Page images
PDF
EPUB

MAITRÂYANA-BRÂHMANA

UPANISHAD.

FIRST PRAPÂTHAKA.

1. The laying of the formerly-described sacrificial fires is indeed the sacrifice of Brahman.

Therefore let the sacrificer, after he has laid those fires, meditate on the Self. Thus only does the sacrificer become complete and faultless.

But who is to be meditated on? He who is called Prâna (breath). Of him there is this story:

2. A King, named Brihadratha, having established his son in his sovereignty 2, went into the forest, because he considered this body as transient, and had obtained freedom from all desires. Having performed the highest penance, he stands there, with uplifted arms, looking up to the sun. At the end of a thousand (days), the Saint Sâkâyanya, who knew the Self, came near, burning with splendour,

1 The performance of all the sacrifices, described in the Maitrâyana-brâhmana, is to lead up in the end to a knowledge of Brahman, by rendering a man fit for receiving the highest knowledge. See Manu VI, 82: 'All that has been declared (above) depends on meditation; for he who is not proficient in the knowledge of the Self reaps not the full reward of the performance of rites.'

* Instead of virâgye, a doubtful word, and occurring nowhere else, m. reads vairâgye.

Or years, if we read sahasrasya instead of sahasrâhasya.

The descendant of Sâkâyana. Saint is perhaps too strong; it means a holy, venerable man, and is frequently applied to a Buddha. "Both M. and m. add muneh before antikam, whereas the commentary has râgñah.

like a fire without smoke. He said to the King: 'Rise, rise! Choose a boon!'

The King, bowing before him, said: 'O Saint, I know not the Self, thou knowest the essence (of the Self). We have heard so. Teach it us.'

Sâkâyanya replied: 'This was achieved of yore;

but what thou askest is difficult to obtain1. O Aikshvâka, choose other pleasures.'

The King, touching the Saint's feet with his head, recited this Gâthâ:

3. 'O Saint, What is the use of the enjoyment of pleasures in this offensive, pithless body—a mere mass of bones, skin, sinews, marrow, flesh, seed, blood, mucus, tears, phlegm, ordure, water, bile, and slime! What is the use of the enjoyment of pleasures in this body which is assailed by lust, hatred, greed, delusion, fear, anguish, jealousy, separation from what is loved, union with what is not loved, hunger, thirst, old age, death, illness, grief, and other evils!

4. And we see that all this is perishable, as these flies, gnats, and other insects, as herbs and trees",

1

Though the commentator must have read etad vrittam purastâd duhsakyam etat prasñam, yet prasñam as a neuter is very strange. M. reads etad vrittam purastât, dussakama prikkha prasñam; m. reads etad vratam purastâd asakyam mâ prikha prasñam aikshvâka, &c. This suggests the reading, etad vrittam purastâd duhsakam mâ prikkha prasñam, i. e. this was settled formerly, do not ask a difficult or an impossible question.

2

* Read maggâ.

3 M. adds vâta before pitta; not m.

An expression that often occurs in Buddhist literature. See also Manu VI, 62: 'On their separation from those whom they love, and their union with those whom they hate; on their strength overpowered by old age, and their bodies racked with disease.'

The Sandhi vanaspatayodbhuta for vanaspataya udbhâta is anomalous. M. reads vanaspatayo bhûtapradhvamsinah.

And what of

We see the

growing and decaying. And what of these? There are other great ones, mighty wielders of bows, rulers of empires, Sudyumna, Bhûridyumna, Indradyumna, Kuvalayâsva, Yauvanâsva, Vadhryasva, Asvapati1, Sasabindu, Hariskandra, Ambarisha, Nahusha, Anânata, Saryâti, Yayâti, Anaranya 3, Ukshasena *, &c., and kings such as Marutta, Bharata (Daushyanti), and others, who before the eyes of their whole family surrendered the greatest happiness, and passed on from this world to that. these? There are other great ones. destruction of Gandharvas, Asuras, Yakshas, Râkshasas, Bhûtas, Ganas, Pisâkas, snakes, and vampires. And what of these? There is the drying up of other great oceans, the falling of mountains, the moving of the pole-star, the cutting of the windropes (that hold the stars), the submergence of the earth, and the departure of the gods (suras) from their place. In such a world as this, what is the use of the enjoyment of pleasures, if he who has fed on them is seen3 to return (to this world) again

5

1 M. carries on asvapatisasabinduhariskandrâmbarîsha.

2 After Ambarisha, M. reads Nabhushânanutusayyâtiyayâtyanaranyâkshasenâdayo. Nahusha (Naghusha?) is the father of Saryâti; Nâbhaga, the father of Ambarîsha. These names are so carelessly written that even the commentator says that the text is either khândasa or prâmâdika. Anânata is a mere conjecture. It' occurs as the name of a Rishi in Rig-veda IX, III.

8

Anaranya, mentioned in the Mahâbhârata, I, 230.

4 M. reads anaranуâkshasena.

M. and m. read nirodhanam.

6

M. adds Apsarasas.

7 M. and m. read âsritasya, but the commentator explains asitasya.

* Here we have the Maitrâyana Sandhi, drisyatâ iti, instead of drisyata iti; see von Schroeder, Maitrâyanî Samhitâ, p. xxviii. M. and m. read drisyata.

and again! Deign therefore to take me out! In this world I am like a frog in a dry well. O Saint, thou art my way, thou art my way.'

SECOND PRAPÂTHAKA.

1. Then the Saint Sâkâyanya, well pleased, said to the King: 'Great King Brihadratha, thou banner of the race of Ikshvâku, quickly obtaining a knowledge of Self, thou art happy, and art renowned by the name of Marut, the wind'. This indeed is thy Self "'

Which, O Saint,' said the King.

Then the Saint said to him:

2. He who, without stopping the out-breathing", proceeds upwards (from the sthûla to the sûkshma sarira), and who, modified (by impressions), and yet not modified, drives away the darkness (of error), he is the Self. Thus said the Saint Maitri.' And Sâkâyanya said to the King Brihadratha: 'He who in perfect rest, rising from this body (both from the sthûla and sûkshma), and reaching the highest

1

1 Prishadasva in the Veda is another name of the Maruts, the storm gods. Afterwards the king is called Marut, VI, 30.

2 This sentence is called a Sûtra by the commentator to VI, 32. " M. reads Kathaya me katamo bhavân iti.

4 M. leaves out atha.

One might read âvish/ambhanena, in the sense of while preventing the departure of the vital breath, as in the Brih. Âr. Vİ, 3, prânena rakshann avaram kulâyam.

7

M. reads vyathamâno 'vyathamânas.

'M. leaves out Maitrih-ity evam hyâha. The commentator explains Maitrir by mitrâyâ apatyam rishir maitrir maitreya. In a later passage (II, 3) M. reads Bhagavatâ Maitrena, likewise the Anubhûtiprakâsa.

« PreviousContinue »