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INFO : Vajrasuchi upanishhad
This is the translation of vajrasuuchi upanishhad of saamaveda. Vajrasuuchi
means diamond needle. This translation is taken from the book 'Thirty
Minor upanishads' translated by Narayanasvami aiyar and published by the
Adyar Press, Madras.
**
I now proceed to declare the vajrasuuchi - the weapon that is the
destroyer of ignorance- which condemns the ignorant and praises the man of
divine vision.
There are four castes - the braahmaNa, the kshatriya, the vaishya,
and the shudra. Even the smritisdeclare in accordance with the words of
the vedas that the braahmaNa alone is the most important of them.
Then this needs to be examined. What is meant by the braahmaNa ?
Is it a jiiva ? Is it a body ? Is it a class ? It is GYAna ? Is it karma
? Or is it a doer of Dharma ?
To begin with : is jiiva the braahmaNa ? No. Since the jiva is
the same in the many past and future bodies (of all persons), and since
the jiiva is the same in all of the many bodies obtained through the
force of karma, there jiiva is not the braahmaNa.
Then is the body the braahmaNa ? No. Since the body, as it is
made up of the five elements, is the same for all people down to
chaNdAla-s, etc., since old age and death, dharma and adharma are found
to be common to them all, since there is no absolute distinction that the
braahmaNas are white-colored, the kshatriyas red, the vaishyas yellow,
and the shudras dark, and since in burning the corpse of his father,
etc., the stain of the murder of a braahmaNa, etc., will accrue to the
son, etc., therefore the body is not the braahmaNa.
Then is a class the braahmaNa ? No. Since many rishis have sprung
from other castes and orders of creation - RishyashR^iN^ga was born of
deer; kaushika, of kusha grass; jaambuka of a jackal; vaalmiki of
valmiika (an ant-hill); vyaasa of a fisherman's daughter; gautama, of the
posteriors of a hare; vasishtha of uurvasi (a celestial nymph in the
court of Indra); and agastya of a water-pot; thus have we heard. Of
these, many rishis outside the caste have stood fist among the teachers
of divine wisdon; therefore a class is not the braahmaNa.
Is GYAna the braahmaNa ? No. Since there were many kshatriyas and
others well versed in the cognition of divine Truth, therefore GYAna is
not the braahmaNa.
Then is karma the braahmaNa ? No. Since the praarabdha, sanchita,
aagami karmas are the same for all beings, and since all people perform
their actions impelled by karma, therefore karma is not the braahmaNa.
Then is the doer of dharma (virtuous actions) the braahmaNa ? No.
Since there are many kshatriyas, etc., who are givers of gold, therefore
a doer of virtuous actions is not the braahmaNa.
Who indeed then is braahmaNa ? Whoever he may be, he who has
directly realised his aatmaa and who is directly cognizant, like the
myrobalan in his palm, of his aatmaathat is without a second, that is
devoid of class and actions, that is free from the faults of faults of
the six stains (hunger, thirst, grief, confusion, old age, and death) and
the six changes (birth, existence etc), that is of the nature of truth,
knowledge, bliss and eternity, that is without any change in itself, that
is the substratum of all the kalpas, that exists penetrating all things
that pervades everything within and without as aakaash, that is of nature
of undivided bliss, that cannot be reasoned about and that is known only
by direct cognition. He who by the reason of having obtained his wishes
is devoid of the faults of thirst after worldly objects and passions, who
is the possessor of the qualifications beginning with saama (dama,
uparati, titikshaa, samadhana, sraddha), who is free from emotion,
malice, thirst after worldly objects, desire, delusion, etc., whose mind
is untouched by pride, egoism, etc., who possesses all these qualities
and means-he only is the braahmaNa.
Such is the opinion of the veda, the smritis, the itihaasa, and
the puraaNa-s. Otherwise one cannot obtain the status of a brahmaNa. One
should meditate on his aatma as sachchidaananda, and the non-dual
brahman. Yea, one should meditate on his aatma as the sachchidaananda
brahman. Such is the upanishhad.
**
AUM tat.h sat.h
