Chapter 8, Section 8
Mantras 8-8-1&2
udasarava athmanamavekshya yadatmano na vijanithastanme
prabrutamiti tau hodasarave'vekshamchakrate tau ha prajapatiruvacha kim
pasyatha iti tau hochatuh sarvamevedamavam bhagava athmanam pasyava a lomabhyah
a nakhebhyah pratirupamiti || 8.8.1 ||
tau ha prajapatiruvacha sadhvalamkrtau suvasanau parishkṛtau
bhutvodasarave'vekshethamiti tau ha sadhvalamkrtau suvasanau parishkrtau
bhutvodasarave'vekshamchakrate tau ha prajapatiruvacha kim pasyatha iti || 8.8.2 ||
(Prajapati said) ‘Look at yourselves in a pan of
water. If you have any doubts about the Athma then let me know.’ They
then looked at themselves in the water, and Prajapati asked, ‘What do
you see?’ They replied, ‘Revered Sir, we see the reflection of our entire self,
including even our hair and nails’. (1) Prajapati said to them,
‘After getting well-dressed and putting on fine clothes and making yourselves
neat and clean, then look into the pan of water.’ So the two of them got
well-dressed in fine clothes, and made themselves neat and clean. Then they
looked into the pan of water. Prajapati asked, ‘What do you see?’. (2)
Prajapati told
them to bring a pan of water. They brought it, and he said: ‘Look in the water.
What do you see? If you have any doubt, if it is not clear to you exactly what
I mean when I say the Athma is in the water, then ask me.’ But instead of thinking and questioning, they
simply said they saw the reflection of their own bodies, from the hair to the
nails. When they included the hair and nails also, it was obvious that they
were still mistaking their reflection only as Athma. So Prajapati
again tells them to look into the pan of water, but this time after washing
themselves and putting on fine clothes and ornaments. Through this he was trying to raise a doubt
in their minds as the reflection would have changed and Athma does not
undergo any change. So he raised again the question regarding what they see
then.
Mantra 8-8-3
tau hochaturyathaivedamavam bhagavah sadhvalamkrtau suvasanau
parishkrtau sva evamevemau bhagavah sadhvalamkrtau suvasanau parishkrtavityesha
athmeti hovachaitadamrtamabhayametadbrahmeti tau ha santahrdayau pravavrajatuh || 8.8.3 ||
The two of them said, ‘Revered sir, just as we are well-dressed
in fine clothes, and neat and clean, in the same way, these two reflections are
well-dressed in fine clothes, and neat and clean.’ Prajapati said: ‘That is the Athma.
It is immortal and fearless. It is Brahman.’ The two of them left then, happy in mind.
Now Indra and Virochana state
that they see themselves with fine clothes and ornaments on. It should have been obvious to them that Athma
is not the body with the fine clothes, as what they earlier mistook as Athma
had not these fine clothes and ornaments and Athma is one without
change. But they did not change from
their mistaken conviction that the physical body is Athma and raised no
doubts. Prajapati who was trying to provoke them into thinking that Athma
is not the body they saw in the reflection as Athma does not undergo
change now agreed with them as before and only reiterated that Athma is
deathless and is free from fear. They also left very happy and satisfied
thinking they had the knowledge of Athma.
Mantras 8-8-4&5
tau hanvikshya prajapatiruvachanupalabhyathmanamananuvidya
vrajato yatara etadupanishado bhavishyanti deva vasura va te parabhavishyantiti
sa ha santahrdaya eva virochano'suranjagama tebhyo haitamupanishadam
provachatmaiveha mahayya athma paricharya atmanameveha mahayannatmanam
paricharannubhau lokavavapnotimam chamum cheti || 8.8.4 ||
tasmadapyadyehadadanamasraddadhanamayajamanamahurasuro
batetyasuranam hyeshopanishatpretasya sariram bhikshaya vasanenalamkareneti
samskurvantyetena hyamum lokam jeshyanto manyante || 8.8.5 || iti ashtamah khandah ||
Seeing them leave, Prajapati said to himself (loud); ‘They are going without realizing
or knowing anything about the Athma.
Whoever among them, whether gods or demons, who will understand the
teaching this way (thinking the body to be the Athma) will be lost.’ Virochana, the king of the demons, went back to the demons happy
in mind and declared to them the doctrine: ‘The body is the Athma,
and in this world it should be worshipped and taken care of. If the body is
worshipped and well taken care of in this world, one attains both this world
and the next.’ (4) Therefore,
even today they say of one who does not practise charity, who has no faith and
who does not perform sacrifices: "He is verily a demon"; for such is
the doctrine of the demons. The demons deck the bodies of the dead with
garlands and perfume, with clothes and with ornaments, for they think that thus
they will win the world beyond. (5) End of the section eight.
Prajapathi was feeling very sorry for the two kings, Indra and Virochana, who
were going away happily satisfied with their wrong understanding of the Athma
as the correct one and began to talk aloud as they were leaving hoping fondly
that like his previous declaration these words also will reach their ears and
make them rethink their conclusion. He said, “It is a pity these two have gone away with wrong conclusion.
They should have thought, “When the body changes, does the Athma also
change? It cannot be as Athma is
changeless” and asked me for clarification. But they left satisfied because
they have not understood. Whoever
continues to think that body or its reflection is Athma will be lost in samsara
only without attaining Moksha."
Of the two,
Virochana and Indira, Virochana understood that the body whose reflection he
saw in the eye and also in the water in the pan as the Athma and started
sharing this knowledge with his followers that by worshipping and taking care
of the body, which is the Athma, one would gain not only this world, but
the other world also. Upanishad calls
this doctrine, asura Upanishad.
Therefore, the one who cares for body and body alone and does not bother
about values or Yajna is called an asura. Such people are only interested in sense pleasures, and they only believe in
what can be perceived by the senses and what is present before them. They do
not believe in God, and they are not interested in higher things. They are
selfish and do not give anything in charity.
The body is everything to them. Even when someone dies, they decorate
the body with all kinds of things they like—flowers, garlands, fragrance, ornaments,
silk clothes. Everything is done to make the body appear beautiful, and they
think if the body is properly decorated in this way, they will win the other
world. With this description of asura way of thinking, this section ends. What Indira thinks and does will come in the
next section.
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