Famous Debates in the Forest- (Brihadaranyaka-Upanishad) - Shree Purohit Swami and WB Yeats

Part VII

Yagnyawalkya went to Janaka. He had not planned a discussion; but something said about sacrifice so pleased him that he promised Janaka whatever he asked. Janaka asked permission to question him; and that was the first question he asked.

Janaka said: ‘Yagnyawalkya! What is the light of man?’

Yagnyawalkya said: ‘The sun is his light. By that light man sits, works, goes, returns.’

Janaka said: ‘When the sun has set what is his light?’

Yagnyawalkya said: ‘The moon is his light; by that light man sits, works, goes, returns.’

Janaka said: ‘When sun and moon have set, what is his light?’

Yagnyawalkya said: ‘Fire is his light; by that light man sits, works, goes, returns.’

Janaka said: ‘When sun and moon have set, when fire is out, what is his light?’

Yagnyawalkya said: ‘Speech is his light; by that light man sits, works, goes, returns. When man cannot see his own hand, he can hear what is said, and go towards the voice.’

Janaka said: ‘When sun and moon have set, when fire is out, when nothing is said, what is his light?’

Yagnyawalkya said: ‘Self is his light; by that light man sits, works, goes, returns.’

Janaka said: ‘Who is that Self?’

Yagnyawalkya said: ‘He who lives within the heart, surrounded by the senses, He is the light within, knowledge itself. Unchanged He moves through both conditions, through waking and sleeping; seems to think in the one, to sport in the other; plays amid multiform dreams, then transcends this world, transcends every perishing shape, goes to sleep.

‘He takes a body at birth, takes up its infirmities; but when he leaves that body, He leaves all infirmities.

‘He has in truth two homes, earth and heaven; but seems to have a third between, built of dreams. He stands in this third home, surveys both heaven and earth. While passing on his way to heaven, his nightly way, He knows both happiness and misery. He breaks the ink. He has made dreams through his own power and light, he rejects them and goes into dreamless sleep.

‘In dreams he shone by his own light; no horse there, no road, no carriage, but he made it; no well, no tank, no river, but he made it; no excitement, no pleasure, no happiness, but he made it. He is the maker.

‘Here is my authority: ‘He breaks the link with all that belongs to body; he remains awake giving light; dreamless he makes dreams. By that light he returns to earth. He is the Golden God, the Man, the Self, Hamsa, the solitary Bird."

‘The Golden God, the Man, the Self, Hamsa, the solitary Bird, He leaves that small nest, the body, in charge of its guardian life, goes out wherever He will, is never weary.

‘He the God, seems to dream, sporting among forms, to go hither and thither, seems to delight in sex, to eat and laugh with friends, or to look upon heart-rending spectacles.

‘His playing ground is seen; no one can see Him.

‘Some say that dreaming and waking are the same; for what man sees while awake, he sees in his dreams. Whatever else be true, the Self shines by its own light.’

Janaka said: ‘Lord! I give you a thousand crowns. Speak on for the sake of my liberation.’

Yagnyawalkya said: ‘He wakes; and having enjoyed, gone hither and thither, known good and evil, he hastens back again to his dreams. But nothing can affect him, nothing can cling to Self.

Having enjoyed his dreams, gone hither and thither, known good and evil, he hastens back to wakefulness. But nothing can affect Him, nothing can cling to Self.

‘Having enjoyed his wakefulness, gone hither and thither, known good and evil, he hastens back again to his dreams.

‘As a large fish moves from one bank of a river to the other, Self moves between waking and dreaming.

‘But as a falcon or eagle, flying in the sky, wearies, folds its wings, falls into its nest, Self hastens into that sleep, his last resort, where he desires nothing, creates no dream.

‘In this body, there are those veins like numberless small hairs called Hita, full of white, blue, yellow, green, red. It is because of these that he sees himself killed, sees himself beaten down, sees himself chased by elephants, sees himself falling into a well; in all these dreams, he creates, through ignorance, dangers known when awake, or he draws upon imagination, thinking himself a king or a god or the world.

‘But his true nature is free from desire, free from evil, free from fear. As a man in the embrace of his beloved wife forgets everything that is without, everything that is within; so man, in the embrace of the knowing Self, forgets everything that is without, everything that is within; for there all desires are satisfied, Self his sole desire, that is no desire; man goes beyond sorrow.

‘Father disappears, mother disappears, world disappears, gods disappear, Wedas disappear, thief disappears, rogue disappears, ascetic disappears, monk disappears, menial disappears, good and evil disappear; he has gone beyond sorrow.

‘What He cannot see, He cannot see, yet He can see; sight and He are one, and He is indestructible; what can He see; there is nothing separate from Him; no second.

‘What He cannot smell, He cannot smell, yet He can smell; smelling and He are one, and He is indestructible; what can He smell; there is nothing separate from Him; no second.

‘What He cannot taste, He cannot taste, yet He can taste; taste and He are one, and He is indestructible; what can He taste; there is nothing separate from Him; no second.

‘What He cannot speak, He cannot speak, yet He can speak; speech and He are one, and He is indestructible; what can He speak; there is nothing separate from Him; no second.

‘What He cannot hear, He cannot hear, yet He can hear; hearing and He are one, and He is indestructible; what can He hear; there is nothing separate from Him; no second.

‘What He cannot think, He cannot think, yet He can think; thinking and He are one, and He is indestructible; what can He think; there is nothing separate from Him; no second.

‘What He cannot touch, He cannot touch, yet He can touch; touching and He are one, and He is indestructible; what can He touch; there is nothing separate from Him; no second.

‘What He cannot know, He cannot know, yet He can know; knowing and He are one, and He is indestructible; what can He know; there is nothing separate from Him; no second.

‘Where there is another, one sees another; smells, tastes, touches, knows, hears another, speaks to another thinks of another.

‘One, without a second; that is the Kingdom of Heaven; man’s highest achievement; his greatest wealth; his final goal; his utmost joy. Other creatures must live on a diminution of this joy.

‘When the knowing Self masters the personal self at death, the personal self groans, as a heavily laden cart groans under its burden.

‘When body grows weak through age or disease, the Self separates itself from the limbs, as a mango, a fig, a banyan fruit separates itself from the stalk; man hastens back to birth, goes, as before, from birth to birth.

‘As soldiers, governors, scholars, leaders, wait upon a returning king with food and drink and bring him to his house announcing his approach, so all the elements wait upon such a Self, announcing its approach.

‘As soldiers, governors, scholars, leaders, gather together to bid goodbye to a king, so when the Self decides to go, all the senses gather.’

‘As a caterpillar, having reached the end of a blade of grass, takes hold of another blade, then draws its body from the first, so the Self having reached the end of his body, takes hold of another body, then draws itself from the first.

‘And as a goldsmith takes the gold from an old piece of jewelry and shapes it into a more modern piece, so the Self forgets the old body, takes hold of another body, whether like that of the fathers, or of the celestial singers, or of the gods, or of the begetter, or of any other creature.

This Self is spirit. He is knowledge, mind, life, sight, hearing, earth, water, wind, air, light, darkness, desire, absence of desire, anger, placability, right, wrong; He is everything; He is this and that. Whatever his conduct and character in one life, he has it in his next; if good in one, he is good in another; if a sinner in one, he is a sinner in another; his good karma makes him good, his sinful karma makes him sinful. Hence they say that soul is full of desire. He wills according to his desire; he acts according to his will; he reaps what he sows. Here is my authority:

"Self goes where man’s mind goes. Whatever his actions in this world, he enjoys their reward in the next; that over, he returns for action’s sake. I speak of a man with desire; but what is he who has no desire? He has no desire, because he has attained his desire; desire of Self is no desire. He does not die like others; he is of Spirit, he becomes Spirit."

`When all desires of the heart are gone, mortal becomes immortal, man becomes Spirit, even in this life.

`As the skin of a snake is peeled off and lies dead on an ant-hill, so this body falls and lies on the ground; but the Self is bodiless, immortal, full of light; he is of Spirit, he becomes Spirit.

‘If man knows that he is He, why should he hunger for a body?

‘He, whose Self lying in this mysterious uncertain body is awakened, becomes Spirit. He becomes the maker of the world, the maker of everything. His is the world, he is the world itself.

‘Let the wise and holy man know Him, govern his intellect by that knowledge; not learn words after words, a weariness to the tongue.

‘Holding this purpose, people long ago did not want children. Spirit was their goal; what had they to do with children? They refused children, wealth, company, traveled with a begging bowl. Desire for children is desire for wealth, desire for wealth is desire for company; what is desire but desire?’

to be Continued...

© "The Ten Principal UPANISHADS" published by Rupa & Company, 7/16, Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi 110 002. Part VI of this article appeared in Splendour, June 2004 issue.

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