I see omens of chaos,
Krishna I see no good
in killing my kinsmen
in battle.                  

Krishna, I seek no victory,
or kingship or pleasures.
What use to us are kingship,
delights, or life itself?

We sought kingship, delights,
and pleasures for the sake of those
assembled to abandon their lives
and fortunes in battle.

They are teachers, fathers, sons,
and grandfathers, uncles, grandsons,
fathers and brothers of wives
and other men of our family.

I do not want to kill them
even if I am killed, Krishna;
not for kingship of all three worlds,
much less for the earth!

What joy is there for us, Krishna,
in killing Dhritarashtra’s sons?
Evil will haunt us if we kill them,
though their bows are drawn to kill.

Honor forbids us to kill
our cousins, Dhritarashtra’s sons;
how can we know happiness
if we kill our own kinsmen?

(1.31-37. BGM, 25-6)

I lament the great sin
we commit when our greed
for kingship and pleasures
drives us to kill our kinsmen.

(1.45. BGM, 26)

Krishna, how can I fight
against Bhishma and Drona
with arrows
when they deserve my worship?

(2.4. BGM, 29)

You grieve for those beyond grief,
and you speak words of insight;
but learned men do not grieve
for the dead or the living.

(2.11. BGM, 31)

He who thinks this self a killer
and he who thinks it killed,
both fail to understand;      
it does not kill, nor is it killed.

It is not born,
it does not die;
having been,
it will never not be;
unborn, enduring,
constant, and primordial,
it is not killed
when the body is killed.

Arjuna, when a man knows the self
to be indestructible, enduring, unborn,
unchanging, how does he kill
or cause anyone to kill?

(2.19-21. BGM, 32)

Death is certain for anyone born,
and birth is certain for the dead;
since the cycle is inevitable,        
you have no cause to grieve!

(2.27. BGM, 33)

When he gives up desires in his mind,
is content with the self within himself,
then he is said to be a man
whose insight is sure, Arjuna.

When suffering does not disturb his mind,
when his craving for pleasures has vanished,
when attraction, fear, and anger are gone,
he is called a sage whose thought is sure.             

When he shows no preference
in fortune or misfortune
and neither exults nor hates,
his insight is sure.              

When, like a tortoise retracting
its limbs, he withdraws his senses
completely from sensuous objects,
his insight is sure.              

(2.55-58. BGM, 37)

Without discipline,
he has no understanding or inner power;
without inner power, he has no peace;
and without peace where is joy?

(2.66. BGM, 38)

When he renounces all desires
and acts without craving,
possessiveness,
or individuality, he finds peace.

(2.71. BGM, 39)

Your own duty done imperfectly,
is better than another man’s done well.
It is better to die in one’s own duty;
another man’s duty is perilous.

(3.35. BGM, 46)

Content with whatever comes by chance,
beyond dualities, free from envy,
impartial to failure and success,
he is not bound even when he acts.

(4.22. BGM, 52)

An ignorant man is lost, faithless,
and filled with self-doubt;
a soul that harbors doubt has no joy,
not in this world or the next.

(4.40. BGM, 54)

Learned men see with an equal eye              
a scholarly and dignified priest,            
a cow, an elephant, a dog,
and even an outcaste scavenger.

(5.18. BGM, 59)

Delights from external objects
are wombs of suffering;
in their beginning is their end,
and no wise man delights from them.

(5.22. BGM, 60)

Disciplining himself,
his mind controlled,
a man of discipline finds peace,           
the pure calm that exists in me.           

Gluttons have no discipline,         
nor the man who starves himself,
nor he who sleeps excessively      
or suffers wakefulness.

(6.15-16. BGM, 65)

Krishna, the mind is faltering,
violent, strong, and stubborn;
I find it as difficult
to hold as the wind.

(6.34. BGM, 67)

I grant unwavering faith
to any devoted man who wants
to worship any form
with faith.

Disciplined by that faith,
he seeks the deity’s favor;
this secured, he gains desires
that I myself grant.

But finite is the reward
that comes to men of little wit;
men who sacrifice to gods reach the gods;
those devoted to me reach me.

Men without understanding think that I am
unmanifest nature become manifest;
they are ignorant of my higher existence,
my pure, unchanging absolute being.

Veiled in the magic of my discipline,     
I elude most men;
this deluded world is not aware            
that I am unborn and immutable.           

I know all creatures
that have been, that now exist,
and that are yet to be;
but, Arjuna, no one knows me.

(7.21-26. BGM, 73-4)

When devoted men sacrifice
to other deities with faith,
they sacrifice to me, Arjuna,
however aberrant the rites.          

I am the enjoyer
and the lord of all sacrifices;
they do not know me in reality,
and so they fail.

Votaries of the gods go to the gods,             
ancestor-worshippers go to the ancestors,
those who propitiate ghosts go to them,         
and my worshippers go to me.

(9.23-25. BGM, 86)

If he is devoted solely to me,
even a violent criminal                
must be deemed a man of virtue,
for his resolve is right.

His spirit quickens to sacred duty,                
and he finds eternal peace;
Arjuna, know that no one
devoted to me is lost.

(9:30-1. BGM, 87)

I am time grown old,

creating world destruction,

set in motion

to annihilate the worlds;

even without you,

all these warriors

arrayed in hostile ranks

will cease to exist.

(11.32. BGM, 103)

Not through sacred lore,

penances, charity, or sacrificial rites

can I be seen in the form

that you saw me.

By devotion alone

can I, as I really am,

be known and seen

and entered into, Arjuna.

(11.53-54. BGM, 108)

One who bears hate for no creature

is friendly, compassionate, unselfish,

free of individuality, patient,

the same in suffering and joy.

Content always, disciplined,

self-controlled, firm in his resolve,

his mind and understanding dedicated to me,

devoted to me, he is dear to me.

The world does not flee from him,

nor does he flee from the world;

free of delight, rage, fear,

and disgust, he is dear to me.

Disinterested, pure, skilled,

indifferent, untroubled,

relinquishing all involvements,

devoted to me, he is dear to me.

He does not rejoice or hate,

grieve or feel desire;

relinquishing fortune and misfortune,

the man of devotion is dear to me.

(12:13-17. BGM, 112-113)

The three gates of hell
that destroy the self
are desire, anger, and greed;
one must relinquish all three.

(16.21. BGM, 135)

Let tradition be your standard
in judging what to do or avoid;
knowing the norms of tradition,
perform your action here.

(16.24. BGM, 135)

Arjuna, a man should not relinquish
action he is born to, even if it is flawed;
all undertakings are marred by a flaw,
as fire is obscured by smoke.

(18.48. BGM, 150)
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One day when Rama and the other little sons of the cowherds were playing, they reported to his mother, “Krishna has eaten dirt.” Yasoda took Krishna by the hand and scolded him, for his own good, and she said to him, seeing that his eyes were bewildered with fear, “Naughty boy, why have you secretly eaten dirt?.” Krishna said, “Mother, I have not eaten. They are all lying. If you think they speak the truth, look at my mouth yourself” “If that is the case, then open your mouth,” she said to the Lord Hari [Vishnu], the God of unchallenged sovereignty who had in sport taken the form of a human child, and He opened his mouth.

She then saw in his mouth the whole eternal universe, and heaven, and the regions of the sky, and the orbit of the earth with its mountains, islands, and oceans; she saw the wind, and lightning, and the moon and stars, and the zodiac; and water and fire and air and space itself; she saw the vacillating senses, the mind, the elements, and the three strands of matter. She saw within the body of her son, in his gaping mouth, the whole universe in all its variety, with all the forms of life and time and nature and action and hopes, and her own village, and herself. Then she became afraid and confused, thinking, “Is this a dream, or an illusion wrought by a god? Or is it a delusion of my own perception? Or is it some portent of the natural powers of this little boy, my son? I bow down to the feet of the god, whose nature cannot be imagined or grasped by mind, heart, acts, or speech; he in whom all of this universe is inherent, impossible to fathom. The god is my refuge, he through whose power of delusion there arise in me such false beliefs as “I”, “This is my husband”, “This is my son”, “I am the wife of the village chieftain and all his wealth is mine, including these cow-herds and their wives and their wealth of cattle.” ‘

When the cow-herd’s wife had come to understand the true essence in this way, the lord spread his magic illusion in the form of maternal affection. Instantly the cow-herd’s wife lost her memory of what had occurred and took her son on her lap. (HMWD, 219-221)

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Yajnavalkya called on Janaka, Emperor of Videha. He said to himself: “I will not say anything.” But once upon a time Janaka, Emperor of Videha and Yajnavalkya had had a talk about the Agnihotra sacrifice and Yajnavalkya had offered him a boon. Janaka had chosen the right to ask him any questions he wished and Yajnavalkya had granted him the boon. So it was the Emperor who first questioned him.

“Yajnavalkya, what serves as light for a man?”

“The light of the sun, O Emperor,” said Yajnavalkya, “for with the sun as light he sits, goes out, works and returns.”

“Just so, Yajnavalkya.”

“When the sun has set, Yajnavalkya, what serves as light for a man?”

“The moon serves as his light, for with the moon as light he sits, goes out, works and returns.”

“Just so, Yajnavalkya.”

“When the sun has set and the moon has set, Yajnavalkya, what serves as light for a man?”

“Fire serves as his light, for with fire as light he sits, goes out, works and returns.”

“Just so, Yajnavalkya.”

“When the sun has set, Yajnavalkya and the moon has set and the fire has gone out, what serves as light for a man?”

“Speech (sound) serves as his light, for with speech as light he sits, goes out, works and returns. Therefore, Your Majesty, when one cannot see even one’s own hand, yet when a sound is uttered, one can go there.”

“Just so, Yajnavalkya.”

“When the sun has set, Yajnavalkya and the moon has set and the fire has gone out and speech has stopped, what serves as light for a man?”

“The self, indeed, is his light, for with the self as light he sits, goes out, works and returns.”

“Which is the self?”

“This purusha which is identified with the intellect (vijnanamaya) and is in the midst of the organs, the self—indulgent light within the heart (intellect). Assuming the likeness of the intellect, it wanders between the two worlds; it thinks, as it were and moves, as it were being identified with dreams, it transcends this waking world, which represents the forms of death (ignorance and its effects). (4.3.1-7. UP3SN, 261-64)

“That indeed is his form—free from desires, free from evils, free from fear. As a man fully embraced by his beloved wife knows nothing that is without, nothing that is within, so does this infinite being (the self), when fully embraced by the Supreme Self, know nothing that is without, nothing that is within. (4.3.21. UP3SN, 276)

“And just as a leech moving on a blade of grass reaches its end, takes hold of another and draws itself together towards it, so does the self, after throwing off this body, that is to say, after making it unconscious, take hold of another support and draw itself together towards it.” (4.4.3. UP3SN, 290-1)

“Regarding this there are the following verses:

“When all the desires that dwell in his heart are got rid of, then does the mortal man become immortal and attain Brahman in this very body.’

“Just as the slough of a snake lies, dead and cast away, on an ant—hill, even so lies this body. Then the self becomes disembodied and immortal Spirit, the Supreme Self (Prana), Brahman, the Light.”

Janaka, Emperor of Videha, said: “I give you, venerable Sir, a thousand cows.” (4.4.7. UP3SN, 295)

That which is the desire for sons is the desire for wealth and that which is the desire for wealth is the desire for the worlds; for both these, indeed, are but desires. (4.4.22. UP3SN, 302)

The brahmin rejects one who knows him as different from the Self. The kshatriya rejects one who knows him as different from the Self. The worlds reject one who knows them as different from the Self. The gods reject one who knows them as different from the Self. The Vedas reject one who knows them as different from the Self. The beings reject one who knows them as different from the Self. The All rejects one who knows it as different from the Self. This brahmin, this kshatriya, these worlds, these gods, these Vedas, these beings and this All—are that Self. (4.5.7. UP3SN, 310)

“For when there is duality, as it were, then one sees another, one smells another, one tastes another, one speaks to another, one hears another, one thinks of another, one touches another, one knows another. But when to the knower of Brahman everything has become the Self, then what should he see and through what, what should he smell and through what, what should he taste and through what, what should he speak and through what, what should he hear and through what, what should he think and through what, what should he touch and through what, what should he know and through what? Through what should one know That Owing to which all this is known? (4.5.15. UP3SN, 312)

Prajapati had three kinds of offspring: gods, men and demons (asuras). They lived with Prajapati, practising the vows of brahmacharins. After finishing their term, the gods said to him: “Please instruct us, Sir.” To them he uttered the syllable da and asked:
“Have you understood?” They replied: “We have. You said to us, ‘Control yourselves (damyata).’ He said: “Yes, you have understood.”

Then the men said to him: “Please instruct us, Sir” To them he uttered the same syllable da and asked:

“Have you understood?” They replied: “We have. You said to us, ‘Give (datta).’ He said: ‘Yes, you have understood.

Then the demons said to him: “Please instruct us, Sir.” To them he uttered the same syllable da and asked:

“Have you understood?” They replied: “We have. You said to us: ‘Be compassionate (dayadhvam).’ He said: “Yes, you have understood.”

That very thing is repeated even today by the heavenly voice, in the form of thunder, as “Da,” “Da,” “Da,” which means: “Control yourselves,” “Give,” and “Have compassion.” Therefore one should learn these three: self—control, giving and mercy. (5.2.1-3. UP3SN, 321-22)

The door (real nature) of the truth (Satya Brahman) is covered by a golden disc. Open it, O Nourisher! Remove it so that I who have been worshipping the truth may behold it.
O Nourisher! O lone Traveller of the sky! O Controller! O Sun!

O Offspring of Prajapati! Gather your rays. Withdraw your light. I would see through your grace that form of yours which is the most benign. I am indeed He, that purusha who dwells in the sun. I am immortal.

Now when my body falls may my breath return to the all—pervading Prana! May this body, reduced to ashes, return to the earth!

Om. O Fire, who art the symbol Om, O god of deliberations, remember, remember all that I have done.

O Fire, lead us by the good path towards the enjoyment of the fruit of our action. You know, O god, all our deeds. Destroy our sin of deceit. We offer by words repeated salutations to you. (5.15.1. UP3SN, 345)

…but when for the illumined soul the all is dissolved in the Self, who is there to be seen by whom, who is there to be smelt by whom, who is there to be heard by whom, who is there to be spoken to by whom, who is there to be thought of by whom, who is there to be known by whom? (UPPR, 145)

He who dwells on earth, but is separate from the earth, whom the earth does not know, whose body the earth is, and who controls the earth from within—he, the Self, is the Inner Ruler, the Immortal. (UPPR, 157)

Indeed, the Self, in his true nature, is free from craving, free from evil, free from fear. As a man in the embrace of his loving wife knows nothing that is without, nothing that is within, so man in union with the Self knows nothing that is without, nothing that is within, for in that state all desires are satisfied. The Self is his only desire; he is free from craving, he goes beyond sorrow.

        Then father is no father, mother is no mother; worlds disappear, gods disappear, scriptures disappear; the thief is no more, the murderer is no more, castes are no more; no more is there monk or hermit. The Self is then untouched either by good or by evil, and the sorrows of the heart are turned into joy.

        He does not see, nor smell, nor taste, nor speak, nor hear, nor think, nor touch, nor know; for there is nothing separate from him, there is no second. Yet he can see, for sight and he are one; yet he can smell, for smelling and he are one; yet he can taste, for taste and he are one; yet he can speak, for speech and he are one; yet he can hear, for hearing and he are one; yet he can think, for thinking and he are one; yet he can touch, for touching and he are one; yet he can know, for knowing and he are one. Eternal is the light of consciousness; immortal is the Self. (UPPR, 174-5)

As a leech, having reached the end of a blade of grass, takes hold of another blade and draws itself to it, so the Self, having left this body behind it unconscious, takes hold of another body and draws himself to it. (UPPR, 176-7)

As a man’s desire is, so is his destiny. For as his desire is, so is his will; as his will is, so is his deed; and as his deed is, so is his reward, whether good or bad. (UPPR, 177)

Let therefore the wise aspirant, knowing Brahman to be the supreme goal, so shape his life and his conduct that he may attain to him. Let him not seek to know him by arguments, for arguments are idle and vain. (UPPR, 180)

The storm cloud thunders: “Da! Da! Da!—Be self-controlled! Be charitable! Be compassionate!” (UPPR, 183)

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Om. May the different limbs of my body, my tongue, prana, eyes, ears, and my strength, and also all the other sense-organs, be nourished! All, indeed, is Brahman, as is declared in the Upanishads. May I never deny Brahman! May Brahman never deny me! May there never be denial on the part of Brahman! May there never be denial on my part! May all the virtues described in the Upanishads belong to me, who am devoted to Atman! Yea, may they all belong to me!

        Om. Peace! Peace! Peace! (From Invocation. UP4SN, 111)

When I said: “I take refuge in the prana,” prana meant everything that exists here-in that I take refuge.

When I said: “I take refuge in Bhuh,” what I really said was: “I refuge in the earth, the mid-region and heaven.”

Then I said: “I take refuge in Bhuvah,” what I said was: “I take in fire, the air and the sun.”

When I said: “I take refuge in Svah,” what I said was: “I take refuge in the Rig-Veda, Yajur-Veda and Sama-Veda.” That is what I said, yea, that is what I said. (3.15.4-7. UP4SN, 209)

A person indeed, is a sacrifice. (3.16.1. UP4SN, 210)

The pranas (sense-organs) disputed among themselves about who was the best among them, each saying: “I am the best,” “I am the best.”

They went to Prajapati, their progenitor and said: “O revered Sir, who is the best among us?”

He said to them: “He by whose departure the body looks worse than the worst is the best among you.”

The organ of speech departed. After being away for a whole year, it came back and said: “How have you been able to live without me?” The other organs replied: “We lived just as dumb people live, without speaking, but breathing with the prana (nose), seeing with the eye, hearing with the ear and thinking with the mind.” Then the organ of speech entered the body.

The eye departed. After being away for a whole year, it came back and said: “How have you been able to live without me?” The other organs replied: “We lived just as blind people live, without seeing, but breathing with the prana, speaking with the tongue, hearing with the ear and thinking with the mind.” Then the eye entered the body.

The ear went out. After being away for a whole year, it came back and said: “How have you been able to live without me?” The other organs replied: “We lived just as deaf people live, without hearing, but breathing with the prana. Speaking with the tongue, seeing with the eye and thinking with the mind.” Then the ear entered the body.

The mind went out. After being away for a whole year, it came back and said: “How have you been able to live without me?” The other organs replied: “We lived just like children whose minds are not yet formed, without thinking with the mind, but breathing with the prana, speaking with the tongue, seeing with the eye and hearing with the ear.” Then the mind entered the body.

Then as the vital breath was about to depart, he uprooted the organs from their places just as a noble horse tears up the pegs to which its feet are tied. They came to him and said: “Revered Sir, be thou our lord; thou art the best among us. Do not depart from us.”

Then the organ of speech said to him: “That attribute of being most excellent which I possess is thine.”

Then the eye said: “That attribute of firmness which I possess is thine.”

Then the ear said: “That attribute of prosperity which I possess is thine.”
Then the mind said: “That attribute of being the abode which I possess is thine.”

And people do not call them (i.e. the sense-organs) the organs of speech, the eyes, the ears, or the mind, but the pranas. The prana alone is all these. (5.1.6-15. UP4SN, 250-52)

“Just as a bird tied by a string to the hand of the bird-catcher first flies in every direction and then finding no rest anywhere, settles down at the place where it is bound, so also the mind (i.e. the individual soul reflected in the mind), my dear, after flying in every direction and finding no rest anywhere, settles down in the Prana (i.e. Pure Being); for the mind (the individual soul) is fastened to the Prana (Pure Being). (6.8.2. UP4SN, 307)

“Here on earth people describe cows and horses, elephants and gold, slaves and wives, fields and houses, as ‘greatness.’ I do not mean this,” he said, “for in such cases one thing finds its support in another. But what I say is: (7.14.2. UP4SN, 353)

“That infinite, indeed, is below. It is above. It is behind. It is before. It is to the south. It is to the north. The Infinite, indeed, is all this.

“Next follows the instruction about the Infinite with reference to ‘I’:

I, indeed, am below. I am above. I am behind. I am before. I am to the south. I am to the north. I am, indeed, all this. (7.15.1. UP4SN, 353)

May quietness descend upon my limbs,

My speech, my breath, my eyes, my ears;

May all my senses wax clear and strong.

May Brahman show himself unto me.

May I never deny Brahman, nor Brahman me.

I with him and he with me—may we abide always together.

May there be revealed to me,

Who am devoted to Brahman,

The holy truth of the Upanishads.

OM … Peace—peace—peace.

(UPPR, 101)

Smaller than a grain of rice is the Self; smaller than a grain of barley, smaller than a mustard seed, smaller than a canary seed, yea, smaller even than the kernel of a canary seed. Yet again is that Self, within the lotus of my heart, greater than the earth, greater than the heavens, years, greater than all the worlds. (UPPR, 102)

In like manner Sanatkumara taught Narada to meditate on Brahman as power, as food, as water, as fire, as ether, and to meditate on him as memory, as hope, and as the principle of life. (UPPR, 116)

The Infinite is below, above, behind, before, to the right, to the left. I am all this. This infinite is the Self. The Self is below, above, behind, before, to the right, to the left. I am all this. One who knows, meditates upon, and realizes the truth of the Self—such an one delights in the Self, revels in the Self, rejoices in the Self. (UPPR, 118)

As one not knowing that a golden treasure lies buried beneath his feet, may walk over it again and again, yet never find it, so all beings live every moment in the city of Brahman, yet never find him, because of the veil of illusion by which he is concealed. (UPPR, 121-2)

When that boundary is crossed, night becomes day; for the world of Brahman is light itself. (UPPR, 122)

In the world of Brahman there is a lake whose waters are like nectar, and whosoever tastes thereof is straightaway drunk with joy; and beside that lake is a tree which  yields the juice of immortality. In this world they cannot enter who do not practice continence. (UPPR, 123)

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Om. That is full; this is full. This fullness has been projected from that fullness. When this fullness merges in that fullness, all that remains is fullness.

        Om. Peace! Peace! Peace! (From Invocation. UP1SN, 200)

All this-whatever exists in this changing universe-should be covered by the Lord. Protect the Self by renunciation. Lust not after any man’s wealth. (1. UP1SN, 201)

The door of the Truth is covered by a golden disc. Open it, O Nourisher! Remove it so that I who have been worshipping the Truth may behold It. (15. UP1SN, 213)

O Nourisher, lone Traveller of the sky! Controller! O Sun, Offspring of Prajapati! Gather Your rays; withdraw Your light. I would see, through Your grace, that form of Yours which is the fairest. I am indeed He, that Purusha, who dwells there.

Now may my breath return to the all-pervading, immortal Prana! May this body be burnt to ashes! Om. O mind, remember, remember all that I have done. (16-17. UP1SN, 213-14)

The Self is everywhere. Bright is he, bodiless, without scar of imperfection, without bone, without flesh, pure, untouched by evil. (UPPR, 4)

To darkness are they doomed who worship only the body, and to greater darkness they who worship only the spirit. (UPPR, 4)

The face of truth is hidden by thy golden orb, O Sun. That do thou remove, in order that I who am devoted to truth may behold its glory.

O nourisher, only seer, controller of all—O illumining Sun, fountain of life for all creatures—withhold thy light, gather together thy rays. May I behold through thy grace thy most blessed form. The Being that dwells therein—even that Being am I.

Let my life now merge in the all-pervading life. Ashes are my body’s end. OM . . . O mind, remember Brahman. O mind, remember thy past deeds. Remember Brahman. Remember thy past deeds. (UPPR, 5)

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O Nachiketa, after pondering well the pleasures that are or seem to be delightful, you have renounced them all. You have not taken the road abounding in wealth, where many men sink. (1.2.3. UP1SN, 131)

Many there are who do not even hear of Atman; though hearing of Him, many do not comprehend. Wonderful is the expounder and rare the hearer; rare indeed is the experiencer of Atman taught by an able preceptor. (1.2.7. UP1SN, 133)

Atman is subtler than the subtlest and not to be known through argument. (1.2.8. UP1SN, 133)

He is the sun dwelling in the bright heavens. He is the air in the interspace. He is the fire dwelling on earth. He is the guest dwelling in the house. He dwells in men, in the gods, in truth, in the sky. He is born in the water, on earth, in the sacrifice, on the mountains. He is the True and the Great. (2.2.2. UP1SN, 170)

To many it is not given to hear of the Self. Many, though they hear of it, do not understand it. Wonderful is he who speaks of it. Intelligent is he who learns of it. Blessed is he who, taught by a good teacher, is able to understand it. (UPPR, 24)

If the slayer think that he slays, if the slain think that he is slain, neither of them knows the truth. The Self slays not, nor is he slain. (UPPR, 27)

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May I never deny Brahman! May Brahman never deny me! May there never be denial on the part of Brahman! May there never be denial on my part! May all the virtues described in the Upanishads belong to me who am devoted to Brahman! Yea, may they all belong to me!

        Om. Peace! Peace! Peace! (From Invocation. UP1SN, 227)

That which cannot be apprehended by the mind, but by which, they say, the mind is apprehended—That alone know as Brahman, and not that which people here worship. (1.6. UP1SN, 234)

(Ch. 3) Brahman, according to the story, obtained a victory for the gods; and by that victory of Brahman the gods became elated. They said to themselves: “Verily, this victory is ours; verily, this glory is ours only.”

Brahman, to be sure, understood it all and appeared before them. But they did not know who that adorable Spirit was.

They said to Agni (Fire): “O Agni! Find out who this great Spirit is.” “Yes,” he said, and hastened to It. Brahman asked him: “Who are you?” He replied: “I am known as Agni; I am also called Jataveda.” Brahman said: “What power is in you, who are so well known?” Fire replied: “I can burn all-whatever there is on earth.” Brahman put a straw before him and said: “Burn this.” He rushed toward it with all his ardour but could not burn it. Then he returned from the Spirit and said to the gods: “I could not find out who this Spirit is,”

Then they said to Vayu (Air): “O Vayu! Find out who this great Spirit is.” “Yes,” he said, and hastened to It. Brahman asked him: “Who are you?” He replied “I am known as Vayu; I am also called Matarisva.” Brahman said: “What power is in you, who are so well known?” Vayu replied: “I can carry off all-whatever there is on earth.” Brahman put a straw before him and said: “Carry this.” He rushed toward it with all his ardour but could not move it. Then he returned from the Spirit and said to the gods: “I could not find out who this Spirit is,”

Then the gods said to Indra: “O Maghavan! Find out who this great Spirit is.” “Yes,” he said and hastened to It. But the Spirit disappeared from him. Then Indra beheld in that very region of the sky a Woman highly adorned. She was Uma, the daughter of the Himalayas. He approached Her and said: “Who is this great Spirit?”

(Ch. 4) She replied: “It is, indeed, Brahman. Through the victory of Brahman alone have you attained glory.” After that Indra understood that It was Brahman.

Since they approached very near Brahman and were the first to know that It was Brahman, these devas, namely, Agni, Vayu, and Indra, excelled the other gods.

Since Indra approached Brahman nearest, and since he was the first to know that It was Brahman, Indra excelled the other gods.

This is the instruction about Brahman with regard to the gods: It is like a flash of lightning; It is like a wink of the eye.

Now the instruction about Brahman with regard to the individual self: The mind, as it were, goes to Brahman. The seeker, by means of the mind, communes with It intimately again and again. This should be the volition of his mind.

That Brahman is called Tadvana, the Adorable of all; It should be worshipped by the name of Tadvana. All creatures desire him who worships Brahman thus.

The disciple said; ‘Teach me, sir, the Upanishad.” The preceptor replied: “I have already told you the Upanishad. I have certainly told you the Upanishad about Brahman.”

Austerities, self-restraint, and sacrificial rites are Its feet, and the Vedas are all Its limbs. Truth is Its abode.

He who thus knows this Upanishad shakes off all sins and becomes firmly established in the infinite and the highest Heaven, yea, the highest Heaven. (Ch. 3-4. UP1SN, 241-48)

May quietness descend upon my limbs,
My speech, my breath, my eyes, my ears;
May all my senses wax clear and strong.
May Brahman show himself unto me.
Never may I deny Brahman, nor Brahman me.
I with him and he with me—may be abide always together.
May there be revealed to me,
Who am devoted to Brahman,
The holy truth of the Upanishads
OM . . . Peace—peace—peace.

(UPPR, 9)

Brahman is not the being who is worshiped of men. (UPPR, 10)

If you think that you know well the truth of Brahman, know that you know little. What you think to be Brahman in your self, or what you think to be Brahman in the Gods—that is not Brahman. What is indeed the truth of Brahman you must therefore learn. (UPPR, 10)

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But as the noble Brahma suppressed the fire born of his anger, from all the apertures of his body a dark woman appeared, wearing red garments, with red eyes and red palms and soles, adorned with divine ear-rings and ornaments. As she came forth from the apertures she went to Brahma’s right, and the two gods, lords of everything, looked at the maiden. Then the god, the first, the lord of people, summoned her and said, ‘Death, kill these creatures. I thought of you when I was angrily devising a means of destruction; therefore, destroy all creatures, imbeciles and scholars. In your passionate anger, destroy creatures without exception, and by my command you will win great merit.’ Then the young goddess Death began to brood in sorrow. Wearing garlands of lotuses, she wept copious tears, which she took in her hands as she prayed for the sake of the welfare of mankind.

The wide-eyed, fragile woman, suppressing her extreme grief, joined her palms and bent like a vine, saying, ‘How could you, the Foremost of Speakers, have created a woman like me, to carry out such a hideous task, terrifying all creatures that breathe? I am afraid of violating dharma; appoint for me some task in keeping with dharma. Look upon me with a compassionate gaze, O lord, for I am so frightened. I cannot carry off guiltless children and old men and those in their prime, creatures who breathe, O lord of those who breathe. I beg you; have mercy on me. The beloved sons, friends, brothers, mothers, and fathers of the dead will think evil of me, O god, and I fear the dead whom they mourn. The moisture of their pitiable tears will scorch me for eternal years; I am terribly afraid of them, and I seek refuge with you. Those who have committed sins go at the end to the house of Yama; have mercy on me, O god, giver of boons; show your grace to me. This is the boon that I wish from you, Grandfather of all people, lord of gods; by your grace, I wish to practice asceticism.’

The Grandfather said, ‘Death, I fashioned you in order to destroy creatures. Go and destroy all creatures, and do not delay. This must be, inevitably, and cannot be otherwise. Sinless one with faultless limbs, do as I have told you to do.’

[…and after various ascetic practices, etc.…] Then she began to destroy the life’s breath of creatures that breathe, at the time of their end, bewildering them with desire and anger. And the teardrops fallen from Death became diseases which injure the bodies of men... Thus death was created by the god, and when the appointed time has come she destroys creatures as is proper; and the tears she shed are the diseases which destroy creatures when the proper time has come.” (HMWD, 39-41, 42-3)

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Om. May we, O gods, hear with our ears what is auspicious! May we, O worshipful gods, see with our eyes what is good! May we, strong in limbs and body, sing your praise and enjoy the life allotted to us by Prajapati!
Om. Peace! Peace! Peace! (From Invocation. UP1SN, 259)

Two birds, united always and known by the same name, closely cling to the same tree. One of them eats the sweet fruit; the other looks on without eating. (3.1.1. UP1SN, 297)

He who knows the Supreme Brahman verily becomes Brahman. In his family no one is born ignorant of Brahman. He overcomes grief; he overcomes evil; free from the fetters of the heart, he becomes immortal. (3.2.9. UP1SN, 309)

Finite and transient are the fruits of sacrificial rites. The deluded, who regard them as the highest good, remain subject to birth and death. (UPPR, 60)

Considering religion to be observance of rituals and performance of acts of charity, the deluded remain ignorant of the highest good. (UPPR, 61)

Let a man devoted to spiritual life examine carefully the ephemeral nature of such enjoyment, whether here or hereafter, as may be won by good works, and so realize that it is not by works that one gains the Eternal. (UPPR, 61)

Like two birds of golden plumage, inseparable companions, the individual self and the immortal Self are perched on the branches of the selfsame tree. The former tastes of the sweet and bitter fruits of the tree; the latter, tasting of neither, calmly observes. (UPPR, 65-66)

The eyes do not see him, speech cannot utter him, the senses cannot reach him. (UPPR, 67)

He who knows Brahman becomes Brahman. (UPPR, 69)
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But those who seek the Self through austerity, chastity, faith and knowledge travel by the Northern Path and win the Sun. The Sun, verily, is the support of all lives. He is immortal and fearless; He is the final goal. Thence they do not return. This path is blocked for the ignorant. Concerning it there is the following verse: (1.10. UP2SN, 159)