9 verses · 4 of 4
Uma tells Indra: it was Brahman, and it was in Brahman's victory that you were glorified. Only then did Indra know. Agni, Vayu and Indra came nearest to Brahman and touched it, so they stand above the other devas, and Indra above all, for he knew it first. Two images teach Brahman: among the devas it is the flash of lightning, the blink of an eye; within, it is that towards which the mind goes and by which it remembers. It is to be worshipped as Tadvana, the one all beings love. The Upanishad names tapas, self-control and right action as its foundation, the Vedas as its limbs, truth as its dwelling.
सा ब्रह्मेति होवाच ब्रह्मणो वा एतद्विजये महीयध्वमिति
ततो हैव विदाञ्चकार ब्रह्मेति
sā brahmeti hovāca brahmaṇo vā etadvijaye mahīyadhvamiti
tato haiva vidāñcakāra brahmeti
She said, 'It is Brahman. It was in the victory of Brahman that you grew so proud.' Only then did Indra know that it was Brahman.
तस्माद्वा एते देवा अतितरामिवान्यान्देवान्यदग्निर्वायुरिन्द्रस्ते
ह्येनन्नेदिष्ठं पस्पर्शुस्ते ह्येनत्प्रथमो विदाञ्चकार ब्रह्मेति
tasmādvā ete devā atitarāmivānyāndevānyadagnirvāyurindraste
hyenannediṣṭhaṃ pasparśuste hyenatprathamo vidāñcakāra brahmeti
That is why these devas, Agni, Vayu and Indra, stand above the other devas, for they came nearest to Brahman and they first knew It as Brahman.
तस्माद्वा इन्द्रोऽतितरामिवान्यान्देवान्
सह्येनन्नेदिष्ठं पस्पर्श स ह्येनत्प्रथमो विदाञ्चकार ब्रह्मेति
tasmādvā indro'titarāmivānyāndevān
sahyenannediṣṭhaṃ pasparśa sa hyenatprathamo vidāñcakāra brahmeti
And that is why Indra stands above even the other devas, for he came nearest to Brahman and he first knew It as Brahman.
तस्यैष आदेशो यदेतद्विद्युतो व्यद्युतदा३इतीन् न्यमीमिषदा३
इत्यधिदैवतम्
tasyaiṣa ādeśo yadetadvidyuto vyadyutadā3itīn nyamīmiṣadā3
ityadhidaivatam
This is the teaching about It in relation to the devas: It is like the flash of lightning, ah, and like the blink of an eye, ah.
अथाध्यात्मं यद्देतद्गच्छतीव च मनोऽनेन
चैतदुपस्मरत्यभीक्ष्णँ सङ्कल्पः
athādhyātmaṃ yaddetadgacchatīva ca mano'nena
caitadupasmaratyabhīkṣṇam̐ saṅkalpaḥ
Now in relation to the self: it is that towards which the mind seems to go, by which it remembers again and again, and its constant resolve.
तद्ध तद्वनं नाम तद्वनमित्युपासितव्यं स य एतदेवं वेदाभि
हैनँ सर्वाणि भूतानि संवाञ्छन्ति
taddha tadvanaṃ nāma tadvanamityupāsitavyaṃ sa ya etadevaṃ vedābhi
hainam̐ sarvāṇi bhūtāni saṃvāñchanti
It is called Tadvana, the one all long for. As Tadvana It should be worshipped. Whoever knows It thus, all beings long for him.
उपनिषदं भो ब्रूहीत्युक्ता त उपनिषद्ब्राह्मीं वाव त
उपनिषदमब्रूमेति
upaniṣadaṃ bho brūhītyuktā ta upaniṣadbrāhmīṃ vāva ta
upaniṣadamabrūmeti
(The disciple:) 'Sir, teach me the Upanishad.' (The teacher:) 'The Upanishad has been told to you. We have told you the secret teaching of Brahman.'
तस्यै तपो दमः कर्मेति प्रतिष्ठा वेदाः सर्वाङ्गानि
सत्यमायतनम्
tasyai tapo damaḥ karmeti pratiṣṭhā vedāḥ sarvāṅgāni
satyamāyatanam
Tapas, self-control and right action are its foundation. The Vedas are its limbs, and truth is its dwelling place.
यो वा एतामेवं वेदापहत्य पाप्मानमनन्ते स्वर्गे
लोके ज्येये प्रतितिष्ठति प्रतितिष्ठति
yo vā etāmevaṃ vedāpahatya pāpmānamanante svarge
loke jyeye pratitiṣṭhati pratitiṣṭhati
He who knows this teaching thus, having struck away sin, stands firm in the endless, highest world of heaven. He stands firm.
ॐ आप्यायन्तु ममाङ्गानि वाक्प्राणश्चक्षुः
oṃ āpyāyantu mamāṅgāni vākprāṇaścakṣuḥ
श्रोत्रमथो बलमिन्द्रियाणि च सर्वाणि ।
सर्वं ब्रह्मौपनिषदं
माऽहं ब्रह्म निराकुर्यां मा मा ब्रह्म
निराकारोदनिराकरणमस्त्वनिराकरणं मेऽस्तु ।
तदात्मनि निरते य
उपनिषत्सु धर्मास्ते मयि सन्तु ते मयि सन्तु ।
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥
śrotramatho balamindriyāṇi ca sarvāṇi |
sarvaṃ brahmaupaniṣadaṃ
mā'haṃ brahma nirākuryāṃ mā mā brahma
nirākārodanirākaraṇamastvanirākaraṇaṃ me'stu |
tadātmani nirate ya
upaniṣatsu dharmāste mayi santu te mayi santu |
oṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ ||
1. She replied: 'It is Brahman. It is through the victory of Brahman that you have thus become great.' After that he knew that it was Brahman.
2. Therefore these Devas, viz. Agni, Vâyu, and Indra, are, as it were, above the other gods, for they touched it (the Brahman) nearest.
3. And therefore Indra is, as it were, above the other gods, for he touched it nearest, he first knew it.
4. This is the teaching of Brahman, with regard to the gods (mythological): It is that which now flashes forth in the lightning, and now vanishes again.
5. And this is the teaching of Brahman, with regard to the body (psychological): It is that which seems to move as mind, and by it imagination remembers again and again.
6. That Brahman is called Tadvana, by the name of Tadvana it is to be meditated on. All beings have a desire for him who knows this.
7. The Teacher: 'As you have asked me to tell you the Upanishad, the Upanishad has now been told you. We have told you the Brâhmî Upanishad.
8. 'The feet on which that Upanishad stands are penance, restraint, sacrifice; the Vedas are all its limbs, the True is its abode.
9. 'He who knows this Upanishad, and has shaken off all evil, stands in the endless, unconquerable world of heaven, yea, in the world of heaven.'
Public-domain translation by F. Max Müller (1879).
Text source: Wikisource · CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikisource transcription of a public-domain text)
