Taittiriyopanisad

By Swami Sarvananda

Taittiriyopanishad belongs to Taittiriyo school of the Yajurveda and the name. It is divided into three chapters and 31 sections of which the first chapter Sikhsavalli containing 12 chapters deals with sikhsa or the study of phonetics or pronunciation which is an important branch of the vedic studies. The second chapter Brahmandavalli is divided into nine sections. It deals with various aspects of Brahmanda the Universal Egg or manifest Brahman such as the course of the evolution matter and life life and mind Brahman as the source of creation and so on. The third chapter is named Bhriguvalli. It is divided into ten sections which deal with an enquiry of Brahman by Sage Bhrigu in a conversation with his father Varuna.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Nov 11, 2014
• ISBN: 9781312659872

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VALLI

TAITTIRĪYOPANIṢAD

CHAPTER ONE (SĪKSĀ-VALLĪ OR

SĀMHITĪ UPANISAD)

LESSON ONE

ह॒रि॒: ॐ ।। शं नो॑ मि॒त्रः शं वरु॑णः । शं नो॑ भवत्वर्य॒मा । शं न॒ इन्द्रो॒ बृह॒स्पति॑: । शं नो॒ विष्णु॑रुरुक्र॒मः ।। नमो॒ ब्रह्म॑णे । नम॑स्ते वायो । त्वमे॒व प्र॒त्यक्षं॒ ब्रह्मा॑सि । त्वामे॒व प्र॒त्यक्षं॒ ब्रह्म॑ व॑दिष्यामि । ऋ॒तं व॑दिष्यामि । स॒त्य व॑दिष्यामि । तन्माम॑वतु । तद्व॒क्तार॑मवतु । अव॑तु॒ माम् । अव॑तु व॒क्तारम्᳚ ।। ॐ शान्ति॒: शान्ति॒: शान्ति॑: ।। इति प्रथमोऽनुवाकः ।।

Hariḥ om II śaṁ no mitraḥ śaṁ varuṇaḥ. śaṁ no bhavatvaryamā. śaṁ na indro bṛhaspatiḥ. śaṁ no viṣṇururukramaḥ. namo brahmaṇe. namaste vāyo. tvameva pratyakṣam brahmāsi, tvāmeva pratyakṣaṁ brahma vadiṣyāmi. ṛtaṁ vadiṣyāmi. satyaṁ vadiṣyāmi. tanmāmavatu. tadvaktāramavatu. avatu mām. avatu vaktāram.Om śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ||

iti prathamo’nuvākaḥ

मित्रः mitra ḥ Mitra नः naḥ to us शम् śam lit. happiness, bliss) propitious (भवतु bhavatu may be). वरुणः varuṇaḥ Varuna (नः naḥ to us) शम् śam auspicious (भवतु bhavatu may be). अर्यमा Aryamā Aryaman नः naḥ to us शम् śam propitious (भवतु bhavatu may be). बृहस्पति Bṛhaspatiḥ Brihaspati (न: naḥ to us) शाम् śam propitious भवतु bhavatu may be). उरुक्रमः urukramaḥ wide-stretching, all-pervading विष्णु: Viṣṇuḥ Vishnu नः naḥ to us शम् śam propitious (भवतु bhavatu may be). ब्रह्मणे brahmaṇe to Brahman नमः namaḥ I bow down. (हे) (he) वायो vāyo O Vāyu ते te to thee नमः namaḥ I bow down. त्वम् tvam thou एव eva verily प्रत्यक्षम् pratyakṣam visible ब्रह्म brahma Brahman असि asi art. त्वाम् tvām thee एव eva verily प्रत्यक्षम् pratyakṣam perceptible ब्रह्म brahma Brahman वदिष्यामि vadiṣyāmi I shall declare. (त्वाम् tvām thee एव eva verily) ऋतम् ṛtam the right वदिष्यामि vadiṣyāmi I shall declare. त्वाम् tvām thee एव eva verily) सत्यम् satyam the true and the good वदिष्यामि vadiṣyāmi I shall declare. तत् tat that (Brahman) माम mām me अवतु avatu may protect. तत् tat that (Brahman) वक्तारम् vaktāram teacher अवतु avatu may protect अवतु avatu may protect. माम् mām me अवतु avatu may protect वक्तारम् vaktāram teacher. ॐ Om Om शान्तिः śāntiḥ peace शान्तिः śāntiḥ peace शान्तिः śāntiḥ peace.

May Mitra, Varuna, Aryaman, Indra, Brhas- pati, and all-pervading Viṣṇu be¹ propitious to us and grant us welfare and bliss. I bow down to Brahman in loving reverence. O Vayu, I bow down to Thee in adoration. Thou verily art Brahman perceptible. I shall declare: Thou² art the right; Thou art the true and the good. May that Universal Being entitled Vayu preserve me. May He preserve the teacher. Me, may Brahman protect; my teacher, may He protect. Om³ Peace, Peace. Peace.

[NOTES—The original place of the first invocatory verse is in the Ṛgveda, I. 90. 9 The deities invoked here may be regarded as the delegates among whom the Supreme distributes some of His powers They might also be conceived as manifestations of the One who lives behind them. Ṛgveda, I. 164. 46 declares that Indra, Mitra, Varuṇa, and the rest are but modes of the One, named variously by the sages. Mitra, Varuṇa, and Aryaman are three of the Ādityas or deities of the heavenly sphere mentioned in the Ṛgveda, Mitra is the guardian spirit of the prāṇavṛtti, or the in-breathing and the day. He calls men to activity, sustains earth and sky, and beholds all with unwinking eyes. Varuṇa governs the night and the breathing out. He is commonly associated with Mitra, and is celebrated as the king of gods and the lord of the universe. In the hymns several grand attributes and functions are ascribed to him, such as presiding over the waters in the firmament and the sea, upholding heaven and earth possessing extraordinary power and wisdom, hating falsehood, seizing transgressors with his pāśa (noose), pardoning sin, and bestowing immortality. Aryaman is the regent of the sun and the eyes. He is the chief of the Pitṛs (manes), and the Milky Way is called his path he is the ruling deity in the sun as well as in the eyes. Indra is the governor of the atmosphere and the upper regions; he presides over the gods. A vanquisher of the demons of darkness and a benefactor of man, his power and energy are devoutly praised in the Vedas, and he is most frequently invoked. Bṛhaspati is the deity in whom piety and religion are personified, and also the god of wisdom and eloquence. He is therefore deemed appropriately the genius of speech and intellect, while Indra is considered that of strength, of the hands. Viṣṇu is often invoked with Indra. He is the personification of the light and the sun, especially in his striding over heaven in three steps, ‘explained as denoting the threefold manifestation of light in the form of fire, lightning, and the sun, or as designating the three daily stations of the sun in his rising, culminating, and setting’. He is also considered the chief of the Ādityas and the guardian spirit of the feet; and finally he is identified with the supreme all-pervading Reality. Just as man is looked upon as a universe in epitome, the deities that rule over the cosmic functions are also conceived to have their corresponding rulership in the personality of man. Hence it is appropriate that these gods are propitiated so that by their grace physical health is attained, without which strenuous effort for the attainment of the highest wisdom is not