Selections from the Svetashvatara Upanishad (chapters 2 and 3)
Introduction: The Shvetashvatara Upanishad is generally considered the latest of the classical Upanishads. Whereas the Mandukya Upanishad makes a concise case for monism, the Shvetashvatara Upanishad propounds theism, the belief in the Supreme Being as the god Rudra, who has been identified with the classical Hindu god Shiva. Note how the text portrays Rudra ambivalently—on the one hand praising him, and on the other asking him not to harm anyone; many of these same qualities can be seen in the ideas about Shiva, who is quick to respond with both anger and blessing. The Shvetashvatara is also noteworthy for the first description, in the second chapter, of the process of yoga and the fruits of yogic practice. The second chapter begins, however, with seven verses of invocation to Savitr, the sun, using verses drawn directly from the Vedas and the Brahmanas, texts composed over a thousand years earlier. These verses are full of sacrificial images that are completely incongruous in the Upanishads. I include them here partly as a way to give you a "taste" of the earlier texts, but more as a way to help you realize that although historians speak of "distinct" textual periods in Hindu religious history—Vedas, Brahmanas, and Upanishads--the reality is far more complex. These divisions are made based on the overall tendencies of a text, but it is not at all uncommon to find one type of text "embedded" in another.
Chapter Two
1. The [deity] Savitr, controlling the mind and thoughts for the Truth, first perceived the light of Agni (Fire) [and] drew it out from the Earth.
2. With mind controlled, we are inspired toward the heavens by the power of the divine Savitr.
3. Controlling through the mind the senses [that go] to radiant heaven through thought, may Savitr inspire them (the senses) that they may create a great light!
4. The seers of the great learned seer control [their] minds and control [their] thoughts. The One [who] knows the rules established the libations to the gods [performed] the sacrificial priest, great is the praise of the divine Savitr!
5. With reverential salutations I join [your] ancient prayer! The verses go forth [like] suns in their course. [May] all the sons of the deathless hear [me], they [who] reside in the divine dwellings!
6. Where the fire is kindled, where conjoined is the breath (of speech), where flows the Soma copiously, there arises understanding.
7. Through Savitr, the Inspirer, may one enjoy the ancient prayer! They [who] make their source there, [their] former [deeds] do not destroy [them]!
8. Holding the body steady, the three (head, neck, and chest) held straight, withdrawing into the heart the senses with the mind, the wise man through the Brahma-boat should cross over all the frightful streams [of this life].
9. With movements controlled and suppressing the breath here, he should breathe with shallow breaths through [his] nostrils. The wise man should vigilantly restrain his mind, as [one restrains] a chariot yoked to vicious horses.
10. One should practice yoga in a secluded place protected from the wind, [which is] clean, level, free from pebbles, fire, and gravel, with the sound of water and other such things, agreeable to the mind but not offensive to the eye.
11. Fog, smoke, rays of light, fire, wind, sun, lightning, crystal, the moon--in yoga these are the preliminary forms heralding the manifestation of Brahman.
12. When the fivefold quality of yoga is manifest, rising up from earth, water, fire, wind, and ether, there is no sickness, old age, of death, for him who has obtained a body made from the fire of yoga.
13. Lightness, freedom from disease, lack of desire, a pleasing complexion and melodious voice, a pure odor, and scanty excretions--these are named as the first signs of yogic progress.
14. Just as a mirror clouded with dust shines brilliantly when well-cleaned, even so the embodied one, perceiving the true nature of the Self, becomes One, [his] end accomplished, [all] sorrow gone.
15. When through the true nature of the Self, as by a lamp, the disciplined one perceives here the true nature of Brahman, unborn, steadfast, free from all nature, by knowing God one is released from all fetters!
16. Verily, this god faces all the directions. He is born, and he is in the womb. He alone is born, he is going to be born, he stands before all creatures, facing in all directions.
17. That god who is in fire, who is in water, who has entered the entire universe, who is in plants, who is in trees--to that god adoration, adoration!
Chapter Three
1. That One who wields the net [of illusion], he rules by his ruling powers, he rules all worlds through his ruling powers. The one who is alone in their arising and existence, those who know this become immortal.
2. Rudra is the only One, they (the worlds) depend on no other, he rules these worlds with his ruling powers. The Protector, he stands opposite creatures, [and] having created all beings, gathers them together at the end of time.
3. Having an arm on every side and a face on every side, an arm on every side and a foot on every side, the One god, forging with his hands, with wings, creates heaven and earth.
4. He who is the source and origin of the gods, the Ruler of the universe, Rudra, the great seer, of old he produced the golden Seed (which was the source of the universe), may he endow us with pure discernment!
5. O Rudra, thy form which is auspicious (shiva), not terrifying, without semblance of evil, O mountain-dweller, appear to us here in that most peaceful form!
6. O mountain-dweller, the arrow which you carry in your hand to throw, make [it] kind, O mountain-protector! Harm not man [nor] beast!
7. Higher than this [world] is Brahman, the Higher, the Great, hidden in all beings according to the body, those [who] know that Lord, the surrounder of all things, become immortal.
8. I know that Person, the Great, colored like the sun, beyond darkness. Knowing Him alone, one passes beyond death, there is no other path for going.
9. Than whom nothing is higher or lower, than whom nothing is smaller or greater, the One stands in the heavens, fixed like a tree, by that Person this universe is pervaded.
10. What is still higher than this is without form, without illness. Those who know this become immortal, but the others attain only sorrow.
11. Who is the face and head and neck of all, who dwells in the secret place of all beings, he, the Lord, is all-pervading, therefore omnipresent and benevolent.
12. That person is verily a mighty lord, setting existence in motion, unto this purest attainment, the Lord, an imperishable light!
13. [That] thumb-sized person [is] the inner Self, eternally lodged in the hearts of all creatures. The Lord is gained through the heart, the mind, and thought, those who know this become immortal.....[skip to verse 18]
18. The embodied person is [trapped] in the nine-gated city, the soul continually hovers outside, the master of the entire world, of the moving and unmoving.
19. Without hands and feet, he is swift and seizes! Without eyes, he sees, without ears, he hears. He knows what is to be known, but of him there is no knower, they call him the First, the Great Person.
20. Smaller than the small, greater than the great, the Self is placed in the heart of this creature. Through the Creator's grace one sees him as free from desire, one sees the Lord and his greatness, [and] goes beyond all sorrow.
21. I know this [Lord] as undecaying and ancient, the Self of all things, omnipresent through [his] all-pervasiveness, of whom the speakers on Brahman call the cessation of birth, [of whom] they call the eternal!
Thus ends the third chapter of the Svetashvatara Upanisad.