anything else, though he may read this (the Mahâvrata) where he has read something else.

12. No one should bathe and become a snâtaka1 who does not read this. Even if he has read many other things, he should not become a snâtaka if he has not read this.

13. 'Nor should he forget it, and even if he should forget anything else, he should not forget this.

14. 'No, he should never forget this.

15. 'If he does not forget this, it will be enough for himself (or for acquiring a knowledge of the Self).

16. It is enough, let him know this to be true.

17. 'Let him who knows this not communicate, nor dine, nor amuse himself with any one who does not know it.'

Then follow some more rules as to the reading of the Veda in general: 18. When the old water that stood round the roots of trees is dried up (after about the month of Pausha, January to February) he should not read; nor (at any time) in the morning or in the afternoon, when the shadows meet (he should begin at sunrise so soon as the shadows divide, and end in the evening before they fall together). Nor should he read3 when a cloud has risen; and when there is an unseasonable rain (after the months of Srâvana and Bhâdrapada, August and September1) he should stop his Vedic reading for three nights. Nor should he at that time tell stories, not even during the night, nor should he glory in his knowledge.

19. This (the Veda thus learnt and studied) is the name of that Great Being; and he who thus knows the name of that Great Being, he becomes Brahman, yea, he becomes Brahman.'

1

Âpastamba-sûtras, translated by Bühler, p. 92 (I, 2, 30, 4). 2 Âpastamba-sûtras, translated by Bühler, p. 33 (I, 3, 9, 2). 3 Apastamba-sûtras, translated by Bühler, p. 44 (I, 3, 11, 31). Apastamba-sûtras, translated by Bühler, p. 33 (I, 3, 9, 1).

4

KAUSHÎTAKI-BRÂH MANA

UPANISHAD.

KAUSHITAKI-UPANISHAD.

FIRST ADHYAYA.

1. KITRA Gângyâyani', forsooth, wishing to perform a sacrifice, chose Âruni (Uddâlaka 2, to be his chief priest). But Âruni sent his son, Svetaketu, and said: Perform the sacrifice for him.' When Svetaketu had arrived, Kitra asked him: 'Son of Gautama, is there a hidden place in the world where you are able to place me, or is it the other way, and are you going to place me in the world to which it (that other way) leads?'

1 It is difficult to determine whether Kitra's name was Gângyâyani or Gârgyâyani. Professor Weber adopted first Gârgyâyani (Indische Studien I, p. 395), afterwards Gângyâyani (ibid. II, 395). Professor Cowell adopts Gângyâyani, but he tells us that the Telugu MS. reads Gârgyâyani throughout, and the other MSS. B, C do so occasionally. The commentator explains Gângyâyani as the descendant (yuvâpatyam) of Gângya. I confess a preference for Gârgyâyani, because both Gangâ and Gângya are names of rare occurrence in ancient Vedic literature, but I admit that for that very reason the transition of Gângyâyani into Gârgyâyani is perhaps more intelligible than that of Gârgyâyani into Gângyâyani.

2 Cf. Kh. Up. V, 11, 2; Brih. Âr. VI, 2, 1.

3 Cf. Kh. Up. V, 3; VI, 1.

Brih. Âr. VI, 2, 4.

The question put by Kitra to Svetaketu is very obscure, and was probably from the first intended to be obscure in its very wording. What Kitra wished to ask we can gather from other passages in the Upanishads, where we see another royal sage, Pravâhana Gaivali (Kh. Up. V, 3; Brih. Âr. VI, 2), enlightening Svetaketu on the future life. That future life is reached by two roads;

He answered and said: 'I do not know this. But, let me ask the master.' Having approached his father, he asked: Thus has Kitra asked me; how shall I answer?'

one, the Devapatha, leading to the world of Brahman (the conditioned), beyond which there lies one other stage only, represented by knowledge of and identity with the unconditioned Brahman; the other leading to the world of the fathers, and from thence, after the reward of good works has been consumed, back to a new round of mundane existence. There is a third road for creatures which live and die, worms, insects, and creeping things, but they are of little consequence. Now it is quite clear that the knowledge which king Kitra possesses, and which Svetaketu does not possess, is that of the two roads after death, sometimes called the right and the left, or the southern and northern roads. These roads are fully described in the Khandogya-upanishad and in the Brihad-âranyaka, with certain variations, yet on the whole with the same purpose. The northern or left road, called also the path of the Devas, passes on from light and day to the bright half of the moon; the southern or right road, called also the path of the fathers, passes on from smoke and night to the dark half of the moon. Both roads therefore meet in the moon, but diverge afterwards. While the northern road passes by the six months when the sun moves towards the north, through the sun, (moon,) and the lightning to the world of Brahman, the southern passes by the six months when the sun moves towards the south, to the world of the fathers, the ether, and the moon. The great difference, however, between the two roads is, that while those who travel on the former do not return again to a new life on earth, but reach in the end a true knowledge of the unconditioned Brahman, those who pass on to the world of the fathers and the moon return to earth to be born again and again.

The question therefore which Kitra addresses to Svetaketu can refer to these two roads only, and though the text is very corrupt, and was so evidently even at the time when the commentary was written, we must try to restore it in accordance with the teaching imparted by Kitra in what follows. I propose to read: Gautamasya putra, asti samvritam loke yasmin mâ dhâsyasy anyatamo vâdhvâ tasya (or yasya) mâ loke dhâsyasi, 'Is there a hidden place in the world where you (by your sacrificing and teaching) are able to