Principal Upanishads

Minor Upanishads

Sariraka Upanishad

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 !

Then, the body is a combination of the five elements like earth. What is hard is earth, what is liquid is water, what is hot is fire, what moves is air, what is porous is space.

The organs of sense are ear etc.: the ear is in the sky (space), the sense of touch (skin) is in the air, the eye in the fire, tongue in water, smell in earth. Thus for the senses sound etc., are the objects.

The organs of action are: tongue, hands, feet, arms and genitals. Their objects are: speech, catching, walking, voiding and joy. These have arisen from earth etc., respectively.

Mind, Intellect, Egoism and Self-conscious mind are the four inner senses. Their scopes are volition and doubt, determination, affection, decision. The mind is at the tip of the neck, intellect at the face, egoism at the heart, self-conscious mind at the navel.

Bone, skin, nerves, hair, flesh are parts of earth; urine, phlegm, blood, semen are of water; hunger, thirst, laziness, delusion and sex of fire; circulation, bursting, movement of the eye etc., of air; lust, anger, greed, delusion and fear are of ether.

Earth’s attributes are Sound, Touch, Form, Taste and Smell; of water: sound, touch, form and taste; of fire are: sound, touch and form; of air: sound and touch; of ether: sound only.

Non-violence, truth, non-theft, continence and non-possession, absence of anger, service to elders, cleanliness, contentment and honesty, non-conceit, candour, faith and non-injury – are the qualities (effects) of Sattva.

I am the doer, enjoyer, speaker, am conceited – these are of Rajas. Sleep, laziness, delusion, attachment, sex and theft – these are of Tamas. The person of Sattva is above, of Rajas is in the middle and of Tamas, low. Right knowledge is Sattvika; of rituals, Rajasa; blindness, Tamasa.

First the waking state rests on the five organs of sense, the five of action and the four inner senses (being active). Dream depends on the four inner senses only; dreamless sleep has only mind as active instrument; the fourth state has only the soul (active).

The knower is the empirical self, other than the supreme, stationed between awareness (of object) and indifference (to them).

The five organs of sense and action with the five vital airs, the mind and intellect, go to make the Lingasarira. Mind, intellect, self-conscious principle, earth etc., are the eight Prakritis. There are sixteen others; the transformations of ear, skin, eyes, tongue, and nose; arms, genitals, hands, feet, vocal organ; sound, touch, form, taste and smell. The twenty-three are the Tattvas (eternal verities) relating to Prakriti.

The twenty-fourth is the Avyakta, the chief (Tattva). That which completes the group as the twenty-fifth is the Purusha (Self).

Here ends the Sariraka Upanishad belonging to the Krishna-Yajur-Veda.

Translated by Dr. A. G. Krishna Warrier
Published by The Theosophical Publishing House, Chennai