Aitareya
Ṛgveda
- Mantra 1Om. In the beginning, this was the Self alone — nothing else whatsoever stirred or perceived. He thought: 'Let me now create the worlds.'
- Mantra 2He created these worlds: the celestial waters, the shining rays, the mortal realm, and the nether waters. Beyond the sky lies the heaven called 'the w…
- Mantra 3He thought: 'Here are these worlds — let me now create their guardians.' So, from the waters themselves, he drew forth the Person and gave it shape.
- Mantra 4He brooded over that being. From the mouth of the one so brooded over, a mouth broke open, as an egg breaks open. From the mouth came speech; from spe…
- Mantra 1These deities, once created, fell into this vast ocean. He then joined them to 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 a person to them. They said, 'Ah, well made!' — for indeed, a person is well made. He said to them: 'Enter, each into your own fitting abod…
- Mantra 4Fire became speech and entered the mouth. Wind became breath and entered the nostrils. The sun became sight and entered the eyes. The directions becam…
- 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 (the Self) considered: ‘Here now are these worlds and these guardians of the worlds — 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 3He tried to seize it with speech; he was unable to grasp it with speech. Had he grasped it by speech, i.e. merely by uttering [its name], then merely…
- Mantra 4He tried to seize it with breath; he was unable to grasp it with breath. Had he grasped it with breath, i.e. merely by breathing upon it, then merely…
- Mantra 5He tried to seize it with the eye; he was unable to grasp it with the eye. Had he grasped it with the eye, i.e. merely by seeing it, then merely by wi…
- Mantra 6He tried to seize it with the ear; he was unable to grasp it with the ear. Had he grasped it with the ear, i.e. merely by hearing it, then merely by w…
- Mantra 7He tried to seize it with the skin; he was unable to grasp it with the skin. Had he grasped it with the skin, i.e. merely by touching it, then merely…
- Mantra 8He tried to seize it with the mind; he was unable to grasp it with the mind. Had he grasped it with the mind, i.e. merely by thinking of it, then mere…
- Mantra 9He tried to seize it with the generative organ; he was unable to grasp it with the generative organ. Had he grasped it with the generative organ, i.e.…
- Mantra 10He tried to seize it with apāna (the downward breath); [apāna] drew it in. That indeed is the seizer of food — the vāyu (breath) that is the life of f…
- Mantra 11He considered: 'How indeed could this exist without me?' He considered: 'By which of the two [paths] should I enter?' He considered: 'If it is uttered…
- Mantra 12He entered by splitting open this very boundary [the crown of the head], through this door. This is called the 'vidṛti' door. This is his delight (nān…
- Mantra 13Having been born, he perceived the beings distinctly, [thinking] 'what else here would I speak of?' He saw this very Person as Brahman, the most perva…
- 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 indeed is at first an embryo: it is the seed. That -- the essence gathered from all the limbs -- he bears as self within self. When he…
- Mantra 2That becomes one with the woman's own self, as if it were her own limb; so it is. Therefore it does not harm her. She nourishes this self of his that…
- Mantra 3She, the nourisher, is to be nourished. The woman bears the embryo; and he -- even at the very beginning, before its birth -- nourishes the boy. In no…
- Mantra 4This self of his is set in place for meritorious deeds. Then this other self of his -- its task fulfilled, its years spent -- departs; and departing f…
- Mantra 5This was said by the ṛṣi: 'While yet in the womb, following after these, I came to know all the births of the gods. A hundred iron citadels held me ba…
- 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 1'Who is this Self?' -- thus do we meditate. Which one is that Self -- is it that by which one sees, or that by which one hears, or that by which one s…
- Mantra 2This heart, and this mind: awareness, apprehension, discernment, wisdom, intellect, sight, steadfastness, thought, understanding, impulse, memory, res…
- Mantra 3This is Brahman, this is Indra, this is Prajāpati; these are all the gods; and these five great elements -- earth, air, space, water, light -- and the…
- Mantra 4By this wise self, having risen up from this world, and having, in yonder heavenly world, obtained all desires, he became immortal -- became immortal.