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The Chhandogya Upanishad by Swami Krishnananda, The Divine Life Society
Chhandogya Upanishad
 
by
 
Swami Krishnananda
 
The Divine Life SocietySivananda Ashram, Rishikesh, India
PUBLISHERS' PREFACE
 
The Chhandogya Upanishad is one of the most prominent among the major group of philosophical and mystical texts constituting one of the threefoldfoundation of India's spiritual lore, the tripod of Indian Culture, beingconstituted of the Upanishads, the Brahmasutras and the Bhagavadgita. Whilethe Veda Samhitas are the recognised primary source of divine inspiration, their hidden intention, purported message, is supposed to be prominently revealed inthe Upanishads. The Vedas are said to be capable of a variety of interpretation,- a knowledge of the
adhidaiva
or the transcendent divinity,
adhibhuta
or thecreated universe,
adhyatma
or the deepest subjective consciousness,
adhiyajna
 or the field of action and sacrifice, and
adhidharma
or the function of law andorder. Though, in a restricted sense, the
adhyatma
, in this mentionedclassification, may appear as an insight into the perceiving and knowing subjectas distinguished from its involvements in the objective universe and thetranscendent divinity, thus categorising the Upanishads as records of inwardrevelations of the ancient sages, yet, the Upanishads constitute Adhyatma-Vidya or knowledge of the pure self in a wider sense, inasmuch as the self can be envisaged in the different degrees of its connotation and the many levels of its expression. God above, the universe outside, the society of persons andthings in the midst of whom one's own individuality may be included, are all, inthe final analysis, comprehended within the status of the Absolute Self, so that,in its broad outlook the Upanishads may be considered as a groundwork inwhose light may be studied every branch of knowledge and learning.
 
Among the ten major Upanishads, the Chhandogya and the Brihadaranyakastand above others in their grand stature and majesty, these two texts beingviewed by scholars as representing the cosmic and the acosmic
 
aspect of Reality. In the Brihadaranyaka there is a preponderating emphasis on the ultra-spiritual nature of every plane of existence and stage of evolution, a rather super-idealistic sweep of all the phenomena of experience. The Chhandogya,
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The Chhandogya Upanishad by Swami Krishnananda, The Divine Life Society
however, tries to be more realistic in its rather matter-of-fact consideration of the issues of life. This is the reason why, evidently, there is a prevalent feelingthat the Chhandogya is
 saprapancha
(considerate as to the visible forms of experience), while the Brihadaranyaka is
nishprapancha
(transcendent to allavailable experience).
 
This exposition of the Chhandogya Upanishad is, perhaps, the most in-depth study ever made of its philosophical and spiritual message, and goescertainly as a companion to the author's interpretative exposition of theBrihadaranyaka Upanishad in a separate volume. Herein, the first chapter constitutes a brilliant study of the Panchagni-Vidya and the Vaishvanara-Vidyasections occurring in the fifth chapter of the original text. This single chapter of the book may well form a classical presentation of a grand theme for thecosmical meditations characteristic of the Upanishads in general. The secondchapter expounds the great content of sixth chapter of the original, constitutingthe instruction of Sage Uddalaka to his son Svetaketu. The third chapter is astudy of the seventh section of the original, dealing with the majestic Bhuma-Vidya, being the teaching of Sage Sanatkumara to Narada. The fourth chapter studies the eighth section of the original, which actually concludes theUpanishad. The Samvarga-Vidya and the Sandilya-Vidya occurring at other  places in the Upanishad are also included in the end as pieces of stimulatingmeditation of absorbing interest. The internal details of this vast study of theUpanishad can be gathered from the list of contents appended herein.
 
May this valuable production come as a solacing blessing to seekers of Truth the world over.
 
SHIVANANDANAGAR,23rd January, 1984.
 
THE DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY.
 
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The Chhandogya Upanishad by Swami Krishnananda, The Divine Life Society
CHAPTER ONEVAISHVANARA-VIDYAContents
The Panchagni Vidya The Course of the Soul After Death Vaishvanara, the Universal Self  Heaven as the Head of the Universal Self  The Sun as the Eye of the Universal Self  Air as the Breath of the Universal Self  Space as the Body of the Universal Self  Water as the Lower Belly of the Universal Self  The Earth as the Feet of the Universal Self  The Self as the Universal Whole The Five Pranas - Prana, Vyana, Apana, Samana, UdanaThe Need for Knowledge is StressedConclusion
 
ooooooooooooo
The Panchagni-Vidya
 
The Upanishads are mainly meditations intended to act as correctives to the binding effects that are produced by the phenomena of natural processes. Whilewhat we call a natural process subjects us to its own laws, these laws can beovercome and their imposition upon the individual can be counteracted bytechniques of meditation. The philosophy of the Upanishads is that it is anignorance of the way in which the Universe works that binds the individual to
 samsara
,—the series of births and deaths. Our sorrows are, in a way, created byour own selves, because they follow as a consequence of our not abiding by thelaw of the universe. The affirmation of a reality independent of what really is,is called the ego. That is the centre of personality. This affirmation of individuality,
 jivatva,
personality, or something separate from the organicstructure of creation, is the cause of the sorrow or the suffering of the
 jiva,
theindividual manifested due to the affirmation of the ego. Births and deaths arethe punishments, as it were, meted out to the individual in order that it may bereformed in the field of experience of the world for the purpose of enabling it toreturn to the normal state of consciousness which is universality of being, of which it is deprived at present due to the ignorance of its connection with the
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