Aitareya Aranyaka. Iii, 1, 2
*
"The Upanishads, Part 1 (sbe01)\", by Max Mller, [1879],
Second Kha\"N"D"A.
1. Next comes the meditation as taught by "S"kalya.
p. 249
2. The first half is the earth, the second half heaven, their uniting the rain, the uniter Par"g"anya 1.
3. And so it is when he (Par"g"anya) rains thus strongly, without ceasing, day and night 2,
4. Then they say also (in ordinary language), 'Heaven and earth have come together.'
5. So much with regard to the deities; now with regard to the body:--
6. Every man is indeed like an egg 3. There are two halves 4 (of him), thus they say: 'This half is the earth, that half heaven.' And there between them is the ether (the space of the mouth), like the ether between heaven and earth. In this ether there (in the mouth) the breath is fixed, as in that other ether the air is fixed. And as there are those three luminaries (in heaven), there are these three luminaries in man.
7. As there is that sun in heaven, there is this eye in the head. As there is that lightning in the sky, there is this heart in the body; as there is that fire on earth, there is this seed in the member.
8. Having thus represented the self (body) as the whole world, "S"kalya said: This half is the earth, that half heaven.
9. He who thus knows this union, becomes united with offspring, cattle, fame, glory of countenance,
p. 250
and the world of Svarga. He lives his full age.
Third Kha\"N"D"A 1.
1. Next come the reciters of the Nirbhu"g"a 2.
2. Nirbhu"g"a abides on earth, Prat"ri"n"n"a in heaven, the Ubhayamantare"n"a in the sky.
3. Now, if any one should chide him who recites the Nirbhu"g"a, let him answer: 'Thou art fallen from the two lower places 3.' If any one should chide him who recites the Prat"ri"n"n"a, let him answer: 'Thou art fallen from the two higher places 4.' But he who recites the Ubhayamantare"n"a, there is no chiding him.
4. For when he turns out the Sandhi (the union of words), that is the form of Nirbhu"g"a 5; and when be pronounces two syllables pure (without modification), that is the form of Prat"ri"n"n"a 6. This comes
p. 251
first 1. By the Ubhayamantara (what is between the two) both are fulfilled (both the sandhi and the pada).
5. Let him who wishes for proper food say the Nirbhu"g"a; let him who wishes for Svarga, say the Prat"ri"n"n"a; let him who wishes for both say the Ubhayamantare"n"a.
6. Now if another man (an enemy) should chide him who says the Nirbhu"g"a, let him say to him: 'Thou hast offended the earth, the deity; the earth, the deity, will strike thee.'
If another man should chide him who says the Prat"ri"n"n"a, let him say to him: 'Thou hast offended heaven, the deity; heaven, the deity, will strike thee.'
If another man should chide him who says the Ubhayamantare"n"a, let him say to him: 'Thou hast offended the sky, the deity; the sky, the deity, will strike thee.'
7. And whatever the reciter shall say to one who speaks to him or does not speak to him, depend upon it, it will come to pass.
8. But to a Brhma"n"a let him not say anything except what is auspicious.
9. Only he may curse a Brhma"n"a in excessive wealth 2.
10. Nay, not even in excessive wealth should he curse a Brhma"n"a, but he should say, 'I bow before Brhma"n"as,'--thus says "S"ravra M"n"d"keya.
Footnotes
248:1 Both views are tenable, for it is not the actual air and ether which are meditated on, but their names, as declared and explained in this peculiar act of worship. We should read k"s"a"s"k"eti, a reading confirmed both by the commentary and by the Kashmir Ms.
248:2 The man among heroes. Comm.
248:3 The Kashmir MS. reads manasaivgre.
248:4 Both views are admissible. Comm.
248:5 Pr"n"asa"m"hitah, Kashmir Ms.
249:1 If i is followed by a, the i is changed to y, and both are united as ya. Here a is the cause which changes i into y. Thus Par"g"anya, the god of rain, is the cause which unites earth and heaven into rain. Comm.
249:2 When it rains incessantly, heaven and earth seem to be one in rain.
249:3 ndam, a"n"d"asad"ri"s"am. Comm.
249:4 The one half from the feet to the lower jaw, the other half from the upper jaw to the skull. Comm.
250:1 Cf. Rig-veda-prti"s"khya, ed. Max Mller, p. iii, and Nachtrge, p. ii.
250:2 Nirbhu"g"a(n) is the recitation of the Veda without intervals, therefore the same as Sa"m"hit. Prat"ri"n"n"a is the recitation of each word by itself (pada-p"th"a); Ubhayamantarena, the between the two, is the intertwining of Sa"m"hit and Pada-p"th"a, the so-called Krama-p"th"a. By reciting the Sa"m"hit inattentively, one may use forms which belong to the Pada-text; and by reciting the Pada inattentively, one may use forms which belong to the Sa"m"hit-text. But in reciting the Krama both the Sa"m"hit and Pada forms are used together, and therefore mistakes are less likely to happen.
250:3 From earth and sky. Cf. "Kh". Up. Ii, 22, 3.
250:4 From the sky and from heaven.
250:5 Nirbhu"g"a may mean without arms, as if the arms of the words were taken away, or with two arms stretched out, the two words forming, as it were, two arms to one body.
250:6 Prat"ri"n"n"a means cut asunder, every word being separated from the others.
251:1 The words were first each separate, before they were united according to the laws of Sandhi.
251:2 He may curse him, if he is exceeding rich; or he may wish him the curse of excessive wealth; or he may curse him, if something great depends on it.
"The Upanishads, Part 1 (sbe01)\", by Max Mller, [1879],
Second Kha\"N"D"A.
1. Next comes the meditation as taught by "S"kalya.
p. 249
2. The first half is the earth, the second half heaven, their uniting the rain, the uniter Par"g"anya 1.
3. And so it is when he (Par"g"anya) rains thus strongly, without ceasing, day and night 2,
4. Then they say also (in ordinary language), 'Heaven and earth have come together.'
5. So much with regard to the deities; now with regard to the body:--
6. Every man is indeed like an egg 3. There are two halves 4 (of him), thus they say: 'This half is the earth, that half heaven.' And there between them is the ether (the space of the mouth), like the ether between heaven and earth. In this ether there (in the mouth) the breath is fixed, as in that other ether the air is fixed. And as there are those three luminaries (in heaven), there are these three luminaries in man.
7. As there is that sun in heaven, there is this eye in the head. As there is that lightning in the sky, there is this heart in the body; as there is that fire on earth, there is this seed in the member.
8. Having thus represented the self (body) as the whole world, "S"kalya said: This half is the earth, that half heaven.
9. He who thus knows this union, becomes united with offspring, cattle, fame, glory of countenance,
p. 250
and the world of Svarga. He lives his full age.
Third Kha\"N"D"A 1.
1. Next come the reciters of the Nirbhu"g"a 2.
2. Nirbhu"g"a abides on earth, Prat"ri"n"n"a in heaven, the Ubhayamantare"n"a in the sky.
3. Now, if any one should chide him who recites the Nirbhu"g"a, let him answer: 'Thou art fallen from the two lower places 3.' If any one should chide him who recites the Prat"ri"n"n"a, let him answer: 'Thou art fallen from the two higher places 4.' But he who recites the Ubhayamantare"n"a, there is no chiding him.
4. For when he turns out the Sandhi (the union of words), that is the form of Nirbhu"g"a 5; and when be pronounces two syllables pure (without modification), that is the form of Prat"ri"n"n"a 6. This comes
p. 251
first 1. By the Ubhayamantara (what is between the two) both are fulfilled (both the sandhi and the pada).
5. Let him who wishes for proper food say the Nirbhu"g"a; let him who wishes for Svarga, say the Prat"ri"n"n"a; let him who wishes for both say the Ubhayamantare"n"a.
6. Now if another man (an enemy) should chide him who says the Nirbhu"g"a, let him say to him: 'Thou hast offended the earth, the deity; the earth, the deity, will strike thee.'
If another man should chide him who says the Prat"ri"n"n"a, let him say to him: 'Thou hast offended heaven, the deity; heaven, the deity, will strike thee.'
If another man should chide him who says the Ubhayamantare"n"a, let him say to him: 'Thou hast offended the sky, the deity; the sky, the deity, will strike thee.'
7. And whatever the reciter shall say to one who speaks to him or does not speak to him, depend upon it, it will come to pass.
8. But to a Brhma"n"a let him not say anything except what is auspicious.
9. Only he may curse a Brhma"n"a in excessive wealth 2.
10. Nay, not even in excessive wealth should he curse a Brhma"n"a, but he should say, 'I bow before Brhma"n"as,'--thus says "S"ravra M"n"d"keya.
Footnotes
248:1 Both views are tenable, for it is not the actual air and ether which are meditated on, but their names, as declared and explained in this peculiar act of worship. We should read k"s"a"s"k"eti, a reading confirmed both by the commentary and by the Kashmir Ms.
248:2 The man among heroes. Comm.
248:3 The Kashmir MS. reads manasaivgre.
248:4 Both views are admissible. Comm.
248:5 Pr"n"asa"m"hitah, Kashmir Ms.
249:1 If i is followed by a, the i is changed to y, and both are united as ya. Here a is the cause which changes i into y. Thus Par"g"anya, the god of rain, is the cause which unites earth and heaven into rain. Comm.
249:2 When it rains incessantly, heaven and earth seem to be one in rain.
249:3 ndam, a"n"d"asad"ri"s"am. Comm.
249:4 The one half from the feet to the lower jaw, the other half from the upper jaw to the skull. Comm.
250:1 Cf. Rig-veda-prti"s"khya, ed. Max Mller, p. iii, and Nachtrge, p. ii.
250:2 Nirbhu"g"a(n) is the recitation of the Veda without intervals, therefore the same as Sa"m"hit. Prat"ri"n"n"a is the recitation of each word by itself (pada-p"th"a); Ubhayamantarena, the between the two, is the intertwining of Sa"m"hit and Pada-p"th"a, the so-called Krama-p"th"a. By reciting the Sa"m"hit inattentively, one may use forms which belong to the Pada-text; and by reciting the Pada inattentively, one may use forms which belong to the Sa"m"hit-text. But in reciting the Krama both the Sa"m"hit and Pada forms are used together, and therefore mistakes are less likely to happen.
250:3 From earth and sky. Cf. "Kh". Up. Ii, 22, 3.
250:4 From the sky and from heaven.
250:5 Nirbhu"g"a may mean without arms, as if the arms of the words were taken away, or with two arms stretched out, the two words forming, as it were, two arms to one body.
250:6 Prat"ri"n"n"a means cut asunder, every word being separated from the others.
251:1 The words were first each separate, before they were united according to the laws of Sandhi.
251:2 He may curse him, if he is exceeding rich; or he may wish him the curse of excessive wealth; or he may curse him, if something great depends on it.
