Shvetashvatara Upanishad

01The rishi who named it

The Upanishad carries the name of its seer. Near the end (6.21) it says that Rishi Shvetashvatara, by the power of his tapas and by the grace of the Lord, knew Brahman and taught it, pure and supreme, to the atyashramis, the sannyasis beyond the four ashramas, in the company of rishis. It belongs to the Krishna Yajurveda, and like the other Upanishads of that Veda it is opened with the shanti mantra saha navavatu, may He protect us both, teacher and pupil. It is apaurusheya Shruti. It is not among the ten on which Adi Shankaracharya's undisputed bhashyas stand, yet the Brahma Sutra commentators of every school quote it as Shruti, and it is counted with the principal Upanishads.

02What is the cause?

The Upanishad opens with seekers asking: is Brahman the cause? Whence are we born, by what do we live, where do we rest? Is it time, nature, necessity, chance, the elements, the purusha? Through dhyana-yoga they see the power of the Lord himself, hidden in his own gunas. The first adhyaya pictures the world as a wheel and a river, and the soul as a swan whirling on the wheel of Brahman until it knows itself and the Mover as distinct and, by his grace, reaches immortality.

03Yoga, and devotion to the guru

The second adhyaya gives the fullest picture of yoga practice among the principal Upanishads: hold the body straight, with chest, neck and head erect, draw the senses into the heart, and sit in a clean, level place, free of pebbles, fire and gravel, pleasing to the mind and sheltered from wind. The first signs of progress are lightness, health, a clear complexion and a pleasant voice. The last mantra of the sixth adhyaya gives the word bhakti: these truths shine for the great soul who has supreme devotion to God, and to the guru as to God.

04Eko hi rudro

The third adhyaya declares: Rudra is one; they stand for no second, who rules these worlds with his ruling powers. He is called Girisha, the dweller on the mountain, and Shiva, whose form is auspicious and not fearsome. The verses of the Shri Rudram echo here: ya te rudra shiva tanur, your auspicious body, O Rudra, free of terror, shining with no evil. The same adhyaya carries the Purusha with a thousand heads, eyes and feet, known from the Purusha Sukta. He has no hands and feet, yet he runs and grasps; he sees without eyes and hears without ears.

05Maya, the unborn one and the two birds

The fourth adhyaya speaks in pictures. There is one unborn female, red, white and black, bringing forth many creatures like herself; one unborn male lies with her in enjoyment, another leaves her, having enjoyed. Two birds, companions, cling to the same tree. One eats the sweet fruit; the other looks on without eating. When the grieving bird sees the other, the Lord, and his glory, its grief is gone. Then comes the line every school has had to explain: know maya to be prakriti, and Maheshvara to be the master of maya. The whole world is pervaded by beings that are his parts.

06Beyond the darkness

I know that great Purusha, the colour of the sun, beyond darkness, the rishi says in 3.8. Knowing him alone one passes beyond death; there is no other path to go. The sixth adhyaya gives the line also found in the Katha and Mundaka: there the sun does not shine, nor moon and stars, nor lightning, much less this fire; when he shines, all shines after him. The jiva is as small as a hair-tip divided a hundred times and again a hundred, yet it is capable of the infinite. And in 6.18 the seeker takes refuge: in him, who first made Brahma and gave him the Vedas, the Lord who lights the mind, I, longing for freedom, seek refuge.

07Read by every school

A bhashya on the Shvetashvatara is ascribed to Adi Shankaracharya, and Advaita reads its nirguna verses, such as 6.11, the one Deva hidden in all beings, witness, alone and without qualities, as the final word. Shaiva Siddhanta takes it as its chief Upanishadic authority, finding in it Pati, pashu and pasha: the Lord, the bound soul and the bond. Ramanujacharya quotes 1.12, the enjoyer, the enjoyed and the Mover, as Shruti's own statement of the three realities, Ishvara, the jivas and matter, which the Vishishtadvaita school teaches. Sri Vaishnavas cherish 6.18 as a mantra of prapatti, surrender, and Kashmir Shaiva teachers also draw on it.

08At the Rudrabhishekam and on Guru Purnima

When priests pour water over the Shivling at a Rudrabhishekam and chant the Shri Rudram, the mantra ya te rudra shiva tanur is heard in the Rudram's first anuvaka; the Shvetashvatara gives the same prayer in 3.5. Shaiva households keep the line eko hi rudro na dvitiyaya tasthuh close. On Guru Purnima, when disciples wash the guru's feet, the closing mantra, yasya deve para bhaktir yatha deve tatha gurau, is the line most often spoken. Sannyasis of every order study it, and the six adhyayas are chanted with the shanti mantra saha navavatu before and after.

What it contains

1. 1
   Adhyaya 1

   The brahmavadins ask what the first cause is and reject time, nature, chance and the rest. In meditation they see the Lord's own power hidden in his gunas. The world is pictured as a wheel and a river, and the three are named: the enjoyer, the enjoyed and the Mover. With the body as the lower fire-stick and Om as the upper, the seeker draws out the hidden fire of the Self.

2. 2
   Adhyaya 2

   It opens with mantras to Savitar asking him to yoke the mind to truth. Then it teaches the posture, the place and the breath of yoga, and the first signs of progress. It closes in praise of the Deva who is in fire and in water, in plants and in trees.

3. 3
   Adhyaya 3

   Rudra is the one Lord who stands for no second, Girisha and Shiva, whose body is auspicious. The Purusha with a thousand heads appears, and the rishi declares, I know that great Purusha beyond darkness. The Lord is without hands and feet, yet moves and grasps.

4. 4
   Adhyaya 4

   The unborn one of three colours, the two birds on one tree, and maya as prakriti with Maheshvara as its master. The Lord is called the one who rules every womb, and the adhyaya ends with prayers to Rudra for protection of children, cattle and life.

5. 5
   Adhyaya 5

   Vidya and avidya are both held in the imperishable Brahman. Kapila the rishi is named as one the Lord filled with knowledge at the start. The jiva is subtle as the hundredth part of a hair-tip, neither male nor female nor neuter, and takes bodies by its own karma.

6. 6
   Adhyaya 6

   The Lord is beyond time, the maker of time, the one Deva hidden in all beings. Here are the light beyond the sun and moon and the seeker's refuge in 6.18. The rishi Shvetashvatara is named, the teaching is to be given only to the worthy, and the last mantra speaks of bhakti to God and guru.

Famous verses

एको हि रुद्रो न द्वितीयाय तस्थुर्य इमांल्लोकानीशत ईशनीभिः।

Rudra is one alone; they did not stand for a second, he who rules these worlds by his ruling powers.Shvetashvatara Upanishad 3.2

वेदाहमेतं पुरुषं महान्तमादित्यवर्णं तमसः परस्तात्। तमेव विदित्वातिमृत्युमेति नान्यः पन्था विद्यतेऽयनाय॥

I know that great Purusha, radiant as the sun, beyond darkness. Knowing him alone one goes beyond death; there is no other path to go.Shvetashvatara Upanishad 3.8

मायां तु प्रकृतिं विद्यान्मायिनं तु महेश्वरम्।

Know maya to be prakriti, and Maheshvara to be the wielder of maya.Shvetashvatara Upanishad 4.10

एको देवः सर्वभूतेषु गूढः सर्वव्यापी सर्वभूतान्तरात्मा। कर्माध्यक्षः सर्वभूताधिवासः साक्षी चेता केवलो निर्गुणश्च॥

The one Deva, hidden in all beings, all-pervading, the inner Self of all beings, overseer of all action, dwelling in all beings, the witness, pure consciousness, alone and beyond the gunas.Shvetashvatara Upanishad 6.11

यस्य देवे परा भक्तिर्यथा देवे तथा गुरौ। तस्यैते कथिता ह्यर्थाः प्रकाशन्ते महात्मनः॥

For the great soul who has supreme devotion to God, and to the guru as to God, these truths, when taught, shine forth.Shvetashvatara Upanishad 6.23