Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

THE BIJHADARA~YAKA UPANISAD WITH THE COMMENTRY OF SANKARA.CA.RYA Translated by SWAMIMA.DHAVA.NANDA WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY MAHAMAHOPADHYAYA PROF. S. KUPPUSWAMI SA.STRI, M.A., I.E.s. Vidya-vacaspati, Dal"Sana-kalanidhi, Kulapati ADVAIT•A ASHRAMA MAYAVATI, ALMORA, HIMALAYAS Published by SWAMI YoGESHWARANANDA .ADVAITA ASHRAMA, MAYAVATI ALMORA, HIMALAYAS All rights reserved THIRD EDITION-1950 Printed in India BY P. C. CHATTERJEE AT THE MODERN ART PRESS I /2, DURGA PITURI LANE CALCUTTA EXTRACTS FROM THE PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION The long-felt want of a reliable, complete English translation of so important a book as Sal)kara's Com mentary on the Brhadaral)yaka Upanisad has urged me to venture on this difficult undertaking. Had the long-promised translation by Dr. Ganganath Jhli., in Mr. Seshachari's series, come out, or had Dr. Ri>er been living to complete, and revise, his translation, which extends only up to the first chapter of the book and is long out of print, or if Prof. Hiriyanna of Mysore had completed his admirable edition, which covers only the first three sections of that chapter, there would have been no necessity for another edition. But since the presentation m English of Sankara's longest and greatest commentary on the Upani!?ads seemed to me to be overdue, I have prepared this edition for the use of ~ose students of Vedanta whose knowledge of Sanskrit is not as high as that of English. Regarding both the text and the commentary care has been taken to make the translation faithful, and as literal as possible consistently with smooth reading. Owing to the difference in structure between Sanskrit and English sentences, great difficulty has been experi enced in those portions where Sankara explains the words of the text. As far as possible, I have tried to make these passages read like a connected piece. For this purpose I have avoided the common practice of transliterating the Sanskrit words as they occur in the ii original text, to be followed by the translation of the explanatory word or words.-a practice which has a very disagreeable jerky effect. Instead I have quoted their equivalents from the running translation of the text. in the order in which they occur there. These have been put in Italics to distinguish them easily from the commentilry. ·The advantage of this direct method will be obvious to every reader. The text of the Upani!?ad has been given in Devaniigari characters, and has been moderately punctuated for easy comprehension. This has neces sitated the disjoining of some words. I have left the full stops practically undisturbed. The text is followed by the running translation in comparatively large types. Next comes the translation of the commentary in smaller types. I have mainly used Ashtekar's edition, though I have also consulted the A.nandiisrama edition. Words supplied to complete the sense as well as those that are explanatory have been put in brackets. Some passages, of both text and commen tary, although possessing a deep spiritual significance, have been omitted in the translation to suit the exigen cies of modern taste. Extra space between portions of the commentary indicates that the commentary that follows is introductory to the next paragraph of the text. The use of capitals in English has presented an additional difficulty. The same word 'self,' for in stance, has had to be used sometimes with a capital and sometimes witl;wut it, according as it signifies the individual or the Supreme Self. Occasionally both 111 forms have had to be used in the same sentence, where the popular conception about the self as being ~imited has been corrected 'by a presentment of the truth that the two are identical. Those to whom this distinction of capital and small letters appears as puzzling will do well to ignore it altogether. The same remark applies to the question of gender, which in Sanskrit belongs to the word itself. In translation the gender has often had to be varied according to the English idiom, pro ducing sometimes an unpleasant effect owing to a sudden translation. I have tried my best to make the translation lucid. For this reason I have avoided the repetition of Sanskrit terms as far as possible, and substituted their nearest English equivalents. This has entailed on me the additional labour of finding out the exact sense of a word at a particular place. Lengthy discussions have been split up into paragraphs, differentiating the prima facie views from the conclusion. To effect a strict economy of space I have deliberately confined myself to the fewest notes possible. But I believe none that were essential have been omitted. In such a difficult study as this much is necessarily left to the good sense of the reader. My aim throughout has been practical rather than scholastic. I have generally followed the gloss of .Anandagiri and, wherever necessary, the great Viirttika of Sure5- varacarya-two invaluable works on this Upan~ad. But I must confess that in a few places I have been obliged to depart from them, as a different explanation seemed to me to be more in keeping with the drift of iV SaJikara and the Upan4ad. The departures are not llo momentous as to require specific mention in every case. ' With regard to passages that needed further illumination, I have consulted eminent scholars. References to the quotations occurring in the commentary have been inserted after almost every quotation, as far as they could be traced. In some places they have been purposely omitted, as they have been mentioned a few lines earlier. Where only figures without the name of any book occur, the refer ences are to the Brhadara1_1yaka Upani~ad, unless there are clear indications to the contrary. The references given are not meant to be exhaustive, except in the case of this Upani~ad. The references to the Satapatha Brah!llal_la belong to the Madhyandina recension, and those of the Mah.abharata to·the Kumbakonam edition. Mahamahopadhyaya Prof S. Kuppuswami SS.stri, M.A., I.E.s., of the Presidency College, Madras, a pro found scholar and well-known authority on Piirva Mimiiihsa and Vedanta, has written a learned and appreciative Introduction, which considerably enhances the value of the book. A fairly exhaustive Index has been added, which, 1 hope, will be found useful. At the top of each page are given references to the opening and closing paragraphs of even and odd pages respectively. I take this opportunity of expressing my deep indebtedness to aU those who have kindly helped me in various ways in preparing this work. Many of them shall be nameless. My special tha~s are due to Prof. Kuppuswami Sistri for giving valuable help in .,. the interpretation of several. di11icult passages as well as for writing the Introduction ; to Mahimahopidhyiya Pal'}.Qita L~mipuran1 Srinivisicar of Mysore fo'r similar assistance in interpretation ; to Pal'].c;lita P. SivasubrahmaJ].ya Sastri of Mysore for this as well as for tracing a number of references ; to Professor Hanns Oertel of Munich and PaJ].c;lita Ridhaprasada Sistri of the Banaras Hindu University for furnishing a few more references ; to Pal'}."ita P. Narayana Siistri and Mr. V. SubrahmaJ].ya Iyer of Mysore for helping in other ways. But for their kindness it would have been almost impossible for me to fulfil my task with any degree of satisfaction. It is scarcely necessary to add that the present translation is meant only to facilitate the study of the original commentary, and should better be read along with it. I shall be glad to have any inaccuracies pointed out and the untraced quotations located. It is earnestly hoped that the book in its present form will supply a much-needed want and help people of both Vedanta philosophy and Satikara's unique contnbu tion to it. July, 1934 MADHAVANA!mA PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION The first edition being exhausted within a com paratively short period, a second edition is being brought out. In this edition very little change has been made except a slight revision and the addition of a few notes. Diacritic marks have been used in the Sanskrit words, and a key to the transliteration and pronounciation has been added. February, I94I MADHAVANANDA PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION The third edition is coming out after a long delay owing to paper control. In this edition this book has been further revised at a few places. April, I950 M.ADHAVANANDA INTRODUCTION In compliance with the wishes of the learned translator of Sri Sankara's Bhii$ya on the Brhad iiratJyakopani$ad, Swami Sn Miidhavanandaji of the Sri Ramakp;J.la Mission, I have much pleasure 1n writing this short introduction to this English rendering of the Brhadiiratfyaka-bhii$ya. I should first congratulate the translator on the large measure of success which he has achieved in his endeavour to produce a faithful and readable English rendering of the greatest of the Upani!jad-bhii$yas written by Sri Sankaraciirya. Such of the students of the bhii$yas of Sri Sankara as may know English better than Sanskrit will find in this English translation a reliable help to the understanding of the contents of the Brhadiira1Jyaka-bha$ya. The Brhadiirat}yaka IS the greatest of the U.Pa ni$ads; and Sri Sankara's bhii$ya on this Upani!jad is the greatest of his coptmentaries on the Upani$ads. The Brhadiiratfyaka is the greatest not only in extent ; but it is also the greatest in respect of its substance and theme.

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