Upanisad Series MAHANARAYANOPANISAD (WITH ACCENTED TEXT) Inti oduction, Translation, Interpretation 1m Sanskrat, and Cretieal and Explanatory Notes BY SWAMI VIMALANANDA SRI RAMAKRISHNA MATH Srr RAMAKRISHNA MATH ROAD MYLAPORE, MADRAS-4 1968Published by © Tue Present Set RAMAKRISHNA MATH MYLAPORE, MaDRas-4 SECOND EDITION 1968 All iights reserved COP—MMMCC—IES Pnnted at Puce Sharada Press Rupees Six Car Street, Mangalore-1PUBLISHER’S NOTE Tue Upamisads are the culmmation of the Vedas 1neretore they aie known as the Vedanta The 1eligious message given by Swami Vivekananda was based on the Vedanta The Swamiji urged his followers to populauise the thoughts treasur- ed in the Upanisads at home and abroad Bearing this idea in mind the second president of this Math started the Upanisad ‘Series thuty-five years ago Each Upanisad belonging to this Series contains the text in bold Devandgari type, woid-by- word meaning, translation based on tradition, Introduction briefly summarizing the subject matter, and elaborate Notes About a dozen Upanisads are specially wuminated by the superb Commentary of Sii Sankardcarya, who lived over one thousand years ago They are the most authoutative Upa- misads, and eleven of them are now made available m this Series Most of them have undergone many editions and 1epumnts, and have gamed popularity in several parts of the world Heartened by this wide welcome given to the Upanisad Series, we now publish the Mahdniidyanopanisad which, as far as we know, has not yet been translated into Enghsh fully and with complete explanation The special importance of this text, which 1s counted as pait of the Krsnayayurveda, to the religious Hmdu 1s perhaps ‘unequalled by any other work of its class We have there- fore endeavoured to bring out a suitable edition of this abstruse text with aids for understanding its traditional import An interpretation of the text in easy Sanskrit is a new feature of this publication This is specially added with a view to help those readers who know only Sansknt and not English. It will also render the recerved meaning clearer to those users of the translation who possess some knowledge of Sanskritiv MAHANARAYANOPANISAD Much religious material has been digested into the critical and explanatory Notes This 1s intented to meet the needs of those who value this sacred teat particularly for its spiritual and devotional use The practice of putting notes on words indicated by superior figures was the custom in the preceding members of the Series It has been given up here in order to make the reading of the explanatory Notes smooth and con- tmuous This Upammad together with its preceding Prapa- thaka—divided into Siksi — Ananda-Bhrgu-Vallis—is chanted solemnly on special religious occasions So the text 1s given heie with accent marks in order to facilitate its recital This will be welcomed by those who have no long trammg in the customary Vedic 1ecitation PRESIDENT PUBLISHER Ramakrishna Math, Madas March, 1957qatar aa at Waa Tage | eetfewstaeaTsaTacaT AAATEI AHH TAMaseneIaget TE TAT Tea fray | Fasfaet ce fafs feroafe ceesat carey wrasar aaniteft geet sitearaararal aeadtasareh seareti- Tend “aanqeart ofremareety cifrat sat aaatrearas ere wa aif wrarwa.” oft ye fade 1 afenq me faais- a froocare Temrer err araaiaearg famracarea eT ATT arer gerorarararfeafearraeras Tease waa AAT afediier amet aa at eit edgeat 1 fareteraatefrear argeaaaateaatet aeTUT argthremgeormerent aa freemen as. aaa saftegeevafeeter qT warfare | Tee gory deer aerareranitafaetatr WeaTTET arireqatrre aft atae aaa aarfasdisg Tae TTT aearrer geem ater “anferaraiifearrggaretig warafe zar- afia aactafafs faferer fiver ATER CTT TRNATTAT AAAI ALATA LTH ASTAT ACTA atfag frafrcar amitgery | armarafrardarnr stray etree wire sofearnfareraq vacttfor- wentearal werfenstigraaaton Taare WATT ISAT] aft asafserata seaj— saifsarafseara akataged afraradtrt | Teer carte sarees frag tt aft fanerars.TRANSLITERATION TABLE According to the practice based on the general consent of Indologists of this century the Sanskrit sounds symbolized by the Devanagari alphabet in the columns below are invari- ably 1epresented by the Roman letters facing them Ha qk qd at a @ kh q dh a ue q 2 fi FT gh Tp ot =o % ph Ba ac qb or @ ch % bh oT a] {m 2) a jh ay 5 7 aq ii tor Ge et ql Ta S th av ato zd qs at au & dh qs +m ea qs h qt Zh qth iINTRODUCTION MODERN investigations have revealed that the 2600 million people on this globe speak 2796 different languages and dialects belonging to different families of speech Of these, those that have a long literary past and are still influencing the thought of millions of people are not very many The collection of hymns, litames and prayers, under the com- prehensive tem Vedas, transmitted by oral tradition for several centuries before the introduction of writing, 1s accepted as the oldest literature available for the purpose of studying the religious thoughts exercising a considerable influence over the people of a significant part of Asia for many millennrums Those languages which have preserved past thoughts im literary form, either as written records or oral traditions, alone have been a recognizable power in the evolution of the intellectual, moral and spiritual life of mankind The scattered splinter- speech communities have not produced any literary herrloom devolving to succeeding generations to reflect upon, adopt, and exemplify, and, consequently, they have not made any deep impression on human civilization The dialects which have sustained the intercourse of many small groups of people have changed and even disappeared without a vestige The literature preserved in the Vedas through the religious fervour of a hughly sensitive people who paid the greatest attention to the caieful traming of the ear for sound, for rhythm, speech melody, and precision of grammar uncontaminated by local idioms, stands almost unique 1m the history of human culture. Today the study of the Vedas has, therefore, attracted the attention and interest of people m various parts of the worldvin MAHANARAYANOPANISAD An account of the nature and division of the Vedas will be found in the Introduction to the Zsavasyopantsad included in the Upanisad Series published by the Ramakrishna Math This publication is the twelfth in the Series In the collection of One-hundred-and-eight Upanisads, published several times. from Bombay and other places, two works are included with the title Narayanopanisad Of these the longer one includes a variety of subjects of great importance in the daily Obse1- vances of a religious Hindu It 1s accepted as a part of the Krsnayajurveda and 1s distinguished generally by the designa~ tion Mahanarayanopanisad The same Upanisad is known also as Yayniki-upanisad on the ground that Yaynatma Nara- yana 1s considered to be the seer of this part of the Veda Like the other Vedas the Yayurveda 1s divided mto samhita and brahmana The Tazffirtya recension of it has the Tartu 1ya- ranyaka as an extension of the brahmana The Taittitya- vanyaka according to Sayanagarya has ten piapathakas of which this Upanisad forms the last one Bhattabhaskara who wrote a Commentary on the whole of Yayurveda, anterioi to Sayana, substitutes the term prasna for the division heading prapathaka, and calls this as the last prasna Both the exegetists accept the name Yaynikyupanisad In preparing the present edition the followmg printed books have been consulted | Taittriyaranyaka with Bhatta- bhaskara’s Commentary, published from Mysore in the Bibliotheca Samskrita Series 2 Tauttiriyaranyaka with the Commentary of Sayanacarya in two parts, published in the Anandasrama Sanskrit Series 3 Mahanarayanopanisad, published in the Bombay Sanskrit Series, edited by Col G A Jacob, with the Dipikatika. 4 Yaymikyupanisad brought out m the Adyar Library SeriesINTRODUCTION 1x The text presented 1n allthese four books 1s not precisely the same Apart fiom the difference in the length of the text, differences of reading, additions and omussions of passages and transposition of textual umits are also observed The oldest commentatoi, Bhattabhaskara, has noticed 2 text having only sisty-four Sections This 4s generally designated as the didvidapatha Sayanacarya also has wntten the Com- mentary on this text The works mentioned as (3) and (4) above also are based on the short text of Bhattabhaskara and. Sayana The Anandasrama edition contains a parisista reproducing the tenth prapathaka under the subtitle N@@ya- nopanisad—This 1s the longer version generally known as the Andmapatha m eighty Sections—togethe: with the Com- mentaty of an untraced author which closely resembles the Commentary of Sayana in respect of those passages which are common with the shorter version The tenth prapathaka of the Taittwiyaranyaka 1s con- sidered khila (1e, supplementary) even by Bhactabhaskara and Séyana The supplementary nature of this part 1s also clear from its structural organization It 1s an assemblage of passages used in various mtualistic contexts, and there 1s the general lack of unity in the treatment of the subject-matter The presence of many significant and well-known Brahma- vidya and updsana passages, either quoted from other parts of the Vedas o1 found only here, in a style closely resembling that of the other Brahmanas and the Upamisads, gives this work an authority above that of many other mmor Upanisads Sri Sankaiacirya has not wutten any Commentary on this Upanisad; but still he refers to statements contained 1n 1t in the course of his Commentary on the Biahmasiinnas II 3 24 and TI] 4 20 Whatever was left over to be mentioned m respect of karma, upasana, and jfiana, after the recital ofx MAHANARAYANOPANISAD the samhitaé and brahmana, says Sayanacrya, 1s brought together in this miscellaneous (prakirna) work The same Commentator points out also that the commencement of the work with the description of Paramatman and the conclusion of it eulogizing sannyasa which 1s said to be the means of the knowledge of Brahman entitles 1t to the name of an Upanisad The text, however, abounds in passages com- monly used in connection with religious acts of worship and, therefore, the epithet Yéyfiskt 1s particularly appropriate The existence of a recension with nimety Sections among some people m the Karméataka has been noticed by Sayandcarya The motive which prompted me to take up the prepara- tion of this work for the Upanisad Seites published by the Math being purely religious, I have presented here a text which has been made exhaustive and eclectic as far as it was possible The simple Sanskrit interpretation given immedi- ately below the text 1s meant to facilitate the understanding of the archaic text in classical Sanskrit form For this the old Commentaries mentioned above have been laid under a deep debt This 1s followed by word-for-word meaning given in the Sanskrit order of syntax In order to bring out the received meaning fully, the translation has been made some- what free and explanatory The running Notes, besides being critical and expository, atm also at giving the religious background of the passages In imterpreting the passages, the method followed 1s the one propounded by Mimamsa, namely, by tackling the tatparya or the main purport of the text, and reading into every umst a contextual meaning which is in harmony with it The philological translations of texts like this, based on historical principle (though valuable for students of anthropology) cannot be of much help to religiousINTRODUCTION x1 persons who tuin to this and similar texts for spiritual hight So the traditional method 1s followed In a book of this type the use of capitals and italics 1s seldom completely uniform In the Notes usually the longer extracts and technical words are printed in Devanagari Textual words ate italicized so that they may be easily detected Smaller extracts and technical Sanski1t words are printed in Roman with or without capitalzed begimnmg The English plural signs, added to untranslated Sanskrit words, 1s hypen- ated at places to show that it 1s not elemental to the word This must guide in other places also I have not given a summary of the subject-matter of this Upanisad The table of Analytical Contents which follows will serve its purpose m a better way Innumerable individuals use some text or other of this Upanisad m connection with their personal religion I hope the apparatus presented here will aid the understanding of them in some measure Before closing this Introduction I take pleasure to mention here the name Swami: Mridananda _—who relieved me of some ocular strain Swami Muidananda took down the translation and the Notes at dictation, copied the draft for prmting and partly scanned the proof-sheets Mahaswaratn Februrary 27, 1957 Swami VIMALANANDAANALYTICAL CONTENTS (OF THE TEXT AND THE NOTES) PAGE Prasapati God Transcendent and Immanent The Ultimate Divine Principle called Paramesvara or the Prayapati Aksharabrahman—The Self-supportrng Final Cause of the Universe Seers Realise the All-pervading Dive im the Ether of Their Heart The Order of Cosmic Evolution The Omnifo1m Nature of the All-Sustaimmg Brahman Rtam and Satyam, He alone 1s All Gods Piayapati as the Divine Purusha and the Source of Time With all Its Divisions The Divine Being 1s Called Mahad-Yasas, has None Above Him, and 1s Limutless Immortality Attamed through Meditation on Han | in the Heart Uttaranarayananuvaka Knowledge of God Alone Leads to Release The Unborn Prajapati 1s born Diversely . Minor Gods Submut to the Knower of the Supreme The Spouses Hri and Laksmi Hiranyagarbha-sukta Paramatman as the Time-binding Experiencer in All Living Bemgs Ekadeva, the Supreme Divine Bemg, Works the Entire Universe Sony 11 13 15 16 17 17 18 24 26ANALYTICAL CONTENTS xu PAGE The Togetherness of the Universe in God 28 God is the Web and Woof of Creation 28 Vena, after Realizing the Immortal, Taught It 28 The Knower of God Deserves Highest Honour 28 God 1s the Friend, Parent and Ordainer 31 God-Realization A Simultaneous Expeiience of Iden- tty 32—33 Substance of Mantras I 6-18 33—35 A Supplication for Intellectual Powers 35 Prayers to Agni for Granting Specific Needs 37 Rudragayatri 39 The Ancestry and Significance of Gayatris 40 Gayatris of Mahadeva, Viniyaka, Nandikesvara, San- mukha, Garuda, Brahma, Narayana, Narasimha, Aditya, Agni and Durgi 43—48 Giyatris from Agamas and Tantras 49 Panic Grass Religious Importance of It 50 Repetition of Proper Ritual Acts Deepens Religious Life Sl Multiphcation of Progeny and Social Transmission 52 Prayer to the Earth and Self-Purification by It 53 The Earth Glorified and Imploied to for Favours 54—56 Supplication to Indra For Fearlessness and Well-bemg 57 Real nature of Indra in the Rgvedasamhita 59 An Oft-quoted Prayer for Well-bemg 59 Prayer to Indra and Soma 60—62 Vena as the Symbol of the Supreme Reality 62 The Earth Implored to Grant Bliss and to End Sorrows 64 An Invocation to the Earth Glorified as Sri 65 Welcoming Values and Exorcising Dis-values 66xIV MAHANSRAYANOPANISAD PAGE Well-being Sought From Indra 67 Prayer for Fitness to Sacrifice and Destruction of Enemies 68 The Lord’s Feet and One’s Own Moral Conduct Save One from Misery 69 Prayer Addressed to Indra for Safety 70 Propitiation of Water and Herbs 7 How the Vedas Help the Common Men 7 Aghamarsana Sikta Its Philosophy and Import 2 Prayer to Varuna for Purity . 75 Right Livelihood Expiration of Transgressions 76 Salutations to Agni, Indra and Varuna 16 Counteracting Adverse Effects of Water 71 Expiation of the Sis of Gluttony and Greed and the Princtple underlying It 78 Invocation to the Ten Derfied Rgvedic Rivers 80—81 A Creationistic Hymn (Rgveda X 190) 81 A Prayer for Total Purity 84 Oblation of Finite Self into Infinite Brahman 86 Varuna, the Sin-effacer 89 Self-abasement Before God’s Supreme Purity 90 Soma as Umamaheévara and the King of the Universe 91 Durga-siikta—Hymn to Durga 93—100 Atri’s Perpetual Prayer foi the Peace and Safety of All 98 Prayer to Fire God for Happiness and Fortune 101 Prayer to Indra and Visnu for Devotion : 102 Mantras Chanted while Making Oblations for Increase of Food 103 Mahavyahrtihoma Chanting for Destroying Sin 105 Mantras for Offering Oblations for Greatness 107ANALYTICAL CONTENTS xv PAGE Prayers for the Attainment of Knowledge 109 Prayers for Removing Obstacles in the Path to Higher Knowledge 112 Prayer for Retention of the Scripture Learnt 112 Moral and Spiritual Discipline Eulogised as Tapas 115—117 Approval of Meritorious Work and Censure of the Opposite Kind 118 An Echo of this Upanisad in the Dhammapada 120 Grace of God 1s a Necessary Condition for Seeing Him = 121 God as the Source of Life, Body and Environment 123 The Best Instances of the Type Remind Us of Divine Glory 126 Bondage to Natute and Release from It 127 Hamsamantra Its Non-dualistic Meaning 129 Prajiipati as God Immanent and Transcendental 132 Prayer to Savitr for Plenty 134 Fitness for Spiritual Ilummation Engendered through Sacrifices 135 The Greatness of Divine Names 136—140 The Greatness of Vedantic Knowledge 141 A Prayer for Unbroken Thought of God 143 The Greatness of Purusa’ The Tree Analogy 145 Immortality through Renunciation Its Rareness 146 Vedanta, Sannyasa and Yoga as Methods of Release from Transmigration 149 The place Where God 1s to be Worshipped 151 Mahesvara—Who 1s He? 153 Visvapurusa Nar&ayana—His Nature, Glory, His Resi- dence in the Heart, and His Identity with the Universe and all Gods 155—169XVI MAHANARAYANOPANISAD PAGE Worship of the Supreme Being in the Solar Orb 170 The Glory of the Sun 173—176 Aditya Designated by Pranava and Worshipped as Brahman 177 Mantras for the Consecration of Sivalmga 178 Prayer to Sadyoyita-Siva for Release from Transmigra~ 182 tion Salutation to Vamadeva-Siva 183 Salutation to Aghora-Siva 185 Salutation to Tina, the Lord of All, and Prayer for His Blessings 186 Salutations to Pagupati-Siva 187 Salutations to Biahmapurusa in the Androgynous Form ~—188 Salutations to Rudra in the Universal Aspect 190 Longing to Worship Rudra at Heart with Hymns 192 Maternal of the Sacrificial Laddle Sacrifices Lead to Inner Purity 193 A Hymn Prescribed for Counteracting Evil 195 A Formula in Praise of the Earth as Aditi 196 Water Eulogized as the Omnific Cause 197 Invoking Water for Self-purification 199 Self-oblation into the True Immortal Light 201 Sun as the Divine into Whom Self-oblation 1s Made 204 The Pranava Identified with Brahman Some Details About it 206 Invocation of Gayatri—the Mother of Vedas 207 Day to Day Removal of Sins 208 Invocation of Gayatri and Personification of the For- mula 209 Worship of Gayatri 21214