Aitareya
A short Upaniṣad — the ancient Vedic teachings on the Self — in three chapters: the Self alone was, and sent forth the worlds; how it entered the person by the crown of the head; and the close, "Brahman is consciousness."
Ṛgveda
- Mantra 1Om. In the beginning, this was the Ātma alone — nothing else whatsoever stirred or perceived. He thought: 'Let me now create the worlds.'
- Mantra 2He created these worlds: Ambhas, Marīci, Mara, and Āpas. Ambhas lies beyond heaven, which is its support. The intermediate region is Marīci; earth is…
- Mantra 3He thought: 'Here are these worlds — let me now create their guardians.' So, from the waters themselves, he drew forth the Puruṣa and gave it shape.
- Mantra 4He brooded over that Puruṣa. Under that brooding, the Puruṣa's mouth broke open like an egg. From the mouth came speech; from speech, Agni. The nostri…
- Mantra 1These deities, once created, fell into this vast ocean. He afflicted them with hunger and thirst. They said to him: 'Grant us an abode in which we may…
- Mantra 2He brought a cow to them. They said, 'This is not sufficient for us.' He brought a horse to them. They said, 'This is not sufficient for us.'
- Mantra 3He brought the Puruṣa to them. They said, 'Ah, well made!'—for indeed, the Puruṣa is well made. He said to them: 'Enter, each into your own fitting ab…
- Mantra 4Agni became speech and entered the mouth. Vāyu became Prāṇa and entered the nostrils. Āditya became sight and entered the eyes. The directions became…
- Mantra 5Hunger and thirst said to him: 'Assign a place to us two as well.' He said to them: 'I give you a share among these very deities; I make you partakers…
- Mantra 1He considered: 'Here now are these worlds and their guardians—let me create food for them.'
- Mantra 2He heated those waters; from them, heated, a form (mūrti) was born. That form which was born — that indeed is food.
- Mantra 3Food, once created, tried to flee away. He tried to seize it with speech, but could not grasp it with speech. Had he grasped it with speech, one would…
- Mantra 4He tried to seize it with Prāṇa, but could not grasp it with Prāṇa. Had he grasped it with Prāṇa, one would have been satisfied by food merely by smel…
- Mantra 5He tried to seize it with the eye, but could not grasp it with the eye. Had he grasped it with the eye, one would have been satisfied by food merely b…
- Mantra 6He tried to seize it with the ear, but could not grasp it with the ear. Had he grasped it with the ear, one would have been satisfied by food merely b…
- Mantra 7He tried to seize it with the skin, but could not grasp it with the skin. Had he grasped it with the skin, one would have been satisfied by food merel…
- Mantra 8He tried to seize it with Manas, but could not grasp it with Manas. Had he grasped it with Manas, one would have been satisfied by food merely by thin…
- Mantra 9He tried to seize it with the penis, but could not grasp it with the penis. Had he grasped it with the penis, one would have been satisfied by food me…
- Mantra 10He tried to seize it with Apāna, and drew it in. This is the seizer of food: Vāyu, whose life is food—for this indeed is Vāyu.
- Mantra 11He considered: 'How indeed could this exist without me?' He considered: 'By which way shall I enter?' He considered: 'If speech utters, if Prāṇa breat…
- Mantra 12He split open this very boundary at the crown of the head and entered through that door. This is the door called Vidṛti; it is Nāndana, his place of d…
- Mantra 13Having been born, he perceived the beings distinctly, thinking: 'What else here would I speak of?' He saw this very Puruṣa as Brahman, the most pervas…
- Mantra 14Therefore his name is 'Idandra' — 'Idandra' indeed is his true name. Him, who is thus Idandra, they call 'Indra' indirectly — for the gods love, as it…
- Mantra 1In a man, this at first is the embryo: the semen. This essence, gathered from all his limbs, he bears within himself as his own Ātma. When he pours it…
- Mantra 2It becomes part of the woman herself, like her own limb. Therefore it does not harm her. She nourishes this Ātma of his that has come there.
- Mantra 3She, the nourisher, is to be nourished. The woman bears the embryo. Immediately after birth, he nourishes the child. In nourishing the child immediate…
- Mantra 4This son, his own Ātma, is appointed in his place for meritorious Karma. Then this other Ātma of his, its task fulfilled and its years spent, departs.…
- Mantra 5This was said by the ṛṣi: 'While still in the womb, I came to know all the births of these deities. A hundred iron citadels restrained me below; then,…
- Mantra 6He who knows thus, having risen up from this body at its dissolution, and having, in yonder heavenly world, obtained all desires, became immortal -- b…
- Mantra 1Who is this one whom we contemplate as the Ātma? Which is that Ātma—the one by whom one sees, or hears, or smells scents, or articulates speech, or di…
- Mantra 2What is this heart is also Manas: consciousness, mastery, specialized knowledge, wisdom, retention, perception, steadiness, reflection, independent ju…
- Mantra 3This is Brahman; this is Indra; this is Prajāpati; these are all the deities. These are the five Mahābhūtas—Pṛthivī, Vāyu, Ākāśa, Āpas, and Jyotis—and…
- Mantra 4Having risen from this world by this knowing Ātma, and having obtained all desires in that heavenly world, he became immortal—became immortal.