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Shwetaashwatar Upanishad
1-1
Person immersed in the discussion about God ask - How did the Universe
come into being? Did Gos create it? Who created us and why? Where are we
going from here? O you, who know, please tell us who determines what joys
and sorrows will condition our lives?
1-2
Can we say that these is no master plan and creation is all chance? Can we
say that life and its joys and sorrows are results of the passage of time?
Is it all inherent in the nature of the things - that life is the natural
fruit of the womb? is destiny molded by the individual's actions?
Yet,
chance, inherent nature and Destiny or their combinations fail to explain
the cause of creation because of the existence of the of the individual
soul which cannot be explained by the above mentioned causes.
1-3
The sages immersed in contemplation saw God in their own soul - the soul
that is enveloped by the three natural tendencies of Sat, Raj and Tam in
different proportions resulting from the previous actions. They also
realized that God is the one who is the cause of Time, Nature, Destiny and
individual soul and is the ruler of them all.
[Commentary - The
three natural tendencies of Sat, Raj and Tam to be explained. We
could call them Saatwik, Raajasik and Taamasik tendencies. Taamasik
tendency represents a lack of desire for spiritual and / or worldly
achievements. It binds a person to ignorance, laziness, lack of effort and
neglect. Raajasik tendency represents a passion for worldly achievement.
It creates attachment to what has been attained. It drives a person to
action with the purpose of achieving his worldly ambitions. Saatwik
tendency represents the purity and stability of mind. It brings spiritual
enlightenment to a being. A person with Saatwik tendency is a seeker after
knowledge and wisdom. For more of these read
Geetaa, Chapter 14.]
1-8
The Lord maintains the Universe, which is a combination of the perishable
and imperishable , the manifest and the unmanifest. The person who is
forgetful of the Lord binds himself to pleasure-seeking as the goal. But
the person who comes to know the Lord, is freed from this trap.
1-9
There are three entities, two of which are unborn - (1) the All-knowing
Supreme Soul, (2) the Individual Soul. (3) the third entity is Pravritti
(the human body including mind) which is pleasure-seeking. The Individual
Soul is eternal and does not participate in actions. When one understands
these three, one has understood Brahm.
1-10
The three entities can be described as follows - (1) Mortal human body,
(2) Immortal - the human soul, (3) the Supreme being who rules over the
first two. By uniting your mind with the Supreme being and by =meditating
on Him with devotion, you can get true understanding and free yourself
from Maayaa - from being slave to worldly pleasures.
[Commentary - This is
one of the rare instances where a classical Upanishad uses the term Maayaa
and talks about freedom to denote slavery to the desires of flesh which
includes flesh attachment to person and things. The term Maayaa as used in
these Upanishad does not seem to suggest that the world is an illusion and
that indifference to the world is the only way to realize God. Shankar's
interpretation of the word Maayaa, which he claimed was inspired by the
Upanishad(s), as elaborated in his Vivek Choodaamani, seems different from
the use in the Upanishad.]
2-13
The fruits of practicing Yog are the feeling of agility, heal their body,
clearness of complexion, a beautiful voice, a pleasant body odor and
freedom from greed.
[Commentary - Yog has
two aspects - physical and spiritual. The physical aspect requires regular
physical exercise of the body in the prescribed manner, and the spiritual
aspect consists of realizing your soul as representing the Supreme Soul.]
2-14
When dirt is cleaned away a mirror shines brightly. Similarly when
ignorance is removed a person recognizes God in His embodied soul and
freed of all sorrow he becomes fulfilled.
2-17
Salutations again and again to the Lord who is in the fire, who is in
water, who is in plants and trees, really pervades the entire Universe.
3-16
God has hands and feet everywhere, he has eyes and faces everywhere. He
has eyes everywhere, He has ears everywhere, He pervades everything in the
Universe.
3-19
Grasping without hands, hastening without feet, He sees without eyes and
He hears without ears. He knows what can be known, yet hardly anyone knows
Him. The wise call Him the great Supreme Being.
3-20
By the grace of the Lord, is a man freed of sorrow and is able to
realize the majesty of the Lord. The Lord's grace makes a person
understand that Lord resides in the hearts of man and that he is smaller
than the smallest and bigger than the biggest. [similar to Kaivalya
Upanishad, 20]
4-1
Lord, You are without any form and yet you assume a multitude of visible
forms, thus creating the Universe. From You all things come, and to You
they all return. O Great Lord, endow us with wisdom.
4-5
The individual souls, inescapably have three natural tendencies which can
be described by three colors - black which stands for ignorance and
represents Tamas; red which stands for pleasure-seeking and represents
Rajas; and white which stands for spirituality representing Sattwa. The
first two tendencies keep them in bondage of ignorance and pleasure-seeking.
Wisdom lies in abandoning these and in moving towards spirituality.
[Commentary - The
Sanskrit word Ajaa means that which is unborn. The soul is neither born,
nor does it die. Here Ajaa has been used for soul. Many translators have
been agonized by this word and have taken a wrong turn b y translating
Ajaa as "goat", it is easy to see that they are unable to extricate
themselves out of confusion.]
4-11
One needs to know Him to be the cause of all creation. From Him all this
comes and unto Him it all returns. He, the Adorable Lord, is the bestower
of blessings. By knowing Him, a person finds everlasting peace.
6-1
Some intellectuals deny God, and instead ascribe the inherent nature of
things, or passage of Time as the cause of events.
6-5
God is the starting point of it all. He produces the causes which unite
the soul and and the body. He is above the three kinds of Time - past,
present, and future. Unlike humans, He is without limbs, He expresses
Himself in innumerable forms. Worship the adorable Lord who abodes in our
thoughts.
6-7
Let us worship the transcendent, the Lord of all the worlds, the Lord of
the lords, and the King of the kings - the most adorable one.
6-8
There is no effect and no cause known of Him. No one can be found greater
than or equal to Him. His great power is revealed in manifold ways.
Strength and wisdom are inherent in His nature.
6-11
The One, all-pervading God, dwells within us as our soul, watching all our
actions. he is the witness and the Knower and he is free of attributes.
6-16
God is the maker of the Universe and the Knower of it all. he is His own
creator. He is the author of Time and the Master of our body and soul. He
is the dispenser of the three natural tendencies in men - Sattwa, Rajas,
and Tamas. He is the arbiter of our bondage to earthly existence and our
liberation from it.
END OF SHWETAASHWTAR UPANISHAD
Shwetaashwatar Upanishad has a verse, 5/9
Vaalaagra Shat Bhaagasya Shatadhaa Kalpitasya Cha
Bhaago Jeevah sa Vigyedyah sa Chaanantyaaya Kalpate
Assume 100
parts of 100th part of hair end (micron size) = 10-10 Meter. That is Jeev,
not destroyed in any chemical change -all Kalpa = or creation is
recombination of atoms only.
Sun is Ashwa = driving force of universe, its lighted area is Shweta-ashwa
and its creation cycle is called Shwet Varaaha Kalp. Structures higher
than solar system (galaxy, Universe, Brahmaa) are Shwetaashwatar which are
described in this Upanishad. One Marxist author Rahula Sankrityayana
interpreted that all Rishi took soup (Tar or Taree or the liquid part of
the vegetable or meat dish) of horse (Ashwa) bones (Shwet = white part).
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