the aitareya upanishad

INVOCATION

May my speech be fixed in my mind, may my mind be fixed in my speech!
O self-luminous Brahman, reveal yourself to me.
O mind and speech enable me to grasp the truth which the scriptures teach.
Let me not forget what I learnt. Let me study day and night.
May I think truth! May I speak truth!
May truth protect me? May truth protect the teacher?
Protect me. Protect the teacher. Protect the teacher.
OṂ. Peace, peace, peace.

CHAPTER I
1. In the beginning all this verily was Atman (Absolute Self) only, one and without a second. There was nothing else that winked. The Self willed Itself: “Let Me now create the worlds”.

2. It created these worlds: Ambhah, the world of water-bearing clouds, Marichi, the world of the solar rays, Mara, the world of mortals and Ap, the world of waters. Yon is Ambhah, above heaven; heaven is its support. The Marichis are the interspace. Mara is the earth. What is underneath is Ap.

3. It thought : “Here now are the worlds. Let me now create world-guardians.” Right from the waters It drew forth the person in the form of a lump and gave it a shape.

4. It brooded over it.
From it, so brooded over, the mouth was separated out, as with an egg; form the mouth, the organ of speech; from speech, fire, the controlling deity of the organ.
Then the nostrils were separated out; from the nostrils, the organ of breath; from breath, air, the controlling deity of the organ.
Then the eyes were separated out; from the eyes, the organ of sight; from sight, the sun, the controlling deity of the organ.
Then the ears were separated out; from the ears, the organ of hearing; from hearing, the quarters of space, the controlling deity of the organ.
Then the skin was separated out; from the skin, hairs, the organ of touch; from the hairs, plants and trees, air the controlling deity of the organs.
Then the heart was separated out; from the heart, the organ of the mind; from the mind, the moon, the controlling deity of the organ.
Then the navel was separated out; from the navel, the organ of the apana; from the apana, Death, Varuna, the controlling deity of the organ.
Then the virile member was separated out; from the virile member, semen, the organ of generation; from the semen, the waters, the controlling deity of the organ.

CHAPTER 2

1. These deities, thus created, fell into this great ocean. The Self subjected the Person (Virat in the form of a lump) to hunger and thirst. They (the deities) said to the Self: “Find out for us an abode wherein being established we may eat food.”
2. He brought a cow to them. They said, ‘This is not enough for us.’ He brought a horse
to them. They said, ‘This is not enough for us.’
3. He brought a man to them. They said, ‘Hurrah! Well done!’ A man is something well
done. He said to them, ‘Enter, each to your place.’
4. Fire became speech and entered the mouth. Air became breath and entered the
nostrils. The sun became sight and entered the eyes. The directions became hearing and
entered the ears. The plants and trees became body-hairs and entered the skin. The moon
became mind and entered the heart. Death became the lower breath and entered the navel.
The waters became seed and entered the phallus.
5. Hunger and thirst said to him, ‘Find a place for us, too.’
He said to them, ‘I allot you a share among these deities. I make you sharers with them.’
So, whenever an offering is assigned to any deity, hunger and thirst become sharers with
that deity.

CHAPTER 3

1. He thought, ‘Here are worlds and world-protectors. Let me create food for them.’
2. He heated up the the waters. When they were heated up a shape was produced from
them. The shape that was produced was food.
3. As soon as it had been created, it tried to escape behind him. He tried to seize it
with speech. He was not able to seize it with speech. If he had seized it with speech, one
would now be able to enjoy food just by uttering it.
4. He tried to seize it with the breath (prāna). He was not able to seize it with the breath.
If he had seized it with the breath, one would now be able to enjoy food just by breathing
over it.
5. He tried to seize it with sight. He was not able to seize it with sight. If he had seized it
with sight, one would now be able to enjoy food just by seeing it.
6. He tried to seize it with hearing. He was not able to seize it with hearing. If he had
seized it with hearing, one would now be able to enjoy food just by hearing about it.
7. He tried to seize it with the skin. He was not able to seize it with the skin. If he had
seized it with the skin, one would now be able to enjoy food just by touching it.
8. He tried to seize it with the mind. He was not able to seize it with the mind. If he had
seized it with the mind, one would now be able to enjoy food just by thinking about it.
9. He tried to seize it with the phallus. He was not able to seize it with the phallus. If he
had seized it with the phallus, one would now be able to enjoy food just by ejaculating it.
10. He tried to seize it with the lower breath. He got it. This is the seizer of food – air.
Air (vāyu) is the life of food (annāyu).
11. He thought, ‘How could this be without me?’ He thought, ‘Which way shall I enter
it?’ He thought, ‘If uttering is done by speech, if breathing is done by the breath, if
seeing is done by the sight, if hearing is done by the hearing, if touching is done by the
skin, if thinking is done by the mind, if down-breathing is done by the lower breath, if
ejaculating is done by the seed, then who am I?’
12. Opening up (vi-dṛ-) the parting, he entered by it as a door. This is the door called
the fontanelle (vidṛti). It is the bringer of joy. It has three states, three kinds of sleep:19 this
state, this state and this state.
13. Once he was born, he looked at the beings, thinking, ‘What here has desired to
converse with another?’ He saw the person, very brahman. He cried, ‘I have seen it
(idam adarśam)!’
14. So he is called Idandra: Idandra is his name. Though he is Idandra, folk call him
Indra, mysteriously, because the gods seem to love the mysterious: the gods seem to love
the mysterious.

CHAPTER 4
1. In a person (jiva), he first becomes an embryo. What the seed is is energy (tejas), come
together from all the limbs. One carries a self in oneself (ātman). When one sprinkles it in a
woman, one begets it. That is one’s first birth.
2. It becomes own self to the woman, just like a limb of her own, so it does not harm
her. She nurtures one’s self when it has come here.
3. She, the nurturer, becomes one to be nurtured. The woman carries the embryo. He
nourishes the boy before and after birth. When he nourishes the boy before and after birth,
he nourishes himself (ātman), for the continuance of the worlds: for so the worlds continue.
That is one’s second birth.
4. He, being one’s self, is set in one’s place for meritorious actions. Then one’s other self,
having done what was to be done and reached his age, departs. Departing from here, he
is born again. That is one’s third birth.
5. It was said by the Rishi:
While in the womb I fully knew
The births of all the gods.
A hundred citadels of iron surrounded me.
A hawk, I flew out with speed.
Vāmadeva said that while lying in the womb.
6. Knowing this, from the break-up of this body he rose upward; he won in that heavenly
world all desires; and he became immortal, became immortal.

CHAPTER 5

Who is That whom we meditate upon as the Self? Which one is the Self? Is it that by which one sees, or hears, or smells, or speaks, or distinguishes the sweet from the bitter?

That which is the heart and the mind; perception, command, wisdom, knowledge, insight, resolve, memory, thought, impulse, will, life, desire, and control—all these are but names of Consciousness (Prajnana).

This Self is Brahma; He is Indra; He is Prajapati; He is all the gods. He is the five great elements: earth, air, ether, water, and light. He is all creatures, those born from eggs, from wombs, from moisture, and from sprouts. He is horses, cows, men, and elephants. Everything that breathes, walks, or flies, and even the motionless, is guided by Consciousness.

The universe is guided by Consciousness. Consciousness is its foundation. Consciousness is Brahman (Prajnanam Brahma).

By this conscious Self, Vamadeva ascended from this world. He obtained all his desires in the heavenly world and became immortal.

Compiled from various translations by Mahendra Myshkin.