Fifth Prapâthaka

The Upanishads, Part 2 (SBE15), by Max Müller, [1879], at sacred-texts.com

p. 303

FIFTH PRAPÂTHAKA ¹.

1. Next follows Kutsâyana's hymn of praise:

'Thou art Brahmâ, and thou art Vishnu, thou art Rudra, thou Pragâpati ², thou art Agni, Varuna, Vâyu, thou art Indra, thou the Moon.

Thou art Anna ³ (the food or the eater), thou art Yama, thou art the Earth, thou art All, thou art the Imperishable. In thee all things exist in many forms, whether for their natural or for their own (higher) ends.

Lord of the Universe, glory to thee! Thou art the Self of All, thou art the maker of All, the enjoyer of All; thou art all life, and the lord of all pleasure and joy ⁴. Glory to thee, the tranquil, the deeply hidden, the incomprehensible, the immeasurable, without beginning and without end.'

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2. 'In the beginning ⁵ darkness (tamas) alone was this. It was in the Highest, and, moved by the Highest, it becomes uneven. Thus it becomes obscurity

p. 304

(ragas) ¹. Then this obscurity, being moved, becomes uneven. Thus it becomes goodness (sattva). Then this goodness, being moved, the essence flowed forth ². This is that part (or state of Self) which is entirely intelligent, reflected in man (as the sun is in different vessels of water) knowing the body (kshetragña), attested by his conceiving, willing, and believing, it is Pragâpati, called Visva. His manifestations have been declared before ³. Now that part of him which belongs to darkness, that, O students ⁴, is he who is called Rudra. That part of him which belongs to obscurity, that, O students, is he who is called Brahmâ. That part of him which belongs to goodness, that, O students, is he who is called Vishnu. He being one, becomes three, becomes eight ⁵, becomes eleven ⁶, becomes twelve, becomes infinite. Because ⁷ he thus came to be, he is the Being (neut.), he moves about, having entered all beings, he has become the Lord of all beings. He is the Self within and without, yes, within and without.'

Footnotes

303:1 At the beginning of the fifth Prapâthaka my MS. gives the Slokas which in the printed edition are found in VI, 34, p. 178, Atreme slokâ bhavanti, yathâ nirindhano vahnir, &c., to nirvishayam smritam. Then follows as § 2, Atha yathedam Kautsyâyanistutis, tvam, &c.

303:2 The commentator explains Brahmâ by Hiranyagarbha and Pragâpati by Virâg.

303:3 M. reads tvam Manus, tvam Yamas ka tvam, prithivî tvam athâkyutah, which is so clearly the right reading that it is difficult to understand how the mistakes arose which are presupposed by the commentary. See Taitt. Up. II, 2.

303:4 M. reads visvakrîdâratih prabhuh, which seems better.

303:5 M. reads tamo vâ idam ekam âsta tat paro syât tat pareneritam. It may have been tat pare 'sthât.

304:1 M. reads etad vai ragaso rûpam, which is better, or, at least, more in accordance with what follows.

304:2 M. reads sattvam everitarasas sam prâsrivat.

304:3 A reference to Maitr. Up. II, 5, would have saved the commentator much trouble. M. has a better text. It leaves out visveti or visvâkhyas after pragâpati, which may be wrong, but then goes on: tasya proktâ agryâs tanavo brahmâ rudro vishnur iti. In enumerating the three agryâs tanavah, however, M. is less consistent, for it begins with ragas or Brahmâ, then goes on to tamas or Rudra, and ends with sattva or Vishnu. The Anubhûtiprakâsa, verse 142, has the right succession.

304:4 This vocative, brahmakârino, is always left out in M.

304:5 The five prânas, the sun, moon, and asterisms.

304:6 The eleven organs of sense and action, which, by dividing manas and buddhi, become twelve.

304:7 M. reads aparimitadhâ kodbhûtatvâd bhûteshu karati pravishtah sarvabhûtânâm.