Upanishads (Müller) — II, 1, 5

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The Upanishads, Part 1 (SBE01), by Max Müller, [1879], at sacred-texts.com

FIFTH KHANDA.

Then the Devas carried him (the breath) forth, and being carried forth, he was stretched out, and when people said, 'He was stretched out,' then it was in the morning; when they said, 'He is gone to rest,' then it was in the evening. Day, therefore, is the breathing up, night the breathing down 1.

1. 1.Speech is Agni, sight that Âditya (sun), mind the moon, hearing the Dis (quarters): this is the prahitâm samyoga 2, the union of the deities as sent forth. These deities (Agni, &c.) are thus in the body, but their (phenomenal) appearance yonder is among the deities--this was intended.

1. 1.And Hiranyadat Vaida also, who knew this (and who by his knowledge had become Hiranyagarbha or the universal spirit), said: 'Whatever they do not give to me, they do not possess themselves.' I know the prahitâm samyoga, the union of the deities, as entered into the body 3. This is it.

1. 1.To him who knows this all creatures, without being constrained, offer gifts.

1. 1.That breath is (to be called) sattya (the true), for sat is breath, ti is food, yam is the sun 1. This is threefold, and threefold the eye also may be called, it being white, dark, and the pupil. He who knows why true is true (why sattya is sattya), even if he should speak falsely, yet what he says is true.

Footnotes

208:1 All these are plays on words, prâtar being derived from prâtâyi, sâyam from samâgât. The real object, however, is to show that breath, which is the uktha, which is the worshipper, is endowed with certain qualities, viz. time, speech, &c.

208:2 The meaning is, that the four deities, Agni, Âditya, Moon, and the Dis proceed from their own places to dwell together in the body of man, and that this is called the prahitâm samyogah. Prahit is explained as prahita, placed, sent. It is probably formed from hi, not from dhâ. Prahitoh samyoganam is the name of a Sâman, Ind. Stud. III, 225. As Devas or gods they appear each in its own place. The whole passage is very obscure.

208:3 All this is extremely obscure, possibly incorrect. For yam, unless it refers to some other word, we expect yan. For dadyuh one expects dadyât. What is intended is that Hiranyadat had p. 209 through meditation acquired identity with the universal spirit, and that therefore he might say that whatever was not surrendered to him did not really belong to anybody. On Hiranyadat, see Ait. Brâhm. III, 6.

209:1 Cf. Kh. Up. VIII, 3, 5.

Next: II, 1, 6