Principal Upanishads

Minor Upanishads

II-1: May we offer oblations of soma to Jatavedas. May the all-knowing One destroy what is unfriendly to us. May He, the Divine Fire that leads all, protect us by taking across all perils even as a captain takes the boat across the sea. May He also save us from all wrongs.
   II-2: I take refuge in Her, the Goddess Durga, who is fiery in lustre and radiant with ardency, who is the Power belonging to the Supreme who manifests Himself manifoldly, who is the Power residing in actions and their fruits rendering them efficacious (or the Power that is supplicated to by the devotees for the fruition of their work). O Thou Goddess skilled in saving. Thou takest us across difficulties excellently well. Our salutations to Thee.
   II-3: O Fire, thou art worthy of praise. With happy methods take us beyond all difficulties. May our home town and home land become extensive and may the plot of earth (for growing the crops) also be ample. Further be thou pleased to join our children and their children with joy.
   II-4: O Jatavedas, Thou who art the destroyer of all sins takest us beyond all troubles and protectest us just as one is taken across the sea by a boat. O Fire, guard our bodies and be mindful (of its safety) like the sage Atri who always repeats mentally (‘May everyone be whole and happy’).
   II-5: We invoke from the highest place of assembly the Fire-God who is the leader of all, who is the charger and vanquisher of the hosts of enemies, and who is fierce. May He, the Fire-God take us across all our difficulties and wrongs and all that is perishable, and protect us.
   II-6: Thou who art lauded in sacrifices increasest our happiness. Thou abidest in the form of sacrifices, ancient and recent, in the places of sacrifice. O Fire, be thou pleased to make (us) happy (who are) thine own selves. Further grant us from all sides good fortune.
   II-7: O Lord, Thou art unconnected (with sin and sorrow) and Thou pervadest (all sacrifices). (Desirous of good fortune) comprising in cattle and overflowing (with the current of immortal bliss) may we serve Thee without break. May the gods who dwell in the highest region of heaven delight me – (practising loving adoration) for Vishnu – here on the earth by granting my wish.

III-1: (May the Deity) Earth (grant me) food. For that I make oblation to Fire and Earth. Hail ! (May the Deity of) Atmosphere (grant me) food. For that I make oblation to Air and Atmosphere. Hail ! (May the Deity of) Heaven (grant me) food. For that I make oblation to the Sun and Heaven. Hail ! (May the Deities of) Earth, Atmosphere and Heaven (grant me) food. For that I make oblation to the Moon and the Quarters. Hail ! Salutation to Gods ! Svadha (reverence) to Manes ! (May the Deities of) Earth, Atmosphere and Heaven (assert to my desire with the utterance of) Om (and grant me) food.

IV-1: Hail ! I offer this oblation to Brahman who is expressed by the first Vyahriti, to Fire created by Him and to the Earth dependent on Him. Hail ! I offer this oblation to Brahman who is expressed by the second Vyahriti, to the Air created by Him and to the Atmosphere dependent on Him. Hail ! I offer this oblation to Brahman who is expressed by the third Vyahriti, to the Sun created by Him and to Heaven dependent on Him. Hail ! I offer this oblation to Brahman who is expressed by the Vyahritis, Bhuh, Bhuvah and Suvah, to the Moon created by Him and to the Quarters. Salutations to the gods dwelling in all the regions ! Reverence to the departed ancestors ! I am that Brahman expressed by Om in unity and also expressed by the three Vyahritis in His threefold aspect. O Divine Fire, assent to my prayer.

V -1: Hail ! I offer this oblation to the adorable Supreme who is the All and to His parts, the Deities, Bhuh, Fire and Earth. Hail ! I offer this oblation to the adorable Supreme who is the All and to His parts, Bhuvah, Air and Atmosphere. Hail ! I offer this oblation to the adorable Supreme who is the All and to His parts, Suvah, the Sun and Heaven. Hail ! I offer this oblation to the adorable Supreme who is the All and to His parts, Bhuh, Bhuvah, Suvah, the Moon, the Asterisms and the Quarters. Salutations to Gods ! Reverence to Manes ! I am that Supreme Reality expressed by the syllable Om and the three Vyahritis, Bhuh, Bhuvah and Suvah. May I attain the supreme !

VI-1: O Fire, preserve us from sin. Hail ! Preserve us so that we may attain full knowledge. Hail ! O Resplendent One, preserve our sacrificial acts. Hail ! O Satakratu, preserve everything (that belongs to us). Hail !

VII-1: O Divine Fire, O settler of all creatures, being praised by the hymns of the first Veda be gracious to protect us. Hail ! Further, being praised by the hymns of the second Veda be gracious to protect us. Hail ! Being praised by the hymns of the third Veda be gracious to protect our food and strengthening essence of it. Hail ! Being praised by the hymns of the four Vedas be gracious to protect us. Hail !

VIII-1: The Supreme Being, Indra, who is the most excellent Pranava taught in the Vedas, who ensouls the entire universe, who leads the collection of Vedic utterances in Gayatri and other metres standing in their beginning, who is capable of being attained by the worshippers and who is the first in the causal link, taught the contemplative sages the sacred wisdom of the Upanishad, Himself being the subject-matter of them, in order to strengthen them with the power of knowledge. I salute the gods for removing the obstacles in my path to illumination. For the same I also reverence the Manes. The triple regions of Bhuh, Bhuvah and Suvah and the entire Veda are comprised in Om.

IX-1: My salutations to the Supreme. May I concentrate my thoughts upon Him (in order that I may be united with Him). May I become one practising concentration of thought without distraction. I have heard enough with my ears (and perceived pleasurable objects through other senses). O my senses, do not fail me now (but settle yourselves in the Supreme Brahman with whom I wish to unite myself through the meditation of) Om.

X-1: Right is austerity. Truth is austerity. Understanding of the scriptures is austerity. Subduing of one’s senses is austerity. Restraint of the body through such means like fast is austerity. Cultivation of a peaceable disposition is austerity. Giving gifts without selfish motives is austerity. Worship is austerity. The Supreme Brahman has manifested Himself as Bhuh, Bhuvah and Suvah. Meditate upon Him. This is austerity par excellence.

XI-1: Just in the same manner as the fragrance of a tree in full blossom is wafted by the wind from a distant place, the fragrance of meritorious deeds – the good name that accrues from them – spreads to a great distance (as far as heaven). There is gain this illustration. The cutting edge of a sword is laid across a pit. ‘I am placing my feet on it, I am treading over it. So saying if I walk over it, I will be perturbed by the thought of hurt or fall into the pit’. In the same manner a man who is exposed to open and hidden sins must seek to guard himself from either in order that he may attain Immortality.

   XII-1: The Infinite Self more minute than the minute and greater than the great is set in the heart of the beings here. Through the grace of the Creator one realises Him who is free from desires based on values, who is supremely great and who is the highest ruler and master of all, and becomes free from sorrows.
   XII-2: From Him originate the seven Pranas, the seven flames, their fuel, the seven tongues and the seven worlds in which the life-breaths move. (Further other things that are) sevenfold also come forth from Him, who dwells in the secret place of the heart and are set (in their respective places).
   XII-3: From Him arise all the seas and mountains. From Him flow rivers of all kinds and from Him all herbs and essences come forth; united with the essence of the herbs the individual Soul seated in the subtle body dwells in creatures.
   XII-4: The Supreme having become the four-faced Brahma among gods, the master of right words among the composers, the seer among the intelligent people, the buffalo among animals, the kite among the birds, the cutting axe among the destructive tools and soma among the sacrificers, transcends all purifying agencies accompanied by the sound (of holy chant).
   XII-5: There is one unborn Female (Maya, the uncaused substance of the universe) red, white and black (representing Sattva, Rajas and Tamas) producing manifold offspring of the same nature. There is one unborn (in the generic sense some Jivas who are attached) who lies by her taking delight in her; there is another unborn (in the generic sense those who are not attached) who leaves her after having enjoyed her.
   XII-6: That which is the sun who abides in the clear sky, is the Vasu (the air that moves) in the mid-region, is the fire that dwells in the sacrificial altar and in the domestic hearth as the guest, is the fire that shines in men and in the gods, as the Soul, is the fire that is consecrated in the sacrifice, is dwelling in the sky as air, is born in water as submarine heat, is born in the rays of the sun, is the fire that is directly seen as the luminary, and is born on the mountain as the rising sun – that is the Supreme Truth, the Reality underlying all.
   XII-6 (A): The beings born from Prajapati are not separate from Him. Before their birth nothing whatsoever existed other than Him, who entered all the creatures of the world as their in-most Self. Prajapati has identified Himself with the creatures. He imparts the three luminaries, fire, sun and moon, lustre by identifying Himself with them. He is endowed with sixteen parts.
   XII-6 (B): We invoke the creator of the universe who sustains the creation in many ways and who witnesses the thoughts and deeds of men. May He grant us plenty of excellent wealth.
   XII-7: The sacrificers poured clarified butter into the consecrated Fire. Clarified butter is the place of origin of this one and in clarified butter is his support. Indeed clarified butter is his luminant and residence. O Fire, with every offering of oblation bring here the gods and delight them. O thou excellent one, convey to gods the offerings we have made with Svaha.
   XII-8: From the Supreme Fount, vast as the ocean, arose the universe in the shape of waves yielding enjoyment to created beings. The name designating the self-luminous Reality and consisting of the syllable Om is hidden in the Vedas. By contemplating on the Supreme along with the slow repetition of that name one attains to immortality. This designation of the Supreme is on the lips of contemplative sages and it is the central support of undying bliss.
   XII-9: May we always repeat in our contemplative sacrifices the designation Om which has for its cause the Self-luminous Reality and may we also hold Him in our hearts with salutations. The four-horned white Bull has expressed this Supreme Brahman praised by us in the hearing of co-seekers.
   XII-10: The syllable Om conceived as the Bull possesses four horns, three feet and two heads. He has seven hands. This Bull connected in a threefold manner, eloquently declares the Supreme. The Self-luminous Deity has entered the mortals everywhere.
   XII-11: God-like sages attained in the order (of their spiritual practices) the Self-luminous Reality laid in the three states of consciousness and secretly held by the teachers who praise it by chants in the Vedic speech (the great formulas such as ‘Thou art That’). Indra or Virat, the regent of the visible universe and the waking consciousness created one, the visible world. Surya representing Taijasa and Hiranyagarbha created one, namely, the world of dream, and from Vena came the remaining one, the dreamless sleep. By the self-supporting Paramatman all these threefold categories were fashioned.
   XII-12: May He, the Lord, join us with beneficial remembrance – He who is superior to all, who has been revealed in the Vedas, who is the Supreme Seer and who sees Hiranyagarbha who is the first among the gods and who is born before all the rest.
   XII-13: Other than whom there is nothing higher, nothing minuter, nothing greater, by that Purusha – the One who stands still like a tree established in heaven – all this is filled.
   XII-14: Not by work, not by progeny, not by wealth, they have attained Immortality. Some have attained Immortality by renunciation. That which the hermits attain is laid beyond the heaven; yet it shines brilliantly in the (purified) heart.
   XII-15: Having attained the Immortality consisting of identity with the Supreme, all those aspirants who strive for self-control, who have rigorously arrived at the conclusion taught by the Vedanta through direct knowledge, and who have attained purity of mind through the practice of the discipline of yoga and steadfastness in the knowledge of Brahman preceded by renunciation, get themselves released into the region of Brahman at the dissolution of their final body.
   XII-16: In the citadel of the body there is the small sinless and pure lotus of the heart which is the residence of the Supreme. Further in the interior of this small area there is the sorrowless Ether. That is to be meditated upon continually.
   XII-17: He is the Supreme Lord who transcends the syllable Om which is uttered at the commencement of the recital of the Vedas, which is well established in the Upanishads and which is dissolved in the primal cause during contemplation.

Maha-Narayana Upanishad - Part 1, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6