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Section 4.2

23 of 47 sections in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad by Unknown

Original Sanskrit

4.2.1 जनको ह वैदेहः कूर्चादुपावसर्पन्नुवाच नमस्तेऽस्तु याज्ञवल्क्य ।अनु मा शाधीति ।स होवाच यथा वै सम्राण्महान्तमध्वानमेष्यन् रथं वा नावं वा समाददीतैवमेवैताभिरुपनिषद्भिः समाहितात्मासि ।एवं वृन्दारक आढ्यः सन्नधीतवेद उक्तोपनिषत्क इतो विमुच्यमानः क्व गमिष्यसीति ।नाहं तद्भगवन् वेद यत्र गमिष्यामीति ।अथ वै तेऽहं तद्वक्ष्यामि यत्र गमिष्यसीति ।ब्रवीतु भगवानिति

4.2.2 इन्धो ह वै नामैष योऽयं दक्षिणेऽक्षन् पुरुषः ।तं वा एतमिन्धं सन्तमिन्द्र इत्याचक्षते परोक्षेणैव ।परोक्षप्रिया इव हि देवाः प्रत्यक्षद्विषः

4.2.3 अथैतद्वामेऽक्षणि पुरुषरूपमेषास्य पत्नी विराट् ।तयोरेष संस्तावो य एषोऽन्तर्हृदय आकाशः ।अथैनयोरेतदन्नं य एषोऽन्तर्हृदये लोहितपिण्डः ।अथैनयोरेतत्प्रावरणं यदेतदन्तर्हृदये जालकमिव ।अथैनयोरेषा सृतिः संचरणी यैषा हृदयादूर्ध्वा नाड्युच्चरति ।यथा केशः सहस्रधा भिन्न एवमस्यैता हिता नाम नाड्योऽन्तर्हृदये प्रतिष्ठिता भवन्ति ।एताभिर्वा एतदास्रवदास्रवति ।तस्मादेष प्रविविक्ताहारतर इव भवत्यस्माच्छारीरादात्मनः

4.2.4 तस्य प्राची दिक्प्राञ्चः प्राणाः ।दक्षिणा दिग्दक्षिणे प्राणाः ।प्रतीची दिक्प्रत्यञ्चः प्राणाः ।उदीची दिगुदञ्चः प्राणाः ।ऊर्ध्वा दिगूर्ध्वाः प्राणाः ।अवाची दिगवाञ्चः प्राणाः ।सर्वा दिशः सर्वे प्राणाः ।स एष नेति नेत्यात्मा ।अगृह्यो न हि गृह्यते ।अशीर्यो न हि शीर्यते ।असङ्गो न हि सज्यते ।असितो न व्यथते ।न रिष्यति ।अभयं वै जनक प्राप्तोऽसीति होवाच याज्ञवल्क्यः ।स होवाच जनको वैदेहोऽभयं त्वा गच्छताद्याज्ञवल्क्य यो नो भगवन्नभयं वेदयसे ।नमस्तेऽस्तु ।इमे विदेहा अयमहमस्मीति

Musean translation

Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from Sanskrit and checked passage by passage against the Kāṇva text.

4.2.1 Janaka of Videha came down from his seat and said, "Homage to you, Yajnavalkya.Teach me."He said, "Your Majesty, just as someone setting out on a long journey would equip himself with a chariot or a boat, so you have equipped yourself with these secret teachings.You are eminent and wealthy, have studied the Vedas, and have heard the secret teachings. When you are released from here, where will you go?""Venerable sir, I do not know where I will go.""Then I will tell you where you will go.""Please tell me, venerable sir."

4.2.2 "This person in the right eye is called Indha.Though his name is Indha, people call him Indra, speaking indirectly.For the gods seem to love what is indirect and to dislike what is direct.

4.2.3 "Now this human form in the left eye is his wife, Viraj.Their meeting place is the space within the heart.Their food is the lump of blood within the heart.Their covering is the netlike tissue within the heart.Their path of passage is the channel that rises upward from the heart.Like a hair split a thousand times are the channels called Hita, which lie within the heart.Through these what flows to nourish him flows.So he has, as it were, more finely sifted food than this bodily self.

4.2.4 "His eastern direction is the breaths that move eastward.His southern direction is the breaths that move southward.His western direction is the breaths that move westward.His northern direction is the breaths that move northward.His upper direction is the breaths that move upward.His lower direction is the breaths that move downward.All the directions are all the breaths.This Self is ‘not this, not this.’It cannot be grasped, for it is not grasped.It cannot decay, for it does not decay.It is unattached, for it does not attach itself.It is unfettered; it does not suffer.It comes to no harm.Janaka, you have indeed reached freedom from fear," said Yajnavalkya.Janaka of Videha said, "May freedom from fear come to you, Yajnavalkya, since you, venerable sir, have made freedom from fear known to us.Homage to you.Here are the people of Videha, and here am I, at your service."

Plain English translation

Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Plain English edition, translated independently from Sanskrit and checked passage by passage against the Kāṇva text.

4.2.1 Janaka of Videha came down from his seat and said, "I bow to you, Yajnavalkya.Please teach me."He said, "Your Majesty, just as someone about to make a long journey would get a chariot or a boat ready, you have prepared yourself through these secret teachings.You are eminent and wealthy, have studied the Vedas, and have been taught the Upanishads. Where will you go when you are released from here?""Sir, I do not know where I will go.""Then I will tell you where you will go.""Please tell me, sir."

4.2.2 The person in the right eye is named Indha.Although his name is Indha, people call him Indra, using an indirect name.For the gods seem to like indirect names and dislike direct ones.

4.2.3 The person-shaped figure in the left eye is his wife, Viraj.Their meeting place is the space inside the heart.Their food is the lump of blood inside the heart.Their covering is the netlike structure inside the heart.Their passage for moving about is the channel that goes upward from the heart.The channels called Hita are set within the heart, each as fine as a hair split into a thousand parts.Through them this flowing nourishment flows.That is why this person seems to have finer food than the bodily self.

4.2.4 His eastern direction is the breaths that go east.His southern direction is the breaths that go south.His western direction is the breaths that go west.His northern direction is the breaths that go north.His upper direction is the breaths that go up.His lower direction is the breaths that go down.All directions are all the breaths.This Self is "not this, not this."It cannot be grasped, because it is never grasped.It does not decay, because it never decays.It is unattached, because it does not become attached.It is unbound. It is not troubled.It is not injured."Janaka, you have reached freedom from fear," said Yajnavalkya.Janaka of Videha said, "Yajnavalkya, may freedom from fear come to you, since you have made freedom from fear known to us.I bow to you.These people of Videha are yours, and so am I."

About this section

Section 4.2 is part of Brihadaranyaka Upanishad by Unknown. This page sets the Sanskrit original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is section 23 of 47 in the work, which is kept in the Hindu tradition.

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