradise there is [no such thing as] fear;

Thou art not there, nor shrinks one from old age.

Hunger and thirst, these two transcending,

Sorrow, surpassing, a man makes merry in paradise.

100) In deep meditation aspirants may

See forms like snow or smoke. They may feel

A strong wind blowing or a wave of heat.

They may see within them more and more light:

Fireflies, lightning, sun, or moon. These are signs

That one is far on the path to Brahman.

101)

Having taught the Vedas, the teacher says:

"Speak the truth. Do your duty. Neglect not

The scriptures. Give your best to your teacher.

Do not cut off the line of progeny. Swerve not

From the truth. Swerve not from the good.

Protect your spiritual progress always.

Give your best in learning and teaching.

Never fail in respect to the sages.

See the divine in your mother, father,

Teacher, and guest. Never do what is wrong.

Honor those who are worthy of honor.

Give with faith. Give with love. Give with joy.

If you are in doubt about the right conduct,

Follow the example of the sages,

Who know what is best for spiritual growth.

This is the instruction of the Vedas;

This is the secret; this is the message."

102) May the Lord of day grant us peace.

May the Lord of night grant us peace.

May the Lord of sight grant us peace.

May the Lord of might grant us peace.

May the Lord of speech grant us peace.

May the Lord of space grant us peace.

I bow down to Brahman, source of all power.

I will speak the truth and follow the law.

Guard me and my teacher against all harm.

Guard me and my teacher against all harm.

104) The sage Vamadeva declared of old:

"While dwelling in the womb I understood

The birth of all the gods. A hundred forms,

Strong as steel, held me prisoner. But I

Broke loose from them, like a hawk from the cage,

And came out swiftly." While still in the womb,

Vamaveda made this declaration.

He emerged from his mother's womb, fully

Illuminated, to live in abiding joy,

And went beyond death. Indeed

He went beyond death.

105) The Self is hidden in the lotus of the heart.

Those who see themselves in all the creatures go

day by day into the world of Brahman hidden

in the heart. Established in peace, they rise

above body consciousness to the supreme

light of the Self. Immortal, free from fear, this

Self is Brahman, called the True. Beyond the

mortal and the immortal, he binds both worlds

together. Those who know this live day after

day in heaven in this very life.

106) Those who see all creatures in themselves

And themselves in all creatures know no fear.

Those who see all creatures in themselves

And themselves in all creatures know no grief.

How can the multiplicity of life

Delude the one who sees its unity?

107) Under the hypnotic spell of pleasure

And pain, we live for ourselves and are bound.

Though master of ourselves, we roam about

From birth to birth, driven by our own deeds.

108) Where there is separateness, one sees

another, smells another, tastes another,

speaks to another, hears another, touches

another, thinks of another, knows another.

But where there is unity, one without a

second, that is the world of Brahman. This is

the supreme goal of life, the supreme treasure,

the supreme joy. Those who do not seek this

Supreme goal live on but a fraction of this joy.

109) Who is this Self on whom we meditate?

Is it the Self by which we see, hear, smell, and taste,

Through which we speak in words? Is Self the mind

By which we perceive, direct, understand,

Know, remember, think, will, desire, and love?

These are but servants of the Self, who is

Pure consciousness.

This Self is all in all.

He is all the gods, the five elements,

Earth, air, fire, water, and space; all creatures,

Great or small, born of eggs, of wombs, of heat,

Of shoots; horses, cows, elephants, men, and women;

All beings that walk, all beings that fly,

And all that neither walk nor fly. Prajna

Is pure consciousness, guiding all. The world

Rests on prajna, and prajna is Brahman.

108) What use are the scriptures to anyone

Who knows not the one source from whom they come,

In whom all gods and worlds abide?

Only those who realize him as ever present

Within the heart attain abiding joy.

109) What is here is also there; what is there,

Also here. Who sees multiplicity

But not the one indivisible Self

Must wander on and on from death to death.

110) Well have you renounced these passing pleasures

So dear to the senses, Nachiketa,

And turned your back on the way of the world

Which makes mankind forget the goal of life.

Far apart are wisdom and ignorance.

The first leads one to Self-realization;

The second makes one more and more

Estranged from his real Self. I regard you,

Nachiketa, worthy of instruction,

For passing pleasures tempt you not at all.

110) When one lacks discrimination

And his mind is undisciplined, the senses

Run hither and thither like wild horses.

But they obey the rein like trained horses

When one has discrimination and has made

The mind one-pointed. Those who lack

Discrimination, with little control

Over their thoughts and far from pure,

Reach not the pure state of immortality

But wander from death to death; but those

Who have discrimination, with a still mind

And a pure heart, reach journey's end,

Never again to fall into the jaws of death.

With a discriminating intellect

As charioteer and a trained mind as reins,

They attain the supreme goal of life

To be united with the Lord of Love.

111) Those who know the Self as enjoyer

Of the honey from the flowers of the senses,

Ever present within, ruler of time,

Go beyond fear. For the Self is supreme!

112) Those who dwell on and long for sense-pleasure

Are born in a world of separateness.

But let them realize they are the Self

And all separateness will fall away.

113) Those who act without thought of personal

Profit and lead a well-disciplined life

Discover in course of time the divine principle

That all forms of life are one.

Those who work in the service of the Lord

Are freed from the law of karma.

114) With the word OM we say, "I agree," and fulfill desires. With OM we recite, we give direction, we sing aloud the honor of that Word, the key to the three kinds of knowledge.

115) The wise have attained the unitive state,

And see only the resplendent Lord of Love.

Desiring nothing in the physical world,

They have become one with the Lord of Love.

116) There the eye goes not, nor words, nor mind. We know not. We cannot understand how He can be explained. He is above the known, and He is above the unknown. Thus have we heard from the ancient sages who explained this truth to us.

117) These three sounds when they are separated

Cannot lead one beyond mortality;

But when the whole mantra, A, U, and M,

Indivisible, interdependent,

Goes on reverberating in the mind,

One is freed from fear, awake or asleep.

118) Those who realize the Self enter into the peace that brings complete self-control and perfect patience. They see themselves in everyone and everyone in themselves. Evil cannot overcome them because they overcome all evil. Sin cannot consume them because they consume all sin. Free from evil, free from sin and doubt, they live in the kingdom of Brahman. Your majesty, this kingdom is yours!

119)

There is no one here

except the Lord of Love.

Only He exists.

In truth, He alone is.

120) This awakening you have known comes not

Through logic and scholarship, but from

Close association with a realized teacher.

Wise are you, Nachiketa, because you seek

The Self eternal. May we have more

Seekers like you!

121) Only the one-pointed mind attains

This state of unity. There is no one

But the Self. Who sees multipicity

But not the one indivisible Self

Must wander on and on from death to death.

122) When all the desires that surge in the heart

Are renounced, the mortal becomes

Immortal.

When all the knots that strangle the heart

Are loosened, the mortal becomes immortal,

Here in this very life.

123) The Self seems to move, but is ever still.

He seems far away, but is ever near.

He is within all, and he transcends all.

124) The study of the Vedas, linguistics,

Rituals, astronomy and all the arts

Can be called lower knowledge. The higher

Is that which leads to Self-realization.

The eye cannot see it; mind cannot grasp it.

The deathless Self has neither caste nor race,

Neither eyes not ears nor hands nor feet.

Sages say this Self is infinite in the great

And in the small, everlasting and changeless,

The source of life.

125) The supreme Self is unborn and undying.

126)

Who is that Self?

The Self, pure awareness, shines as the light

within the heart, surrounded by the senses.

Only seeming to think, seeming to move, the

Self neither sleeps nor wakes nor dreams.

When the Self takes on a body, he seems to

Assume the body's frailties and limitations;

But when he sheds the body at the time of

Death, the Self leaves all these behind.

127) When the mind is detached from the senses

One reaches the summit of consciousness.

Mastery of the mind leads to wisdom.

Practice meditation. Stop all vain talk.

The highest state is beyond reach of thought,

For it lies beyond all duality.

Keep repeating the ancient mantram OM

Until it reverberates in your heart.

128) When he is seen within us and without,

He sets right all doubts and dispels the pain

Of wrong actions committed in the past.

129)

When the mind is stilled in dreamless sleep,

It brings rest and repose to the body.

Just as birds fly to the tree for rest,

All things in life find their rest in the Self.

130) The universe is loved not for its own sake, but because the Self lives in it.

The gods are loved not for their own sake, but because the Self lives in it.

Creatures are loved not for their own sake, but because the Self lives in it.

Everything is loved not for its own sake, but because the Self lives in it.

131) The dreaming mind recalls past impressions.

It sees again what has been seen; it hears

Again what has been heard, enjoys again

What has been enjoyed in many places.

Seen and unseen, heard and unheard, enjoyed

And unenjoyed, the real and the unreal,

The mind sees all; the mind sees all.

132)

The Self in man and in the sun are one.

Those who understand this see through the world

And go beyond the various sheaths of being

To realize the unity of life.

133) The rituals and the sacrifices described

In the Vedas deal with lower knowledge.

The sages ignored these rituals

And went in search of higher knowledge. ...

Such rituals are unsafe rafts for crossing

The sea of samsara, of birth and death.

Doomed to shipwreck are those who try to cross

The sea of samsara on these poor rafts.

Ignorant of their own ignorance, yet wise

In their own esteem, these deluded men

Proud of their vain learning go round and round

Like the blind led by the blind.

134) The adorable one who is seated

In the heart rules the breath of life.

Unto him all the senses pay their homage.

When the dweller in the body breaks out

In the freedom from the bonds of flesh, what remains?

For this Self is supreme!

135) Realizing That from which all words turn back

And thoughts can never reach, they know

The bliss of Brahman and fear no more.

No more are they oppressed by the question,

"How did I fail to perform what is right?

And how did I perform what is not right?"

Those who realize the joy of Brahman,

Having known what is right and what is wrong,

Are delivered forever from this duality.

136) The Self is one. Ever still, the Self is

Swifter than thought, swifter than the senses.

Though motionless, he outruns all pursuit.

Without the Self, never could life exist.

137) The Lord is the operator; we are

But his innumerable instruments.

May we, in our consciousness, realize

The bliss he alone can give us.

138) The great teacher Prajapati said: "The Self

is pure, free from decay and death, free from

hunger and thirst, and free from sorrow. The

Self desires nothing that is not good, wills

nothing that is not good. Seek and realize the

Self! Those who seek and realize the Self

fulfill all their desires and attain the goal

supreme."

139) The ego and the Self dwell as intimate friends in the same body, like two golden birds perched in the same tree. The ego eats the sweet and sour fruits of the tree, while the Self looks on detached. For as long as you identify with the ego, you will feel joy and sorrow.

140) The ego and the Self dwell as intimate friends in the same body, like two golden birds perched in the same tree. The ego eats the sweet and sour fruits of the tree, while the Self looks on detached. For as long as you identify with the ego, you will feel joy and sorrow. But if you know you are the Self, the Lord of Life, you will be free from suffering; the supreme source of light; the supreme source of love. You will transcend duality and live in a state of Oneness.

141) Only those who are pure and self-controlled can find ths world of Brahman. That world is theirs alone. In that world, in all worlds, they live in perfect freedom.

142)

From his divine power comes forth all this

Magical show of name and form, of you

And me, which casts the spell of pain and pleasure.

Only when we pierce through this magic veil

Do we see the One who appears as many.

143) Nachiketa learned from the kind of death

The whole discipline of meditation.

Freeing himself from all separateness,

He won immortality in Brahman.

So blessed is everyone who knows the Self!

144) May my life merge in the Immortal

When my body is reduced to ashes.

O mind, meditate on the eternal Brahman.

Remember the deeds of the past.

Remember, O mind, remember.

145)

They have attained the goal who realize

Brahman as the supreme reality,

The source of truth, wisdom, and boundless joy.

They see the Lord in the cave of the heart

And are granted all the blessings of life.

149) The Self, who can be realized by the pure

in heart, who is life, light, truth, space, who

gives rise to all works, all desires, all odors,

all tastes, who is beyond words, who is joy

abiding—this is the Self dwelling in my

heart.

150) The Self is a bulwark against the confounding of these worlds and a bridge between them. Day and night cannot cross that bridge, nor old age, nor death, nor grief, nor evil nor good deeds. All evils turn back there, unable to cross; evil comes not into this world of Brahman.

151) The inner self perceives the outside world,

Made up of earth, water, fire, air, and space.

It is the victim of likes and dislikes,

Pleasure and pain, and delusion and doubt.

It knows all the subtleties of language,

Enjoys dance, music, and all the fine arts;

Delights in the senses, recalls the past,

Reads the scriptures, and is able to act.

This is the mind, the inner person.

152)

The Self is indeed Brahman, but through

ignorance people identify it with intellect,

mind, senses, passions, and the elements of

earth, water, air, space, and fire. This is why

the Self is said to consist of this and that, and

appears to be everything.

153) From the Divine Dark to the manifest

To the Divine Dark I pass again.

As a horse shakes free its mane, I have

Shaken off all evil. Freeing myself

From the bonds of birth and death as the moon

Escapes from Rahu's mouth, I have attained

The pure realm of Brahman; I have attained

The pure realm of Brahman.

Brahman is my home. I shall not lose it.

Truly I shall not be lost again.

154) On this ever-revolving wheel of being

The individual self goes round and round

Through life after life, believing itself

To be a separate creature, until

It sees its identity with the Lord of Love

And attains immortality in the indivisible whole.

155) That which is the source of the sun

And of every power in the cosmos, beyond which

There is neither going nor coming,

Is the Self indeed. For this Self is supreme!

156) Strike at the root of a tree; it would bleed

But still live. Strike at the trunk; it would bleed

But still live. Strike again at the top;

It would bleed but still live. The Self as life

Supports the tree, which stands firm and enjoys

The nourishment it receives.

If the Self leaves one branch, that branch withers.

If it leaves a second, that too withers.

If it leaves a third, that again withers.

Let it leave the whole tree, the whole tree dies.

Just so, dear one, when death comes and the Self

Departs from the body, the body dies.

But the Self dies not.

157) The Lord of Love, not larger than the thumb,

Is ever enshrined in the hearts of all.

Draw him clear out of the physical sheath,

As one draws the stalk from the munja grass.

Know thyself to be pure and immortal!

Know thyself to be pure and immortal!

158) The sages call it Akshara, the Imperishable. It is neither big nor small, neither long nor short, neither hot nor cold, neither bright nor dark, neither air nor space. It is without attachment, without taste, smell, or touch, without eyes, ears, tongue, mouth, breath, or mind, without movement, without limitation, without inside or outside. It consumes nothing, and nothing consumes it.

In perfect accord with the will of the Imperishable, sun and moon make their orbits; heaven and earth remain in place; moments, hours, days, nights, fortnights, months, and seasons become years; rivers starting from the snow-clad mountains flow east and west, north and south, to the sea.

159) The wise see the Lord of Love in all food;

From food comes seed, and from seed all creatures.

They take the lunar path who live for sex;

But those who are self-controlled and truthful

Will go to the bright regions of the sun.

160) The supreme Self, adored in the scriptures,

Can be realized through the path of yoga.

Subtler than the banyan seed, subtler

Than the tiniest grain, even subtler

Than the hundred-thousandth part of a hair,

This Self cannot be grasped, cannot be seen.

161) Narada enquired of the Lord of Love:

"What is the state of the illuminated man?"

The Lord replied: "Hard to reach is the state

Of the illuminated man. Only a few

Attain it. But even one is enough.

For he is the pure Self of the scriptures;

He is truly great because he serves me,

And I reveal myself through him always."

162) One who meditates upon and realizes the

self discovers that everything in the cosmos--

energy and space, fire and water, name and

form, birth and death, mind and will, word

and deed, mantram and meditation--all come

from the Self.

163) That which cannot be seen by the eyes,

but by which the eyes see—

know that to be Brahman.

165) O god of fire, lead us by the good path

To eternal joy. You know all our deeds.

Deliver us from evil, we who bow

And pray again and again.

166) Indra and Virochana went away satisfied. But Prajapati said to himself: "They have seen the Self, but they have not recognized the Self. They mistake the Self to be the body. Those who think the Self is the body will lose their way in life."

167) May the light of wisdom illumine us.

May we become united with the Lord.

Let us contemplate five categories:

The world and luminous worlds in the sky,

Education, progeny, and speech.

168) Practice right conduct, learning and teaching;

Be truthful always, learning and teaching;

Master the passions, learning and teaching;

Control the senses, learning and teaching;

Strive for peace always, learning and teaching;

Rouse kundalini, learning and teaching;

Serve humanity, learning and teaching;

Beget progeny, learning and teaching.

Satyavacha says: "Be truthful always."

Taponitya says: "Master the passions."

Naka declares: "Learning and teaching are

Necessary for spiritual progress."

169) The Lord of Love holds in his hand the world,

Composed of the changing and the changeless,

The manifest and the unmanifest.

The separate self, not yet aware of the Lord,

Goes after pleasure, only to become

Bound more and more. When it sees the Lord,

There comes an end to its bondage.

179) Lord Shiva is my refuge: he who grants

Freedom from the cycle of birth and death.

Lord Shiva is my refuge: he who gave

The sacred scriptures at the dawn of time.

Lord Shiva is my refuge: he who is

The source of purity and perfection.

Lord Shiva is my refuge: he who is

The bridge from death to immortality.

Lord Shiva is my refuge: he whose grace

Has made me long for his lotus feet.

180) He is the Supreme Brahman, the Self of all, the chief foundation of this world, subtler than the subtle, eternal. That thou art; thou art That.

Blessed are they who, through an illumined

Teacher, attain to Self-realization.

The truth of the Self cannot come through one

Who has not realized that he is the Self.

The intellect cannot reveal the Self,

Beyond its duality of the subject

And object. They who see themselves in all

And all in them help others through spiritual

Osmosis to realize the Self themselves.

182) May we harness body and mind to see

The Lord of Life, who dwells in everyone.

May we ever with one-pointed mind

Strive for blissful union with the Lord.

May we train our senses to serve the Lord

Through the practice of meditation.

183) Blessed are they who, through an illumined

Teacher, attain to Self-realization.

The truth of the Self cannot come through one

Who has not realized that he is the Self.

The intellect cannot reveal the Self,

Beyond its duality of the subject

And object. They who see themselves in all

And all in them help others through spiritual

Osmosis to realize the Self themselves.

184) In dark night live those for whom

The world without alone is real; in night

Darker still, for whom the world within

Alone is real. The first leads to a life

Of action, the second to a life of meditation.

But those who combine action with meditation

Cross the sea of death through action

And enter into immortality

Through the practice of meditation.

So have we heard from the wise.

185) The wise see the Lord of Love in the year,

Which has two paths, the northern and the southern.

Those who observe outward forms of worship

And are content with personal pleasures

Travel after death by the southern path,

The path of the ancestors and of rayi,

To the lunar world, and are born again.

But those who seek the Self through meditation,

Self-discipline, wisdom, and faith in God

Travel after death by the northern path,

The path of prana, to the solar world,

Supreme refuge, beyond the reach of fear

And free from the cycle of birth and death.

186) Filled with wonder, we sing, "I see the Lord."

So his name is Idamdra, "He who sees."

The name Indra stands for Idamdra.

The gods do like to sit behind a veil;

Indeed they like to sit behind a veil.

187) His divine power creates this magic show of name and form and you and me; casting a spell of pleasure and pain.

-Shvetashvatara Upanishad

188) As the web issues out of the spider

And is withdrawn, as plants sprout from the earth,

As hair grows from the body, even so,

The sages say, this universe springs from

The deathless Self, the source of life.

The deathless Self meditated upon

Himself and projected the universe

As evolutionary energy.

From this energy developed life, mind,

The elements, and the world of karma,

Which is enchained by cause and effect.

189) He has no staff nor tuft nor sacred thread.

He faces heat and cold, pleasure and pain,

Honor and dishonor with equal calm.

He is not affected by calumny,

Pride, jealousy, status, joy or sorrow,

Greed, anger, or infatuation,

Excitement, egoism, or other goads;

For [the illuminated man] knows he is neither body nor mind.

190) Having renounced every selfish desire,

He has found his rest in the Lord of Love.

Wisdom is the staff that supports him now.

Those who take a mendicant's staff while they

Are still at the mercy of their senses

Cannot escape enormous suffering.

The illuminated man knows this truth of life.

191) As the rays of the sun,

When night comes, become all one in his disk

Until they spread out again at sunrise,

Even so the senses are gathered up

In the mind, which is master of them all.

Therefore when a person neither hears, sees, smells,

Tastes, touches, speaks, nor enjoys, we say he sleeps.

192) "The wise see the Lord of Love in the month;

Rayi is the dark half, prana the bright.

The wise worship in the light of wisdom,

Others in the darkness of ignorance."

193) From him come the scriptures, chants, and prayers,

Religious rites and sacrificial gifts;

From him come work, time, and givers of gifts,

And all things under the sun and moon.

From him come the gods of the natural world,

Men, beasts, and birds, and food to nourish them;

From him come all spiritual disciplines,

Meditation, truth, faith, and purity.

194) Be seated with spinal column erect

And turn your senses and mind deep within.

With the mantram echoing in your heart,

Cross over the dread sea of birth and death.

Train your senses to be obedient.

Regulate your activities to lead you

To the goal. Hold the reins of your mind

As you hold the reins of restive horses.

Choose a place for meditation that is

Clean, quiet, and cool, a cave with a smooth floor

Without stones and dust, protected against

Wind and rain and pleasing to the eye.

195) As a heavily laden cart creaks as it moves along, the body groans under its burden when a person is about to die. When the body grows weak through old age or illness, the Self separates himself as a mango or fig or banyan fruit frees itself from the stalk, and returns the way he came to begin another life.

196) When a man is dying, his family

All gather round and ask, 'Do you know me?

Do you know me?' And so long as his speech

Has not merged in mind, his mind in prana,

Prana in fire, and fire in pure Being,

He knows them all. But there is no more knowing.

When speech merges in mind, mind in prana,

Prana in fire, and fire in pure Being.

There is nothing that does not come from him.

Of everything he is the inmost Self.

He is the truth; he is the Self supreme.

You are that, Shvetaketu; you are that."

197) That which makes the eye see but cannot be

Seen by the eye, that is the Self indeed.

This Self is not someone other than you."

198) "In that state, free from attachment, they move at will, laughing, playing, and rejoicing. They know the Self is not this body, but only tied to it for a time as an ox is tied to its cart."

199) He is formless, and can never be seen

With these two eyes. But he reveals himself

In the heart made pure through meditation

And sense-restraint. Realizing him one is released

From the cycle of birth and death.

200) That which cannot be comprehended by the mind, but by which the mind comprehends; the which encompasses the mind--know that to be Brahman.

201) "The sun is the prana of the universe,

And it rises to bring light to our eyes.

The earth draws the lower fire of apana;

The space between sun and earth is samana,

And the moving air is vyana.

"Fire is udana. When that fire goes out,

The senses are drawn back into the mind

And the person is ready for rebirth.

"Whatever the content of consciousness

At the time of death, that is what unites us

To prana, udana, and the Self,

To be reborn in the plane we have earned."

202) As a man from Gandhara, blindfolded,

Led away and left in a lonely place,

Turns to the east and west and north and south

And shouts, 'I am left here and cannot see!'

Until one removes his blindfold and says,

'There lies Gandhara; follow that path,'

And thus informed, able to see for himself,

The man inquires from village to village

And reaches his homeland at last--just so,

My son, one who finds an illumined teacher

Attains to spiritual wisdom in the Self.

203) All is change in the world of the senses,

But changeless is the supreme Lord of Love,

Meditate on him, be absorbed in him,

Wake up from this dream of separateness.

204) That which moves about in joy in the dreaming state is the Self, fearless and deathless. That is Brahman, the supreme."

205) He runs without feet and holds without hands.

He sees without eyes and hears without ears.

He knows everyone, but no one knows him.

He is called the First, the Great, the Supreme.

206) "'You are the creator and destroyer,

And our protector. You shine as the sun

In the sky; you are the source of all light.

"'When you pour yourself down as rain on earth,

Every living creature is filled with joy

And knows food will be abundant for all.'"

207) "As rivers lose their private name and form

When they reach the sea, so that people speak

Of the sea alone, so all these sixteen

Forms disappear when the Self is realized.

Then there is no more name and form for us,

And we attain immortality."

209) As a man in the arms of his beloved is not aware of what is without and what is within, so a person in union with the Self is not aware of what is without and what is within, for in that unitive state all desires find their perfect fulfillment. There is no other desire that needs to be fulfilled, and one goes beyond sorrow.

210) O Lord of Love, may I enter into you,

And may you reveal yourself unto me,

The pure One masquerading as many.

You are the refuge of all devotees.

I am your devotee. Make me your own.

211) Not female, male, nor neuter is the Self.

As is the body, so is the gender.

The Self takes on a body, with desires,

Attachments, and delusions. The Self is

Born again and again in new bodies

To work out the karma of former lives.

212) When a spiritual guest enters the house,

Like a bright flame, he must be received well,

With water to wash his feet. Far from wise

Are those who are not hospitable

To such a guest. They will lose all their hopes,

The religious merit they have acquired,

Their sons and their cattle."

213) The Lord of Love is one. There is indeed

No other. He is the inner ruler

In all beings. He projects the cosmos

From himself, maintains and withdraws it

Back into himself at the end of time.

His eyes, mouths, arms, and feet are everywhere.

Projecting the cosmos out of himself,

He holds it together.

214) Know him to be the primal source of life,

Whose glory permeates the universe:

Who is beyond time and space, and is seen

Within the heart in meditation.

Know that he is beyond the tree of life,

He whose power makes the planets revolve:

Who is both law and mercy, and is seen

Within the heart in meditation.

Know him to be the supreme Lord of lords,

King of kings, God of gods, ruler of all,

Wihout action or organs of action,

Whose power is seen in myriad ways.

215) I know that earthly treasures are transient,

And never can I reach the eternal through them,

Hence have I renounced all my desires for earthly treasures

To win the eternal through your instruction.

216) Here our selfless desires are hidden by selfish ones. They are real, but they are covered by what is false. Therefore whoever of our own departs from this life, not one can ever be brought back before our eyes. But all those we love, alive or departed, and all things we desire but do not have, are found when we enter that space within the heart; for there abide all desires that are true, though covered by what is false.

217) Refuse not food to those who are hungry.

When you feed the hungry, you serve the Lord,

From whom is born every living creature.

Those who realize the Self within the heart

Stand firm, grow rich, gather a family

Around them, and receive the love of all.

218) Know him to be the supreme God of gods,

From whom all the worlds draw their breath of life

And who rules every creature from within.

May he be worshipped by everyone!

219) In the secret cave of the heart, two are seated

By life's fountain. The separate ego

Drinks of the sweet and bitter stuff,

Liking the sweet, disliking the bitter,

While the supreme Self drinks sweet and bitter

Neither liking this nor disliking that.

The ego gropes in darkness, while the Self

Lives in light. So declare the illumined sages

And the householders who worship

The sacred fire in the name of the Lord.

220) The milk of cows of any hue is white.

The sages say that wisdom is the milk

And the sacred scriptures are the cows.

221) Know him to be the supreme magician

Who has become boy and girl, bird and beast.

He is the bestower of all blessings,

And his grace fills the heart with profound peace.

Know him to be the supreme source of all

The gods, sole support of the universe,

The sower of the golden seed of life.

May he grant us the grace of wisdom.

222) In the depths of meditation, sages

Saw within themselves the Lord of Love,

Who dwells in the heart of every creature.

Deep in the hearts of all he dwells, hidden

Behind the gunas of law, energy,

And inertia. He is One. He it is

Who rules over time, space, and causality.

223) Get up! Wake up! Seek the guidance of an

Illuminated teacher and realize the Self.

Sharp like a razor's edge, the sages say,

Is the path, difficult to traverse.

224) As a great fish swims between the banks of a river as it likes, so does the shining Self move between the states of dreaming and waking.

225) In the dark night live those for whom

The world without alone is real; in night

Darker still, for whom the world within

Alone is real. The first leads to a life

Of action, the second to a life of meditation.

But those who combine action with meditation

Cross the sea of death through action

And enter into immortality

Through the practice of meditation.

So have we heard from the wise.

226) "I am the food of life, I am, I am;

I eat the food of life, I eat, I eat.

I link food and water, I link, I link.

I am the first-born in the universe;

Older than the gods, I am immortal.

Who shares food with the hungry protects me;

Who shares not with them is consumed by me.

I am this world and I consume this world.

They who understand this understand life."

227) As the same fire assumes different shapes

When it consumes objects differing in shape,

So does the one Self take the shape

Of every creature in whom he is present.

As the same air assumes different shapes

When it enters objects differing in shape,

So does the one Self take the shape

Of every creature in whom he is present.

228) May we harness body and mind to see

The Lord of Life, who dwells in everyone.

May we ever with one-pointed mind

Strive for blissful union with the Lord.

May we train our senses to serve the Lord

Through the practice of meditation.

Great is the glory of the Lord of Life,

Infinite, omnipresent, all-knowing.

He is known by the wise who meditate

And conserve their vital energy.

229) Know God and all fetters will fall away.

No longer identifying yourself

With the body, go beyond birth and death.

All your desires will be fulfilled in him

Who is One without a second.

Know him to be enshrined in your heart

always.

Truly there is nothing more in life to know.

Meditate and realize this world

Is filled with the presence of God.

230)  I have realized the Lord of Love,

Who is the sun that dispels our darkness.

Those who realize him go beyond death;

No other way is there to immortality.

There is nothing higher than him, nothing other

Than him. His infinity is beyond great

And small. In his own glory rooted,

He stands and fills the cosmos.

231) He fills the cosmos, yet he transcends it.

Those who know him leave all separateness,

Sorrow, and death behind. Those who know him not

Live but to suffer.

The Lord of Love, omnipresent, dwelling

In the heart of every living creature,

All mercy, turns every face to himself.

He is the supreme Lord, who through his grace

Moves us to seek him in our own hearts.

He is the light that shines forever.

232) From him come all the seas and the mountains,

The rivers and the plants that support life.

As the innermost Self of all, he dwells

Within the cavern of the heart.

233) Brahman is the Self hidden in everyone. He is only obvious to those who, minds focused one-pointedly on the Lord of Love, nurture intuitive knowledge. Meditation leads them deeper into consciousness, passing from the world to thoughts, and beyond thoughts to the wisdom of the Self.

234) Fire is his head, the sun and moon his eyes,

The heavens his ears, the scriptures his voice,

The air his breath, the universe his heart,

And the earth his footrest. The Lord of Love

Is the innermost Self of all.

235) Earth, sky, worlds above, quarters and their halves;

Fire, air, sun, moon, and stars; water, herbs, trees,

Space, and entity are the elements.

Eye, ear, mind, tongue, and touch; skin, flesh, muscle.

Marrow, and skeleton; and the five

Vital forces constitute the body.

The sage, contemplating these sets of five,

Discovered that everything is holy.

Man can complete the inner with the outer.

236) As the skin of a snake is sloughed onto an

Anthill, so does the mortal body fall; but

The Self, freed from the body, merges in

Brahman, infinite life, eternal light.

237) As a man in the arms of his beloved is not aware of what is without and what is within, so a person in union with the Self is not aware of what is without and what is within, for in that unitive state all desires find their perfect fulfillment. There is no other desire that needs to be fulfilled, and one goes beyond sorrow.

238) AUM stands for the supreme Reality.

It is a symbol for what was, what is,

And what shall be. AUM represents also

What lies beyond past, present, and future.

239) But if you know you are the Self, the Lord of Life, you will be free from suffering; the supreme source of light; the supreme source of love. You will transcend duality and live in a state of Oneness.

240) Bhrigu meditated and found that food

Is Brahman. From food are born all creatures,

By food they grow, and to food they return.

241) As a caterpillar, having come to the end of one blade of grass, draws itself together and reaches out for the next, so the Self, having come to the end of one life and dispelled all ignorance, gathers in his faculties and reaches out from the old body to a new.

242) As a person acts, so he becomes in life. Those who do good become good; those who do harm become bad. Good deeds make one pure; bad deeds make one impure. So we are said to be what our desire is. As our desire is, so is our will. As our will is, so are our acts. As we act, so we become.

243) As butter lies hidden within milk,

The Self is hidden in the hearts of all.

Churn the mind through meditation on it;

Light your fire through meditation on it:

The Self, all whole, all peace, all certitude.

244) Brahman cannot be realized by those

Who are subject to greed, fear, and anger.

Brahman cannot be realized by those

Who are subject to the pride of name and fame

Or to the vanity of scholarship.

Brahman cannot be realized by those

Who are enmeshed in life's duality.

But to all those who pierce this duality,

Whose hearts are given to the Lord of Love,

He gives himself through his infinite grace,

He gives himself through his infinite grace.

245) Brahman cannot be realized by those

Who are subject to greed, fear, and anger.

Brahman cannot be realized by those

Who are subject to the pride of name and fame

Or to the vanity of scholarship.

Brahman cannot be realized by those

Who are enmeshed in life's duality.

But to all those who pierce this duality,

Whose hearts are given to the Lord of Love,

He gives himself through his infinite grace,

He gives himself through his infinite grace.

246) As a goldsmith fashions an old ornament into a new and more beautiful one, so the Self, having reached the end of the last life and dispelled all ignorance, makes for himself a new, more beautiful shape, like that of the devas or other celestial beings.

247) Brahman is indivisible and pure;

Realize Brahman and go beyond all change.

He is immanent and transcendant.

Realizing him, sages attain freedom

And declare there are no separate minds.

They have but realized what they always are.

248) In dark night live those for whom

The world without alone is real; in night

Darker still, for whom the world within

Alone is real. The first leads to a life

Of action, the second to a life of meditation.

But those who combine action with meditation

Cross the sea of death through action

And enter into immortality

Through the practice of meditation.

So have we heard from the wise.

249) Before the world was created, the Self

Alone existed; nothing whatever stirred.

Then the Self thought: "Let me create the world."

He brought forth all the worlds out of himself:

Ambhas, high above the sky; Marichi,

The sky; Mara, the middle region that is earth;

And Apa, the realm of waters below.

250) As an eagle, weary after soaring in the sky, folds its wings and flies down to rest in its nest, so does the shining Self enter the state of dreamless sleep, where one is freed from all desires.

251) Imperishable is the Lord of Love.

As from a blazing fire thousands of sparks

Leap forth, so millions of beings arise

From the Lord of Love and return to him.

252) When a person is sleeping soundly, free from dreams, with a still mind, that is the Self, fearless and deathless. That is Brahman, the supreme."

253) Virochana, quite sure that the Self is the body, went back to the godless and began to teach them that the body alone is to be saved, the body alone is to be adored. He taught them that whoever lives for indulging the senses will find joy in this world and the next. Even today people are called godless when they lack faith, love, and charity, because that is the way of the godless. They dress even dead bodies in fine clothes and adorn them with ornaments so that they may enjoy their life in the next world.

254) The Self is realized in a higher state

Of consciousness when you have broken through

The wrong identification that you are

The body, subject to birth and death.

To be the Self is to go beyond death.

Realize the Self, the shining goal of life!

If you do not, there is only darkness.

See the Self in all, and go beyond death.

257) After a year Kabandhi asked the sage:

"Master, who created the universe?"

The sage replied:

"The Lord meditated and brought forth prana

With rayi, the giver of name and form:

Male and female, so that they would bring forth

Innumerable creatures for him.

"Prana is the sun; rayi is the moon.

Matter is solid, matter is subtle;

Rayi therefore is present everywhere.

"The sun gives light and life to all who live,

East and west, north and south, above, below;

It is the prana of the universe."

258) will give you the Word all the scriptures

Glorify, all spiritual disciplines

Express, to attain which aspirants lead

A life of sense-restraint and self-naughting.

It is OM. This symbol of the Godhead

Is the highest. Realizing it one finds

Complete fulfillment of all one's longings.

It is of the greatest support to all seekers.

Those in whose hearts OM reverberates

Unceasingly are indeed blessed

And deeply loved as one who is the Self.

259) The soul is infinite, universal, detached.

When one discovers this triad, that is God.

What is perishable is the material.

What is immortal and imperishable is the bearer.

Over both the perishable and the soul the divine one rules.

260) The Pupil asks: 'At whose wish does the mind sent forth proceed on its errand? At whose command does the first breath go forth? At whose wish do we utter this speech? What god directs the eye, or the ear?'

The Teacher replies: 'It is the ear of the ear, the mind of the mind, the speech of speech, the breath of breath, and the eye of the eye. When freed (from the senses) the wise, on departing from this world, become immortal.'

261) What the sages sought they have found at last.

No more questions have they to ask of life.

With self-will extinguished, they are at peace.

Seeing the Lord of Love in all around,

Serving the Lord of Love in all around.

They are united with him forever.

They have attained the summit of wisdom

By the steep path of renunciation.

They have attained to immortality

And are united with the Lord of Love.

When they leave the body, the vital force

Returns to the cosmic womb, but their work

Becomes a beneficial force in life

To bring others together in the Self.

262) The Lord of Love is the one Self of all.

He is detached work, spiritual wisdom,

And immortality. Realize the Self

Hidden in the heart, and cut asunder

The knot of ignorance here and now.

263) It is the Self who sees, hears, smells, touches,

And tastes, who thinks, acts, and is pure

consciousness.

The Self is Brahman, changeless and supreme.

Those who know the supreme Self as formless,

Without shadow, without impurity,

Know all, gentle friend, and live in all.

Those who know the Self, the seat of consciousness,

In whom the breath and all the senses live,

Know all, gentle friend, and live in all.

264)

"That which moves about in joy in the dreaming state is the Self, fearless and deathless. That is Brahman, the supreme."

265) In deep meditation aspirants may

See forms like snow or smoke. They may feel

A strong wind blowing or a wave of heat.

They may see within them more and more light:

Fireflies, lightning, sun, or moon. These are signs

That one is far on the path to Brahman.

266) Side by side, those who know the Self and those who know it not do the same thing; but it is not the same: the act done with knowledge, with inner awareness and faith, grows in power. That, in a word, tells the significance of OM, the indivisible.

267) There is only one way to know the Self,

And that is to realize him yourself.

The ignorant think the Self can be known

By the intellect, but the illumined

Know he is beyond the duality

Of the knower and the known.

The world is the wheel of God, turning round

And round with all living creatures upon its rim.

The world is the river of God,

Flowing from him and flowing back to him.

279) The unitive state cannot be attained

Through words or thoughts or through the eye.

How can it be attained except through one

Who is established in this state himself?

280) The student inquires:

"Who makes my mind think?

Who fills my body with vitality?

Who causes my tongue to speak? Who is that

Invisible one who sees through my eyes

And hears through my ears?"

The teacher replies:

"The Self is the ear of the ear,

The eye of the eye, the mind of the mind,

The word of words, and the life of life.

Rising above the senses and the mind

And renouncing separate existence,

The wise realize the deathless Self."

281) Realizing that from which all words turn back

And thoughts can never reach, one knows

The bliss of Brahman and fears no more.

282) The Lord of Love is before and behind.

He extends to the right and to the left.

He extends above; he extends below.

There is no one here but the Lord of Love.

He alone is; in truth, he alone is.

283) These pleasures last but until tomorrow,

And they wear out the vital powers of life.

How fleeting is all life on earth! Therefore

Keep your horses and chariots, dancing

And music, for yourself. Never can mortals

Be made happy by wealth.

284) The self-existent Lord pierced the senses

To turn outward. Thus we look to the world

Outside and see not the Self within us.

A sage withdrew his senses from the world

Of change and, seeking immortality,

Looked within and beheld the deathless Self.

285) Strike at the root of a tree; it would bleed

But still live. Strike at the trunk; it would bleed

But still live. Strike again at the top;

It would bleed but still live. The Self as life

Supports the tree, which stands firm and enjoys

The nourishment it receives.

If the Self leaves one branch, that branch withers.

If it leaves a second, that too withers.

If it leaves a third, that again withers.

Let it leave the whole tree, the whole tree dies.

Just so, dear one, when death comes and the Self

Departs from the body, the body dies.

But the Self dies not.

286)

Some look upon the sun as our father

Who makes life possible with heat and rain

And divides time into months and seasons.

Others have seen him riding in wisdom

On his chariot, with seven colors

As horses and six wheels to represent

The whirling spokes of time.

287) The Self cannot be known through study

Of the scriptures, nor through the intellect,

Nor through hearing learned discourses.

The Self can be attained only by those

Whom the Self chooses. Verily unto them

Does the Self reveal himself.

288) Like oil in sesame seeds, like butter

In cream, like water in springs, like fire

In firesticks, so dwells the Lord of Love,

The Self, in the very depths of consciousness.

Realize him through truth and meditation.

289) The Lord is enshrined in the hearts of all.

The Lord is the supreme Reality.

Rejoice in him through renunciation.

Covet nothing. All belongs to the Lord.

Thus working may you live a hundred years.

Thus alone will you work in real freedom.

290) Then Bhargava approached the sage and asked:

"Master, what powers support this body?

Which of them are manifested in it?

And among them all, which is the greatest?"

The sage replied: "The powers are space, air, fire,

Water, earth, speech, mind, vision, and hearing.

All these boasted, 'We support this body.'

But prana, vital energy, supreme

Over them all, said, 'Don't deceive yourselves.

It is I, dividing myself fourfold,

Who hold this body together.'"

Then Bhargava approached the sage and asked:

"Master, what powers support this body?

Which of them are manifested in it?

And among them all, which is the greatest?"

The sage replied: "The powers are space, air, fire,

Water, earth, speech, mind, vision, and hearing.

All these boasted, 'We support this body.'

But prana, vital energy, supreme

Over them all, said, 'Don't deceive yourselves.

It is I, dividing myself fourfold,

Who hold this body together.'"

292) The human being has two states of consciousness: one in this world, the other in the next. But there is a third state between them, not unlike the world of dreams, in which we are aware of both worlds, with their sorrows and joys. When a person dies, it is only the physical body that dies; that person lives on in a nonphysical body, which carries the impressions of his past life. It is these impressions that determine his next life. In this intermediate state he makes and dissolves impressions by the light of the Self.

293) That through which one enjoys form,

Taste, smell, sound,

Touch, and sexual union is the Self.

Can there be anything not known to That

Who is the One in all? Know One, know all.

That through which one enjoys the waking

And sleeping states is the Self. To know That

As consciousness is to go beyond sorrow.

294)  It is but few who hear about the Self

Fewer still dedicate their lives to its

Realization. Wonderful is the one

Who speaks about the Self; rare are they

Who make it the supreme goal of their lives.

295) It is but few who hear about the Self

Fewer still dedicate their lives to its

Realization. Wonderful is the one

Who speaks about the Self; rare are they

Who make it the supreme goal of their lives.

296) The mind may be said to be of two kinds,

Pure and impure. Driven by the senses

It becomes impure; but with the sense

Under control, the mind becomes pure.

It is the mind that frees us or enslaves.

Driven by the senses we become bound;

Master of the senses we become free.

Those who seek freedom must master their senses.

297) Arjuna: O Krishna, it is right that the world delights and rejoices in your praise, that all the saints and sages bow down to you and all evil flees before you to the far corners of the universe.

How could they not worship you, O Lord? You are the eternal spirit, who existed before Brahman the Creator and who will never cease to be. Lord of the gods, you are the abode of the universe. Changeless, you are what is and what is not, and beyond the duality of existence and nonexistence.

298) Worshipping this Self in the world of Brahman, the gods obtained all worlds and all desires. Those who know this Self and realize this Self obtain all worlds and all desires.

299) The great teacher Prajapati said: “The Self is pure, free from