Principal Upanishads

Minor Upanishads

LXVII-1: Agnaye Svaha [oblation to Fire] !
   Vishvebhyo Devebhya Svaha [oblation to sum total of deities or All-gods] !
   Dhruvaya Bhumaya Svaha [oblation to the permanent plenitude] !
   Dhruvakshitaye Svaha [oblation to the permanent ground] !
   Achyutakshitaye Svaha [oblation to the unchanging abode] !
   Agnaye Svishtakrite Svaha [oblation to the maker of the right sacrifice] !
   Dharmaya Svaha [oblation to the religious duty] !
   Adharmaya Svaha [oblation to the ir-religious duty] !
   Adbhya Svaha [oblation to the waters] !
   Oshodhi-vanaspatibhya Svaha [oblation to the herbs and trees] !
   Raksho-devajanebhya Svaha [oblation to the demons and gods] !
   Grihyabhya Svaha [oblation to the household deities] !
   Avasanebhya Svaha [oblation to the deities dwelling in the outskirts of the house] ! Avasaanapatibhya Svaha [ oblation to the leaders of such deities] !
   Sarvabhutebhya Svaha [oblation to all spirits or the deities of the five primordial elements] !
   Kamaya Svaha [oblation to the god of love] !
   Antarikshaya Svaha [oblation to the wind blowing in the sky] !
   Yadejati jagati yachcha chestati namno bhagoyam namne Svaha [oblation to the Supreme Being who is the totality of words in the Veda and also whatever there is in this world moving as insentient and whatever that acts as sentient] !
   Pritivyai Svaha [oblation to the earth] !
   Antarikshaya Svaha [oblation to the spirits dwelling in the sky] !
   Deve Svaha [oblation to the heaven] !
   Suryaya Svaha [oblation to the sun] !
   Chandramase Svaha [oblation to the moon] !
   Nakshatrebhya Svaha [oblation to the asterisms] !
   Indraya Svaha [oblation to the chief of gods] !
   Brihaspataye Svaha [oblation to the preceptor of gods] !
   Prajapataye Svaha [oblation to the lord of creatures] !
   Brahmane Svaha [oblation to the four-faced creator] !
   Svadha Pitrubhya Svaha [oblation to the departed ancestors] !
   Namo Rudraya Pasupataye Svaha [Salutation and oblation to Rudra, the lord of living beings] !
   Devebhya Svaha [oblation to the gods] !
   Pitrubhya Svadhastu [oblation to the manes] !
   Bhutebhyo Namah [salutations to variety of gods] !
   Manusyebhyo Hantaa [oblation to men] !
Prajapataye Svaha [oblation to the lord of creatures] !
   Paramestine Svaha [oblation to the four-faced creator dwelling in Brahmaloka] !
   LXVII-2: Just as a perennial well is supplied with water by hundreds and thousands of springs, so may I have an inexhaustible supply of grain from a thousand sources. For that end, I offer oblations to the wealth-holding deity. Hail !
   LXVII-3: With the intention of acquiring prosperity, I present offering of food to those spirits who are the servants of Rudra (dwelling in the cremation ground) causing pain to creatures by death and bereavement, and who wander about day and night in search of tribute. May the lord of prosperity grant me all prosperity. Hail !

LXVIII-1: Om that is Brahman. Om that is Vayu. Om that is the finite self. Om that is the Supreme Truth. Om that is all. Om that is the multitude of citadels 9the bodies of creatures). Salutations to Him.
LXVIII-2: That Supreme Being moves inside the heart of created beings possessing manifold forms. O Supreme, Thou art the sacrifice, Thou art the expression Vasat, Thou art Indra, Thou art Rudra, Thou art Brahma, Thou art Prajapati, Thou art That, Thou art the water in the rivers and the ocean, Thou art the sun, Thou art flavour, Thou art ambrosia, Thou art the body of the Vedas, Thou art the threefold world and Thou art Om.

   LXIX-1: Firm in my religious faith, I offer this oblation of ambrosia into Prana with reverence. Firm in my religious faith, I offer this oblation of ambrosia into Apana with reverence. Firm in my religious faith, I offer this oblation of ambrosia into Vyana with reverence. Firm in my religious faith, I offer this oblation of ambrosia into Udana with reverence. Firm in my religious faith, I offer this oblation of ambrosia into Samana with reverence. By these oblations may my Self be united with the Supreme, so that I may attain Immortality.
   LXIX-2: O water, thou art the spread out seat of Anna-Brahman, the immortal food.
   LXIX-3: Firm in my religious faith, I offer this oblation of ambrosia into Prana with reverence. O thou offered substance, be auspicious and get assimilated into me, so that I may not be consumed by hunger. Oblation to Prana. Firm in my religious faith, I offer this oblation of ambrosia into Apana with reverence. O thou offered substance, be auspicious and get assimilated into me, so that I may not be consumed by hunger. Oblation to Apana. Firm in my religious faith, I offer this oblation of ambrosia into Vyana with reverence. O thou offered substance, be auspicious and get assimilated into me, so that I may not be consumed by hunger. Oblation to Vyana. Firm in my religious faith, I offer this oblation of ambrosia into Udana with reverence. O thou offered substance, be auspicious and get assimilated into me, so that I may not be consumed by hunger. Oblation to Udana. Firm in my religious faith, I offer this oblation of ambrosia into Samana with reverence. O thou offered substance, be auspicious and get assimilated into me, so that I may not be consumed by hunger. Oblation to Samana. By these oblations may my Self be united with the Supreme, so that I may attain Immortality.
   LXIX-4: O water, thou art the cover for Anna-Brahman, the immortal food.

LXX-1: Firm in my religious faith, I have offered this oblation of ambrosia into Prana with reverence. O Prana, increase the power of my in-breath by this food. Firm in my religious faith, I have offered this oblation of ambrosia into Apana with reverence. O Apana, increase the power of my out-breath with this food. Firm in my religious faith, I have offered this oblation of ambrosia into Vyana with reverence. O Vyana, increase the power of my diffused breath with this food. Firm in my religious faith, I have offered this oblation of ambrosia into Udana with reverence. O Udana, increase the power of my up-breath with this food. Firm in my religious faith, I have offered this oblation of ambrosia into Samana with reverence. O Samana, increase the power of my middle breath with this food.

LXXI-1: May the Supreme Lord be gratified (by this meal just taken) – Who is the ruler of all the world and the enjoyer of all, Who as the person dwelling in the body, is of the size of the thumb, and Who is the support of the body – imparting to it sentience and activity from the toe to the crown.

LXXII-1: O Lord, after repast my powers of speech, of breath, of sight, and of hearing, are firm in their respective stations i.e., mouth, nostrils, eyes and ears; so also strength and vitality have returned to my arms and thighs. My subtle body and my gross body with all its limbs are now free from inadequacy. My salutation to Thee. Do not cause any hurt to me and mine.

LXXIII-1: Like birds with handsome plumage the sages who were devoted to sacrificial worship (or intent on the good of all) approached Indra supplicating thus: Remove our darkness and ignorance; fill our eyes with worthy sights; and release us from the bondage of ignorance like birds trapped in snares.

LXXIV-1: O Rudra, thou art the binding knot of the breaths and the organs of senses functioning in the body. Enter me as the end-maker of sorrows and increase and protect me by that food which I have taken in.

LXXV-1: Salutations to Rudra, and to Vishnu (or Rudra who is Vishnu). Guard me from death.

LXXVI-1: O Agni, thou art born on the days of sacrifices as the protector of men in general and of those among men who offer sacrifices. Thou art born spreading light around, or causing pain quickly by mere touch. Thou art born from water as lightning or as the heat under the sea. Thou art born from clouds or stones by friction. Thou art born from the forests. Thou art born from the herbs. Thou art born ever pure or as the sun.

LXXVII-1: O Thou Lord, who art worshipped in all the sacrifices, I prostrate before Thee in deep reverence ! I prostrate before Thee ! I prostrate before Thee ! Deign to remain with me as the giver of what is auspicious. Deign to remain with me as the giver of happiness here. Deign to remain with me as the giver of good and divine qualities. Deign to remain with me as the giver of splendour born of Vedic learning. When the sacrifice which I have instituted has been completely prosperously, be with me to confer the fruits of it.

   LXXVIII-1: Truthfulness is excellent. What is excellent is truthfulness only. By truthfulness those who have attained to the state of blissfulness never fall from there. What belongs to sat, namely good people, that is indeed satyam (truthfulness). For this reason seekers of the highest good find delight in truthfulness.
   LXXVIII-2: Some hold the opinion that austerity is the means of liberation and that there is no austerity higher than religious fast. This excellent austerity is hard to be practised. A person who practises it becomes invincible (or such austerity is unthinkable for the commonalty). Therefore seekers of the highest good delight in austerity.
   LXXVIII-3: Perfect ascetics declare that withdrawal of the senses from the attraction of forbidden objects is the means of liberation. Therefore they delight in it.
   LXXVIII-4: Hermits who dwell in the forest consider that tranquillity of mind is the means of liberation and therefore they delight in calmness.
   LXXVIII-5: All creatures praise selfless gift as supreme; for there is nothing more difficult to perform than giving selfless gift. Therefore seekers of the highest good delight in giving selfless gift.
   LXXVIII-6: Some consider that scriptural duty is the means of liberation. By the performance of scriptural duties all the world is held together. There is nothing more difficult to practise than the duties ordained by the scriptures. Therefore seekers of the highest good find delight in the scriptural duty.
   LXXVIII-7: The largest number of people consider that procreation is the means of liberation. For that reason the largest number of offsprings are born. Because procreation is deemed such a means, therefore the largest number of people delight in procreation.
   LXXVIII-8: Some one devoted to the Vedic religion says that the Vedic Fires are the means of liberation. Therefore the Vedic Fires must be consecrated.
   LXXVIII-9: Another person devoted to the Vedic religion says that Agnihotra is the means of liberation. Therefore some seekers of the highest delight in the Agnihotra sacrifice.
   LXXVIII-10: Others devoted to the Vedic religion say that sacrifice is the means of liberation. Verily gods have attained heaven by their own prior deeds of sacrifice. Therefore seekers of the highest good delight in the performance of sacrifice.
   LXXVIII-11: Some wise people consider that inward worship is the means of liberation. Therefore wise people delight only in inward worship.
   LXXVIII-12: Brahma Hiranyagarbha considers that Sannyasa is the means of liberation. Hiranyagarbha is indeed the Supreme. The Supreme alone is Hiranyagarbha (although he is a personality). Certainly these austerities set forth above are inferior. Sannyasa alone surpassed all. To him who thus knows the all-transcending excellence of Sannyasa precious knowledge (has been imparted).

   LXXIX-1: Aruni, the son of Prajapati and Suparna approached his father Prajapati – thus we have heard – and questioned him, what is that which revered teachers declare as the supreme means of liberation ? To him Prajapati thus replied:
   LXXIX-2: By truth the wind blows. By truth the sun shines in the sky. Truth is the foundation of speech. Everything in practical life depends on truth. Therefore they say truth is the supreme means of liberation.
   LXXIX-3: Be Tapas performed in the beginning gods attained godhood. By Tapas seers attained to heaven gradually. By Tapas we get rid of our enemies who stand in the way of our acquisitions. Everything is founded in Tapas. Therefore they say Tapas is the supreme (means of liberation).
   LXXIX-4: Persons who practise sense-control shake off their sin by that. Perfect ascetics reached heaven gradually through sense-control. Sense-control is inaccessible to ordinary creatures. Everything is founded in sense-control. Therefore they say sense-control is the supreme (means of liberation).
   LXXIX-5: Those who are of a tranquil disposition do good merely by calmness. Sages have attained to heaven through calmness of mind. Calmness of mind is inaccessible for the ordinary creatures. Everything is founded on calmness of mind. Therefore they say that calmness of mind is the supreme means of liberation.
   LXXIX-6: Giving of gift in the shape of dakshina is the secure abode of the sacrifices. In the world all creatures subsist on a giver. People remove by gifts those who are envious and malignant towards them. By gift the unfriendly become friendly. Everything is established in gift. Therefore they say that the gift is the supreme means of liberation.
   LXXIX-7: Dharma, religious righteousness, is the support of the whole universe. All people draw near a person who is fully devoted to dharma. Through dharma a person chases away sin. All are supported by dharma. Therefore they say that dharma is the supreme means of liberation.
   LXXIX-8: In this world procreation is certainly the foundation of the race. A person who extends the continuity of progeny in the right way by rearing offsprings, according to the scriptural rules, discharges his debt towards his departed ancestors. That alone is the way for him to pay off his debts towards his ancestors. Therefore they say that procreation is the supreme means of liberation.
   LXXIX-9: The great sacrificial Fires are indeed the three-fold knowledge and the path leading to godhood. Of them, the Garhapatya Fire is Rig-Veda, the earth and the Rathantara Saman chant; Anvaharyapachana is Yajur-Veda mid-region and the Vamadevya Saman chant; Ahavaniya is the Sama-Veda, the heavenly worlds and the Brihat Saman chant. Therefore they say that the sacrificial Fires are the supreme means of liberation.
   LXXIX-10: The performance of Agnihotra at dawn and sunset is an expiation for sins incidental to house-keeping. It is a good yaga and a good homa and also it is the commencement of all yajna-s and kratu-s. It is a beacon to the heavenly world. Therefore they say Agnihotra is the supreme means of liberation.
   LXXIX-11: Others devoted to the Vedic religion say that sacrifice is the means of liberation. Sacrifice is indeed dear to gods. Verily gods have attained to heaven by their previous deeds of sacrifice. They have driven away demons by sacrifice. By sacrifice those who are hostile become friendly. Everything is supported by sacrifice. Therefore they say sacrifice is the supreme means of liberation.
   LXXIX-12: Inward worship or mental concentration is indeed the means of attaining to the state of Prajapati and so that is holy. Those who possess a mind endowed with the power of inward concentration see and realise what is good. Through mental concentration, seers like Vishvamitra created subjects by mere wish. All depends upon this power of the mind. Therefore they say that the power of inward concentration is the supreme means of liberation.
   LXXIX-13: Wise seers declare that Sannyasa mentioned as the supreme means of liberation is Brahman, and that Brahman is the Universal Spirit, is supremely blissful, is self-born, is the protector of created beings, is the soul of time, and so forth.
   LXXIX-14: The year is the yonder sun. That Person who is in the sun is Hiranyagarbha; He is Parameshthin (the protector of the universe) and Brahmatman – Supreme Reality that is the innermost Self of all creatures.
   LXXIX-15: Those rays by which the sun gives heat, the same rays transform water into rain-cloud which showers the rain. By the rain-cloud herbs and trees come into existence. From herbs and trees food is produced. By the use of food the breaths and sense are nourished. When the life-breath is nourished one gets bodily strength. Bodily strength gives the capacity to practise Tapas (in the shape of self-control, religious fast and so forth). As the result of such Tapas, faith in scriptural truths springs into existence. By faith mental power comes. By mental power sense-control is made possible. By sense-control reflection is engendered. From reflection calmness of mind results. Conclusive experience of Truth follows calmness. By conclusive experience of Truth remembrance of It is engendered. Remembrance produces continuous remembrance. From continuous remembrance results unbroken direct realization of Truth. By such realization a person knows the Atman. For this reason, he who gives food gives all these. For, it is found that the vital breaths and the senses of creatures are from food, that reflection functions with the vital breath and the senses, that unbroken direct realization comes from reflection and that bliss comes from unbroken direct realization of Truth. Thus having attained bliss one becomes the Supreme which is the source of the universe.
   LXXIX-16: He by whom all thus universe is pervaded – the earth and the mid-region, the heaven and the quarters and the sub-quarters – that Person is fivefold and is constituted of five substances. He who has attained supreme knowledge through Sannyasa is, indeed, this Person. He is all that is perceptible at present, was in the past and will be in the future. Through apparently human, his true nature is that which is settled by the enquiry into the Vedas and what is attained by his new birth in right knowledge. He is firmly established in the richness of knowledge imparted by his guru, as also in his faith and in Truth. He has become the self-resplendent. Being such a one he remains beyond the darkness of ignorance. O Aruni, having become one possessed of knowledge by realizing Him, the Supreme, through Sannyasa and with your mind fixed in the heart, do not again fall a prey to death. Because Sannyasa is thus the supreme means of realization, therefore wise men declare that to be above all other means of liberation.
   LXXIX-17: O Supreme, Thou art the giver of the wealth of supreme knowledge to us. Thou hast become all. Thou unitest the individual Souls in the Sutratman. Thou pervadest the universe. Thou art the giver of the lustre to fire. Thou art the giver of light and heat to the sun. Thou art the bestower of the riches of light to the moon. Thou art taken in the upayama vessel as soma juice for oblation. We worship Thee the Supreme who art such for the manifestation of Light.
   LXXIX-18: (The Sannyasin having meditated upon the Supreme) should concentrate his thoughts on Him uttering the syllable Om. This, the syllable Om, verily is the substance of many great Upanishads and a secret guarded by the gods without imparting to the unfit. He who practises meditation on the Supreme thus with the aid of Pranava after Sannyasa attains to the unlimited greatness of the Supreme. By that he attains to the greatness of Brahman. Thus the secret knowledge has been imparted.

LXXX-1: The institutor of the sacrifice, in the case of the sacrifice offered by a Sannyasin who has attained supreme knowledge in the manner already described, is his own Self. His faith is his wife; his body is his sacrificial fuel; his chest is his altar; his hairs are his holy grass; the Veda he has learnt is his tuft of hair; his heart is his sacrificial post; his desire is his clarified butter; his anger is his animal to be immolated; his austerity is his fire; his sense-control is his immolator; his gifts are his dakshina; his speech is his Hotir priest; his breath is his Udgatir priest; his sight is his Adhvaryu priest; his mind is his Brahman priest; his hearing is his Agnid priest; the span of his life is his preparatory rite; what he eats that is his oblation; what he drinks that is his drinking of soma juice; when he delights himself that is his Upasad rite; when he walks, sits and stands that is his Pravargya rite; that which is his mouth that is his Ahavaniya Fire; that which is his utterance that is his offering of oblation; that which is his knowledge that is his Homa sacrifices; when he eats in the afternoon and forenoon that is his Samid-homa (oblation of fuel in the fire); the three divisions of the day – forenoon, midday and evening – relating to him are his savanas; the day and night are his Darsapurnamasa sacrifices; the half months and the months are his Chaturmasya sacrifice; the seasons are his Pasubandha sacrifice; the samvatsaras and the parivatsaras are his Ahargana sacrifice; the total sacrifice is, indeed, his Sattra; death is the Avabhritha or completion of his sacrifice. That person who knows this, namely, the conduct of a Sannyasin – covering all the duties from Agnihotra to Sattra and terminating in death overcome by old age – and who dies during the period of the sun’s movement to the north attains to the overlordship of gods like Indra and then reaches identity or companionship with the sun. On the other hand he who dies during the period when the sun moves to the south gets only the greatness of the manes and then attains to the identity or companionship with the moon. A Brahmana who knows separately the greatness of the sun and the moon realizes these two; but he who has become a knower of Hiranyagarbha wins further. From that knowledge which was acquired in the world of Hiranyagarbha, he attains to the greatness of Brahman, the Supreme who is Existence-Knowledge-Bliss, at the dissolution of the world of Hiranyagarbha. Thus the secret knowledge here, and in this Upanishad, is concluded.

Hari Om ! May Mitra, Varuna, Aryaman, Indra, Brihaspati And all-pervading Vishnu be propitious to us And grant us welfare and bliss. I bow down to Brahman in reverence. O Vayu, I bow down to Thee in adoration. Thou verily art perceptible Brahman. I shall declare: Thou art right. Thou art the true and the good. May that – the Supreme Being adored as Vayu – preserve me. May He preserve the teacher. Me, may He protect; My teacher, may He protect.

Om ! May He protect us both together; may He nourish us both together; May we work conjointly with great energy, May our study be vigorous and effective; May we not mutually dispute (or may we not hate any). Om ! Let there be Peace in me ! Let there be Peace in my environment ! Let there be Peace in the forces that act on me !

Here ends the Mahanarayanopanishad, included in the Krishna-Yajur-Veda.

Translated by Swami Vimalananda
Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai

Maha-Narayana Upanishad - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5