# Sacred Books of the East/Volume 1/Khândogya-upanishad/Fourth Prapâthaka

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FOURTH PRAPÂTHAKA.
First Khanda.
1. There lived once upon a time Gânasruti Pautrâyana (the great-grandson of Ganasruta), who was a pious giver, bestowing much wealth upon the ​people, and always keeping open house. He built places of refuge everywhere, wishing that people should everywhere eat of his food.
2. Once in the night some Hamsas (flamingoes) flew over his house, and one flamingo said to another: 'Hey, Bhallâksha, Bhallâksha (short-sighted friend). The light (glory) of Gânasruti Pautrâyana has spread like the sky. Do not go near, that it may not burn thee.'
3. The other answered him: 'How can you speak of him, being what he is (a râganya, noble), as if he were like Raikva with the car?'
4. The first replied: 'How is it with this Raikva with the car of whom thou speakest?'
The other answered: 'As (in a game of dice) all the lower casts belong to him who has conquered with the Krita cast, so whatever good deeds other people perform, belong to that Raikva. He who knows what he knows, he is thus spoken of by me.
5. Gânasruti Pautrâyana overheard this conversation, and as soon as he had risen in the morning, he said to his door keeper (kshattri): 'Friend, dost thou speak of (me, as if I were) Raikva with the car?'
He replied: 'How is it with this Raikva with the car?'
​7. The door-keeper went to look for Raikva, but returned saying, 'I found him not.' Then the king said: 'Alas! where a Brâhmana should be searched for (in the solitude of the forest), there go for him.'
8. The door-keeper came to a man who was lying beneath a car and scratching his sores. He addressed him, and said: 'Sir, are you Raikva with the car?'
He answered: 'Here I am.'
Then the door-keeper returned, and said: I have found him.'
Second Khanda.
1. Then Gânasruti Pautrâyana took six hundred cows, a necklace, and a carriage with mules, went to Raikva and said:
2. 'Raikva, here are six hundred cows, a necklace, and a carriage with mules; teach me the deity which you worship.'
3. The other replied: 'Fie, necklace and carriage be thine, O Sûdra, together with the cows.'
Then Gânasruti Pautrâyana took again a thousand cows, a necklace, a carriage with mules, and his own daughter, and went to him.
4. He said to him: 'Raikva, there are a thousand cows, a necklace, a carriage with mules, this wife, and this village in which thou dwellest. Sir, teach me!' 5. He, opening her mouth, said: 'You have ​brought these (cows and other presents), O Sûdra, but only by that mouth did you make me speak.'
These are the Raikva-parana villages in the country of the Mahâvrishas (mahâpunyas) where Raikva dwelt under him. And he said to him:
Third Khanda.
1. 'Air (vâyu) is indeed the end of all. For when fire goes out, it goes into air. When the sun goes down, it goes into air. When the moon goes down, it goes into air.
2. 'When water dries up, it goes into air. Air indeed consumes them all. So much with reference to the Devas.
3. 'Now with reference to the body. Breath (prâna) is indeed the end of all. When a man sleeps, speech goes into breath, so do sight, hearing, and mind. Breath indeed consumes them all.
4. 'These are the two ends, air among the Devas, breath among the senses (prâna).'
5. Once while Saunaka Kâpeya and Abhipratârin Kâkshaseni were being waited on at their meal, a religious student begged of them. They gave him nothing.
6. He said; 'One god— who is he?— swallowed the four great ones, he, the guardian of the world. ​O Kâpeya, mortals see him not, O Abhipratârin, though he dwells in many places. He to whom this food belongs, to him it has not been given.'
7. Saunaka Kâpeya, pondering on that speech, went to the student and said: 'He is the self of the Devas, the creator of all beings, with golden tusks, the eater, not without intelligence. His greatness is said to be great indeed, because, without being eaten, he eats even what is not food. Thus do we, O Brahmakârin, meditate on that Being.' Then he said: 'Give him food.'
8. They gave him food. Now these five (the eater Vâyu (air), and his food, Agni (fire), Âditya (sun), Kandramas (moon), Ap (water)) and the other five (the eater Prâna (breath), and his food, speech, sight, hearing, mind) make ten, and that is the Krita. (the highest) cast (representing the ten, the eaters and the food). Therefore in all quarters those ten are food (and) Krita. (the highest cast). These are again the Virâg (of ten syllables) ​which eats the food. Through this all this becomes seen. He who knows this sees all this and becomes an eater of food, yea, he becomes an eater of food.
Fourth Khanda.
1. Satyakâma, the son of Gabâlâ, addressed his mother and said: 'I wish to become a Brahmakârin (religious student), mother. Of what family am I?'
2. She said to him: 'I do not know, my child, of what family thou art. In my youth when I had to move about much as a servant (waiting on the guests in my father's house), I conceived thee. I do not know of what family thou art. I am Gabâlâ by name, thou art Satyakâma (Philalethes). Say that thou art Satyakâma Gabâlâ.'
3. He going to Gautama Hâridrumata said to him, 'I wish to become a Brahmakârin with you, Sir. May I come to you, Sir?'
4. He said to him: 'Of what family are you, my friend?' He replied: 'I do not know, Sir, of what family I am. I asked my mother, and she answered: "In my youth when I had to move about much as a servant, I conceived thee. I do not know of what family thou art. I am Gabâlâ by name, thou art Satyakâma,' I am therefore Satyakâma Gabâlâ, Sir."
5. He said to him: 'No one but a true Brâhmana would thus speak out. Go and fetch fuel, friend, I shall initiate you. You have not swerved from the truth.
Having initiated him, he chose four hundred lean and weak cows, and said: 'Tend these, friend.' ​He drove them out and said to himself, 'I shall not return unless I bring back a thousand.' He dwelt a number of years (in the forest), and when the cows had become a thousand,
Fifth Khanda.
1. The bull of the herd (meant for Vâyu) said to him: 'Satyakâma!' He replied: 'Sir!' The bull said: 'We have become a thousand, lead us to the house of the teacher;
2. 'And I will declare to you one foot of Brahman.'
'Declare it, Sir,' he replied.
He said to him; 'The eastern region is one quarter, the western region is one quarter, the southern region is one quarter, the northern region is one quarter. This is a foot of Brahman, consisting of the four quarters, and called Prakâsavat (endowed with splendour).'
3. 'He who knows this and meditates on the foot of Brahman, consisting of four quarters, by the name of Prakâsavat, becomes endowed with splendour in this world. He conquers the resplendent worlds, whoever knows this and meditates on the foot of Brahman, consisting of the four quarters, by the name of Prakâsavat.
Sixth Khanda.
1. 'Agni will declare to you another foot of Brahman.'
(After these words of the bull), Satyakâma, on the morrow, drove the cows (toward the house of the teacher). And when they came towards the evening, he lighted a fire, penned the cows, laid wood on the fire, and sat down behind the fire, looking to the east.
​2. Then Agni (the fire) said to him: 'Satyakâma!' He replied: 'Sir.'
3. Agni said: 'Friend, I will declare unto you one foot of Brahman.'
'Declare it, Sir,' he replied.
He said to him: 'The earth is one quarter, the sky is one quarter, the heaven is one quarter, the ocean is one quarter. This is a foot of Brahman, consisting of four quarters, and called Anantavat (endless).
4. 'He who knows this and meditates on the foot of Brahman, consisting of four quarters, by the name of Anantavat, becomes endless in this world. He conquers the endless worlds, whoever knows this and meditates on the foot of Brahman, consisting of four quarters, by the name of Anantavat.
Seventh Khanda.
1. 'A Hamsa (flamingo, meant for the sun) will declare to you another foot of Brahman.'
(After these words of Agni), Satyakâma, on the morrow, drove the cows onward. And when they came towards the evening, he lighted a fire, penned the cows, laid wood on the fire, and sat down behind the fire, looking toward the east.
2. Then a Hamsa flew near and said to him: "Satyakima." He replied: 'Sir.'
3. The Hamsa said: 'Friend, I will declare unto you one foot of Brahman.'
'Declare it, Sir,' he replied.
He said to him: 'Fire is one quarter, the sun is one quarter, the moon is one quarter, lightning is one quarter. This is a foot of Brahman, consisting of four quarters, and called Gyotishmat (full of light).
​4. 'He who knows this and meditates on the foot of Brahman, consisting of four quarters, by the name of Gyotishmat, becomes full of light in this world. He conquers the worlds which are full of light, whoever knows this and meditates on the foot of Brahman, consisting of four quarters, by the name of Gyotishmat.
Eighth Khanda.
1. 'A diver-bird (Madgu, meant for Prâna) will declare to you another foot of Brahman.'
(After these words of the Hamsa), Satyakâma, on the morrow, drove the cows onward. And when they came towards the evening, he lighted a fire, penned the cows, laid wood on the fire, and sat down behind the fire, looking toward the east.
2. Then a diver flew near and said to him: 'Satyakâma.' He replied: 'Sir.'
3. The diver said: 'Friend, I will declare unto you one foot of Brahman.'
'Declare it, Sir,' he replied.
He said to him: 'Breath is one quarter, the eye is one quarter, the ear is one quarter, the mind is one quarter. This is a foot of Brahman, consisting of four quarters, and called Âyatanavat (having a home).
'He who knows this and meditates on the foot of Brahman, consisting of four quarters, by the name of Âyatanavat, becomes possessed of a home in this world. He conquers the worlds which offer a home, whoever knows this and meditates on the foot of Brahman, consisting of four quarters, by the name of Âyatanavat.'
Ninth Khanda.
1. Thus he reached the house of his teacher. The teacher said to him: 'Satyakâma.' He replied: 'Sir.'
2. The teacher said: 'Friend, you shine like one who knows Brahman. Who then has taught you?" He replied: "Not men. But you only, Sir, I wish, should teach me;
3. 'For I have heard from men like you, Sir, that only knowledge which is learnt from a teacher (Âkârya), leads to real good.' Then he taught him the same knowledge. Nothing was left out, yea, nothing was left out.
Tenth Khanda.
1. Upakosala Kâmalâyana dwelt as a Brahmakârin (religious student) in the house of Satyakâma Gâbâla. He tended his fires for twelve years. But the teacher, though he allowed other pupils (after they had learnt the sacred books) to depart to their own homes, did not allow Upakosala to depart.
2. Then his wife said to him: 'This student, who is quite exhausted (with austerities), has carefully tended your fires. Let not the fires themselves blame you, but teach him.' The teacher, however, went away on a journey without having taught him.
3. The student from sorrow was not able to eat. ​Then the wife of the teacher said to him: 'Student, eat! Why do you not eat?' He said: 'There are many desires in this man here, which lose themselves in different directions. I am full of sorrows, and shall take no food.'
4. Thereupon the fires said among themselves: 'This student, who is quite exhausted, has carefully tended us. Well, let us teach him.' They said to him:
5. 'Breath is Brahman, Ka (pleasure) is Brahman, Kha (ether) is Brahman.'
He said: 'I understand that breath is Brahman, but I do not understand Ka or Kha.'
They said: 'What is Ka is Kha, what is Kha is Ka.' They therefore taught him Brahman as breath, and as the ether (in the heart).
Eleventh Khanda.
1. After that the Gârhapatya fire taught him: "Earth, fire, food, and the sun (these are my forms, or ​forms of Brahman). The person that is seen in the sun, I am he, I am he indeed.
2. 'He who knowing this meditates on him, destroys sin, obtains the world (of Agni Gârhapatya), reaches his full age, and lives long; his descendants do not perish. We guard him in this world and in the other; whosoever knowing this meditates on him.'
Twelfth Khanda.
1. Then the Anvâhârya fire taught him: 'Water, the quarters, the stars, the moon (these are my forms). The person that is seen in the moon, I am he, I am he indeed.
2. He who knowing this meditates on him, destroys sin, obtains the world (of Agni Anvâhârya), reaches his full age, and lives long; his descendants do not perish. We guard him in this world and in the other, whosoever knowing this meditates on him.'
Thirteenth Khanda.
​2. 'He who knowing this meditates on him, destroys sin, obtains the world (of Agni Âhavanîya), reaches his full age, and lives long; his descendants do not perish. We guard him in this world and in the other, whosoever knowing this meditates on him.'
Fourteenth Khanda.
1. Then they all said: 'Upakosala, this is our knowledge, our friend, and the knowledge of the Self, but the teacher will tell you the way (to another life).'
2. In time his teacher came back, and said to him: 'Upakosala.' He answered: 'Sir.' The teacher said: 'Friend, your face shines like that of one who knows Brahman. Who has taught you?'
'Who should teach me, Sir?' he said. He denies, as it were. And he said (pointing) to the fires: 'Are these fires other than fires?'
The teacher said: 'What, my friend, have these fires told you?'
3. He answered: 'This' (repeating some of what they had told him).
The teacher said: 'My friend, they have taught you about the worlds, but I shall tell you this; and as water does not cling to a lotus leaf, so no evil deed clings to one who knows it.' He said: 'Sir, tell it me.'
Fifteenth Khanda.
1. He said: 'The person that is seen in the eye, that is the Self. This is the immortal, the fearless, this is Brahman. Even though they drop melted ​butter or water on him, it runs away on both sides.
2. 'They call him Samyadvâma, for all blessings (vâma) go towards him (samyanti). All blessings go towards him who knows this.
3. 'He is also Vâmanî, for he leads (nayati) all blessings (vâma). He leads all blessings who knows this.
4. 'He is also Bhâmanî, for he shines (bhâti) in all worlds. He who knows this, shines in all worlds.
5. 'Now (if one who knows this, dies), whether people perform obsequies for him or no, he goes to light (arkis), from light to day, from day to the light half of the moon, from the light half of the moon to the six months during which the sun goes to the north, from the months to the year, from the year to the sun, from the sun to the moon, from the moon to the lightning. There is a person not human,
6. 'He leads them to Brahman. This is the path of the Devas, the path that leads to Brahman. Those who proceed on that path, do not return to the life of man, yea, they do not return.'
Sixteenth Khanda.
1. Verily, he who purifies (Vâyu) is the sacrifice, for he (the air) moving along, purifies everything. ​Because moving along he purifies everything, therefore he is the sacrifice. Of that sacrifice there are two ways, by mind and by speech.
2. The Brahman priest performs one of them in his mind, the Hotri, Adhvaryu, and Udgâtri priests perform the other by words. When the Brahman priest, after the Prâtaranuvâka ceremony has begun, but before the recitation of the Paridhânîyâ hymn, has (to break his silence and) to speak,
3. He performs perfectly the one way only (that by words), but the other is injured. As a man walking on one foot, or a carriage going on one wheel, is injured, his sacrifice is injured, and with the injured sacrifice the sacrificer is injured; yes, having sacrificed, he becomes worse.
4. But when after the Prâtaranuvâka ceremony has begun and before the recitation of the Paridhânlyâ hymn, the Brahman priest has not (to break his silence and) to speak, they perform both ways perfectly, and neither of them is injured.
5. As a man walking on two legs and a carriage going on two wheels gets on, so his sacrifice gets on, and with the successful sacrifice the sacrificer gets on; yes, having sacrificed, he becomes better.
Seventeenth Khanda.
1. Pragâpati brooded over the worlds, and from them thus brooded on he squeezed out the essences, Agni (fire) from the earth, Vâyu (air) from the sky, Âditya (the sun) from heaven.
2. He brooded over these three deities, and from them thus brooded on he squeezed out the essences, the Rik verses from Agni, the Yagus verses from Vâyu, the Sâman verses from Âditya.
3. He brooded over the threefold knowledge (the three Vedas), and from it thus brooded on he squeezed out the essences, the sacred interjection Bhûs from the Rik verses, the sacred interjection Bhuvas from the Yagus verses, the sacred interjection Svar from the Sâman verses.
4. If the sacrifice is injured from the Rig-veda side, let him offer a libation in the Gârhapatya fire, saying, Bhûh, Svâha! Thus does he bind together and heal, by means of the essence and the power of the Rik verses themselves, whatever break the Rik sacrifice may have suffered.
5. If the sacrifice is injured from the Yagur-veda side, let him offer a libation in the Dakshina fire, saying, Bhuvah, Svâhâ! Thus does he bind together and heal, by means of the essence and the power of the Yagus verses themselves, whatever break the Yagus sacrifice may have suffered.
​7. As one binds (softens) gold by means of lavana (borax), and silver by means of gold, and tin by means of silver, and lead by means of tin, and iron (loha) by means of lead, and wood by means of iron, or also by means of leather,
8. Thus does one bind together and heal any break in the sacrifice by means of (the Vyâhritis or sacrificial interjections which are) the essence and strength of the three worlds, of the deities, and of the threefold knowledge. That sacrifice is healed in which there is a Brahman priest who knows this.
9. That sacrifice is inclined towards the north (in the right way) in which there is a Brahman priest who knows this. And with regard to such a Brahman priest there is the following Gâthâ: 'Wherever it falls back, thither the man goes,'— viz. the Brahman only, as one of the Ritvig priests. 'He saves the Kurus as a mare' (viz. a Brahman priest who ​knows this, saves the sacrifice, the sacrificer, and all the other priests). Therefore let a man make him who knows this his Brahman priest, not one who does not know it, who does not know it.
* ↑ Vâyu (air) and Prâna (breath) had before been represented as feet of Brahman, as the second pair. Now they are represented as Brahman, and as to be meditated on as such. This is the teaching of Raikva. The language of this chapter is very obscure, and I am not satisfied with the translation.
* ↑ Sayugvan is explained as possessed of a car with yoked horses or oxen. Could it have meant originally, 'yoke-fellow, equal' as in Rig-veda X, 130, 4? Anquetil renders it by 'semper cum se ipso camelum solutum habens.'
* ↑ Instead of adhareyâh, we must read adhare 'yâh.
* ↑ It is curious that in a hymn of the Atharva-veda (V, 22, 5, 8) takman, apparently a disease of the skin, is relegated to the Mahâvrishas, where Raikva dwelt. Roth, Zur Literatur des Veda, p. 36.
* ↑ To find out her age. The commentator translates, 'Raikva, knowing her mouth to be the door of knowledge, i.e. knowing that for her he might impart his knowledge to Gânasruti, and that Gânasruti by bringing such rich gifts had become a proper receiver of knowledge, consented to do what he had before refused.'
* ↑ The commentator supplies adât, the king gave the villages to him.
* ↑ Samvarga, absorption, whence samvargavidyâ, not samsarga. It is explained by samvargana, samgrahana, and samgrasana, in the text itself by adana, eating.
* ↑ This must refer to Vâyu and Prâna swallowing the four, as explained in IV, 3, 2, and IV, 3, 3. The commentator explains it by Pragâpati, who is sometimes called Ka. In one sense it would be Brahman, as represented by Vâyu and Prâna.
* ↑ The food which you have refused to me, you have really refused to Brahman.
* ↑ Saunaka wishes the student to understand that though 'mortals see him not,' he sees and knows him, viz. the god who, as Vâyu, swallows all the gods, but produces them again, and who, as prâna, swallows during sleep all senses, but produces them again at the time of waking.
* ↑ The words are obscure, and the commentator does not throw much light on them. He explains, however, the four casts of the dice, the Krita = 4, the Tretâ = 3, the Dvâpara = 2, the Kali = 1, making together 10, the Krita cast absorbing the other casts, and thus counting ten.
* ↑ Virâg, name of a metre of ten syllables, and also a name of food. One expects, 'which is the food and eats the food.'
* ↑ This carries on the explanation of the four feet of Brahman, as first mentioned in III, 18, 1. Each foot or quarter of Brahman is represented as fourfold, and the knowledge of these sixteen parts is called the Shodasakalâvidyâ.
* ↑ It would have been a great offence if Satyakâma had accepted instruction from any man, except his recognised teacher.
* ↑ The text should be, bhagavâms tv eva me kâme brûyât (me kâme = mamekkhâyâm).
* ↑ The Upakosala-vidyâ teaches first Brahman as the cause, and then in its various forms, and is therefore called âtmavidyâ and agnividyâ.
* ↑ I do not understand, he means, how Ka, which means pleasure, and is non-eternal, and how Kha, which means ether, and is not intelligent, can be Brahman.
* ↑ The commentator explains as follows:—Ka is pleasure, and Kha is ether, but these two words are to determine each other mutually, and thus to form one idea. Ka therefore does not mean ordinary pleasures, but pleasures such as belong to Kha, the ether. And Kha does not signify the ordinary outward ether, but the ether in the heart, which alone is capable of pleasure. What is meant by Ka and Kha is therefore the sentient ether in the heart, and that is Brahman, while Prâna, breath, is Brahman, in so far as it is united with the ether in the heart.
* ↑ And as its ether, i.e. as the ether in the heart, the Brahman, with which prâna is connected. Comm.
* ↑ The household altar.
* ↑ Fanciful similarities and relations between the fires of the three altars and their various forms and manifestations are pointed out by the commentator. Thus earth and food are represented as warmed and boiled by the fire. The sun is said to give warmth and light like the fire of the altar. The chief point, however, is that in all of them Brahman is manifested.
* ↑ The altar on the right. Anvâhârya is a sacrificial oblation, chiefly one intended for the manes.
* ↑ The Âhavanîya altar is the altar on the eastern side of the sacrificial ground.
* ↑ This is also the teaching of Pragâpati in VIII, 7, 4.
* ↑ It does so in the eye, and likewise with the person in the eye, who is not affected by anything. Cf. Kh. Up. IV, 14, 3.
* ↑ The commentator takes light, day, &c. as persons, or devatâs. Cf. Kh. Up. V, 10, 1.
* ↑ If any mistakes happen during the performance of a sacrifice, as described before, they are remedied by certain interjectional syllables (vyâhriti), the nature of which is next described. All this is supposed to take place in the forest.
* ↑ While the other priests perform the sacrifice, the Brahman priest has to remain silent, following the whole sacrifice in his mind, and watching, that no mistake be committed. If a mistake is committed, he has to correct it, and for that purpose certain corrective penances (prâyaskitta) are enjoined. The performance of the Brahman priest resembles the meditations of the sages in the forest, and therefore this chapter is here inserted.
* ↑ Lavana, a kind of salt, explained by kshâra and taṅka or taṅkana. It is evidently borax, which is still imported from the East Indies under the name of tincal, and used as a flux in chemical processes.
* ↑ Bheshagakrita, explained by bheshagena 'iva kritah samskritah, and also by kikitsakena susikshitena "esha yagño bhavati," which looks as if the commentator had taken it as a genitive of bheshagakrit.
* ↑ This Gâthâ (or, according to Sankara, Anugâthâ) is probably a Gâyatrî, though Ânandagiri says that it is not in the Gâyatrî or any other definite metre. It may have been originally 'yato yata âvartate, tattad gakkhati mânavah, kurûn asvâbhirakshati.' This might be taken from an old epic ballad, 'Wherever the army fell back, thither the man went; the mare (mares being preferred to stallions in war) saves the Kurus.' That verse was applied to the Brahman priest succouring the sacrifice, whenever it seemed to waver, and protecting the Kurus, i.e. the performers of the sacrifice.
* ↑ Mânava, explained from mauna, or manana, but possibly originally, a descendant of Manu.
Footnotes