AN EARLY UPANISADIC RE,ADER With notes, glossary, and an appendix of related Vedic texts Editedfor the useof Sanskritstudents asa supplementto Lanman'sSariskr it Reader HaNs Flrrunrcn Hocr l l, l i ll MOTILAL BANARSIDASSPUBLISHERS PRIVATE LIMITED . DELHI First Edition : DeLhi 2007 Contents Preface lx Introduction 1 O by Hansllenrich I tock The Texts 25 I: The mystical significanceof the sacrificialhorse (BAU (M) 1:1) 27 ISBN:8l-208 3213,2 (llB) II: A creationmyth associatedwith the agnicayanaand a6vamedha ISBN:81-208321+0 (PB) (from BAU (M) 1:2) 28 III: 'Lead me from untruth(or non-being)to truth(or being) ...' (fromBAU (M) 1:3) 29 MOTILAI, BANARSIDASS IV: Anothercreation myth: The underlying oneness (BAU (M) 1:4) 29 4l U.A. Btrngalow Road, Jawahar Nagar, Dclhi t i0 007 V: A brahminturns to a ksatriyaas teacher, and the parable of Mahalami 8 Chmber, 22 Bhulabhai Desi Road, lvlumbai 400 02ii the sleepingman (from BAU (M) 2:l) 203 Royapetrah High Road, N{ylapore, Chennai 600 004 33 236, 9th N{ain III Block,Jayanagar, Bangalore 560 0l I VI: Yajnavalkyaand Maitreyi (BAU (M) 2:a) J+ Sanas Plaza, 1302 Baji Rao Road, pune 4l I 002 8 Camac Street, Kolkara 700 0 I 7 VII: Ydjffavalkya'sdisputations at the assemblyof King Janaka,1: Ashok Rajparh, Patna 800 004 The cows andthe hotr A6vala(BAU (M) 3:l) 36 Chowk, Varanasi 221 001 VIII: Yajfravalkya'sdisputations at the assemblyof King Janaka,2: Releasefrom "re-death"(BAU (M) 3:3) 38 IX Ydjfravalkya'sdisputations at the assemblyof King Janaka,3: VacaknaviGargi challengesYajfravalkya (BAU (M) 3:8) 39 X: Yajiiavalkya'sdisputations at the assemblyof King Janaka,4: Afr ifr, and VidagdhaSakalya's head flies apart(from BAU (M) 3:9) 40 XI: The beginningof Svetaketu'sinstruction in the transcendental unity of everything(from ChU 6:1-2) 42 XII: The parablesof the fig treeand of the salt,and ilr"trTR (ChU 6:12and 13) +J XIII: The significanceof 3:r (ChU 1:1 with parallelsfrom the Jaiminiya-, , Jaiminiya-Upanisad-,and Aitareya-Brahmanas,and from the Taittiriya- Aranyaka) 44 l. Chdndogya-Upanisad1:1 44 2. Jaiminiya-Brahmana3:321-322 +J^< 3. Jaiminiya-Upanisad-Brahmalal:1:1:1-5 an<I 3:4:5:6-7 45 4. Aitareya-Brahmalra5:3I:l-2 46 PRINTED IN INI)IA (Taittiriya-Upanisad pRA(ASH 5. Taittiriya-Aranyaka7:8:l 1:8:l) 46 BYJAINENDM JAIN AT sHRtjAjNF.NI)R.\ pRESS, A45 NAR,A.INA,PHASF,,I, NF,W DELHI ] IO 028 XIV: Mysticalpassages (BAU (M) 5:1 and5:2) 46 AND PUBLISHED pR"{t(ASH lly NARI.NDR{ JAIN FOR IVIOTILAL BAr\ARSIDASS PURLISIIERS PRTATE LINilTED, XV: The significanceof the Gayatri,and mysticalknowledge saves BTINC;AIOW ROAD, DELHI I]O(]{)? eventhe sinner(from BAU (M) 5:15) 41 XVI: The dogs' sacrifice:a satiricalview of ritual (ChU 1:12) 48 vl An Earlv UoanisadicReader Contents XVII: Reincarnationand karman, 1: Two closelyrelated passages J. Ritualistpassages connected with the agnicayanathat "put it all from BAU (M) 6:1 andChU 5:3-10 48 together" (from Satapatha-Brahmala(M) 6 and 10) 74 A: The Brhad-Aralyaka-Upanisadversion 48 K. A late upanipadicpassage that "puts it all together"(from Subala B: Selectionsfrom the Chdndogya-Upanisadversion 51 Upanipad1 - 3) XVIII: Reincarnationand karman.2: Selectionsfrom KU I 53 Notes 81 XIX: Identificationwith a personalGod anddt 56{k GeneralNotes 83 = (BAU (K) 5:15 VS (K) 40:l:15-18) Notesfor SelectionI 88 APPENDIX:Related texts, mainly from earlierVedic literature,with Notes for SelectionII 90 translations 56 Notes for SelectionIII 92 q) A. Weddingmantras 56 Notesfor SelectionIV I . Atharva-Veda14:2:7I 56 Notesfor SelectionV 97 2. A(valayanaGrhya-Sltra 1:7 (Lanman p. 99, line 2-5) 56 Notes for SelectionVI 99 3. Jaiminiya-Upanisad-Brahma4al:17:l 56 Notesfor SelectionVII r03 'coupling' B. Rrtual 5l Notes for SelectionVIII 105 l. An ordinaryritualist example (from SB (M) 1:1:1) 58 Notesfor SelectionIX 106 2. An interestingvariant: The pairing of numbers ' Notes for SelectionX 108 (Jaiminiya-B rahmal a 2 :29l -292) 58 Notesfor SelectionXI 113 C. More on dF andother 'ritual particles' 60 Notes for SelectionXII t14 1. Someearly uses of on 60 Notes for SelectionXIII 116 a. From Maitrayani-Sarirhita4:9 and l:414:l 60 Notesfor SelectionXIV 120 b. From Aitareya-Brahma4a3:12:l-4, 60 Notesfor SelectionXV r2l c. The "nyDnkha",from A6valayana-Srauta-Sutral:17:.7 61 Notesfor SelectionXVI t22 2. Someother ritual particle 61 Notesfor SelectionXVII:A tz3 3. Mystical speculationson someritual particlesI: 6-I 61 SelectionXVII:B t28 - Notesfor 4. Mysticalspeculations on someritual particles, II; 3TI QI OJ Notesfor SelectionXVIII 131 D. The Gayatrior Savitri (from RV 3:62) 63 Notesfor SelectionXIX 134 E. 'Lead me from untruthto truth ...' 64 Notesfor SelectionXX t31 1. Rg-Veda7:59:12 64 Glossary t4r 2. Rg-Veda8:48:3 64 185 3. A ritualistpassage (Maitrayani-Sarirhita l:4:2) o+ References to Resources, Editions, and Translations 4. Anotherritualist passage (Satapatha-Brahmala (M) l:1:1:4) 65 Indices t93 F. Rg-Vedicbrahmodyas (from RV l:164) 65 GeneralIndex 195 G. The Purusa-Sukta(RV 10:90) 67 Languageand Grammarlndex 201 H. Being andnon-being 69 1. The nasadiya-s[kta(RV L0:129) 69 2. 3T€kt: Tqqf{d (from RV 10:72) 7l 3. 3T€l€l€EI (from RV l0:5) 12 I. trwq-{q andEF=qqFIfr (fromRV 10:121) 73 Preface The great upanisadsof the late Vedic period take a position in the literary and I that can be characterizedas Janus-facedin western I philosophicaltradition of Sanskrit t i termsor, in Indian terms, as ?gfif,fq, a tight on the thresholdwhich illuminatesboth what is behind and in front. From one perspectivethe early upanisadsconstitute the end - accordingto some,the culmination- of the long and prolific Vedic period.From a different point of view they are the starting point for a philosophical tradition that pervadesall of post-VedicIndia, whetherorthodox (Hindu) or heterodox(Buddhist and Jaina). It is here that the questionof the transcendentalunity behind the greatdiversity of the phenomenalworld is systematicallyaddressed. The issuehad, of course,been moot- ed in the earlier Vedic tradition,especially under the headinga?m1 'that one (entity)' from which everythinghas evolved.But it is in the late Vedic upanigadsthat the issueis met head-on,with various competing characterizationsof ai+1 as Brahman,Atman, dF, and even more profoundly, as beyondany positivedefinition, describableonly neg- :A..\A- allvelyas 4lct dld anotne llKe. It is here, too, that the important conceptsof karman and reincarnationare first formulated, concepts that are foundational to all post-Vedic Indian religions. Again, there were earlier Vedic antecedents,especially in the later portions of the Brahmalas. Most notableamong theseis the conceptof {a{i{, repeateddeath in "yonder worid" which deprivesthe deceasedof immortality. But again,it is only in the late Vedic upa- l nisadsthat coherenttheories of qAd;{ 'rebirth', basedon the nature of one's +dq., l are beginning to be developed.(The term usedby the early upanisadsactually is tI4tT- l Efr 'returning'.) Just as the early upanisadsof the late Vedic era are a point of transitionin Indian religious thinking, so they also constitutea transitionalperiod in terms of their gram- mar and languageuse. Featuresof Vedic grammar and diction coexist with rhetorical strategiesancl methods of argumentationthat characterizepost-Vedic Sastrictexts. The early upanisads,therefore, offer an excellent entry point to the Vedic languagefor studentsfamiliar with ClassicalSanskrit. It is for these reasons that some ten years ago I began preparing this Early Upanisadic Reader, for studentswho had completed the better part of two years of ClassicalSanskrit instruction at the University of Illinois' I have benefitedfrom my students'feedback, even though - s1 fss4use- in the early years it often expresseditself as deepfrustration with trying to make senseof the An Early Upanisadic Reader texts, their "alien" grammar and diction, and their "arcane" subjectmatter. I have also profited from feedbackby my teachingassociates, Yasuko Suzuki and SarahTsiang. I am especiallygrateful to SarahTsiang who madecopious suggestions for improving the explanatoryNotes and the Glossary,and who painstakinglywent over the entire text in searchof misprints,ambiguities, and other infelicities.In fact, the idea of a self-con- tained Glossarycame from SarahTsiang, and she also contributedthe large majority of the entries. If the presentform of the Readeris able to accomplishits goal of providing a helpful introductionto the early upanisadsand to the Vedic languagein general,the credit must go to my students,to Yasuko Suzuki, and especiallyto SarahTsiang. I have to take the responsibilityfor any problemsthat remain. Finally, let me expressmy deepestgratitude to my wife, Zarina,and to our son, Heinrich Sharad,for their love and support. Introduction HansHenrich Hock (Urbana-Champaign,Summer 2005) er{iir qTqtrTq d'T€irqr drftrulqq 1dqhii rnq Introduction- 1. The Purpose of this Reader Sinceits publicationin 1884,Lanman's Sanskrit Reader'has been the most widely usedEnglish-language introduction to original Sanskrittexts. What has beenespecially useful for beginning studentsare the copious notesand the glossary,as well as helpful referencesto Whitney's Sanskrit Grammar. Even so, studentsand teachersalike have had problemswith some aspectsof Lanman's Reader,including the fact that it refers to the first edition of Whitney's Grammar, not the secondone, which appearedin 1889,'? five yearsafter Lanman's Reader.More important,many studentstoday do not have the backgroundin classical Greek and Latin that could be taken for grantedin Lanman's and Whitney's times; the work of Sanskritscholars since the 1880shas in many cases producedbetter editions of the texts that Lanman incorporatedin his Reader; and even more significant, this more recent work has had a profound impact on our under- standingof the texts. A new, updatededition thereforewould be highly desirable.The presentReader has a more modestgoal - to add to Lanman'sVedic selectionsand, in so doing, to offer beginning Sanskritstudents an avenueto the Vedic languagewhich, I hope,they will find more accessible.