Deciphering the Beginning and the End

February 7, 2009
Today my reading is the entire Aitereya Upanisad. It consists of chapters 4-6 of the Aitareya Aranyaka, which is part of the Aitareya Brahmana, belonging to the Rg Veda. Olivelle says, “The distinction between the Upanishad and the Aranyaka proper is womewhat artificial, there being little difference in the topics covered.” P.194. The first little bit tells the story of creation again, and yet again it is consistent:
“In the beginning this world was the self (atman), one alone, and there was no other being at all. He thought to himself, “Let me create the worlds.” AU 1.1 I guess the story is a little more Semitic, because he creates “the floods, the specks, the m and the waters. The sky. He ‘incubates’ man, who is hatched like an egg. Ah, those were the deities. Then the being makes humans for the deities as a “dwelling in which to establish” themselves and for their food.
I had to back up and start over. I had been expecting the text to say one thing, but it doesn’t. After the creation of the waters it gets funky. A mouth was hatched like an egg and from it came speech. Ears hatched, and from them came hearing, and son on. The vital functions are taught as having emerged from this deity that is hatching. The deity, or the functions, get hungry and demand food and shelter and that is when the One creates man. At the end of this chapter, this original deity somehow becomes Indra. Not the One, but the first-made. Or maybe it is brahman.
I don’t know if I’m just being dense, am not wise enough, am too tired, impatient, or in the wrong mood, but I am finding this one way too mystical for me. As it ends, “the gods are cryptic.” It might go back to the different “ownership” between castes. Maybe Prajapati figures more in some Vedas and Indra in others? I’ll have to check on that.
I have also begun using another devotional tool now that I have begun asana practice; a book from the library called Meditations From the Mat by Rolf Gates and Katrina Kenison. It is meant for people who came to spiritual awakening after beginning yoga for health or beauty reasons, so the first few readings are pretty simple and basic. But humility requires being open to learning from everyone, right? So either just before I sit down or just after, I’ll read a section from there.
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Okay, another part of the Rg Veda, the Kausitaki Upanishad belongs to the Aranyaka and Brahmana of the same name. The Kausitaki Aranyaka is also called the Sankhanya Aranyaka, which itself is part of the KsU Brahmana of the Rg Veda. Very confusing to one not familiar, still, with exactly how these Vedas work. Olivelle says the KsU corresponds in many ways with “its sister school” the Aitareya, so I may end up just as baffled here. They were both pre-Buddhist, so 5-6th century BCE. The transmission of this one has been “less faithful than that of many of the other Upanishads; Frery’s (1968-9) edition has shown that the sequence of passages in the vulgate edition is probably inaccurate.” P.200. This one is quite a bit longer. But hey, we know for certain that other holy texts have never been messed with : )
This is much more interesting! C would have loved it. I’m afraid I can only appreciate it as metaphor, because 1) we already know that the text is corrupt, and much more importantly, 2) Krishna said and I believe that we get what we want and expect after death. In fact, I think this Upanishad may be trying to hint at that. But first things first.
It opens with an amazing social fact, if the translator has it right: A Brahmin father and son put themselves under the spiritual training of a Kstraiya guru! Wowee. Now that’s humility. They do it to learn what happens when we die. Citra, the teacher, says this:
First we go, by means of the lifebreath, to the moon. All during the waxing of the moon. Made me wonder if there was a link between this and Krishna’s advice to make sure you die during moon-dark if you want to go one direction, and moon light if another?
During the waning of the moon, Citra instructs, souls unable to answer the moon’s questions are sent back to earth, there to take up new bodies – including animals – according to the kind of life they’d led. Those who can answer the moon’s questions, which boil down to identifying (who are you? A-I am you! You are me! We are Brahman!), are allowed through heaven’s door. And there begins quite a journey. S/he must pass through a wold of fire, world of wind, then Varuna’s world (the king of demons), the Indra’s world (king of gods), Prajapati’s world, and finally the world brahman. But it’s not over.
In this world there is a lake one passes over with one’s mind. Without knowledge (of brahman) one drowns in it. I presume that menas you find yourself living another life here on earth. Or somewhere, I guess. Then there are watchmen, but they flee. A river comes next, whose name means “undecaying” or “pure”. Here all of one’s deeds fall off, good and bad. But get this; they fall onto your family members according to who you like! Good deeds to your buds, bad deeds to the jerks. How’s that for payback? One also gets to see it all laid out “like two wheels.”
Having been stripped of all karma, one is now ready. Brahman sends servants (debate over what these represent – seems to be various aspects of perception) with flowers, lotions, garments, cosmetics, ornaments and perfumes. One gets all beautified, then approaches the throne room, which has lots more symbolism. Finally the throne, onto which one climbs, right foot first.
Now brahman asks, “Who are you?” And your answer better be, “I am You.” It can be dressed up, as it is here, but that is the bottom line. Brahman asks some probing questions to be sure you really get it, both what brahman is and your identity and that’s it. “All my bliss is yours. My immortality, my power.” The Original Self says.
Very cool.