CHINU’S NOTES ON THITTIRIYA UPANISAD -2 An aerial-view of each section under each chapter of the Upanishad is given hereunder to facilitate an easy grasp of the subject. 1. Siksha Valli: 1. The first chapter, dealing with Siksha or pronunciation, consists of twelve sections of which the first and the last contain prayers to the deities for the removing of obstacles while pursuing spiritual wisdom. 2. The second section: It deals with the science f pronunciation. Though the meaning of the text of the Upanishad is most important, yet the text must be chanted correctly in order to obtain its precise meaning as incorrect chanting leads to undesirable consequences. 3. The third section: It teaches how to meditate on the combination of the words. A mere recitation of the text may focus the mind only on the letters of the text. Through meditation the pupil will understand its symbolic significance; this understanding makes the mind pure and one-pointed. Meditation produces appropriate results in this world and the next. 4. The fourth section: For the attainment of the Knowledge of Brahman, one needs a good memory, sound health and adequate food and clothing. This section describes the rituals for their attainment. 5. The fifth section: It teaches the meditation on Brahman through the three vyahritis or mystical utterances, which are the symbols of the three subordinate divinities. 6. The sixth section: It describes the heart as the dwelling-place of Brahman and also the Sushumna Nadi, through which lies the path for the attainment of Saguna Brahman. The result of such attainment is the enjoyment of self-rule and peace. 7. The seventh section: It teaches meditation through the symbol of the panktas or fivefold sets of objects. These objects are both in the outside world and in the body. The two should be contemplated as identical with each other. Together they constitute the universe, which is a manifestation of Brahman. This and the previous sections describe meditation on Brahman through concrete symbols for inferior students. 8. The eighth section: It teaches meditation for superior students through the symbol AUM. This symbol used in Vedic Sacrifices as a sign of compliance makes them fruitful. 9. The ninth section: It emphasizes the performance of various duties. A student may attain Knowledge of Brahman by meditating on AUM but must not, on that account, neglect the study of the scriptures and compliance with his various other social duties. 10. The tenth section: It contains a statement by an illumined sage describing his spiritual experiences. This should be used as a Mantra for daily recitation by a seeker of Self-Knowledge for acquiring purity, making progress and finally attaining the knowledge of Brahman. 11. The eleventh section: During a student’s stage, a person acquires theoretical knowledge of the scriptures but in order to obtain direct knowledge of Brahman such theoretical knowledge has to be put in practice through the discharge of duties and obligations according to one’s Dharma. This section contains a detailed and unique exhortation by the teacher to the students returning home after the completion of their studies to embrace the householder’s life which is the proper place for the discharge of worldly duties. 12. The twelfth section contains the peace chant at the end of the 1st Chapter, Siksha Valli. CHAPTER I SECTION – I SECTION 1 – SHANTI PATHA – INVOCATION MANTRA 1 aum sham no mitrah sham varunah . sham no bhavatvaryama . sham na indro brihaspatih . sham no vishnururukramah . namo brahmane . namaste vayo . tvameva pratyaxam brahmasi . tvameva pratyaxam brahma vadishyami . ritam vadishyami . satyam vadishyami . tanmamavatu . tadvaktaramavatu . avatu mam.h . avatu vaktaram.h . aum shantih shantih shantih .. 1.. iti prathamo.anuvakah .. Harih Om May Mitra be propitious unto us! May Varuna be propitious unto us! May Aryaman be propitious unto us! May Indra and Brihaspati be propitious unto us! May Vishnu, of wide strides, be propitious unto us! Salutation to Brahman! Salutation to Thee, O Vayu! Thou indeed art the visible Brahman. Thee indeed I shall proclaim as the visible Brahman. Thee indeed, O Vayu, I shall proclaim as the right (ritam). Thee indeed I shall proclaim as the true (satyam). May It protect me! May It protect the teacher! May It protect me! May It protect the teacher! Om. Peace! Peace! Peace! This is a prayer to various deities as we begin to embark upon a grueling journey of the study of Vedanta which at the same time is the most covetable undertaking. So we need the blessings, support and good wishes of all the deities. The word ‘sam’ in Sanskrit means propitious, be kind, be helpful. The deities to whom the prayers offered are: Mitra – The deity identified with the prana and the day; the deity controlling the sun. Varuna – The deity identified with apana, the downward breath and the night. Aryaman – The deity identified with the eye and the solar orb. Indra – The deity identified with strength. Brihaspati – The deity identified with speech and intellect. Vishnu – The deity who pervades the universe and is identified with the feet. Praise and salutations are offered to Vayu (air) by the student seeking knowledge of Brahman so that obstacles to the attainment of such knowledge may be removed. All actions and their fruits are under the control of Vayu who is identified with prana. Here Vayu is addressed as Brahman. He is referred to as the visible because of his being direct, immediate, nearer than the sense organs and he can be felt. Addressing Vayu, the student says ‘ ritam vadishyami, satyam vadishyami’ –‘I will call you the moral order, I will call you the truth’ because no society can flourish without moral order and the rule by truth. He then prays for his own protection and that of the teacher also as both the teacher and the taught should be mentally and physically fit for attaining the spiritual goal. If the student is dull he cannot learn and if the teacher is dull he cannot teach. The word ‘shanti’ is uttered thrice in order to ward off the obstacles emanating from one’s own self, from the other living beings and from the natural forces. Thus the first section of the Upanishad opens with a set of invocation Mantras which together constitute Isvara Upasana which is a necessary prerequisite for gaining antah karana shuddhi, purity of mind and intellect for becoming fit for gaining spiritual wisdom and ultimately moksha - total fulfillment in life. It is an invocation to certain deities to remove the obstacles to acquire spiritual wisdom. Simple explanation which a layman can understand This peace-chanting is sung by both the teacher and the taught together, and it is a prayer raised in devotion to the recognized gods of the Vedik period, who were representations of the One Divine Cosmic Power. The ideals of the Divine, such as, Rama, Krsna and others, are all a later development, being the products of the Pauranik age. In early Hinduism, the devotees prayed at the feet of the One Cosmic Power recognized through its various representations as Mitra, Varuna, Aryama, etc. They are all, as the Veda declares, different names and expressions of the same One Power that functions behind the entire phenomena of nature and presides over their destinies. The deities invoked are all delegates representing in themselves one power or the other given to them by the All-powerful. Thus Mitra is the guardian spirit of the Prana and the Day, since all energy and activity are expressed in full swing at daytime. Varuna governs the ‘outgoing breath’ Apana and the Night. Here it may be noted that whenever we call out from ourselves any great exertion, such as lifting a weight, pushing a thing, or expressing our thought, in all such movements of activity we have to breathe-in hard, and the activity ceases and exhausts at the expense of the ‘outgoing breath’ and with the completion of the Apana, the energy also exhausts. Aryama is the Presiding Deity of the Sun and the Eyes. The Cosmic Power identifying with the source of all Energy and Light, the Sun is called, at that movement of identification, with reference to its particular conditioning, as Aryama. If the sun were not there – Sun, meaning the light principle – the objects and things of the world will not be illumined by the eyes, for the sense-organ, eye functions only in the medium of light. Even the most powerful telescope or microscope cannot illumine an object in a dark room. In a medium of light alone can the eyes function, and, therefore, to consider the Sun, the source of all light, as the presiding deity of the human eye, is quite reasonable and scientific. To those who have been initiated into the secret of this conception, Indra is the Governor of all Might (Strength and Arms) and about the physical strength in an individual, though it cannot be located, we can at least say that its expression is generally through the instrument of the hands. Brhaspati is again an expression of the Divine which controls Intelligence and Knowledge (Speech and Intellect). Visnu, in his all-pervading (wide striding) nature, governs all movements and thus becomes the deity of the Feet. Thus, in invoking the blessing of Mitra, Varuna, Aryama, Indra, Brhaspati and Visnu, the Vedik teachers and students were invoking healthy ‘prana,’ ‘apana,’ efficient eyesight, willing hands, wise speech, and healthy limbs, so that day and night, with energy and strength, they may accomplish wise intellectual movement and fulfil the study in revolutionizing the gross in them to become the divine. The word ‘Sama’ means ‘well-being’ and, therefore, the entire invocation is a prayer raised to these forces for their grace, so that in their blessings all the above-mentioned instruments in us may be assured of their well-being. For a perfect and profitable ‘listening’ (sravana) to the philosophical discourses, and for the diligent pursuits in acquiring, maintaining, and living the new values pointed out in the Sastra, it is amply self, evident that we want all these instruments and powers in full vigour and health. To lift our eyes from the import and secret implications of this, invocation to the society around and about us, crawling in disease and rotting in premature death, is to understand how far we have ignored the spirit of our culture and have come to suffer. All that we can now claim of our great heritage is but a vain effort to give a gloss of philosophical neglect to our ignoble ignorance. Vedanta does not dole out any excuse for the society to ignore their health. Physical health is of consummate importance; this is so perfectly evident when we lift the veil of the words and understand the true import of this invocation. So far, the invocation was dealing with the subjective individual himself, and his anatomical and psychological parts. The prayer now becomes directly a call to the Supreme: ‘Our salutations to Brahman,’ a name uniformly used in the entire Vedik literature to address the Infinite, Supreme Truth, upon whom the pluralistic phenomena with their partial expressions of dynamism and energy are but an idle super-imposition. ‘Salutations unto Thee O Vayu,’ meaning here, the expression of life in and through the infinite variety of equipments constituting the entire bulk and girth of the universe. This Vayu is otherwise called in Vedanta as the Sutratma, meaning, the ‘evident expression of life,’ on the basis of which the entire kingdom of living-the plant, the animal, and the man-are wound together, as different flowers are held together by the string to form a garland. The supreme Brahman is unmanifest and, being all-pervading is not available for our recognition either to the organs of knowledge, or to the mind or the intellect. Vayu represents the implicit expression of the infinite dynamism of the One Reality, as it is available for human cognition during the close observation of life, and, therefore, Vayu represents the manifested Brahman (Hiranyagarbha). Rtam and Satyam-Rtam is a technical term which, in its Vedik usage, indicates the positive meaning of the Sastra when correctly understood through an intellectual appreciation of the spirit of the scriptures. Its practice in our day-to-day activities (acara) becomes the dharma, and it is called Satyam. May ‘That’ (meaning the Supreme, the Essence of all, such as, the Vayu) bless me, so that my studies be fruitful. This is sung, by a vidyarthi, meaning, one who demands (arthi) the blessing of Brahma-vidya. The student prays to the Supreme that his teacher also be blessed so that no obstacles may come during the sacred transaction of the sacred study. The repetition is only for emphasis. The invocation is rounded up with a thrice repeated ‘call for peace.’ This is to avert all possible obstacles. Obstacles are many and to exhaust all possibilities by name or label is impossible. But all obstacles can be classified under three heads with reference to the sources from which they arise. Thus, the sources of obstacles can be: a) Unseen, b) Seen and known, c) Subjective, within ourselves in our own mind. In order to avert all obstacles arising from the above three types of causes, we have the thrice repeated peace call. End of Section 1 - Chapter 1
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