Chapter 2: Rites are frail boats; seek a guru

तदेतत् सत्यं मन्त्रेषु कर्माणि कवयो
यान्यपश्यंस्तानि त्रेतायां बहुधा संततानि ।
तान्याचरथ नियतं सत्यकामा एष वः
पन्थाः सुकृतस्य लोके

tadetat satyaṃ mantreṣu karmāṇi kavayo
yānyapaśyaṃstāni tretāyāṃ bahudhā saṃtatāni |
tānyācaratha niyataṃ satyakāmā eṣa vaḥ
panthāḥ sukṛtasya loke

This is the truth: the rites which the seers saw in the mantras were spread in many ways in the Treta age. Perform them always, you who desire the true. This is your path to the world of good deeds.

यदा लेलायते ह्यर्चिः समिद्धे हव्यवाहने ।
तदाऽऽज्यभागावन्तरेणाऽऽहुतीः प्रतिपादयेत्

yadā lelāyate hyarciḥ samiddhe havyavāhane |
tadā''jyabhāgāvantareṇā''hutīḥ pratipādayet

When the flame flickers, once the fire that carries the offering is kindled, then between the two portions of ghee one should place the offerings.

यस्याग्निहोत्रमदर्शमपौर्णमास-
मचातुर्मास्यमनाग्रयणमतिथिवर्जितं च ।
अहुतमवैश्वदेवमविधिना हुत-
मासप्तमांस्तस्य लोकान् हिनस्ति

yasyāgnihotramadarśamapaurṇamāsa-
macāturmāsyamanāgrayaṇamatithivarjitaṃ ca |
ahutamavaiśvadevamavidhinā huta-
māsaptamāṃstasya lokān hinasti

If a man's agnihotra lacks the new-moon and full-moon rites, the four-monthly rites and the harvest offering, if it is without guests, not offered, without the offering to all the devas, or offered against the rule, it destroys his seven worlds.

काली कराली च मनोजवा च
सुलोहिता या च सुधूम्रवर्णा ।
स्फुलिङ्गिनी विश्वरुची च देवी
लेलायमाना इति सप्त जिह्वाः

kālī karālī ca manojavā ca
sulohitā yā ca sudhūmravarṇā |
sphuliṅginī viśvarucī ca devī
lelāyamānā iti sapta jihvāḥ

Kali the black, Karali the terrible, Manojava swift as thought, Sulohita deep red, Sudhumravarna smoke-coloured, Sphulingini sparkling, and the bright goddess Vishvaruchi: these are the seven flickering tongues of fire.

एतेषु यश्चरते भ्राजमानेषु यथाकालं
चाहुतयो ह्याददायन् ।
तं नयन्त्येताः सूर्यस्य रश्मयो यत्र
देवानां पतिरेकोऽधिवासः

eteṣu yaścarate bhrājamāneṣu yathākālaṃ
cāhutayo hyādadāyan |
taṃ nayantyetāḥ sūryasya raśmayo yatra
devānāṃ patireko'dhivāsaḥ

He who performs the rites as these flames blaze, offering at the proper times, is carried by these offerings, as rays of the sun, to where the one lord of the devas dwells.

एह्येहीति तमाहुतयः सुवर्चसः
सूर्यस्य रश्मिभिर्यजमानं वहन्ति ।
प्रियां वाचमभिवदन्त्योऽर्चयन्त्य
एष वः पुण्यः सुकृतो ब्रह्मलोकः

ehyehīti tamāhutayaḥ suvarcasaḥ
sūryasya raśmibhiryajamānaṃ vahanti |
priyāṃ vācamabhivadantyo'rcayantya
eṣa vaḥ puṇyaḥ sukṛto brahmalokaḥ

"Come, come," the radiant offerings say to the sacrificer, and carry him up on the rays of the sun, honouring him with pleasant words: "This is your holy world of Brahma, earned by good deeds."

प्लवा ह्येते अदृढा यज्ञरूपा
अष्टादशोक्तमवरं येषु कर्म ।
एतच्छ्रेयो येऽभिनन्दन्ति मूढा
जरामृत्युं ते पुनरेवापि यन्ति

plavā hyete adṛḍhā yajñarūpā
aṣṭādaśoktamavaraṃ yeṣu karma |
etacchreyo ye'bhinandanti mūḍhā
jarāmṛtyuṃ te punarevāpi yanti

But these sacrifices, with their eighteen performers on whom the lower work rests, are unsteady boats. The deluded who rejoice in them as the highest good go again and again to old age and death.

अविद्यायामन्तरे वर्तमानाः
स्वयं धीराः पण्डितं मन्यमानाः ।
जङ्घन्यमानाः परियन्ति मूढा
अन्धेनैव नीयमाना यथान्धाः

avidyāyāmantare vartamānāḥ
svayaṃ dhīrāḥ paṇḍitaṃ manyamānāḥ |
jaṅghanyamānāḥ pariyanti mūḍhā
andhenaiva nīyamānā yathāndhāḥ

Living in the midst of ignorance, wise in their own eyes and thinking themselves learned, the deluded wander about, stricken again and again, like the blind led by the blind.

अविद्यायां बहुधा वर्तमाना वयं
कृतार्था इत्यभिमन्यन्ति बालाः ।
यत् कर्मिणो न प्रवेदयन्ति रागात्
तेनातुराः क्षीणलोकाश्च्यवन्ते

avidyāyāṃ bahudhā vartamānā vayaṃ
kṛtārthā ityabhimanyanti bālāḥ |
yat karmiṇo na pravedayanti rāgāt
tenāturāḥ kṣīṇalokāścyavante

Living in ignorance in many ways, the childish think, "We have reached our goal." Because men of ritual do not understand, through attachment, they fall in misery when their worlds of merit are spent.

इष्टापूर्तं मन्यमाना वरिष्ठं
नान्यच्छ्रेयो वेदयन्ते प्रमूढाः ।
नाकस्य पृष्ठे ते सुकृतेऽनुभूत्वेमं
लोकं हीनतरं वा विशन्ति

iṣṭāpūrtaṃ manyamānā variṣṭhaṃ
nānyacchreyo vedayante pramūḍhāḥ |
nākasya pṛṣṭhe te sukṛte'nubhūtvemaṃ
lokaṃ hīnataraṃ vā viśanti

Thinking sacrifice and works of merit the highest, the utterly deluded know no other good. Having enjoyed the fruit of good deeds on the heights of heaven, they enter this world or one lower still.

तपःश्रद्धे ये ह्युपवसन्त्यरण्ये
शान्ता विद्वांसो भैक्ष्यचर्यां चरन्तः ।
सूर्यद्वारेण ते विरजाः प्रयान्ति
यत्रामृतः स पुरुषो ह्यव्ययात्मा

tapaḥśraddhe ye hyupavasantyaraṇye
śāntā vidvāṃso bhaikṣyacaryāṃ carantaḥ |
sūryadvāreṇa te virajāḥ prayānti
yatrāmṛtaḥ sa puruṣo hyavyayātmā

But those who live in the forest with tapas and faith, peaceful and wise, living on alms, go stainless through the door of the sun to where dwells that immortal Purusha, the undecaying Self.

परीक्ष्य लोकान् कर्मचितान् ब्राह्मणो
निर्वेदमायान्नास्त्यकृतः कृतेन ।
तद्विज्ञानार्थं स गुरुमेवाभिगच्छेत्
समित्पाणिः श्रोत्रियं ब्रह्मनिष्ठम्

parīkṣya lokān karmacitān brāhmaṇo
nirvedamāyānnāstyakṛtaḥ kṛtena |
tadvijñānārthaṃ sa gurumevābhigacchet
samitpāṇiḥ śrotriyaṃ brahmaniṣṭham

Having examined the worlds won by works, a brahmana should grow free of desire: the uncreated is not reached by what is done. To know it, let him go, fuel in hand, to a guru learned in the Veda and established in Brahman.

तस्मै स विद्वानुपसन्नाय सम्यक्
प्रशान्तचित्ताय शमान्विताय ।
येनाक्षरं पुरुषं वेद सत्यं प्रोवाच
तां तत्वतो ब्रह्मविद्याम्

tasmai sa vidvānupasannāya samyak
praśāntacittāya śamānvitāya |
yenākṣaraṃ puruṣaṃ veda satyaṃ provāca
tāṃ tatvato brahmavidyām

To that disciple who has approached him properly, whose mind is calm and senses controlled, the wise teacher should rightly impart the knowledge of Brahman by which one knows the Imperishable, the true Purusha.