to be born again. Verily, the moon is the door of the Svarga world (the heavenly world). Now, if a man objects to the moon (if one is not satisfied with life there) the moon sets him free 2. But if a man does not object, then the moon sends him down as rain upon this earth. And according to his deeds and according to his knowledge he is born again here as a worm, or as an insect, or as a fish, or as a bird, or as a lion, or as a boar, or as a serpent 3, or as a tiger, or as a man, or as something else in different places. When he has thus returned to the earth, some one (a sage) asks: 'Who art thou?' And he should answer: 'From the wise moon, who orders the seasons, when it is born consisting of fifteen parts, from the moon who is the home of our ancestors, the seed was brought. This seed, even me, they (the gods mentioned in the Pañkâgnividyâo) gathered up in an active man, and through an active

1

I should like to read aparapakshe praganayati, instead of aparapakshena, or aparapakshe na. The negative is out of the question, for praganayati, he sends into a new life, is exactly what the moon does to those who do not proceed on the Devapatha to the Brahmaloka. Therefore if the reading aparapakshena must be retained, it should be rendered by 'the moon with the dark half sends them into a new life.'

2 This is supposed to be the hidden place, or rather the way to it, when the departed leave the moon, and pass on to lightning and to the world of Brahman. This is in fact the Devayâna, as opposed to the Pitriyâna, described in the Khândogya-upanishad.

3 Parasvâ, dandasûkaviseshah. There is no authority for translating it by dog; cf. Indische Studien I, 396.

This might even include naraka or hell.

If ritavah is here the genitive of ritu, its meaning would be the ordainer of the seasons; cf. Hibbert Lectures, p. 247. Vikakshana is applied to the moon again, II, 9, and the throne of Brahman also is called vikakshanâ, I, 3.

Kh. Up. V, 4-8.

man they brought me to a mother. Then I, growing up to be born, a being living by months, whether twelve or thirteen, was together with my father, who also lived by (years of) twelve or thirteen months, that I might either know it (the true Brahman) or not know it. Therefore, O ye seasons1, grant that I may attain immortality (knowledge of Brahman). By this my true saying, by this my toil (beginning with the dwelling in the moon and ending with my birth on earth) I am (like) a season, and the child of the seasons.' 'Who art thou?' the sage asks again. I am thou,' he replies. Then he sets him free 2 (to proceed onward).

3. He (at the time of death), having reached the path of the gods, comes to the world of Agni (fire), to the world of Vâyu (air), to the world of Varuna, to the world of Indra, to the world of Pragâpati (Virâg), to the world of Brahman (Hiranyagarbha). In that world there is the lake Âra 3, the moments called Yeshtiha, the river Vigarâ (age-less), the tree Ilyâ, the city Sâlagya, the palace Aparâgita (unconquerable), the door-keepers Indra

1 The commentator takes ritavah as an accusative. I take it as a vocative, and as used in a sense analogous to the Zend ratu, an epithet of Ahura. Darmesteter, Ormazd, p. 12, n. 3.

If a person fears heaven (svarga) as much as hell, because neither gives final liberation, then he is fit to proceed to a knowledge of Brahman. It would seem that after this, this person is in the same position as the other who, objecting to remain in the moon, was set free at once.

3 Consisting of ari's, enemies, such as love, anger, &c. In the Kh. Up. VIII, 5, 3, it is called Ara,

Explained to mean, killing the sacrifice, which consists in a desire for Brahman.

B

The same as the asvatthah somasavanah in Kh. Up. VIII, 5, 3.

and Pragâpati, the hall of Brahman, called Vibhu1 (built by vibhu, egoism), the throne Vikakshanâ (buddhi, perception), the couch Amitaugas (endless splendour), and the beloved Mânasî (mind) and her image Kâkshushi (eye), who, as if taking flowers, are weaving the worlds, and the Apsaras, the Ambâs (sruti, sacred scriptures), and Ambâyavis (buddhi, understanding), and the rivers Ambayâs (leading to the knowledge of Brahman). To this world he who knows this (who knows the Paryanka-vidyâ) approaches. Brahman says to him: 'Run towards him (servants) with such worship as is due to myself. He has reached the river Vigarâ (age-less), he will never age.'

4. Then five hundred Apsaras go towards him, one hundred with garlands in their hands, one hundred with ointments in their hands, one hundred with perfumes in their hands, one hundred with garments in their hands, one hundred with fruit in their hands. They adorn him with an adornment worthy of Brahman, and when thus adorned with the adornment of Brahman, the knower of Brahman moves towards Brahman (neut.)3. He comes to the lake Âra, and he crosses it by the mind, while those who come to it without knowing the truth, are drowned. He comes to the moments called Yeshtiha, they flee from him.

1 Vibhunâmakam pramitam sabhâsthalam.

Some MSS. read phanahastâh, and the commentator explains phana by âbharaṇa.

3

Though brahman is used here as a neuter, it refers to the conditioned Brahman.

Samprativid is here explained as brahmavidyâsûnya, ignorant, while in other places (Ait. Âr. II, 3, 1) it stands for samyagabhigña. If the latter is the true meaning, we might read here tam itvâsamprativido.

He comes to the river Vigarâ, and crosses it by the mind alone, and there shakes off his good and evil deeds. His beloved relatives obtain the good, his unbeloved relatives the evil he has done. And as a man, driving in a chariot, might look at the two wheels (without being touched by them), thus he will look at day and night, thus at good and evil deeds, and at all pairs (at all correlative things, such as light and darkness, heat and cold, &c.). Being freed from good and freed from evil he, the knower of Brahman (neut.), moves towards Brahman.

5. He approaches the tree Ilya, and the odour of Brahman reaches him. He approaches the city Sâlagya, and the flavour of Brahman reaches him. He approaches the palace Aparâgita, and the splendour of Brahman reaches him. He approaches the door-keepers Indra and Pragâpati, and they run away from him. He approaches the hall Vibhu, and the glory of Brahman reaches him (he thinks, I am Brahman). He approaches the throne Vikakshanâ. The Sâman verses, Brihad and Rathantara, are the eastern feet of that throne1; the Sâman verses, Syaita and Naudhasa, its western feet; the Sâman verses, Vairûpa and Vairâga, its sides lengthways (south and north); the Sâman verses, Sâkvara and Raivata, its sides crossways (east and west). That throne is Pragñâ, knowledge, for by knowledge (self-knowledge) he sees clearly. He approaches the couch Amitaugas. That is Prâna (speech). The past and the future are its eastern feet; prosperity and earth its western feet; the Sâman verses, Brihad and Rathantara, are the two sides lengthways of the couch (south and north);

1 Cf. Atharva-veda XV; Aufrecht, in Indische Studien I, p. 122.

the Sâman verses, Bhadra and Yagñâyagñlya, are its cross-sides at the head and feet (east and west); the Rik and Sâman are the long sheets1 (east and west); the Yagus the cross-sheets (south and north); the moon-beam the cushion; the Udgîtha the (white) coverlet; prosperity the pillow 2. On this couch sits Brahman, and he who knows this (who knows himself one with Brahman sitting on the couch) mounts it first with one foot only. Then Brahman says to him: 'Who art thou?' and he shall answer:

6. I am (like) a season, and the child of the seasons, sprung from the womb of endless space, from the light (from the luminous Brahman). The light, the origin of the year, which is the past, which is the present, which is all living things, and all elements, is the Self3. Thou art the Self. What thou art, that am I.'

Brahman says to him: 'Who am I?' He shall answer: 'That which is, the true' (Sat-tyam).

Brahman asks: What is the true?' He says to him: 'What is different from the gods and from the senses (prâna) that is Sat, but the gods and the

1 Sheets or coverings seem more applicable here than mere threads forming the woof and warp; cf. Aufrecht, Indische Studien I, p. 131.

I read udgitha upasrîh, srir upabarhanam. The Atharva text has udgîtho 'pasrayah.

3

This passage is corrupt, and the various readings and various interpretations of the commentators do not help us much. One view, which I have followed, as far as possible, is that it had to be explained how the same being could be the child of the seasons, or living from year to year, and, at the same time, born of the light. The answer is, Because light is the seed or cause of the year, and the year the cause of everything else. I take no responsibility for this view, and I see no way of discovering the original reading and the original meaning of these sentences.