Annapurna Upanishad
Annapurna Upanishad
Translated by Dr. A. G. Krishna Warrier
Published by The Theosophical Publishing House, Chennai
Om! O Devas, may we hear with our ears what is auspicious;
May we see with our eyes what is auspicious, O ye worthy of worship!
May we enjoy the term of life allotted by the Devas,
Praising them with our body and limbs steady!
May the glorious Indra bless us!
May the all-knowing Sun bless us!
May Garuda, the thunderbolt for evil, bless us!
May Brihaspati grant us well-being!
Om! Let there be Peace in me!
Let there be Peace in my environment!
Let there be Peace in the forces that act on me!
I-1-2. The king of Yogins, Nidagha, prostrated flat (like a rod) before Ribhu,
that pre-eminent knower of Brahman. Then, rising, that ascetic respectfully
said, 'Teach me the truth about the Self; by what kind of adoration have you, Oh
Brahmana, attained this state?
I-3-4. Teach me that grand science which yields sovereignty over the empire of
emancipation. 'You have done well, Nidagha! Listen to the eternal science by the
knowledge of which alone will you be liberated life. Lodged in Om that envelopes
the Root of phenomena (Brahman), supporting the syllable 'aim',
I-5-7. 'Eternal bliss, independent ('hrim'), renowned, with streaming stresses
('sauh'), the ruler of the world ('srim'), Mahalakshmi, (at once) desire ('klim'),
fulfillment, and humanity, is the divine Annapurna. 'I begged of Her, using the
celebrated and quintessential incantation of 27 syllables, cultivated by hosts
of female ascetics,
I-8. 'Namely, aim, hrim, sauh, srim, klim, aum namo bhagavatyannapurne
mamabhilashitam annam dehi Svaha. [Salutation, O divine Annapurna, vouchsafe the
food I desire]: 'Thus have I been instructed by my father. From then on have I
established myself in (this) discipline, persisting in the activities of my
station (in life) and have given myself up to the daily practice of this
incantation.
I-9. 'When many days passed thus, there appeared in front of me Annapurna,
wide-eyed, her lotus-face beaming with a smile.
I-10. 'Seeing her, I prostrated flat on the ground, and (then) stood up with
folded hands. "Well, child, you have done well; ask of me a boon, delay not."
I-11. Oh (Nidagha), best of sages! Thus hidden by the wide-eyed (deity) I spoke:
'O Daughter of the mountain, may the truth of the Self dawn on my mind'.
I-12. Saying 'be it so' she vanished, then and there. Then, through the
perception of the world's variety the idea (mati) arose in me.
I-13. Delusion appears five-fold; it will be presently set forth. Due to the
first delusion, Jiva and God appear to have different forms.
I-14. Due to the second, the attribute of agency dwelling in the Self appears to
be real. The third (consists in) deeming the Jiva associated with the three
bodies as having attachment.
I-15. The fourth takes the world-cause (God) to be mutable. The fifth delusion
ascribes reality to the world as distinguished from its cause. Then, also, in
the mind flashes the cessation of the five-fold delusion.
I-16. From that moment, spontaneously, my mind was assimilated to Brahman. O
Nidagha, thus may you, too, secure knowledge of reality.
I-17. With humility and respect (Nidagha spoke to Ribhu: impart to me, having
faith (in you), the peerless science of Brahman.
I-18. Gratified, Ribhu said: 'so be it'. I shall impart to you the knowledge of
reality, O sinless one. Be a mighty agent, ardent enjoyer, and a great renouncer.
Having this investigated your own real nature, be happy.
I-19. 'I am Brahman, ever manifest, pure, first, endless; there is no room for
the slightest dallying with aught else' - thus think, having become blemishless;
achieve Nirvana (permanent peace) having purified and quietened all movements of
the mind.
I-20. Know that none of the things seen here is there; it is all like 'the city
in the sky' and 'water in the desert'.
I-21. On the other hand, what is nowhere seen, at all, is not given (as an
object); beyond the range of the sixth sense, mind, O sage -- assimilate
yourself to That.
I-22. Grasp: I am That which is the indestructible, infinite, Spirit, the Self
of everything, integral, replete, abundant and partless.
I-23. Due to the absolute contemplation of absence (or nihil), when the mind
dwindles, there results the state of the being-in-general (satta-samanya), of
that whose essence is unqualified consciousness.
I-24. Surely, devoid of all objective tinge, when consciousness (chit) subsides,
there supervenes the exceedingly transparent being-in-general that resembles
non-being.
I-25. For the liberated Self, both embodied and disembodied, surely there occurs
this ultimate perception known as the state-beyond-the fourth.
I-26. O sinless one, this occurs in the case of the knower both when he has
risen from Concentration (Samadhi) and when he is established in it; being born
of awareness, this does not happen for the ignorant alone.
I-27. All wavering between states of reasoning, etc., having vanished long
since, his face steeped in the lovely light of Brahmic bliss, (the sage) attains
the blessed state through right knowledge alone.
I-28. The inner cool (calm repose) of him who perceives this multitude of gunas
as non-Self is said to be Concentration.
I-29. The steady mind is empty of latent impulses; the same is (the state of)
contemplation. The same also is Aloneness. Besides, it is nothing but perpetual
quiescence.
I-30. The mind with attenuated latent impulses is said to be bound for the
highest state. Next, the mind, without such impulses, attains the status of the
non-doer.
I-31. On the other hand, the mind's imagination of being the doer is replete
with latent impulses; it causes all sufferings; therefore attenuated latent
impulses.
I-32. When the imagination of unity with all objects is mentally discarded, due
to its constant introverted state, all things are resolved into empty space.
I-33. As crowds in a market, though active, are as good as non-existent (to the
observer) when he is not related (to them), so too, to the knower is a village
like unto a forest.
I-34. Being inwardly withdrawn, the knower, either asleep, awake, walking or
reading, beholds a city, country-side, or village as if it were no other than a
forest (i.e. with total disinterestedness).
I-35. Once the inner cool is won, the world is cool. To those scorched by the
inner thirst, the world is afire.
I-36. For all (un-liberated) beings what is within is projected externally.
I-37. But the lover of the inner Self, though operating through the organs of
action, is unaffected by joy and sorrow; he is said to be concentrated.
I-38. He who, as a matter of course and not through fear, beholds all beings as
one's own Self and others' possessions as clods of earth, alone sees aright.
I-39. Let death come now or at the end of cycles; he remains unblemished as gold
(fallen) in mire.
I-40. Consider in your mind: who am I? How is all this (brought about)? How do
death and birth (happen)? Thus (considering) will you earn the great benefit (of
investigation).
I-41. Your mind will shed its (discursive) form and quietly win repose, once,
through investigation, you comprehend your real nature.
I-42. O Brahmin, your mind, cured of its feverishness, no more sinks in
empirical activities, as an elephant does not, in the hollow made by a cow's
hoof.
I-43. But a petty mind, O Brahmin, does sink in any petty affair, just as a
battered mosquito does, in the water collected in the hollow made by a cow's
hoof.
I-44. O best of ascetics, to the extent all objects are readily renounced, the
supreme Self, the transcendent light, alone remains.
I-45. So long as all objects are not renounced, the Self is not won. What
remains after the renunciation of the entire objective manifold is said to be
the Self.
I-46. Therefore, in order to realize the Self, renounce everything. Having cast
off all (objects), assimilate yourself to that which remains.
I-47. Whatever object is beheld in the world around is but the vibration of
Consciousness, it is nothing permanent.
I-48. O Brahmin, by the term Samadhi (Concentration) the wise denote
transcendent understanding that is concentrated, eternally appeased, and is
cognisant of things as they are.
I-49. The term Concentration denotes the stable, mountain-like, status (of the
self) that is un-agitated, un-egoistic, and unrelated to dualities.
I-50. O Brahmin, it denotes the perfected flow of the mind that is sure,
choiceless and goalless.
I-51. The best of the knowers of the Vedas, the great ones, win that fourth and
stable perception that is fashioned solely through a part of the light of the
Spirit.
I-52. (It is) lodged in the heart of all things and not altogether unlike
dreamless slumber, when the mind and the ego subside.
I-53. After liquidating the mind with the mind, that state - that supremely
divine bliss-body - is automatically won.
I-54. Thence follows the obliteration of all cravings for objects; then dawns
the auspicious and superbly splendid light, and then, in the case of the very
best, due to the sway of even-mindness (takes place) the ineffable
transformation into the Self's substance.
I-55. Directly experienced indeed as the God of gods and Self of all entities,
moving and stationary is this total and infinite reality of the Self, dwelling
in the fast-evolving mind that is quietened externally.
I-56. The unattached, steady, and controlled mind is not in evidence in the
worldings; the attached mind, though subjected to long-drawn austerities is, as
it were, altogether bound.
I-57. The man free from inner clinging, whose mind dwells on the blissful
(Brahman) may or may not act externally; never can he be either agent or
experiencer.
II-1. Nidagha: What is attachment like? What kind of it leads to human bondage?
And what kind of it is said to liberate? How is this (attachment) cured?
II-2. (Ribhu): Imagination, ignoring wholly the distinction between the body and
the embodied (Self) - the exclusive faith in the body - is the attachment that
is said to bind.
II-3. All this is Self: what shall I seek here and what avoid? Know this to be
the position of non-attachment that the Jivanmukta fosters.
II-4. I am not; none, other than me, is; neither this nor the non-other exists.
This (attitude) is said to be non-attachment, always maintaining, 'I am
Brahman'.
II-5. He does not approve of inactivity; neither does he cling to activities.
He, the renouncer, is the superbly equable (in outlook); he is said to be the
non-attached.
II-6. One who mentally, and not in the concrete act alone, renounces fruits,
etc., of all his activities - that adept is said to be non-attached.
II-7. Imaginations and the manifold activities issuing (there from) are cured,
here, by non-indulgence in imagination; thus promote well-being.
II-8-9. The mind that clings not to acts, thoughts, and things, to wanderings
and reckonings of time, but reposes in Consciousness alone, finding no delight
anywhere, even when turned toward some objects, revels in the Self.
II-10. Let him perform or not all this empirical activity; doing or non-doing,
his true occupation is Self-delight.
II-11. Or, giving up even that objective element, as stabilised Consciousness,
the tranquillised Jiva abides in the Self like a radiant gem.
II-12. The quiescent state of the attenuated mind, free from all objective
reference, is said to be the deep sleep in wakefulness.
II-13. This state of slumber, O Nidagha, fully developed through practice, is
styled the Fourth by the best knowers of Truth.
II-14. Having attained the indestructible status in this fourth stage, one
reaches a non-blissful poise (as it were), its nature being invariably
delightful.
II-15. Thence lifted above all relativities, like non-bliss and great bliss, the
time-less Yogin, reaching the state beyond the fourth, is said to be liberated.
II-16. With all bonds of birth loosened, and all Tamasic conceits dissolved, the
great sage (abides) as the blissful being of the supreme Self like a
salt-crystal in water.
II-17. That which is the trans-empirical and experiential reality, present in
the (contrasted) perceptions of the material and the conscious, is the essence;
Brahman is said to be that.
II-18(a). Bondage is encompassed by the object; on release from this, liberation
is said to supervene.
II-18(b)-19. Resting in that un-vexed experience, discriminated in the link
between the substance and perception, abide you; thus one attains the (peace) of
deep sleep. That develops into the Fourth; station your gaze on That.
II-20. The Self is neither gross nor subtle; neither manifest nor hidden;
neither spiritual nor material; neither non-being nor being.
II-21. That non-dual indestructible one which has become the object, the ground
of mind and all sense-organs, is neither 'I' nor another; neither one nor many.
II-22. That real joy (experienced) in the relation between the object and
perception is the transcendental state; therefore it is, as it were, nothing (in
itself).
II-23. Liberation is not on the top of the sky; not in the nether world; not on
the earth. The dwindling of mind in which all desires dry up is held to be
liberation.
II-24. With the thought, within, 'let me have liberation' the mind springs up;
this worldly bondage is firm in the mind agitated with thought.
II-25. The mere non-cleansing of the mind reduces it to a state of prodigious
transmigration; its cleansing alone, on the other hand, is said to be
liberation.
II-26. What is bondage and what is liberation in respect of the Self that
transcends all things or that pervades all forms? Think freely.
II-27. Loving the Spirit, lifted above all hopes, full, holy in mind, having won
the incomparable state of repose, he seeks nothing here.
II-28. He is called the Jivanmukta (Liberated in life) who lives, unattached, in
the pure Being that sustains all, the indubitable Spirit that is the Self.
II-29. He craves not for what is yet to be; he does not bank on the present; he
remembers not the past; yet he does all work.
II-30. Ever unattached to those who cling to him; devoted to the devotees; he is
harsh, as it were, to the harsh.
II-31. A child amidst children; adult amidst adults; bold amidst the bold; a
youth amidst the youthful; lamenting amidst those who lament;
II-32. Steadfast, blissful, polished, of holy speech, wise, simple and sweet;
never given to self-pity;
II-33. Through discipline, when the throb of vital breaths ceases, the mind is
wholly dissolved; the impersonal bliss (Nirvana) remains;
II-34. Whence all discursive speech turns back. With the obliteration of all of
one's mental constructions that (Brahmic) status abides.
II-35. Here is the supreme Self whose essence is the light of Consciousness
without beginning or end; the wise hold this luminous certitude to be the right
knowledge.
II-36. The plenitude due to the knowledge 'all the world is Self alone' is the
right measure of Self-realization everywhere in the world.
II-37. All is Self alone; what are the (empirical) states being and non-being?
Where have they fled? Where are those notions of bondage and liberation? What
stands out is Brahman alone.
II-38. All is the one supreme Sky. What is liberation? What is bondage? This is
the great Brahman, established mightily, with extended form; duality has
vanished far from It; be you, yourself, the Self alone.
II-39. When the form of a stock, stone and cloth is seen aright, there is not
even a shadow of difference; bent on imagination (of differences) where are you?
II-40. This imperishable and tranquil essence, (present) at the beginning and
end of things and yourself, always be That.
II-41. With mental distinctions of duality and non-duality and delusions of old
age and death, the Self alone shines in its phases (atmabhih) just as the sea,
in its (phases of) waves.
II-42. What enjoyment of the desired (fruits) can disturb him, who dwells
steadfast, ever wedded, in thought, to the pure Self that fells the tree of
dangers, to the status of bliss supreme?
II-43. Mental enjoyments are the foes of one who has thought extensively; they
move him not in the least just as gentle breezes move not a hill at all.
II-44. 'Plurality exists in diverse imaginings, not really, within; just as
there is nothing but water in a lake' - a man filled with this one certitude is
said to be liberated; he who has perceived the Real.
III-1. (Nidagha): What is the nature of liberation without the body? Who is the
great sage in possession of it? Resorting to which Yoga has he achieved that
supreme status?
III-2. Ribhu: In the region of Sumeru the celebrated sage Mandavya resorting to
Truth (imparted by) Kaundinya became liberated in life.
III-3. Having attained the status of Jivanmukti, that foremost knower of
Brahman, that great sage, made up his mind, once upon a time, to withdraw all
his sense-organs (from their respective objects).
III-4. He sat in the lotus-posture, with eyes half-closed, slowly avoiding
contacts (with objects), external and internal.
III-5. Then he, with his sinless mind, (reflected on) the (degree of) steadiness
of his mind: 'clearly, though withdrawn, this mind of mine is extremely
restless'.
III-6. It wanders from a cloth to a pot and thence to a big cart. The mind
wanders among objects as a monkey does from tree to tree.
III-7. The five openings, eyes and so forth, known as the sense organs of
cognition, I am watching carefully with my mind.
III-8. O you sense-organs! Slowly give up your mood of agitation. Here I am, the
divine spiritual Self, the witness of all.
III-9. With that all-knowing Self, I have comprehended (the nature of) eyes,
etc. I am
completely secure and at peace. Luckily I am fearless.
III-10. Incessantly I rest in my Self, the Fourth; my vital breaths, its
extensions, have all, in due order, subsided within.
III-11. (I am) as a fire with its multitudinous flames, when the fuel has been
consumed; it blazed forth but now is extinguished - the blazing fire has,
indeed, been extinguished.
III-12. Having been purified utterly, I remain equable, enjoying all alike, as
it were. I am awake though in deep sleep; though in deep sleep, I am awake.
III-13-14. Resorting to the Fourth, I remain within the body with a stable
status, having abandoned, together with the long thread of sound reaching upto
OM, objects in all the three worlds fashioned by imagination.
III-15. As a bird, for flying in the sky, leaves the net (in which it was
enmeshed), the great sage sheds (his) identification with the sense-organs; then
(he sheds) his awareness of limbs which has become illusory.
III-16. He has won the knowledge of a new-born infant; as if the air should give
up its power to vibrate, he has terminated the proneness of consciousness to
attach itself to objects.
III-17. Then, attaining the unqualified state of Consciousness - the state of
pure Being -resorting, (as it were), to the state of dreamless slumber, he has
stayed immovable like a mountain.
III-18. Winning the stability of dreamless sleep he has attained the Fourth;
though gone beyond bliss, (he is) still blissful; he has become both being and
non-being.
III-19. Then he becomes that which is beyond even the range of words which is
the nihil of the nihilist and Brahman of the knowers of Brahman;
III-20. Which is the pure blemishless cognition of the knowers of cognition, the
Purusha of the Sankhyas and Ishvara of the Yogins;
III-21. The Shiva of the Shivagamas; the Time of those who affirm Time alone (as
the basic principle); the final doctrine of all Shastras, and what conforms to
every heart;
III-22. Which is the All, the all-pervading Reality, the Truth. He has become
That, the unuttered, the moveless, the illuminator even of lights;
III-23. The Principle whose sole proof is one's experience of It - he has
remained as That.
III-24. That which is unborn, deathless, beginningless and the First immaculate
state, whole and impartite - he has remained as That; a state subtler than that
of the sky. In a moment, he has become the hallowed God.
IV-1. Has the Jivanmukta characteristics like the power to fly in space, etc.,?
If so, great sage, it is not present in the perfected man (described above).
IV-2. O Brahmin, a non-knower of the Self, still in bondage, achieves (the
powers) to fly in space, etc., by virtue of (specific) substances, incantations,
practices and potencies of time.
IV-3. This is not the concern of the Self-knower. One having contentment in
one's Self never hankers after (the phenomena of) nescience.
IV-4. Whatever objects are present in the world are (held to be) of the stuff of
nescience. How can the great Yogin, who has dispelled nescience, plunge into
them?
IV-5. Whichever confounded person or man of little understanding desires the
group of Yogic powers achieves them, one by one, through set practices,
instrumental to them.
IV-6. Substances, incantations, actions applied at (the right) time, yield Yogic
powers all right. None of them lifts man to the status of God.
IV-7. Only influenced by some desire does man work for miraculous powers. The
perfect man, seeking nothing, can have no desire whatsoever.
IV-8. When all desires dry up, O sage, the Self is won. How can the mindless
(sage) desire miraculous powers?
IV-9. The man liberated in life would feel no surprise were the sun to radiate
cool light, the moon scorching rays or the fire to blaze downwards.
IV-10. (The whole world) is superimposed on the supreme Reality, the Ground, as
the snake is on the rope. No curiosity is aroused as regards these superimposed
wonders.
IV-11. Those indeed who have known what is to be known and shed all attachments,
whose intellect is great, the knots of whose hearts have been cut, are free,
though living in the body.
IV-12. Dead is his mind who is unmoved in joy and sorrow, and whom nothing jerks
out of equality, even as breaths stir not a mighty mountain.
IV-13. Dead is the mind of one who is undisturbed by danger, resourcelessness,
energy, hilarity, dullness, or great rejoicing.
IV-14. The destruction of mind is twofold, determinate and indeterminate. In
(the state of) liberation in life it is determinate; in that of disembodied
liberation it is indeterminate.
IV-15. The presence of mind makes for sorrow; its destruction promotes joy.
Attenuate the existent mind and bring about its destruction.
IV-16. The nature of mind, know, is folly, O sinless one! When that perishes
one's real essence, mindlessness, is (won).
IV-17. The mind of one liberated in life, having qualities like friendliness,
etc., is rich in noble impulses; it is never reborn.
IV-18. This 'destruction' of the Jivanmukta's mind is determinate; Nidagha, with
disembodied liberation comes indeterminate destruction.
IV-19. One liberated in disembodiment is he who realizes the partless Self; his
mind, the abode of all excellent qualities as it was, is dissolved.
IV-20-21. In that supremely holy, blemishless status of disembodied liberation,
marked by 'mindlessness', in that state of indeterminate destruction of the
mind, just nothing remains, neither qualities nor their absence; neither glory
nor its absence; nothing (whatsoever) of the world;
IV-22. Neither sunrise nor sunset; neither sensations of joy or anger; neither
light nor darkness; neither twilight, day nor night; neither being, non-being,
nor centrality marks the status (of disembodied liberation).
IV-23. The spacious status of those (who are liberated in disembodiment), who
have gone beyond intellect and the pomp of worldly life, is like the sky, the
abode of the winds.
IV-24. The great (Jivanmuktas) whose bodies are the subtle ether become
disembodied there (in the state of disembodied liberation); all their sufferings
are cured; they are immaterial; totally quiescent, immobilized in bliss, beyond
Rajas and Tamas. In that state dissolve the remnants of their mind.
IV-25. O great sage, Nidagha, rid your mind of all latent tendencies;
concentrate your mind forcefully, and go beyond all mental constructions.
IV-26. That eternally self-shining Light, illuminating the world, is alone the
witness of this world, the Self of all, the pure One.
IV-27. As massed Intelligence It is the ground of all beings. That non-dual
Brahman characterised by truth, knowledge, and bliss is the object of knowledge.
IV-28-29. The sage fulfils his duty with the realization, 'I am the one
Brahman'; (Brahman is) the ground of all, non-dual, supreme, eternal, of the
essence of being, intelligence, and bliss, beyond the range of word and mind.
IV-30. There shine not the forms of the moon and the sun; the winds blow not;
and none of the gods (are there). This divinity alone shines forth as being,
pure by itself, free from rajas.
IV-31. The knot of the heart is split; all doubts are cut asunder. All his
actions dwindle when He, who is both here and beyond, is seen.
IV-32. In this body are the birds, called the Jiva and the Lord, dwelling
together. Of them the Jiva eats the fruit of action, not the great Lord.
IV-33. Alone as the Witness, without participation, the great Lord shines by
Himself. Through Maya is set up the difference between them. Spirit is other
than Its form; as It does not dwindle, the Spirit is non-different (from all
objects).
IV-34. As the unity of the Spirit is established through reasoning and means of
right knowledge, once that unity is comprehensively known, one no more sorrows;
nor is one deluded.
IV-35. Having the certain knowledge, 'I am the ground of the whole world, solid
Truth and Knowledge', the sage may dispel (all) sorrow.
IV-36. Those whose flaws have (all) been attenuated realize in their own bodies
the Witness of all, whose essence is self-luminous Being; not those others who
are encompassed by Maya.
IV-37. Knowing Him alone, let the intelligent Brahmana build up wisdom; let him
not dwell on a multitude of words that only makes for verbal weariness.
IV-38. Having mastered the knowledge of Brahman let him live in childlikeness
alone. Having mastered both Brahman-knowledge and childlikeness, the sage
possesses the Self.
IV-39. Know the elemental body as the seed of the creeper of samsara (the
transmigratory life) with its immense sprouts, good and evil, having their
potencies latent (in the body).
IV-40. Of this body, the seed is the mind conforming to cravings; it is a sheath
of active and quiescent moods, a casket holding the gem of pain.
IV-41. The tree of the mind has two seeds; one is the vibration of the vital
breath; the other, obstinate imagination.
IV-42. When the vital breath, aroused by nervous contacts, vibrates, at once the
mind is transformed into a mass of sensations.
IV-43. That all-pervading awareness is aroused by the vibration of the vital
breath. It is better to suppress the awareness (of objects); less harmful is the
vibration of the vital breath, etc.
IV-44. For mental peace, the Yogins suppress vital breaths through
breath-control, meditation and practices dictated by reasoning.
IV-45. Know the supreme cause yielding the fruit of mental peace: (namely) the
joyful Self-abidance of cognition that is known as breath-control.
IV-46. Latent impression is said to consist in the seizing of an object (by the
force of) entrenched imagination, despite all considerations of cause and
effect.
IV-47. Rejecting everything and imagining nothing, either to be chosen or
rejected, the mind remains (in itself); now is the mind unborn.
IV-48. Being continuously free from latent impressions, when the mind ceases to
ponder there arises mindlessness that yields supreme tranquility.
IV-49. When no aspect of objects in the world is imagined how can the mind be
born in the empty sky of the heart?
IV-50. The conception of a thing's absence is based on its non-being;
mindlessness is posited with reference to the object-as-such.
IV-51. The mind abiding coolly in itself, after the inner rejection (of all
objects), though in modifications, is (still) held to have the form of
non-being.
IV-52. They indeed are deemed liberated in life whose latent, un-enjoyed,
impressions are like the fried seeds, incapable of sprouting any more.
IV-53. Their minds have acquired the form of Sattva; they have gone beyond the
farther shore of knowledge; they are said to be mindless. With the fall of their
bodies they become sky-like.
IV-54. Due to rejection of objects, both the vibrations of vital breaths and
latent impressions swiftly perish as does a tree whose root is cut off.
IV-55. In this state of cognition, whatever appears either as experienced before
or as altogether new, must be meticulously wiped out by every one whose
knowledge is sound.
IV-56. The vast transmigratory life is (due to) the failure to obliterate them;
on the contrary, liberation is held to be just their obliteration.
IV-57. Be immaterial (spiritual), rejecting all pleasures and cognitions.
IV-58. Knowledge depends on the states of objects; one having no knowledge is
non-cognitive, though he performs a hundred actions; he is held to be non-inert.
IV-59. He is said to be liberated in life, the clear sphere of whose emotions is
not in the least affected by objects; his knowledge is spiritual.
IV-60. Due to the absence of latent impressions in the mind when nothing is
imagined, it remains steady with cognitions similar to those of children and the
dumb.
IV-61. Now the sage is no longer affected; for he resorts to the vast
intelligent non-knowing (in the objective mode).
IV-62. Through the concentration of modelessness, rejecting all latent
impressions, he becomes one with it; in the Infinite even that is dissolved.
IV-63. Though standing, walking, touching, smelling, the intelligent sage,
devoid of all clinging, gets rid of (fluctuating) pleasures, and the cognitions
(of the particulars); he is at peace.
IV-64. A shoreless ocean of excellences, he crosses the sea of sufferings,
because he resorts to this vision even in the midst of vexed activities.
IV-65. Devoid of all particular the stainless, pure Being is one vast essence -
That is held to be the abode of (immutable) existence.
IV-66. Rejecting distinctions like the being of time, the being of instants, the
being of entities, be solely devoted to pure Being.
IV-67. Contemplating but one unqualified universal Being, be omnipresent, full,
supremely blissful, filling up all space.
IV-68. The pristine inconceivable Status, without beginning and end, that
remains at the fringe of universal Being, is causeless.
IV-69. Cognitions dissolve there. It remains beyond the possibility of doubts. A
man who reaches That returns to pains no more.
IV-70. It is the cause of all beings; itself has no cause. It is the
quintessence of all essences; nothing is more quintessential that It.
IV-71. In that vast mirror of Intelligence, all these perceptions of objects are
reflected as the trees on the bank are reflected in the lake.
IV-72. That is the pure un-obscured Truth of the Self; when that is known the
mind is tranquillised. Having, through knowledge, won Its essence you become
truly free from the fear of samsara.
IV-73. By the application of the remedies mentioned by me for the causes of
suffering, that (supreme) status is attained.
IV-74-75. O knower of Truth! If by manly endeavour you forcefully eschew latent
impressions and establish yourself, all alone, in that indestructible status,
even for a moment, at the very summit of universal being, well, at this very
moment you achieve it all right;
IV-76. Or, if you sedulously cultivate the status of universal being, that
status you will attain with somewhat greater effort.
IV-77. Nidagha, if you stay meditating on the principle of cognition, through
(still) greater effort you will win that exalted status.
IV-78. Or, sir, if you strive to shed latent impressions (know) that till the
mind is dissolved, the latent impressions, too, are not attenuated.
IV-79. As long as the latent impressions are not attenuated, the mind is not
tranquillised; as long as the knowledge of truth is not won, whence can come
mental tranquility?
IV-80. As long as the mind is not tranquil, Truth cannot be known; so long as
the knowledge of Truth is not won whence can mental tranquility come?
IV-81-82. Knowledge of Truth, mind's destruction, attenuation of latent
impressions - (these) mutually cause one another; they are indeed hard to
accomplish. Therefore, flinging far from you the desire for enjoyment, cultivate
this triad.
IV-83. High-souled one! Sought for long and simultaneously, the attenuation of
latent impressions, knowledge (of Truth), and the destruction of the mind are
held to prove effective.
IV-84. By means of these three, cultivated aright, the tough knots of the heart
are shattered without residue as are their threads when the lotus stalks are
crushed.
IV-85. Truth-knowers know that breath-control corresponds to the eschewal of
latent impressions; therefore, also, practice this latter too, by breath
control.
IV-86. By eschewing latent impressions the mind ceases to be; also by
obstructing the vibrations of the vital breath (it does so); do (the one or the
other) as you choose.
IV-87. By the steady practice of breath-control, the exercise of reasoning
taught by the teacher, the practice of Yogic postures and the regulation of
diet, the vibration of breath is obstructed.
IV-88. Through behaviour without attachment, avoidance of contemplation of birth
(and empirical life) and the perception of the decline of the body, latent
impressions cease to operate.
IV-89. The vibration of the vital breath is indeed the same as mind's vibration.
The intelligent man should strive hard to conquer vibrations of the vital
breath.
IV-90. Without sound reasoning it is impossible to conquer the mind. Resorting
to pure cognition and rejecting attachment, be steady.
IV-91. O great-souled one! Abide solely in the heart, contemplating without
conceptions the pristine, single, matchless and indubitable status of cognition
without objects; but perform action, having achieved the status of inactivity in
the blaze of tranquil glory.
IV-92. The man who, through ratiocination, in however small a measure, has slain
his mind has achieved the object of his life.
V-1. He is said to be dead whose mind is not given over to investigation when he
walks or stands; when he is awake or sleep.
V-2. Know the Spirit-in-Itself to be of the nature of the light of right
knowledge. It is fearless; neither subjugated nor depressed.
V-3. The knower digests (whatever) food he eats - (whether it is) impure,
unwholesome, defiled through contact with poison, well-cooked or stale, as
though it were 'sweet' (i.e. a hearty meal).
V-4. The (wise) know liberation to be the renunciation of (all) attachment:
non-birth results from it. Give up attachment to objects; be liberated in life,
O sinless one!
V-5. Attachment is held to be the impure impressions causing reactions like joy
and indignation when the objects sought after are present or absent.
V-6. Pure is the impression latent in the bodies of the liberated in life which
does not lead to rebirth and is untainted by elation or depression.
V-7. O Nidagha! Pains do not depress you; joys do not elate you; abandoning
servitude to desires, be unattached.
V-8. 'Undetermined by space and time, beyond the purview of 'is' and 'is not',
there is but Brahman, the pure indestructible Spirit, quiescent and one; there
is nothing else'.
V-9. Thus thinking, with a body at once present and absent, be (liberated), the
silent man, uniform, with quiescent mind delighting in the Self.
V-10. There is neither mind -stuff nor mind; neither nescience nor Jiva.
Manifest is the one Brahman alone, like the sea, without beginning or end.
V-11. The illusory perception of mind, etc., continues as long as the I-sense is
bound up with the body, objects are mistaken for the Self, and the sense of
possession, expressed as 'this is mine', persists.
V-12. Sage! Illusory perceptions of mind, etc., vanish for one who, through
introversion, internally burns up, in the fire of the Spirit, the dry grass that
is this three-fold world.
V-13. I am the Self that is the Spirit; I am impartite. I have neither cause not
effect. Remember your vast (infinite) form; through memory, do not be finitized.
V-14. By means of the mantra (incantation) of the spiritual science,
contemplated within, the deadly disease of craving dwindles as does mist in
autumn.
V-15. (The sages) hold that the best (form of) renunciation, namely that of
latent impressions, by virtue of knowledge, is the status of Aloneness, as it is
pure universal Being.
V-16. Where latent impressions remain in solution there is 'deep sleep'; it does
not make for perfection. Where the impressions are seedless, there is 'the
Fourth' that yields perfection.
V-17. Even a very small residue of latent impressions, of fire, debt, disease
and adversaries, of attachment, enmity and poison affects one adversely.
V-18. With the seeds of latent impressions consumed, and conformed to universal
Being, with or without a body, one no more partakes of sufferings.
V-19. The decision, 'This is not Brahman', is the sum total of nescience, whose
extinction consists in (the opposite) decision, 'this is Brahman'.
V-20. Brahman is Spirit, Brahman is the world. Brahman is the congregation of
beings, Brahman is myself, Brahman is the adversary of the Spirit, Brahman is
the allies and friends of the Spirit.
V-21. Once it is realized that Brahman is all, man is Brahman indeed! One
experiences the omnipresent Spirit that is peace.
V-22. When the mind, the guide of unregenerate senses, ceases to operate in
regard to the alien, the immaculate, all-pervading awareness (that remains), the
Brahman-Intelligence, am I.
V-23. Resort to that intelligent Self, having discarded all speculations, all
curiosity, all vehemence of feelings.
V-24. Thus intelligent beings, with full knowledge, equanimous, with minds rid
of all attachment, neither applaud nor condemn either life or death.
V-25-26. O Brahmin, the vital breath has the ceaseless power of vibration; it
always moves. In this body with its ins and outs, this up going vital breath is
placed above; the down breath too is similar; only it is stationed below.
V-27. That best breath control that operates in the expert, whether awake or
asleep - listen to (an account of) that for better being.
V-28. Puraka is the contact of the body with the up-breaths that move forwards
(from the nostrils) through the space of twelve finger-breadths.
V-29. Apana (the down-breath) is the moon that keeps the body in well-being, O
well-disciplined sage! The up-breath is the sun or the fire which internally
warms the body.
V-30. Resort to the spiritual identity of the down-and-up breaths that dwells
near the point where the up-breath dwindles and the down-breath rises.
V-31. Resort to that spiritual, impartite Principle when the down-breath has set
and, for a moment, the up-breath has not yet arisen.
V-32. Resort to that spiritual impartite Principle, at the tip of the nose where
the breaths revolve, before the down-breath sets while the up-breath has done
so.
V-33. These three worlds are only an appearance, neither existent nor
non-existent; (the consequent) renunciation of all concern with an other, the
wise maintain, is right knowledge.
V-34. Noble Brahmin! Even this appearance is distorted by the mirror of the
mind. Therefore, giving up that, too, be rid of all appearances.
V-35. Uprooting this fearful demon of the mind, detrimental to the essence of
steadiness, remain what you are; be steadfast.
V-36. The Spirit that is beyond cause and effect and is likened to the
(boundless) sky is incapable of confrontation by any (real) object; it remains
at the end of all mental processes.
V-37. The satisfaction (felt) at the moment of desire is caused by that very
desire. This satisfaction lasts only till discontent (sets in); therefore,
reject desire.
V-38. Reduce desire to desirelessness; let conceptions cease; let mind grow into
mindlessness in the process of your life without attachment.
V-39. Acting through sense organs, free from (the force) of latent impulses,
like the sky, you would not alter though there be a thousand disturbances.
V-40. Due to the activity and the inactivity of the mind does empirical life
start and subside. Through the suppression of latent impulses and the vital
breath, reduce the mind to inactivity.
V-41. Due to the activity and inactivity of the vital breaths does empirical
life start and subside. Through drill and application, reduce it to inactivity.
V-42. Due to the active and passive phases of ignorance do activities get
started and cease. Dissolve it (ignorance) forcefully by winning a teacher and
the instructions of the Shastras.
V-43. By a mere quiver of the non-objective knowledge or by the suppression of
vital breaths is mind reduced to mindlessness; that is the supreme status.
V-44. Through the perception of Brahman, infallibly directed to it (bliss),
behold that real bliss occasioned by the visioning of the knowable (as Brahman).
V-45. That indeed is the non-factitious bliss which the mind does not reach; it
is free from decline and growth; it neither rises nor sets.
V-46. The mind of the knower is not called mind; mind indeed is the Truth of
Spirit. Therefore, in the Fourth state, it transcends that state.
V-47. Having renounced all mental constructions, equable, and with a quiescent
mind, be a sage, wedded to the Yoga of renunciation, possessing both knowledge
and freedom.
V-48. The supreme Brahman is that which conforms to no act of mentation. (It is
what remains) when mental activities completely die down and all masses of
latent impulses have been liquidated.
V-49. By securing right knowledge, and by unremitting concentration, those who
become enlightened in the wisdom of the Upanishads are the Sankhyas and the
others are the Yogins.
V-50. Those are the Yogins, versed in Yoga, who, after the quiescence of the
breaths through ascetic practices, achieve the status above sufferings,
beginningless and endless.
V-51. What is required to be won by all is the uncaused and still status; the
contemplation of the one changeless Real, the control of breaths, the dwindling
of the mind.
V-52. When one of them is perfected, it helps perfect the others (also). The
vital breaths and mind of living beings are all concomitant.
V-53. Like the container and the content they perish when only one is present.
Through self-destruction they produce that best of products, namely, liberation.
V-54. If, remaining steady, you reject all this by understanding, then, on the
cessation of the I-sense, you yourself are the supreme Status.
V-55. There is but one great Spirit, which is called the Being; it is flawless,
even, pure, free from the I-sense.
V-56. It shines forth but once, the pure, the ever risen, the same. It is
described by many names, as Brahman, the supreme Self, etc.
V-57. O Nidagha, knowing for creation 'I am That', having done what had to be
accomplished, I never think of the past or the future.
V-58. I cling wholly to the vision that is present here (and now). 'This have I
won today; I shall achieve this beautiful' (thing).
V-59. I laud not; neither do I condemn. Nothing other than the self is anywhere.
The gaining of the good does not gladden me; evil betiding me does not sadden
me.
V-60. Sage, the wavering of my mind have been totally stilled; it is rod of all
sorrow. It is cured of all wanting. It is tranquil. Therefore I am hale, and
untrammeled.
V-61. 'This is a friend; that is a foe; this is mind; that is a stranger' - this
sort of knowledge does not occur to me, O Brahmin; no affection touches me.
V-62. Rid of all latent impressions, the mind is liberated from old age and
death. Mind with latent impressions inherent in it is knowledge. What is to be
known is the mind rid of all latent impressions.
V-63. When the mind is rejected, this duality on all sides is dissolved; but
remains the tranquil supreme One, pure and untrammeled.
V-64. The endless, unborn, un-manifest, un-ageing, tranquil, un-lapsing,
non-dual, beginningless and endless which (nevertheless) is the first
Apprehension.
V-65. One, devoid of beginning and end, wholly spirit, pure, pervasive, subtler
far than the sky; thou art that Brahman indubitably.
V-66. Undetermined by space, time, etc.; superlatively pure, ever arisen,
omnipresent, this one End is all-in-all; be thou that pure Spirit.
V-67. 'All is this tranquil one, devoid of beginning, middle and end. All is
unborn, both Being and non-being' - so thinking, be happy.
V-68. I am not bound nor liberated. I am indeed the untrammeled Brahman. I am
free from duality. I am being, Intelligence, bliss.
V-69. Keeping far away the entire multitude of objects, be you ever devoted to
the Self, your mind all cooled.
V-70. 'This is fine; this is not! -- such (feeling) is the seed of your extended
sorrow. When that is burned in the fire of impartiality, where is the occasion
for sorrow?
V-71. First augment wisdom by means of familiarity with the Shastras and by
seeking the company of the holy.
V-72. The true, real and ultimate Brahman, superlatively pure, eternal, without
beginning and end, is the cure for all forms of transmigratory life.
V-73. So also is It neither coarse nor spaced; neither tangible nor visible; It
is tasteless and scentless; unknowable and peerless.
V-74. Well disciplined (sage)! For achieving liberation, one should meditate on
the bodiless Self that is Brahman - Being consciousness and Bliss without end -
as 'I am (That)'.
V-75. Concentration is the origination of knowledge in regard to the unity of
the Supreme and the Jiva. The Self, verily, is eternal, omnipresent, immutable
and flawless.
V-76. Being (but) one, through Maya it splits up; not in Its essence. Therefore
the non-dual alone is; no manifold, no empirical life (is there).
V-77. Just as space is called 'Pot-space' (and) 'great space', so, due to
delusion, is the self called Jiva and Ishvara in two ways.
V-78. When the all-pervading spirit shines always without a break in the mind of
the Yogin then one becomes one's Self.
V-79. Verily, when one beholds all beings in one's own Self, and one's Self in
all beings, one becomes Brahman.
V-80. In the state of concentration, atoned with the Supreme, one beholds no
beings; one then is the Alone.
V-81. The first plane, generating the desire for liberation, is marked by the
practice (of discipline) and detachment due to intimacy with the Shastras and
the company of the holy.
V-82. The second is marked by investigation; the third by contemplation with
(all) its accessories; the fourth is the solvent as it consists in the
dissolution of latent impressions.
V-83. The fifth is the rapturous; it is purely cognitive. This is the station of
the Liberated-in-life who is, as it were, half awake and half asleep.
V-84. The sixth plane is non-cognitive. It is the station similar to deep sleep,
having the nature of pure and massive bliss.
V-85. The seventh plane is (marked by) equability, utter purity, tenderness; it
is indeed unqualified liberation, the quiescent Fourth State.
V-86. The transcendent state beyond the Fourth, Nirvana in its essence, is the
transcendent and developed seventh plane; it does not come within the purview of
mortals.
V-87. The first three constitute but the wakeful life; the fourth is called the
dream (state) where the world is regrettably dream-like.
V-88. The fifth, conforming to massive bliss, is styled deep sleep. In contrast
the sixth which is non-cognitive is named the Fourth State.
V-89. The most excellent seventh plane is the state beyond the Fourth, beyond
the range of mind and words, and identified with the self-luminous Being.
V-90. If due to the withdrawal (of the cognitive organs) into (one's self) no
object is perceived., (one) is liberated, indeed, indubitably by that mighty
sameness (of vision).
V-91. 'I die not; neither do I live; being preponderantly non-existent, I am
existent neither. 'I am nothing (but) Spirit', so thinking the intelligent
Jivanmukta sorrows not.
V-92. 'Stainless am I; un-ageing and unattached, with latent impressions all
tranquillised. I am impartite, (the veritable) Spirit-sky', so thinking he
sorrows not.
V-93. 'Rid of the I-sense, pure, awake, un-ageing, immortal peaceful (am I), all
appearances have been quietened for me', so thinking he sorrows not.
V-94. 'I am one with Him who dwells at the tips of grass, in the sky, in the
Sun, in man, the mountain, and the gods', so thinking he sorrows not.
V-95. Discarding all mental constructions about objects, rising well above them,
dwell on the thought 'I, the free, am the supreme Brahman that remains'.
V-96. Beyond the purview of words, rid of the predicament of hankering after
objects, un-agitated even by the flavour of climatic bliss, he delights in the
Self by himself.
V-97. Renouncing all actions, ever content, independent, neither by virtue, sin
nor aught else is he stained.
V-98. Just as a mirror is not stained by reflections, so is the b-Knower
inwardly unstained by actions' fruits.
V-99. Freely moving amidst the masses, he knows neither pains nor pleasures when
his body is tortured or honoured, as if these are directed to (one's)
reflections.
V-100. Beyond praise and change, recognising neither worship nor its object, at
once conforming and indifferent to all codes of etiquette,
V-101. Let him give up his body either in a holy spot or in the hut of an eater
of dog's flesh: Once knowledge is won, one becomes Jnanin (a knower) of Brahman,
free from all latent impressions of Karma.
V-102. The cause of bondage is mental construction; give that up. Liberation
comes through the absence of mental construction; practice it intelligently.
V-103. In the context of objects, sense-organs and their contact by wary,
perpetually and steadily avoiding states of mental construction.
V-104. Do not succumb to objects; neither identify (yourself) with the
sense-organs. Having renounced all constructions, identify with what remains.
V-105. If anything please you, then in a state of bondage are you in empirical
life; if nothing pleases you, then (indeed) are you liberated here.
V-106. In the multitude of objects, moving and stationery, extending from grass,
etc.; up to the living bodies, let there be nothing that gives you pleasure.
V-107. In the absence of the I-sense and its negation, at once existent and
non-existent, what remains unattached, self-same, superlatively pure, and
steadfast is said to be the Fourth.
V-108. That superlatively pure sameness, the quiescent status of
liberation-in-life, the state of the spectator is, in-empirical usage, called
the fourth state.
V-109. This is neither wakefulness nor dream, for there is no room for mental
constructions. Neither is this the state of deep sleep; for no inertness is
involved in this.
V-110. This world as it is, is dissolved, and then it is the Fourth State for
those who are tranquillised and rightly awakened; for the un-awakened it stands
changeless (as it is in its plurality).
V-111. When the aspect of I-sense is given up, and equability dominates, and the
mind disintegrates, the Fourth State comes on.
V-112. The repudiation of the objective manifold is the doctrine of the Shastras
setting forth the Spirit. Here is neither avidya nor Maya; this is the tranquil
Brahman, un-fatigued.
V-113. One is inevitably tranquillised in the clear sky of the Spirit, known as
Brahman whose essence is quietude and equability and which is resplendent with
all powers.
V-114. Giving up everything, be wedded to an immense silence, O sinless one!
Plunged into Nirvana, lifted above ratiocination, with mind attenuated and
intellect becalmed.
V-115. With a tranquillised mind abide in the Self, like one dumb, blind and
deaf; ever turned inward, superlatively pure, with brimming inner wisdom.
V-116. O twice born, perform acts, remaining in deep slumber in wakefulness
itself. Having internally renounced everything, act externally as occasion
arises.
V-117. Mind's being alone is suffering; the giving up of the mind alone is joy.
Therefore, through non-cognition (of objects) attenuate the mind in the sky of
the Spirit.
V-118. Seeing that the beautiful or the ugly always remains, like a stone,
irremovable - thus, through one's own effort, is empirical existence conquered.
V-119. What is hidden in the Vedanta, taught in bygone ages, should not be
offered to one who is not established in peace; neither to one who is not a son
or pupil.
V-120. Whoever studies the Annapurnopanishad with the blessing of (one's)
teacher become a Jivanmukta, and by himself altogether Brahman - This is the
Upanishad.
Om! O Devas, may we hear with our ears what is auspicious;
May we see with our eyes what is auspicious, O ye worthy of worship!
May we enjoy the term of life allotted by the Devas,
Praising them with our body and limbs steady!
May the glorious Indra bless us!
May the all-knowing Sun bless us!
May Garuda, the thunderbolt for evil, bless us!
May Brihaspati grant us well-being!
Om! Let there be Peace in me!
Let there be Peace in my environment!
Let there be Peace in the forces that act on me!
Here ends the Annapurnopanishad, as contained in the Atharva-Veda.