f 8c
 
 Wilt thou not ope thy heart to know 
 
 What rainbows teach, and sunsets show? 
 
 Verdict which accumulates 
 
 From lengthening scroll of human fates, 
 
 Voice of earth to earth returned, 
 
 Prayers of saints that inly burned, 
 
 Saying, Wbat is excellent, 
 
 As God lives, is permanent; 
 
 Hearts are dust, Hearts' loves remain; 
 
 Heart's love will meet tbee again. 
 
 House and tenant go to ground, 
 Lost in God, in Godhead found. 
 
 R. W. BMBRSON.
 
 FROM THE UPANISHADS 
 
 BY 
 CHARLES JOHNSTON 
 
 Portland. Maine 
 THOMAS & MOSHEH, 
 
 1899
 
 Copyright 
 
 Thomas *B. fMosber 
 1897
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 FOREWORD 
 
 TO G. W. RUSSELL . 
 
 FROM THE UPANISHADS: 
 
 I 
 IN THE HOUSE OF DEATH 
 
 [Katba Upanisbad} 
 ii 
 
 A VEDIC MASTER 
 
 [Prasbna Upanisbad} 
 
 PAGE 
 
 ix 
 
 29 
 
 in 
 
 THAT THOU ART 
 
 [Cbbandogya Upanisbad, VI] 45 
 
 2075628
 
 FOREWORD
 
 When the scanty shores are full 
 With Thought's perilous, whirling pool ; 
 When frail Nature can no more, 
 Then the Spirit strikes the hour: 
 My servant Death, with solving rite, 
 Pours finite into infinite. 
 
 R. w. EMERSON.
 
 FOREWORD. 
 
 j-T is admitted, by common 
 consent, that the works of 
 Emerson stand at the head 
 of American literature. The cause of 
 their pre-eminence, it might well be 
 added, is the rebirth, in them, of the 
 thoughts and ideals of the most 
 ancient Upanishads. Emerson him- 
 self was perfectly aware of this affinity ; 
 he found no fitter illustration of his 
 understanding of immortality than 
 the teaching of Death, with which 
 I have begun this volume. His words 
 may well be repeated : 
 
 " Within every man's thought is a 
 higher thought ; within the character 
 he exhibits to-day, a higher character. 
 The youth puts off the illusions of the 
 child ; the man puts off the ignorance 
 and tumultuous passions of youth; 
 proceeding thence, puts off the ego- 
 tism of manhood, and becomes at 
 last a public and universal soul. He 
 is rising to greater heights, but also 
 rising to realities ; the other relations
 
 Foreword and circumstances dying out, he en- 
 tering deeper into God, God into him, 
 until the last garment of egotism falls, 
 and he is with God; shares the will 
 and immensity of the First Cause. It 
 is curious to find the selfsame feeling, 
 that it is not immortality but eternity, 
 not duration but a state of abandon- 
 ment to the Highest, and so the shar- 
 ing of His perfection, appearing in the 
 farthest east and west. The human 
 mind takes no account of geography, 
 language, or legends, but in all utters 
 the same instinct. Yama, the lord of 
 Death, promised Nachiketas, the son 
 of Gautama, to grant him three boons 
 at his own choice" and then fol- 
 lows the teaching, as I have given it. 
 
 The central thought, and almost 
 the very words of the second Upan- 
 ishad here translated, concerning the 
 worlds, and their putting forth by the 
 Divine, are faithfully imaged in an- 
 other of Emerson's essays : 
 
 "But when, following the invisible 
 steps of thought, we come to enquire, 
 whence is matter? and whereto? 
 many truths arise out of the recesses 
 of consciousness. We learn that the 
 highest is present to the soul of man ;
 
 that the dread universal essence, which Foreword 
 is not wisdom, or love, or beauty, or 
 power, but all in one, and each en- 
 tirely, is that for which all things exist, 
 and that by which they are; that 
 spirit creates; that behind nature, 
 throughout nature, spirit is present. 
 As a plant upon the earth, so a man 
 rests upon the bosom of God; he is 
 nourished by unfailing fountains, and 
 draws, at his need, inexhaustible 
 power." 
 
 To cite all the passages in which 
 Emerson bears testimony to the truth 
 contained in the third passage I have 
 rendered : that the soul of man is one 
 with the immemorial Soul that wove 
 the worlds, would be, to repeat the 
 greater part of what he has written ; for 
 this, more than anything else, is the 
 heart of his message. One passage, 
 out of many, will be enough : 
 
 "The soul gives itself, alone orig- 
 inal and pure, to the Lonely, Original 
 and Pure, who, on that condition, 
 gladly inhabits, leads, and speaks 
 through it. Then it is glad, young, 
 and nimble. Behold, it saith, I am 
 born into the great, the universal mind. 
 I, the imperfect, adore my own per-
 
 Foreword and circumstances dying out, he en- 
 tering deeper into God, God into him, 
 until the last garment of egotism falls, 
 and he is with God; shares the will 
 and immensity of the First Cause. It 
 is curious to find the selfsame feeling, 
 that it is not immortality but eternity, 
 not duration but a state of abandon- 
 ment to the Highest, and so the shar- 
 ing of His perfection, appearing in the 
 farthest east and west. The human 
 mind takes no account of geography, 
 language, or legends, but in all utters 
 the same instinct. Yama, the lord of 
 Death, promised Nachiketas, the son 
 of Gautama, to grant him three boons 
 at his own choice" and then fol- 
 lows the teaching, as I have given it. 
 
 The central thought, and almost 
 the very words of the second Upan- 
 ishad here translated, concerning the 
 worlds, and their putting forth by the 
 Divine, are faithfully imaged in an- 
 other of Emerson's essays : 
 
 "But when, following the invisible 
 steps of thought, we come to enquire, 
 whence is matter? and whereto? 
 many truths arise out of the recesses 
 of consciousness. We learn that the 
 highest is present to the soul of man ;
 
 that the dread universal essence, which Foreword 
 is not wisdom, or love, or beauty, or 
 power, but all in one, and each en- 
 tirely, is that for which all things exist, 
 and that by which they are; that 
 spirit creates; that behind nature, 
 throughout nature, spirit is present. 
 As a plant upon the earth, so a man 
 rests upon the bosom of God; he is 
 nourished by unfailing fountains, and 
 draws, at his need, inexhaustible 
 power." 
 
 To cite all the passages in which 
 Emerson bears testimony to the truth 
 contained in the third passage I have 
 rendered : that the soul of man is one 
 with the immemorial Soul that wove 
 the worlds, would be, to repeat the 
 greater part of what he has written ; for 
 this, more than anything else, is the 
 heart of his message. One passage, 
 out of many, will be enough : 
 
 "The soul gives itself, alone orig- 
 inal and pure, to the Lonely, Original 
 and Pure, who, on that condition, 
 gladly inhabits, leads, and speaks 
 through it. Then it is glad, young, 
 and nimble. Behold, it saith, I am 
 born into the great, the universal mind. 
 I, the imperfect, adore my own per-
 
 Foreword f e ct. I am somehow recipient of the 
 great soul, and thereby I do overlook 
 the sun and the stars, and feel them to 
 be the fair accidents and effects which 
 change and pass. More and more the 
 surges of everlasting nature enter into 
 me, and I become public and human 
 in my regards and actions. So I come 
 to live in thoughts, and act with ener- 
 gies, which are immortal." 
 
 Let me add, to these three, one 
 more passage, which shows the same 
 primeval power, that gave birth to 
 the imagery of ancient wisdom, once 
 more actively creative ; a passage, 
 more eloquent, perhaps, than all else 
 that Emerson has written : 
 
 "There is no chance, and no anar- 
 chy, in the universe. All is system and 
 gradation. Every god is there, sitting 
 in his sphere. The young mortal 
 enters the hall of the firmament; 
 there, he is alone with them alone ; 
 they pouring on him benedictions and 
 gifts, and beckoning him up to their 
 thrones. On the instant, and inces- 
 santly, fall snow-storms of illusions. 
 He fancies himself in a vast crowd 
 which sways this way and that, and 
 whose movements and doings he 
 
 xii
 
 must obey; he fancies himself poor, Foreword 
 orphaned, insignificant. The mad 
 crowd drives hither and thither, now 
 furiously commanding this thing to 
 be done, now that. What is he that 
 he should resist their will, and think 
 or act for himself? Every moment 
 new changes and new showers of de- 
 ceptions to baffle and distract him. 
 And when by and by, for an instant, 
 the air clears, and the cloud lifts a 
 little, there are the gods still sitting 
 around him on their thrones; they 
 alone, with him alone." 
 
 C. J.
 
 TO G. W. RUSSELL
 
 / / A / ^* 
 
 ni lh( fJiMrt 
 
 ifa J*Y b\Mt /)i/A
 
 TO G. W. RUSSELL 
 
 (HE brown and yellow of 
 autumn are touching the 
 chestnut-leaves again for 
 the tenth time since those early days 
 when we first began to seek the small 
 old path the seers know. 
 
 On such a day as this, rejoicing in 
 the sunlight, we lay on our backs in 
 the grass, and, looking up into the 
 blue, tried to think ourselves into that 
 new world which we had suddenly 
 discovered ourselves to inhabit. For 
 we had caught ^he word, handed down 
 with silent laughter through the ages, 
 that we ourselves are the inventors of 
 the game of life, the kings of this 
 most excellent universe : that there is 
 no sorrow, but fancy weaves it ; that 
 we need not even knock to be admit- 
 ted, for we already are, and always 
 were, though we had forgotten it, 
 within the doors of life. 
 
 That young enthusiasm and hourly 
 joy of living was one of old destiny's 
 gracious presents, a brightness to
 
 To remember when storms gathered 
 
 G. W . Russell roun{ j us> as they did many a time in 
 the years since: there was a gaiety 
 and lightness in the air then, a delight 
 of new discovery, that I do not think 
 we shall find again; yet I know, and 
 you also know, what excellent strength 
 we have gained instead. For, carrying 
 our high hopes with us, all these years, 
 as one side of life after another was 
 turned to us, as we had to pass through 
 rough ways as well as smooth, to 
 wrestle with the stubborn tendencies 
 of things, full-breasted and strenuous, 
 we have fought and worked into our- 
 selves an intimate knowledge of what 
 we then only divined, we have realized 
 much that then loomed dim and 
 ghostly before us, we have learned to 
 abide confidently by spiritual law. 
 
 To gain our experience side by side 
 would have been very pleasant, had 
 fate so willed it ; but fate willed quite 
 otherwise. Almost at the outset, 
 destiny carried me, vagrant, to the 
 distant rivers of the east, whose 
 waters mirror old towered shrines 
 among the palm-trees, while the boat- 
 man's song floats echo-like across ; or 
 where the breakers of the lonely, 
 
 xviii
 
 limitless ocean cast forth strange To 
 
 shells upon the sand ; or through G - w - Kussel1 
 
 the grey alder-forests stretching away 
 
 desolate to the frozen seas ; or again, 
 
 among rugged mountains, shaggy with 
 
 pine-forests, where rainbow-sparkles 
 
 carpet the snow. 
 
 And you, whom outward fate has 
 held stationary, travelled perhaps 
 further after all ; finding your way 
 homeward to the strange world the 
 seers tell of, the world at the back of 
 the heavens; and sending to us your 
 " Songs by the Way." 
 
 It was an ambition of mine, in 
 those old days, to translate, from the 
 Indian books of Wisdom, the story of 
 the Sacrificer's son who was sent by 
 his father to the house of Death. 
 This story has always seemed to me 
 a teaching of admirable worth, carry- 
 ing with it the most precious gift of 
 all, a sense of the high mysteriousness 
 and vast hidden treasure of life, which 
 makes us seekers for ever, always 
 finding, yet always knowing that there 
 is still more to find; so that every day 
 becomes a thing of limitless promise 
 and wonder, only revealing itself as 
 containing a new wonder within. For
 
 To what teaching could bring a more 
 
 G. W. Russell won d er f u i sense of the largeness and 
 hidden riches of being than this : that 
 our sincerest friend is the once-dreaded 
 king of terrors; that death teaches 
 us what no other can the lesson of 
 the full and present eternity of life? 
 We need not wait till our years are 
 closed for his teaching: that wisdom 
 of his, like every other treasure of 
 life, is all-present in every moment, in 
 full abundance, here and now. It is 
 the teaching of Death that, to gain 
 the better, we must lose the dearer; 
 to gain the greater, we must lose the 
 less; to win the abundant world of 
 reality, we must give up the world of 
 fancy and folly and fear which we 
 have so long held dear : we have been 
 learning it all these years since we 
 began; learning also Death's grim 
 jest, that there is no sacrifice possible 
 for us at all, for while we were 
 painfully renouncing the dearer, his 
 splendid generosity had already given 
 us the better new worlds instead of 
 old. 
 
 Well, the ten years are passed, and 
 my ambition is fulfilled; I hand you 
 my rendering of Death's lesson, and
 
 two more teachings from the same To 
 
 old wise books. G - w RuueU 
 
 I have found them wise, beyond all 
 others; and, beyond all others, filled 
 with that very light which makes all 
 things new ; the light discovered first 
 within, in the secret place of the 
 heart, and which brimming over there 
 fills the whole of life, lightening every 
 dark and clouded way. That glowing 
 heart within us, we are beginning to 
 guess, is the heart of all things, the 
 everlasting foundation of the world ; 
 and because speech is given therein 
 to that teaching of oneness, of our 
 hearts and the heart eternal as eter- 
 nally one, I have translated the last 
 of these three passages from the 
 books of Wisdom. 
 
 You will find in them, besides high 
 intuition, a quaint and delightful 
 flavour, a charm of childlike simplic- 
 ity; yet of a child who is older than 
 all age, a child of the eternal and 
 infinite, whose simplicity is better 
 than the wisdom of the wise. 
 
 There is no answer in words to 
 the question: What is in the great 
 Beyond ? nor can there be ; yet I 
 think we know already that, in the
 
 To nameless mystery of the real, it will 
 
 G. W. Russell be altogether well with us now and 
 
 after. This strong reconciliation with 
 
 the real is, very likely, the best fruit 
 
 of our ten years' learning. 
 
 CHARLES JOHNSTON. 
 
 Ballykilbeg, 
 October 15, 1895.
 
 I 
 
 IN THE HOUSE OF DEATH
 
 IN THE HOUSE OF DEATH 
 THE FIRST PART 
 
 IAJASHRAVASA, verily, seeking 
 favour, made a sacrifice of 
 all he possessed. He had 
 a son, also, by name Nachiketas. 
 Him, though still a child, faith en- 
 tered, while the gifts were being led 
 up. 
 
 He meditated : 
 
 They have drunk water, eaten grass, 
 given up their milk, and lost their 
 strength. Joyless worlds, in truth, 
 he gains, who offers these. 
 
 He addressed his father : 
 
 To whom, then, wilt thou give me ? 
 said he. 
 
 Twice and thrice he asked him. 
 
 To Death I give thee, said he. 
 
 Nacbiketas ponders : 
 
 I go the first of many ; I go in the 
 midst of many. What is Death's 
 work that he will work on me to-day ?
 
 In the Look, as those that have gone 
 House before, behold so are those that shall 
 Death come ^ er - As corn a mortal ripens, 
 as corn he is born again. 
 
 Nacbiketas comes to the House of 
 T)eatb ; be speaks : 
 
 Like the Lord of Fire, a pure guest 
 comes to the house. They offer him 
 this greeting. Bring water, O Death, 
 Son of the Sun I 
 
 Hope and expectation, friendship, 
 kind words, just and holy deeds, sons 
 and cattle, this destroys, for the fool- 
 ish man in whose house a pure guest 
 dwells without food. 
 
 After tbree days Death comes. Deatb 
 speaks : 
 
 As thou hast dwelt three nights 
 in my house, without food, thou, a 
 pure guest and honourable honour 
 to thee, pure one, welfare to me 
 against this choose thou three wishes. 
 
 Nacbiketas speaks : 
 
 That the descendant of Gotama 
 may be at peace, well-minded, and 
 with sorrow gone, towards me, O 
 Death; that he may speak kindly to 
 me when sent forth by thee; this, of 
 the three, as my first wish I choose. 
 
 Tfeatb speaks :
 
 As before will the son of Aruna, in the 
 Uddalaka's son, be kind to thee, sent ^" 5 ' 
 forth by me ; by night will he sleep Deatb 
 well, with sorrow gone, seeing thee 
 freed from the mouth of Death. 
 
 Nacbiketas speaks : 
 
 In the heaven-world there is no 
 fear at all; nor art thou there, nor 
 does he fear from old age. Crossing 
 over both hunger and thirst, and 
 going beyond sorrow, he exults in the 
 heaven-world. 
 
 The heavenly fire thou knowest, 
 Death, tell it to me, for I am faithful. 
 The heaven-worlds enjoy deathless- 
 ness; this, as my second wish, I 
 choose. 
 
 Deatb speaks : 
 
 To thee I tell it; learn then from 
 me, Nachiketas, finding the heavenly 
 fire. Know thou also the obtaining 
 of unending worlds, the resting-place, 
 for this is hidden in secret. 
 
 He told him thenMhat fire, the 
 beginning of the worlds, and the 
 bricks of the altar, and how many 
 and how they are. And he again 
 spoke it back to him as it was 
 told; and Death, well-pleased, again 
 addressed him.
 
 In the This is thy heavenly fire, O 
 
 ouie Nachiketas, which thou hast chosen 
 of 
 
 Death as tn y secon d wish. This fire of 
 thine shall they proclaim. Choose 
 now, Nachiketas, thy third wish. 
 
 Nacbiketas speaks : 
 
 This doubt that there is of a man 
 that has gone forth : " He exists," say 
 some; and "He exists not," others 
 say: a knowledge of this, taught by 
 thee, this of my wishes is the third 
 wish. 
 
 Death speaks : 
 
 Even by the gods of old it was 
 doubted about this ; not easily know- 
 able, and subtle is this law. Choose, 
 Nachiketas, another wish; hold me 
 not to it, but spare me this. 
 
 Nacbiketas speaks : 
 
 Even by the gods, thou sayest, it 
 was doubted about this; and not 
 easily knowable is it, O Death. An- 
 other teacher of it cannot be found 
 like thee. No other wish is equal to 
 this. 
 
 Death speaks : 
 
 Choose sons and grandsons of 
 a hundred years, and much cattle, 
 and elephants and gold and horses. 
 Choose the great abode of the earth, 
 
 I
 
 and for thyself live as many autumns ln tbe 
 * House 
 
 as thou wilt. , 
 
 If thou thinkest this an equal wish, 
 choose wealth and length of days. 
 Be thou mighty in the world, O 
 Nachiketas; I make thee an enjoyer 
 of thy desires. 
 
 Whatsoever desires are difficult in 
 the mortal world, ask all desires 
 according to thy will. 
 
 These beauties, with their chariots 
 and lutes not such as these are to 
 be won by men be waited on by 
 them, my gifts. Ask me not of death, 
 Nachiketas. 
 
 Nacbiketas speaks : 
 
 To-morrow these fleeting things 
 wear out the vigour of a mortal's 
 powers. Even the whole of life is 
 short; thine are chariots and dance 
 and song. 
 
 Not by wealth can a man be satis- 
 fied. Shall we choose wealth if we 
 have seen thee? Shall we desire life 
 while thou art master? But the wish 
 I choose is truly that. 
 
 Coming near to the unfading im- 
 mortals, a fading mortal here below, 
 and understanding, thinking on the
 
 In the sweets of beauty and pleasure, who 
 oust wou j ( j re j o i ce j n length of days? 
 
 Death This that the y doubt about, O 
 Death, what is in the great Beyond, 
 tell me of that. This wish that draws 
 near to the mystery, Nachiketas 
 chooses no other wish than that. 
 
 Deatb speaks : 
 
 The better is one thing, the dearer 
 is another thing; these two bind a 
 man in opposite ways. Of these 
 two, it is well for him who takes the 
 better; he fails of his object, who 
 chooses the dearer. 
 
 The better and the dearer approach 
 a man ; going round them, the sage 
 discerns between them. The sage 
 chooses the better rather than the 
 dearer; the fool chooses the dearer, 
 through lust of possession. 
 
 Thou indeed, pondering on dear and 
 dearly-loved desires, O Nachiketas, 
 hast passed them by. Not this way 
 of wealth hast thou chosen, in which 
 many men sink. 
 
 Far apart are these two ways, un- 
 wisdom and what is known as wisdom. 
 I esteem Nachiketas as one seeking 
 wisdom, nor do manifold desires allure 
 thee.
 
 Others, turning about in unwisdom, I" tee 
 self-wise and thinking they are learned, H use 
 fools, stagger, lagging in the way, like Death 
 the blind led by the blind. 
 
 The great Beyond gleams not for 
 the child, led away by the delusion of 
 possessions. " This is the world, 
 there is no other," he thinks, and 
 so falls again and again under my 
 dominion. 
 
 That is not to be gained even for a 
 hearing by many, and hearing it many 
 understand it not. Wonderful is the 
 speaker of it, blessed the receiver; 
 wonderful is the knower of it, taught 
 by the blessed. 
 
 Not by the lower man is this, when 
 declared, to be known even by much 
 meditation. There is no way to it 
 unless told by the other, very subtle 
 is it, nor can it be debated by formal 
 logic. 
 
 The understanding of this cannot be 
 gained by debate ; but it is declared by 
 the other, dearest, for a right under- 
 standing. Thou hast obtained it, for 
 thou art steadfast in the truth ; may a 
 questioner like thee, Nachiketas, come 
 to us. 
 
 " I know that what they call treasure
 
 In the is unenduring ; and by unlasting things 
 House what is lasting cannot be obtained. 
 
 . Therefore the Nachiketas fire was 
 
 Ueato 
 
 kindled by me, and for these unendur- 
 ing things I have gained that which 
 endures." 
 
 Thus saying, and having beheld 
 the obtaining of longings, the resting- 
 place of the world, the endlessness of 
 desire, the shore where there is no 
 fear, greatly praised, and the wide-sung 
 resting-place, thou, Nachiketas, wise 
 in thy firmness, hast passed them by. 
 
 But that which is hard to see, which 
 has entered the secret place, and is 
 hidden in secret, the mystery, the 
 ancient; understanding that bright 
 one by the path of union with the 
 inner self, the wise man leaves exulta- 
 tion and sorrow behind. 
 
 A mortal, hearing this and under- 
 standing it, drawing forth that subtle 
 righteous one from all things else, and 
 obtaining it, rejoices, having gained 
 good cause for rejoicing; and the 
 door to it is wide open, I think, 
 Nachiketas. 
 
 Nacbiketas speaks : 
 
 What thou seest to be neither the 
 law nor lawlessness, neither what is 
 
 12
 
 commanded nor what is forbidden ; In the 
 neither what has been nor what shall House 
 
 be, tell me that. 
 
 Death 
 
 Death speaks : 
 
 That resting-place which all the 
 Vedas proclaim, and all austerities 
 
 - declare; seeking for which they enter 
 the service of the Eternal, that resting- 
 place I briefly tell to thee. 
 
 It is the unchanging Eternal, it 
 
 is the unchanging supreme; having 
 
 understood that unchanging one, 
 
 -' . whatsoever a man wishes, that he 
 
 gains. It is the excellent foundation, 
 
 * the supreme foundation; knowbig 
 that foundation, a man is mighty in 
 the eternal world. 
 
 The knower is never born nor dies, 
 nor is it from anywhere, nor did it 
 ( become anything. Unborn, eternal, 
 ^ immemorial, this ancient is not slain 
 *.* when the body is slain. 
 
 If the slayer thinks to slay it, if the 
 
 ;. slain thinks it is slain, neither of them 
 
 understand ; this slays not nor is slain. 
 
 s?4 Smaller than small, greater than 
 
 I great, this Self is hidden in the heart 
 
 "'. of man. He who has ceased from 
 
 '* desire, and passed sorrow by, through
 
 in the the favour of that ordainer beholds ^ 
 House t jj e greatness o f the Self. f-v*** 
 
 Death Though seated, it travels far; 
 though at rest, it goes everywhere; 
 who but me is worthy to know this 
 bright one who is joy without ^H 
 rejoicing? 
 
 Understanding this great lord the -ej&Lj 
 Self, bodiless in bodies, stable among 
 unstable, the wise man cannot grieve. 
 This Self is not to be. gained by 
 speaking of it, nor by ingenuity, 
 nor by much hearing. Whom this 
 chooses, by him it is gained, and the 
 Self chooses his form as its own. 
 
 He who has ceased not from evil, 
 who is not at peace, who stands not 
 firm whose emotions are not at rest, 
 cannot obtain it by knowledge. 
 
 Priest and Warrior are its food, its 
 anointing is death ; who knows truly 
 where it is ? 
 T>eatb speaks: 
 
 The knowers of the Eternal, those - .3 
 of the five fires, and of the triple fire 
 of Nachiketas, tell of the shadow and 
 the fire tie soul and tie spirit 
 entering into the cave and drinking 
 their reward in the world of good 
 works, on the higher path.
 
 This is the bridge of the sacrificers, / the 
 the undying Eternal, the supreme, the House 
 fearless, the harbour of those who " r 
 
 Death 
 
 would cross over may we master 
 the fire of Nachiketas. 
 
 Know that the Self is the lord of 
 the chariot, the body verily is the 
 chariot; know that the soul is the 
 charioteer, and emotion the reins. 
 
 They say that the bodily powers 
 are the horses, and that the external ^"^ 
 
 world is their field. When the Self, 
 
 \.') 
 the bodily powers and emotion are 
 
 joined together, this is the right 
 enjoyer; thus say the wise. 
 
 But for the unwise, with emotion 
 ever unrestrained, his bodily powers 
 run away with him, like the unruly 
 horses of the charioteer. 
 
 For him who is wise, with emotion 
 ever restrained, his bodily powers do 
 not run away with him, like the well- 
 ruled horses of the charioteer. 
 
 But he who is unwise, restrains not 
 emotion, and is ever impure, gains 
 not that resting-place, but returns to 
 the world of birth and death. 
 
 He who is wise, restrains emotion, 
 and is ever pure, gains that resting- 
 place from which he is not born again.
 
 In the He whose charioteer is wisdom, 
 
 House wno grasps the reins emotion 
 
 Death fi rm ty' ne indeed gains the end of the 
 
 path, the supreme resting-place of the 
 
 emanating Power. 
 
 The impulses are higher than the 
 bodily powers ; emotion is higher than 
 the impulses; soul is higher than 
 emotion ; higher than soul is the Self, 
 the great one. 
 
 Higher than this great one is the 
 unmanifest; higher than the unmani- 
 fest is spirit. Than spirit nothing is 
 higher, for it is the goal, and the 
 supreme way. 
 
 This is the hidden Self; in all 
 beings it shines not forth; but is 
 perceived by the piercing subtle soul 
 of the subtle-sighted. 
 
 Let the wise hold formative voice 
 and emotion; let him hold them in 
 the Self which is wisdom; let him 
 hold this wisdom in the Self which is 
 great; and this let him hold in the 
 Self which is peace. 
 
 Rise up! awake! and, having ob- 
 tained your wishes, understand them. 
 
 The sages say this path is hard, 
 difficult to tread as the keen edge of 
 a razor. 
 
 16
 
 He is released from the mouth of In the 
 Death, having gained the lasting thing Houie 
 which is above the great, which has ^ ., 
 neither sound nor touch nor form nor 
 change nor taste nor smell, but is 
 eternal, beginningless, endless. 
 
 This is the immemorial teaching 
 of Nachiketas, declared by Death. 
 Speaking it and hearing it the sage is 
 mighty in the eternal world. Whoso- 
 ever, being pure, shall cause this 
 supreme secret to be heard, in the 
 assembly of those who seek the 
 Eternal, or at the time of the union 
 with those who have gone forth, he 
 indeed builds for endlessness, he 
 builds for endlessness.
 
 IN THE HOUSE OF DEATH 
 THE SECOND PART 
 
 JHE Self-Being pierced the 
 openings outward; hence 
 one looks outward, not 
 within himself. A wise man looked 
 towards the Self with reverted sight, 
 seeking deathlessness. 
 
 Children seek after outward desires ; 
 they come to the net of widespread 
 death. But the wise, beholding death- 
 lessness, seek not for the enduring 
 among unenduring things. 
 
 By that which perceives form, taste, 
 smell, sounds, and embraces; by this 
 verily he discerns, for what else is 
 there ? This is that. 
 
 The wise man, thinking that that 
 by which he perceives both waking 
 and dreaming life, is the great, the 
 lord, the Self, grieves not. 
 
 He who perceives the living Self, 
 the honey-eater, close at hand, the 
 lord of what has been and what shall 
 be, he is no longer seeking for refuge. 
 This is that. 
 
 18
 
 He who knows the first-born of In the 
 radiance, born of old of the waters, House 
 standing hid in secret, who looked ^ eatb 
 forth through creatures. This is that. 
 
 And the great mother, full of 
 divinity, who comes forth through 
 life, standing hid in secret, who was 
 born through creatures. This is that. 
 
 The fire hidden in the fire sticks 
 like a germ, well concealed by the 
 mothers that fire is day by day to 
 be praised by men who wake, with 
 the oblation. This is that. 
 
 Whence the sun rises, and whither 
 he goes to setting; that all the bright 
 ones rest on, nor does any go beyond 
 it. This is that. 
 
 What is here, that is there; what is 
 there, that also is here. He goes 
 from death to death who sees a differ- 
 ence between them. 
 
 This is to be received by the mind, 
 that there is no difference here. From 
 death to death he goes, who sees a 
 difference. 
 
 The spirit of the measure of a finger 
 stands in the midst, in the Self; lord 
 of what has been, and what shall be. 
 Thereafter one is no longer seeking 
 for refuge. This is that.
 
 In the The spirit of the measure of a finger 
 
 House is like a light without smoke; lord of 
 
 Dtatb wnat has been and what shall be, the 
 
 same to-day and to-morrow. This is 
 
 that. 
 
 As water rained on broken ground 
 runs away among the mountains; so 
 he who beholds separate natures runs 
 hither and thither after them. 
 
 As pure water poured in pure 
 remains the same, so is the Self of 
 the discerning sage, O descendant of 
 Gotama. 
 
 Understanding the eleven-doored 
 dwelling of the unborn seer of truth, 
 he grieves not; and, freed, he is set 
 free. This is that. 
 
 This is the Swan in the pure world, 
 the radiant in the middle world, the 
 fire here on the altar; as a guest in a 
 dwelling. 
 
 This is the essence of man, the 
 essence of the best, the essence of 
 the deep and the ether; those born 
 of the water, of earth, of the deep, of 
 the mountains, are that true great one. 
 
 He leads upward the forward-life, 
 and casts back the downward-life. 
 All the bright powers bow to the 
 dwarf seated in their midst. 
 
 20
 
 When this lord of the body, stand- In the 
 ing within the body, departs; when he Ho " $e 
 goes forth free from the body, what is Deatb 
 left ? This is that. 
 
 No mortal lives by the forward-life, 
 nor by the downward-life. But by 
 another they live, in whom these two 
 rest. 
 
 This secret immemorial Eternal, I 
 shall declare to thee; and how the 
 Self is, on attaining death, O descend- 
 ant of Gotama. 
 
 Some come to the womb, for the 
 embodying of that lord of the body. 
 Others reach the resting-place, accord- 
 ing to deeds, according to what they 
 have understood. 
 
 The spirit that wakes in those that 
 dream, moulding desire after desire, 
 is that bright one, that Eternal; that 
 they call the immortal one. In this 
 all the worlds rest, nor does any go 
 beyond it. This is that. 
 
 As fire, being one, on entering the 
 world, is assimilated to form after 
 form ; so the inner Self of all being is 
 assimilated to form after form, and 
 yet remains outside them. 
 
 As the air, being one, on entering 
 the world, is assimilated to form after
 
 In the form ; so the inner Self of all being is 
 House assimilated to form after form, and 
 D atb vet remams outside them. 
 
 As the sun, the eye of all the world, 
 is not smeared by visible outer stains ; 
 so the inner Self of all being is not 
 smirched by sorrow of the world, but 
 remains outside it. 
 
 The one ruler, the inner Self of all 
 being, who makes one form manifold ; 
 the wise who behold him within 
 themselves, theirs is happiness, and 
 not others'. 
 
 The durable among undurables; 
 the soul of souls, who though one, 
 disposes the desires of many; the 
 wise who behold him within them- 
 selves, theirs is peace everlasting, and 
 not others'. 
 
 This is that, they think, the ineffable 
 supreme joy. How then may I know, 
 whether this shines or borrows its 
 light? No sun shines there, nor the 
 moon and stars; nor lightnings, nor 
 fire like this. All verily shines after 
 that shining. From the shining of 
 that, all this borrows light. 
 
 Rooted above, with branches below, 
 
 22
 
 is this immemorial Tree. It is that fn tbe 
 bright one, that Eternal; it is called H use 
 the immortal. In it all the worlds DOT ^ 
 rest; nor does any go beyond it. 
 This is that. 
 
 All that the universe is, moves in 
 life, emanated from it. It is the great 
 fear, the upraised thunderbolt. They 
 who have seen it, become immortal. 
 
 Through fear of this, Fire glows; 
 through fear of this, the Sun glows; 
 through fear of it, the King and 
 Breath ; and Death runs, as fifth. 
 
 If one has been able to understand 
 it here, before the body's falling 
 away, he builds for embodiment in 
 the creative worlds. 
 
 As in a mirror, this is seen in the 
 Self; as in a dream, it is seen in the 
 world; as in the waters around, it is 
 seen in the world of sylphs ; as in the 
 fire and the shadow, it is seen in the 
 world of the Evolver. 
 
 Considering the life of the powers 
 as apart, and their rising and setting 
 as they grow up apart, the wise man 
 grieves not. 
 
 Mind is higher than the powers, 
 the real is higher than mind; than 
 this real, the great Self is higher;
 
 In the and than the great, the unmanifest is 
 ^ higher. 
 
 Death Than the unmanifest, spirit is 
 higher, the universal and formless ; 
 knowing which a being is released, 
 and goes to immortality. 
 
 The form of this does not stand 
 visible, nor does anyone behold it 
 with the eye. By the heart, the soul, 
 the mind, it is grasped; and those 
 who know it become immortal. 
 
 When the five perceptions and 
 mind are steadied; and when the 
 soul struggles not, this, they say, is 
 the highest way. 
 
 This they think to be union, the 
 firm holding of the powers. Unper- 
 turbed is this union, though there be 
 ebb and flow. 
 
 Nor by speech, nor by mind can it 
 be gained ; nor by sight. It is gained 
 by him who can affirm " It is " ; how 
 else could it be gained ? 
 
 It is to be gained by affirming " It 
 is"; and as the real in what is and is 
 not. In him who obtains it by affirm- 
 ing " It is " its reality is perfected. 
 
 When all desires that dwell in his 
 heart are let go, the mortal becomes 
 immortal, and reaches the Eternal.
 
 When all the knots of his heart ln the 
 
 are untied here, the mortal becomes use 
 
 of 
 immortal. So far is the teaching. Death 
 
 A hundred and one are the heart's 
 channels; of these one passes to the 
 crown. Going up by this, he comes 
 to the immortal. The others lead 
 hither and thither. 
 
 The spirit of the measure of a 
 finger, the inner Self, ever dwells in 
 the hearts of men. Let him draw 
 forth this spirit from his body, firmly, 
 like the pith from a reed. 
 
 Let him know that this is the bright 
 one, the immortal. Let him know 
 it is the bright one, the immortal. 
 
 Nachiketas thus having received 
 the knowledge declared by Death, 
 and the whole law of union, became a 
 passionless dweller in the Eternal, 
 and deathless; and so may another 
 who thus knows the union with the 
 Self.
 
 II 
 
 A VEDIC MASTER
 
 A VEDIC MASTER 
 
 JHESE men, Sukeshan Bhar- 
 advaja, and Shaivya Saty- 
 akama, and Sauryayanin 
 Gargya, and Kaushalya Ashvalayana, 
 and Bhargava Vaidarbhi, and Kaband- 
 hin Katyayana, full of the Eternal, 
 firm in the Eternal, were seeking after 
 the supreme Eternal. 
 
 They came to the Master Pippalada, 
 with fuel in their hands, saying : He 
 verily will declare it all. 
 
 And the Sage said to them : Remain 
 yet a year in fervour, service of the 
 Eternal, and faith. Ask whatever 
 questions you will, if we know them, 
 we shall declare all to you. 
 
 So Kabandhin Katyayana, ap- 
 proaching, asked: Master, where are 
 all these beings brought forth from ? 
 
 He answered him : The Lord of 
 beings desired beings. He brooded 
 with fervour; and, brooding with 
 fervour, he forms a Pair. They are 
 the Substance and the Life. These 
 two will make beings manifold for 
 me, said he. The sun verily is the
 
 A Life, and Substance is the moon. 
 
 VeJie For Substance is all that is formed, 
 and the formless is the Life. There- 
 fore the form is the Substance. 
 
 So the sun, rising, enters the east- 
 ern space ; and thus he gathers all the 
 eastern lives among his rays. As the 
 southern, the western, the northern, 
 the nether, and the upper space, and 
 the spaces between, as he illumines 
 all, so he gathers all lives among his 
 rays. Thus the Life rises as universal, 
 all-formed fire. 
 
 And this is declared by the Vedic 
 verse: 
 
 The all-formed, golden Illuminer, 
 the supreme way, the light, the 
 fervent one. Thousand-rayed, 
 turning in a hundred ways, the 
 Life of beings, this sun rises. 
 
 The year is a Lord of beings. His 
 two paths are the southern and the 
 northern. Therefore they who wor- 
 ship, thinking that it is fulfilled by 
 sacrifice and gifts, win the lunar world. 
 They verily return again. Therefore 
 these sages who desire beings, turn to 
 the south. For this is the path of 
 Substance, the path of the fathers. 
 
 3
 
 But they who by the northern way -^ 
 
 seek the Self by fervour, service of edtc 
 
 Master 
 the Eternal, faith and knowledge, they 
 
 verily win the sun. This is the home 
 of lives ; this is the immortal, fearless, 
 supreme way. From it they do not 
 return again ; for this is the end. 
 
 And there is this verse : 
 
 They call the sun the father in the 
 upper half of heaven, with five 
 steps seasons and twelve forms 
 months the giver of increase. 
 
 But others call him the Seer who 
 rests in the seven-wheeled chariot, 
 of six spokes. 
 
 The month is a Lord of beings. 
 The dark half is the Substance; the 
 bright half is the Life. Therefore 
 these Sages offer sacrifice in the 
 bright half; but the others in the 
 other half. 
 
 Day-and-night is a Lord of beings. 
 Day verily is the Life, and night is 
 the Substance. They waste their life 
 who find love in the outward; but 
 service of the Eternal finds love in 
 the hidden. 
 
 Food also is a Lord of beings. 
 Thence comes this seed, and thence 
 these beings are brought forth. And
 
 A all that follow this vow of the Lord 
 "Valit of beings, produce a pair. 
 
 Master ., , , 
 
 Theirs verily is that world of the 
 Eternal, who have fervour and service 
 of the Eternal, and in whom truth is 
 set firm. Theirs is that quiet world 
 of the Eternal; but not theirs, in 
 whom are crookedness, untruth, 
 illusion. 
 
 And so Bhargava Vaidarbhi asked 
 him : Master, how many are the 
 bright ones that uphold being? 
 Which illumine this? Which of 
 them again is chiefest ? 
 
 He answered him: Shining ether 
 
 x is that bright one, air, and fire, and 
 
 water, and earth; voice, mind, sight, 
 
 hearing. They, illumining, declare : 
 
 We uphold this ray, establishing it. 
 
 And Life, the chiefest among them, 
 said : Cherish not this delusion : for 
 I, verily, dividing myself fivefold, 
 uphold this ray, establishing it. 
 
 They were incredulous. Life proud- 
 ly made as if to go out above. And as 
 Life goes out, all the others go out, 
 and as Life returns, all the others 
 return. As the bees all go out after 
 the honey-makers' king when he goes
 
 out, and return when he returns, thus ^ 
 
 did voice, mind, sight, and hearing. '** 
 
 T _, . ., . . . .. _ ., Master 
 
 Joyful, they sing the praise or Life. 
 
 He warms as fire ; as sun, and the 
 rain-god; the thunderer, wind, 
 and the earth, substance, the 
 bright one; what is, what is not, 
 and what is immortal. 
 
 Like spokes in a wheel's nave, all 
 this rests in Life. Songs, and 
 liturgies, and chants; sacrifice 
 and warrior and priest. 
 
 Thou, Life, as Lord of beings, 
 movest in the germ; and thou 
 thyself art born from it. And to 
 thee, Life, these beings bring the 
 offering; thou who art set firm 
 through the lives. 
 
 Thou art the tongued flame of the 
 bright ones ; the first oblation of 
 the fathers. Thou art the law of 
 the sages ; the truth of sacrificial 
 priests. 
 
 Thou art the thunderer, Life, with 
 his brightness; thou art the 
 storm-god, the preserver. Thou 
 movest in the mid space as the 
 sun ; thou art master of the stars. 
 
 When thou descendest as rain, 
 these thy children, Life, stand 
 
 33
 
 A rejoicing; we shall have food, 
 
 they say, according to our desire. 
 
 Thou art the exile, Life, the lonely 
 seer; the eater, the good master 
 of all. We are givers of the first 
 offering. Thou art father to us, 
 the great Breath. 
 
 Thy form that is manifested in 
 voice, and in hearing, and in 
 sight, and the form that expands 
 in mind, make it auspicious! 
 Go not out! 
 
 All this is in Life's sway, all that is 
 set firm in the triple heaven. 
 Guard us as a mother her sons; 
 and as Fortune, give us wisdom ! 
 
 And so Kaushalya Ashvalayana 
 asked him : Master, where is this Life 
 born from? How does it enter this 
 body? How does it come forth, 
 dividing itself? Through what does 
 it go out ? How does it envelop the 
 outer? and how as to union with the 
 Self? 
 
 He answered him : Many questions 
 thou askest! Thou art full of the 
 Eternal, and therefore I tell it to thee. 
 
 From the Self is this Life born. 
 And as the shadow beside a man, 
 
 34
 
 this is expanded in that. By mind's A 
 action it enters this body. And as a ^^'^ 
 sovereign commands his lords : These 
 villages and these villages shall ye 
 rule over! Thus also Life disposes 
 the lesser lives. For the lower 
 powers, the downward-life; in sight 
 and hearing, in mouth and nose, the 
 forward-life; and in the midst, the 
 binding-life ; this binds together the 
 food that is offered; and thence the 
 seven flames arise. 
 
 In the heart is the Self. Here are 
 a hundred and one channels. From 
 them a hundred each, and in each of 
 these, two and seventy thousand 
 branch-channels. In these the dis- 
 tributing-life moves. 
 
 And by one, the upward, rises the 
 upward-life. It leads by holiness to a 
 holy world, by sin to a sinful world, 
 by both, to the world of men. 
 
 The outward-life rises as the sun. 
 It is linked with this life that dwells 
 in seeing. And the potency that is in 
 earth, entering the downward-life of 
 man, establishes it. And the shining 
 ether is for the binding-life, and air 
 for the distributing-life. 
 
 And radiance for the upward-life. 
 
 35
 
 A Therefore he whose radiance has 
 Ve<iic become quiescent is reborn through 
 
 Master . j 
 
 the impulses dwelling in mind. 
 According to his thoughts, he enters 
 life. And Life joined by the radiance 
 with the Self leads him to a world 
 according to his will. 
 
 He who, thus knowing, knows Life, 
 his being fails not, and he becomes 
 immortal. 
 
 And there is this verse : 
 Knowing the source, the range, 
 the abode, the lordship of Life 
 fivefold, and its union with the 
 Self, he reaches immortality, he 
 reaches immortality. 
 
 And so Sauryayanin Gargya asked 
 him : Master, how many powers sleep 
 in the man ? How many wake in 
 him? Who is the bright one that 
 sees dreams ? Whose is that bliss ? 
 and in whom are all these set firm ? 
 
 He answered him : As, Gargya, the 
 rays of the sun, at setting, all become 
 one in his shining orb ; and when he 
 rises, they all come forth again ; so all 
 becomes one in the higher bright one, 
 mind. 
 
 36
 
 Therefore the man hears not, nor * 
 
 sees nor smells, nor tastes, nor " Vedtc 
 , , Matter 
 
 touches, nor speaks, nor takes, nor 
 
 enjoys, nor puts forth, nor moves. 
 He sleeps, they say. 
 
 The life-fires verily wake in this 
 dwelling. The household fire is the 
 downward-life. The fire of oblations 
 is the distributing-life. And as the 
 fire of offerings is brought forward 
 from the household fire, it is the 
 forward-life. 
 
 And the binding-life is what binds 
 together the offerings, the outbreath- 
 ing and inbreathing. Mind is the 
 sacrificer, and the upward-life is the 
 fruit of the sacrifice. For it brings the 
 sacrificer day by day to the Eternal. 
 
 So this bright one in dream enjoys 
 greatness. The seen, as seen he 
 beholds again. What was heard, as 
 heard he hears again. And what was 
 enjoyed by the other powers, he 
 enjoys again by the other powers. 
 The seen and the unseen, heard and 
 unheard, enjoyed and unenjoyed, real 
 and unreal, he sees it all; as All he 
 sees it. 
 
 And when he is wrapt by the 
 radiance, the bright one no longer 
 
 37
 
 A sees dreams. Then within him that 
 
 feritc bliss arises. And, dear, as the birds 
 Master 
 
 come to the tree to rest, so all this 
 
 comes to rest in the higher Self. 
 
 Earth and earth-forms; water and 
 water-forms ; light and light-forms ; 
 air and air-forms; ether and ether- 
 forms; seeing and seen; hearing and 
 heard ; smelling and smelled ; taste 
 and tasted; touch and touched; voice 
 and spoken ; hands and handled ; 
 feet and moving; mind and minding; 
 knowledge and knowing; personality 
 and personal ; imagination and imagin- 
 ing; radiance and enlightening; life 
 and living. 
 
 For this Self is the seer, toucher, 
 hearer, smeller, taster, thinker, knower, 
 doer, the perceiving spirit. And this 
 is set firm in the supreme, unchanging 
 Self. 
 
 He reaches the supreme unchanging 
 who knows that shadowless, bodiless, 
 colourless, bright unchanging one. 
 He, dear, becomes all-knowing, be- 
 comes the All. 
 
 And there is this verse : 
 
 He who knows the unchanging one 
 where are set firm the perceiving 
 self, with all the powers, all lives
 
 and beings; he, verily, all-know- 
 ing, has entered the All. 
 
 And so Shaivya Satyakama asked 
 him : And he amongst men, Master, 
 who to the end of his life meditates 
 on the mystic Om; what world will 
 he gain by it ? 
 
 And he answered him : This mystic 
 Om, Satyakama, is for the higher and 
 lower Eternal. Therefore the wise 
 man, by dwelling on this, reaches one 
 of these : if he meditates on the first 
 measure, enlightened by it he is 
 quickly reborn in the world. The 
 songs bring him to the world of men ; 
 there, full of fervour, service of the 
 Eternal, and faith, he enjoys greatness. 
 
 And if he dwells on it in his mind 
 with two measures, he is led to the 
 middle world by the liturgies. He 
 wins the lunar world, and after enjoy- 
 ing brightness in the lunar world, he 
 returns again. 
 
 And he who with three measures 
 meditates on the mystic Om, and 
 thereby meditates on the supreme 
 spirit, is endowed with radiance, with 
 the sun ; as a serpent is freed from its 
 slough, he is, verily, freed from sin. 
 
 39 
 
 Master
 
 He is led by the chants to the world 
 ytdic of the Eternal. He beholds the 
 
 Master . , 
 
 indwelling spirit above the highest 
 assemblage of lives. 
 
 And there are these two verses : 
 The three measures are subject to 
 death when divided ; they are 
 joined to each other, but not 
 inseparable. When the outer, 
 the middle, and the midmost 
 forms are joined together, the 
 knower is not shaken. 
 By the songs to this world ; by the 
 liturgies to the middle world ; by 
 the chants to the world the seers 
 tell of; by meditating on the 
 mystic Om, the wise man reaches 
 that peace, unfading, immortal, 
 fearless, supreme. 
 
 And so Sukeshan Bharadvaja 
 asked him: Master, the Rajaputra, 
 Hiranyanabha Kausalya, coming to 
 me, asked this question : Bharadvaja, 
 knowest thou the spirit with sixteen 
 parts ? I answered the youth : I know 
 him not ; if I knew him, how should 
 I not tell thee? He withers, root 
 and all, who speaks untruth ; therefore 
 I deign not to speak untruth. He,
 
 silently, entering his chariot, departed. -^ 
 
 I ask thee where this spirit is. 
 
 Master 
 He answered him: Here, venly, 
 
 within the body, dear, is that spirit in 
 which the sixteen parts come forth. 
 
 He said : In whose going out shall 
 I go out? In whose resting shall I 
 rest firm? He put forth Life; and, 
 from Life, faith, the shining ether, air, 
 light, the waters, and the power of 
 earth. Then mind and food, and, 
 from food, force and fervour, the 
 hymns, the words of action, and name 
 in the worlds. 
 
 And as these rivers, rolling ocean- 
 wards, go to their setting on reaching 
 the ocean, and their name and form 
 are lost in the ocean, they say. So 
 the sixteen parts of this seer, moving 
 spiritwards, on reaching spirit, go to 
 their setting ; their name and form are 
 lost in spirit, they say. He becomes 
 one, without parts, and immortal. 
 
 And there is this verse : 
 
 In whom the parts are fixed like 
 the spokes in the nave of a 
 wheel; knowing that knowable 
 spirit, let not death disturb you. 
 
 He said to them : So far I know
 
 A that supreme Eternal. There is 
 Vtdu nothing beyond. 
 
 Mader 
 
 Thou art our father, inasmuch as 
 thou hast made us cross over to the 
 further shore of unwisdom, said they, 
 honouring him.
 
 Ill 
 
 THAT THOU ART
 
 THAT THOU ART 
 
 /HERE lived once Shvetaketu, 
 Aruna's grandson ; his fath- 
 er addressed him, saying : 
 
 Shvetaketu, go, learn the service of 
 the Eternal ; for no one, dear, of our 
 family is an unlearned nominal wor- 
 shipper. 
 
 So going when he was twelve years 
 old, he returned when he was twenty- 
 four; he had learned all the teachings, 
 but was conceited, vain of his learning, 
 and proud. 
 
 His father addressed him : 
 
 Shvetaketu, you are conceited, vain 
 of your learning, and proud, dear; 
 but have you asked for that teaching 
 through which the unheard is heard, 
 the unthought is thought, the un- 
 known is known ? 
 
 What sort of teaching is that, 
 Master ? said he. 
 
 Just as, dear, by a single piece of 
 clay anything made of clay may be 
 known, for the difference is only one 
 of words and names, and the real 
 
 45
 
 That thing is that it is of clay; or just as, 
 bou dear, by one jewel of gold, anything 
 made of gold may be known, for the 
 difference is only one of words and 
 names, and the real is that it is gold ; 
 or just as, dear, by a single knife- 
 blade, anything made of iron may be 
 known, for the difference is only one 
 of words and names, and the real is 
 that it is iron ; j ust like this is the 
 teaching that makes the unknown 
 known. 
 
 But I am sure that those teachers 
 did not know this themselves; for if 
 they had known it, how would they 
 not have taught it to me ? said he ; 
 but now let my Master tell it to me. 
 Let it be so, dear; said he. 
 
 In the beginning, dear, there was 
 Being, alone and secondless. But 
 there are some who say that there 
 was non-Being in the beginning, alone 
 and secondless; so that Being would 
 be born from non-Being; but how 
 could this be so, dear ? said he ; how 
 could Being be bom from non-Being ? 
 So there was Being, dear, in the 
 beginning, alone and secondless. 
 
 46
 
 Then Being beholding said : Let That 
 me become great ; let me give birth. Tbou 
 
 Then it put forth Radiance. 
 
 Then Radiance beholding said : Let 
 me become great ; let me give birth. 
 
 Then it put forth the Waters. Just 
 as a man is hot and sweats, so from 
 radiance the waters are born. 
 
 Then the Waters beholding said : 
 Let us become great; let us give 
 birth. 
 
 They put forth the world-food. 
 Just as when it rains much food is 
 produced, so from the Waters the 
 world-food Earth is born. 
 
 Of all these, of beings, there are 
 three germs : what is born of the Egg, 
 what is born of Life, what is born of 
 Division. 
 
 That power Being beholding 
 said: Let me enter these three 
 powers T(adiance, Waters, Earth 
 by this life, by my Self, let me give 
 them manifold forms and names. 
 Let me make each one of them three- 
 fold, threefold. 
 
 So that power Being entered 
 those three powers Radiance, Wa- 
 ters, Earth by this life, by the Self, 
 
 47
 
 Tbat and gave them manifold forms and 
 
 ou names; and so made each one of 
 4rt 
 
 them threefold, threefold. And now 
 
 learn, dear, how these three powers 
 are, how each one of them becomes 
 threefold, threefold. 
 
 In fire, the radiant form is from 
 Radiance; the clear form, from the 
 Waters; the dark form, from Earth. 
 But the separate nature of fire is a 
 thing of names and words only, while 
 the real thing is the three forms. 
 
 So of the sun, the radiant form is 
 from Radiance; the clear form, from 
 the Waters; the dark form, from 
 Earth. But the separate nature of 
 the sun is a thing of names and words 
 only, while the real thing is the three 
 forms. 
 
 So of the moon, the radiant form is 
 from Radiance ; the clear form, from 
 the Waters; the dark form, from 
 Earth. But the separate nature of 
 the moon is a thing of names and 
 words only, while the real thing is the 
 three forms. 
 
 So of lightning, the radiant form is 
 from Radiance; the clear form, from 
 the Waters; the dark form, from
 
 Earth. But the separate nature of That 
 lightning is a thing of names and n " 
 words only, the real thing is the three 
 forms. 
 
 Therefore of old time those who 
 knew this, the great sages and 
 teachers of old, spoke thus : None 
 of us may now speak of anything as 
 unheard, unthought, unknown. 
 
 For by these three forms they knew 
 everything. For whatever was like 
 radiant, its form was from Radiance, 
 they said, and thus knew it. And 
 whatever was like clear, its form was 
 from the Waters, they said, and so 
 knew it. And whatever was like 
 dark, its form was from Earth, they 
 said, and so knew it. Thus whatever 
 was known they took to be a union of 
 these three powers, and thus they 
 knew it. 
 
 But how these three powers are, 
 dear, when they come to man, how 
 each of them becomes threefold, this 
 learn from me now. 
 
 Food that is eaten is divided 
 threefold. Its grossest part becomes 
 waste ; its middle part becomes flesh ; 
 its lightest part becomes Mind. 
 
 49
 
 Tftfl/ Waters that are drunk are divided 
 
 " rbow threefold. The grossest part becomes 
 
 waste; the middle part becomes 
 
 blood; the lightest part becomes vital 
 
 Breath. 
 
 Things that produce radiant heat, 
 when absorbed, are divided threefold. 
 The grossest part becomes bone ; 
 the middle part becomes nerve; 
 the lightest part becomes formative 
 Voice. 
 
 For Mind, dear, is formed of the 
 world-food Earth; vital Breath is 
 formed of the Waters ; formative 
 Voice is formed of Radiance. 
 
 Let my master teach me further; 
 said he. 
 
 Be it so, dear ; said he. 
 
 Of churned milk, dear, the lightest 
 part rises to the top and becomes 
 butter. Just so of eaten food, dear, 
 the lightest part rises to the top and 
 becomes Mind. And so of waters 
 that are drunk, the lightest part rises 
 to the top, and becomes vital Breath. 
 And so when heat-giving things are 
 eaten, the lightest part rises to the 
 top, and becomes formative Voice. 
 
 For Mind, dear, is formed of Food ;
 
 vital Breath is formed of the Waters ; That 
 formative Voice is formed of Radiance. ^ 
 
 Let my Master teach me further; 
 said he. 
 
 Be it so, dear; said he. 
 
 Man, dear, is made of sixteen parts. 
 Eat nothing for fifteen days, but drink 
 as much as you wish ; for vital Breath, 
 being formed of the Waters, is cut off 
 if you do not drink. 
 
 He ate nothing for fifteen days, and 
 then-returned to the Master, saying: 
 What shall I repeat, Master? 
 
 Repeat the songs and liturgies and 
 chants, dear ; said he. 
 
 None of them come back into my 
 mind, Master ; said he. 
 
 He said to him : As, dear, after a 
 big fire, if a single spark remain, as 
 big as a fire-fly, it will not burn much ; 
 just so, dear, of your sixteen parts one 
 remains, and by this one part you 
 cannot remember the teachings. 
 
 Go, eat; and then you will under- 
 stand me. 
 
 He ate, and then returned to the 
 Master; and whatever the Master 
 asked, all came back to his mind.
 
 That The Master said to him: As, dear, 
 bou after a big fire, if even a single spark 
 remain, as big as a fire-fly, and if it be 
 fed with straw, it will blaze up and 
 will then bum much ; just so, dear, of 
 your sixteen parts, one part was left ; 
 and this, being fed with food, blazed 
 up, and through it you remembered 
 the teachings. 
 
 For Mind is formed of Food ; vital 
 Breath is formed of the Waters ; form- 
 ative Voice is formed of Radiance. 
 
 Thus he learned; thus, verily, he 
 learned. 
 
 IRUNA'S son Uddalaka ad- 
 dressed his son Shvetaketu, 
 saying: Learn from me, 
 dear, the reality about sleep. When 
 a man sinks to sleep, as they say, 
 then, dear, he is wrapped by the Real ; 
 he has slipped back to his own. And 
 so they say he sleeps, because he has 
 slipped back to his own. And just as 
 an eagle tied by a cord, flying hither 
 and thither, and finding no other 
 resting place, comes to rest where he 
 is tied, so indeed, dear, the man's 
 Mind flying hither and thither, and
 
 finding no other resting place, comes That 
 to rest in vital Breath; for Mind, " 
 dear, is bound by vital Breath. 
 
 Learn from me, dear, the meaning 
 of hunger and thirst. When a man 
 hungers, as they say, the Waters 
 guide what he eats. And as there are 
 guides of cows, guides of horses, 
 guides of men, so they call the 
 Waters the guides of what is eaten. 
 Thus you must know, dear, that what 
 he eats grows and sprouts forth ; and 
 it cannot grow without a root. 
 
 And where can the root of what he 
 eats be? Where, but in the world- 
 food Earth ? 
 
 And through the world-food 
 Earth that has sprouted forth, you 
 must seek the root, the Waters. 
 And through the waters that have 
 sprouted forth, you must seek the root, 
 Radiance. And through Radiance 
 that has sprouted forth, you must 
 seek the root, the Real. For all these 
 beings, dear, are rooted in the Real, 
 resting in the Real, abiding in the 
 Real. 
 
 And so when the man thirsts, as 
 they say, the Radiance guides what 
 he drinks. And as there are guides 
 
 53
 
 That of cows, guides of horses, guides of 
 bou men, so, they say, the Radiance guides 
 the Waters. Thus you must know, 
 dear, that what he drinks grows and 
 sprouts forth; and it cannot grow 
 without a root. 
 
 And where can the root of what 
 he drinks be? Where, but in the 
 Waters ? And through the Waters 
 that sprout forth, you must seek their 
 root, the Radiance. And through the 
 Radiance, dear, that sprouts forth, 
 you must seek its root, the Real. For 
 all these beings, dear, are rooted in 
 the Real, resting in the Real, abiding 
 in the Real. And how these three: 
 the world-food Earth the Waters, 
 Radiance, coming to a man, become 
 each threefold, threefold, this has 
 been taught already. 
 
 And of a man who goes forth, 
 formative Voice sinks back into 
 Mind; Mind sinks back into vital 
 Breath, vital Breath to Radiance, and 
 Radiance to the higher Divinity. 
 This is the soul, the Self of all that 
 is, this is the Real, this the Self, 
 THAT THOU ART, O Shvetaketu. 
 
 Let the Master teach me more; 
 said he.
 
 Let it be so, dear; said he. Wat 
 
 Thou 
 
 As the honey-makers, dear, gather 
 the honey from many a tree, and weld 
 the nectars together in a single nectar; 
 and as they find no separateness there, 
 nor say : Of that tree I am the nectar, 
 of that tree I am the nectar. Thus, 
 indeed, dear, all these beings, when 
 they reach the Real, know not, nor 
 say : We have reached the Real. But 
 whatever they are here, whether tiger 
 or lion or wolf or boar or worm or 
 moth or gnat or fly, that they become 
 again. And this soul is the Self of all 
 that is, this is the Real, this the Self. 
 THAT THOU ART, O Shvetaketu. 
 
 Let the Master teach me more; 
 said he. 
 
 Let it be so, dear; said he. 
 
 These eastern rivers, dear, roll 
 eastward ; and the western, westward. 
 From the ocean to the ocean they go, 
 and in the ocean they are united. 
 And there they know no separateness, 
 nor say : This am I, this am I. Thus 
 indeed, dear, all these beings, coming 
 forth from the Real, know not, nor 
 say : We have come from the Real. 
 
 55
 
 That And whatever they are here, whether 
 " tiger or lion or wolf or boar or worm 
 or moth or gnat or fly or whatever 
 they are, that they become again. 
 And that soul is the Self of all that 
 is, this is the Real, this the Self. 
 THAT THOU ART, O Shvetaketu. 
 
 Let the Master teach me more; 
 said he. 
 
 Let it be so, dear; said he. 
 
 If any one strike the root of this 
 great tree, dear, it will flow and live, 
 if any one strike the middle of it, it 
 will flow and live; if any one strike 
 the top of it, it will flow and live. So 
 filled with Life, with the Self, drinking 
 in and rejoicing, it stands firm. But 
 if the life of it leaves one branch, that 
 branch dries up; it leaves a second, 
 that dries up; it leaves a third, that 
 dries up; it leaves the whole, the 
 whole dries up. Thus indeed, dear, 
 you must understand ; said he. When 
 abandoned by Life, verily, this dies; 
 but Life itself does not die. For that 
 soul is the Self of all that is, this is 
 the Real, this the Self. THAT THOU 
 ART, O Shvetaketu.
 
 Let the Master teach me more; Tbat 
 said he. 
 
 Let it be so, dear ; said he. 
 
 Bring me a fruit of that fig-tree. 
 
 Here is the fruit, Master. 
 
 Divide it into two; said he. 
 
 I have divided it, Master. 
 
 What do you see in it ? said he. 
 
 Atom-like seeds, Master. 
 
 Divide one of them in two ; said he. 
 
 I have divided it, Master. 
 
 What do you see in it ? said he. 
 
 I see nothing at all, Master. 
 
 So he said to him : 
 
 That soul that you perceive not at 
 all, dear, from that very soul the 
 great fig-tree comes forth. Believe 
 then, dear, that this soul is the Self 
 of all that is, this is the Real, this 
 the Self. THAT THOU ART, O 
 Shvetaketu. 
 
 Let the Master teach me more; 
 said he. 
 
 Let it be so, dear; said he. 
 
 Put this salt in water, and come to 
 me early in the morning. 
 
 And he did so, and the Master said 
 to him : 
 
 57
 
 ^bat That salt you put in the water last 
 Tbou n igh t bring it to mel And looking 
 for its appearance, he could not see it, 
 as it was melted in the water. 
 
 Taste the top of it; said he. How 
 is it? 
 
 It is salt ; said he. 
 
 Taste the middle of it; said he. 
 How is it ? 
 
 It is salt ; said he. 
 
 Taste the bottom of it; said he. 
 How is it ? 
 
 It is salt ; said he. 
 
 Take it away, then, and return to 
 me. 
 
 And he did so ; but that exists for 
 ever. And the master said to him : 
 
 Just so, dear, you do not see the 
 Real in the world. Yet it is here all 
 the same. And this soul is the Self 
 of all that is, this is the Real, this 
 the Self. THAT THOU ART, O 
 Shvetaketu. 
 
 Let the Master teach me more; 
 said he. 
 
 Let it be so, dear ; said he. 
 
 Just as if they were to blindfold a 
 man, and lead him far away from 
 Gandhara, and leave him in the
 
 wilderness; and as he cried to the That 
 east and the north and the west : I am ou 
 led away blindfolded; I am deserted 
 blindfolded. And just as if one 
 came, and loosing the bandage from 
 his eyes, told him: In that direction 
 is Gandhara; in that direction you 
 must go. And he asking from village 
 to village like a wise man and learned, 
 should come safe to Gandhara. Thus, 
 verily, a man who has found the true 
 Teacher, knows. He must wait only 
 till he is free, then he reaches the 
 resting-place. And that soul is the 
 Self of all that is, this is the Real, 
 this the Self. THAT THOU ART, O 
 Shvetaketu. 
 
 Let the Master teach me more; 
 said he. 
 
 Let it be so, dear ; said he. 
 
 When a man is near his end, his 
 friends gather round him : Do you 
 know me, do you know me ? they say. 
 And until formative Voice sinks back 
 into Mind, and Mind into Breath, and 
 Breath into the Radiance, and the 
 Radiance into the higher Divinity, he 
 still knows them. But when formative 
 Voice sinks back into Mind, and Mind 
 
 59
 
 That into Breath, and Breath into the 
 <Tbou Radiance, and the Radiance into the 
 
 AT! 
 
 higher Divinity, he knows them not. 
 And that soul is the Self of all that is, 
 this is the Real, this the Self. THAT 
 THOU ART, O Shvetaketu. 
 
 Let the Master- teach me more; 
 said he. 
 
 Let it be so, dear ; said he. 
 
 They bind a man and bring him: 
 He has stolen, they say ; he has com- 
 mitted theft. Heat the axe for tbt 
 ordeal: and if he is the doer of it, 
 and makes himself untrue ; maintain- 
 ing untruth, and wrapping himself in 
 untruth, he grasps the heated axe ; he 
 burns, and so dies. But if he be not 
 the doer of it, he makes himself true ; 
 maintaining truth, and wrapping him- 
 self in truth, he grasps the heated 
 axe; he bums not, and so goes free. 
 And the truth that saves him from 
 burning is the Self of all that is, this 
 is the Real, this the Self. THAT 
 THOU ART, O Shvetaketu. 
 
 Thus he learned the truth ; thus he 
 learned it.
 
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