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AUGUST, 1897.]
THE VAJASANEYA UPANISHAD.
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THE VAJASANEYA UPANISHAD.
BY HERBERT BAYNES, M.R.A.S. VAjasandya or sa Upanishad.
Vajasaneya Upanishad. This rahasya' of the Vajasaneyins, which is one of the shortest of these ancient treatises. forms the last chapter of the later collection of the Yajurvéda called sukla, white,' and may be said to be the companion to the Katha Upanishad, which belongs to the earlier collection or the same Vêla called Křishna, black. The Vájasanêya Sahitd is ascribed to Rishi Yajia. valkya and called Sakla because the Mantra portion is kept distinct from the Brahmana, whereas in the older Taittiriya-Sanhitá of Vaišampayana the separation between the Mantras and the Brahmaņas is greatly obscured, if not altogether lost. Hence its name Krishna.
Like the Talavakira of the Sama Veda dur Upanishad is also known by the first word of the first Mantra, which in this case is lśa. There is great uncertainty about the text, not only as to the number, but also as to the order of the Mantras, and even as to the Santi-pâtha. The text I have used, and which I subjoin, is that of the Allahabad edition (Sawivat 1945).
Of all the Upanishads the Vajasaneya is perhaps the most spiritaal. It has been more than once translated into English prose, but I venture to think that, excellent as these translations often are, notably those by Dr. Röer amd Prof. Max Müller, we shall never rightly appreciate such majestical Mantras of the aspiring Spirit until we strive to render them into verse.
After invoking the divine blessing upon the reverent aspirations of both master and pupil, the Rishi begins by boldly stating the sublime truth, so familiar to us in the words of the Hebrew poet, that the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein.' This is all the more remarkable because the word used is not Brahman or Åtman but the far more personal Isa. It is the very secret of Bhakti-jijñása. A very similar thought, though with a more pantheistic tendency, is exquisitely expressed in the Gitd :
Samam sarvôshu bhuteshu tishtautam Parameávaram Vinaśyatsvavinaśyantan yah paśyati sa paśyati. Samam paśyan hi sarvatra samavasthitamisvara Na hinastyâtmanâtmanam tato yati param gatim. In all things dwells the Lord supreme,
Undying, when they cease to be. Whoso can look beyond the dream
And know Him - he indeed can see: The Self within he cannot wrong
But treads the Path serene and strong! Then we are told how the traveller on the Path must know the secret of vairágya, of action without attachment. Having once seen that the world is in the Lord, we must not set our affection upon things that pass, but rather strive after the Heart of things and find that He is our Pearl. Rishi and Sûti agree in this, that
Kullu Shejin halikun illâ vajhu-hu,
All things shall perish save His face;' and can exclaim together
Tura si Kungara-i-arsh mi-sanand safir : Na dånamat ki dar în Khakdân che uftâdast. From God's high throne in love to thee they call, This dust-heap and thy goods abandon all!'
