ॐ ब्रह्मवादिनो वदन्ति । किं कारणं ब्रह्म कुतः स्म जाता जीवाम केन क्व च सम्प्रतिष्ठा । अधिष्ठिताः केन सुखेतरेषु वर्तामहे ब्रह्मविदो व्यवस्थाम्
Those who expound on Brahman speak thus: what caused Brahman? From where did the living beings arise? By whom and where are they established? By what are we, the knowers of Brahman, set amid the enjoyments of the world and attend to them?
कालः स्वभावो नियतिर्यदृच्छा भूतानि योनिः पुरुष इति चिन्त्यम् । संयोग एषां न त्वात्मभावादात्माप्यनीशः सुखदुःखहेतोः
Is it time, inherent nature, fate, chance, the elements, the womb, or the person that is to be considered? Their union is not the cause, nor is it the self's own nature, for the self is not the master of the causes of pleasure and pain.
ते ध्यानयोगानुगता अपश्यन्देवात्मशक्तिं स्वगुणैर्निगूढाम् । यः कारणानि निखिलानि तानि कालात्मयुक्तान्यधितिष्ठत्येकः
Those who followed the path of meditation and yoga saw the divine power of the Self, hidden by its own qualities; the One who presides over all causes, which are united with time and the self.
तमेकनेमिं त्रिवृतं षोडशान्तं शतार्धारं विंशतिप्रत्यराभिः । अष्टकैः षड्भिर्विश्वरूपैकपाशं त्रिमार्गभेदं द्विनिमित्तैकमोहम्
We contemplate that One, the single wheel with threefold nature, ending in sixteen, with fifty spokes and twenty counter-spokes, bound by six sets of eight, the one Lord of all forms, with three paths and delusion arising from two causes.
पञ्चस्रोतोम्बुं पञ्चयोन्युग्रवक्त्रां पञ्चप्राणोर्मिं पञ्चबुद्ध्यादिमूलाम् । पञ्चावर्तां पञ्चदुःखौघवेगां पञ्चाशद्भेदां पञ्चपर्वामधीमः
We meditate on that which has five streams, fierce mouths of five origins, waves of five vital airs, rooted in the five faculties of knowledge, with five whirlpools, the force of the flood of fivefold suffering, divided into fifty, and supported on five joints.
सर्वाजीवे सर्वसंस्थे बृहन्ते तस्मिन्हंसो भ्राम्यते ब्रह्मचक्रे । पृथगात्मानं प्रेरितारं च मत्वा जुष्टस्ततस्तेनामृतत्वमेति
In that vast One, in whom all beings and all worlds rest, the swan moves within the wheel of Brahman. Recognizing the self as distinct from the mover, and being devoted, one attains immortality through Him.
उद्गीतमेतत्परमं तु ब्रह्म तस्मिंस्त्रयं सुप्रतिष्ठाऽक्षरं च । अत्रान्तरं ब्रह्मविदो विदित्वा लीना ब्रह्मणि तत्परा योनिमुक्ताः
This is the supreme Brahman, sung in the Upanishads. In it are established the three and the imperishable. Knowing the inner Brahman, those devoted to That, absorbed in Brahman, are freed from the womb.
संयुक्तमेतत्क्षरमक्षरं च व्यक्ताव्यक्तं भरते विश्वमीशः । अनीशश्चात्मा बध्यते भोक्तृभावाज्ज्ञात्वा देवं मुच्यते सर्वपाशैः
This Lord bears together the perishable and the imperishable, the manifest and the unmanifest. The self, not being the Lord, is bound by the state of enjoyer. Knowing the divine, one is freed from all bonds.
ज्ञाज्ञौ द्वावजावीशनीशावजा ह्येका भोक्तृभोग्यार्थयुक्ता । अनन्तश्चात्मा विश्वरूपो ह्यकर्ता त्रयं यदा विन्दते ब्रह्ममेतत्
There are two birds—one perches and tastes, the other merely watches; one is the enjoyer attached to objects, the other remains unattached. The Self is infinite and of universal form, the doer of actions; when the three (knower, known, and action) are unified, that is recognized as Brahman.
क्षरं प्रधानममृताक्षरं हरः क्षरात्मानावीशते देव एकः । तस्याभिध्यानाद्योजनात्तत्त्वभावाद्भूयश्चान्ते विश्वमायानिवृत्तिः
Prakriti is perishable; Hara is the immortal imperishable. The one Lord rules over both the perishable and the self. Through meditation on Him, union with Him, and realization of His true nature, at the end, the illusion of the world disappears.
ज्ञात्वा देवं सर्वपाशापहानिः क्षीणैः क्लेशेर्जन्ममृत्युप्रहाणिः । तस्याभिध्यानात्तृतीयं देहभेदे विश्वैश्वर्यं केवल आप्तकामः
Knowing the divine, all bonds are destroyed; with afflictions exhausted, birth and death are ended. Through meditation on Him, at the third separation from the body, the one who has attained all desires gains universal sovereignty.
एतज्ज्ञेयं नित्यमेवात्मसंस्थं नातः परं वेदितव्यं हि किञ्चित् । भोक्ता भोग्यं प्रेरितारं च मत्वा सर्वं प्रोक्तं त्रिविधं ब्रह्ममेतत्
This is to be known, ever established in the self; beyond this, nothing else is to be known. Considering the enjoyer, the object of enjoyment, and the mover, all has been declared—this threefold Brahman.
वह्नेर्यथा योनिगतस्य मूर्तिनर्दृश्यते नैव च लिङ्गनाशः । स भूय एवेन्धनयोनिगृह्यस्तद्वोभयं वै प्रणवेन देहे
Just as the form of fire in its source is not seen, nor is its mark destroyed, but is again obtained from its source by means of fuel—so is both in the body through Om.
स्वदेहमरणिं कृत्वा प्रणवं चोत्तरारणिम् । ध्याननिर्मथनाभ्यासाद्देवं पश्यन्निगूढवत्
Making one's own body the lower fire-stick and Om the upper fire-stick, by the repeated churning of meditation, one should see the God, as if hidden.
तिलेषु तैलं दधिनीव सर्पिरापः स्रोतःस्वरणीषु चाग्निः । एवमात्माऽत्मनि गृह्यतेऽसौ सत्येनैनं तपसा योऽनुपश्यति
As oil in sesame seeds, butter in curds, water in streams, and fire in fire-sticks, so is the Self grasped within the self. The one who, by truth and austerity, perceives Him, sees Him.
सर्वव्यापिनमात्मानं क्षीरे सर्पिरिवार्पितम् । आत्मविद्यातपोमूलं तद्ब्रह्मोपनिषत्परं तद्ब्रह्मॊपनिषत्परमिति
The all-pervading Self, placed as ghee in milk, rooted in knowledge of the Self and austerity—this is the highest Brahman, this is the supreme teaching of the Upanishad.