Chapter 1: The inquiry into Brahman begins

अथातो ब्रह्मजिज्ञासा

athāto brahmajijñāsā

Now, therefore, the inquiry into Brahman. Having studied the Veda and gained the needed fitness, the seeker now turns to knowing Brahman, the Absolute, because the fruits of ritual alone do not last.

जन्माद्यस्य यतः

janmādyasya yataḥ

Brahman is That from which the birth, sustenance and dissolution of this world proceed. This defines Brahman by its relation to the world, echoing the Taittiriya: 'That from which these beings are born'.

शास्त्रयोनित्वात्

śāstrayonitvāt

Because scripture is the source of knowing it. Brahman is known through the Shastra alone; acharyas also read the sutra as saying that Brahman is the source of the Shastra.

तत्तु समन्वयात्

tattu samanvayāt

But That is known, because all the Upanishadic texts converge on it. Every Vedanta passage, read together, has Brahman as its one purport, not some act to be performed.

ईक्षतेर्नाशब्दम्

īkṣaternāśabdam

Because of 'seeing' (thinking), the cause is not that which is not taught by scripture. The cause 'saw' or willed, 'May I be many'; insentient Pradhana of the Sankhyas cannot will, so it is not the cause.

गौणश्चेन्नात्मशब्दात्

gauṇaścennātmaśabdāt

If it be said the 'seeing' is figurative, no, because the cause is called the Self. The Chandogya calls that Being 'the Atman', a word that cannot apply to insentient matter.

तन्निष्ठस्य मोक्षोपदेशात्

tanniṣṭhasya mokṣopadeśāt

Because liberation is taught for one devoted to That. Scripture promises freedom to the one who abides in that Being; abiding in insentient Pradhana could bring no liberation.

हेयत्वावचनाच्च

heyatvāvacanācca

And because it is not said that That is to be given up. Had the cause been Pradhana, scripture would have told the seeker to turn from it to something higher; it never does.

स्वाप्ययात्

svāpyayāt

Because of merging into one's own Self. In deep sleep, says the Chandogya, the person merges into That Being, his own Self; one cannot merge into insentient matter as into oneself.

गतिसामान्यात्

gatisāmānyāt

Because all the Upanishads agree in their view of the cause. They uniformly teach a conscious cause of the world, never an insentient one.

श्रुतत्वाच्च

śrutatvācca

And because it is directly stated in scripture. The Shvetashvatara says plainly that the all-knowing Lord is the cause, and that He has no cause and no ruler.

आनन्दमयोऽभ्यासात्

ānandamayo'bhyāsāt

The one made of bliss (Anandamaya) is Brahman, because of repetition. In the Taittiriya, bliss is repeatedly spoken of as belonging to Brahman, so the Anandamaya is the Supreme.

विकारशब्दान्नेति चेन्न प्राचुर्यात्

vikāraśabdānneti cenna prācuryāt

If it be said that the suffix '-maya' implies modification, no, it here means abundance. Anandamaya means full of bliss, not a changed form of bliss.

तद्धेतुव्यपदेशाच्च

taddhetuvyapadeśācca

And because He is declared the cause of bliss. 'He alone gives bliss', says the Taittiriya; the giver of bliss to all must Himself abound in it.

मान्त्रवर्णिकमेव च गीयते

māntravarṇikameva ca gīyate

And the very Brahman described in the mantra is sung here. The Brahman of the verse 'Truth, knowledge, infinite' is the same one later sung as the Anandamaya.

नेतरोऽनुपपत्तेः

netaro'nupapatteḥ

Not the other, the individual soul, because that does not fit. Creating by mere will, 'May I be many', cannot be said of the limited jiva.

भेदव्यपदेशाच्च

bhedavyapadeśācca

And because of the declared difference. Scripture says the jiva attains bliss by gaining Him, so the one who gains and the one gained are spoken of as distinct.

कामाच्च नानुमानापेक्षा

kāmācca nānumānāpekṣā

And because of desire, there is no reliance on the inferred Pradhana. The cause 'desired' to create; desire belongs to a conscious being, not to the Pradhana known only by inference.

अस्मिन्नस्य च तद्योगं शास्ति

asminnasya ca tadyogaṃ śāsti

And scripture teaches the union of this soul with That. Becoming one with the Anandamaya is taught as freedom from fear; that cannot be union with the soul itself or with matter.

अन्तस्तद्धर्मोपदेशात्

antastaddharmopadeśāt

The one within the sun and the eye is Brahman, because His qualities are taught. The golden Person of the Chandogya is free of all sin, a mark of the Supreme alone.

भेदव्यपदेशाच्चान्यः

bhedavyapadeśāccānyaḥ

And because of the stated difference, He is other than the sun's presiding soul. The Brihadaranyaka speaks of One who dwells in the sun yet whom the sun does not know.

आकाशस्तल्लिङ्गात्

ākāśastalliṅgāt

Akasha (space) here is Brahman, because of its marks. In the Chandogya all beings arise from and return to Akasha; such marks fit only Brahman, not elemental space.

अत एव प्राणः

ata eva prāṇaḥ

For the same reason Prana is Brahman. Where the Chandogya says all beings enter into and rise from Prana, the word means Brahman, not mere breath.

ज्योतिश्चरणाभिधानात्

jyotiścaraṇābhidhānāt

The Light is Brahman, because feet are mentioned. The light shining beyond heaven in the Chandogya is linked with the verse giving the Purusha four feet, so it means Brahman.

छन्दोऽभिधानान्नेति चेन्न तथा चेतोऽर्पणनिगदात्तथा हि दर्शनम्

chando'bhidhānānneti cenna tathā ceto'rpaṇanigadāttathā hi darśanam

If it be said the metre Gayatri is meant, no, because the mind is directed to Brahman through it; so scripture shows. Gayatri is used as a window for meditating on Brahman.

भूतादिपादव्यपदेशोपपत्तेश्चैवम्

bhūtādipādavyapadeśopapatteścaivam

And thus, because calling beings and the rest its feet fits only so. Beings, earth, body and heart as the 'feet' of Gayatri make sense only if Brahman is meant.

उपदेशभेदान्नेति चेन्नोभयस्मिन्नप्यविरोधात्

upadeśabhedānneti cennobhayasminnapyavirodhāt

If it be said the teaching differs, no, for there is no conflict in either. One passage puts Brahman in heaven, the other beyond it; both locate the same Light.

प्राणस्तथानुगमात्

prāṇastathānugamāt

Prana is Brahman, because that is how the passage is understood throughout. In the Kaushitaki, Indra's teaching 'I am Prana' speaks of the highest good and immortality, which fit Brahman.

न वक्तुरात्मोपदेशादिति चेदध्यात्मसम्बन्धभूमा ह्यस्मिन्

na vakturātmopadeśāditi cedadhyātmasambandhabhūmā hyasmin

If it be said that the speaker Indra teaches about himself, it is not so, for the passage abounds in references to the inner Self. The talk is of the innermost Atman.

शास्त्रदृष्ट्या तूपदेशो वामदेववत्

śāstradṛṣṭyā tūpadeśo vāmadevavat

But the teaching is from the vision of scripture, as with Vamadeva. Indra, seeing himself one with Brahman as the Shastra teaches, says 'Worship me', just as the rishi Vamadeva said 'I was Manu'.

जीवमुख्यप्राणलिङ्गान्नेति चेन्नोपासात्रैविध्यादाश्रितत्वादिह तद्योगात्

jīvamukhyaprāṇaliṅgānneti cennopāsātraividhyādāśritatvādiha tadyogāt

If it be said that marks of the jiva and of chief breath are found, no: that would make meditation threefold, and Prana here rests on Brahman, whose marks are present.