Section 1.6 (sixth khaṇḍa) (eight texts)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

The Text is next going to lay down another method of meditating on the Udgītha, which is calculated to fulfil all desirable results.

Upaniṣad text:

This is Ṛk; Fire is Sāma; this Sāma rests upon this Ṛk; hence is the Sāma sung as resting upon the Ṛk. This is Sā and Fire is ama; and that makes up Sāma.—(1)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

‘This’—Earth—is Ṛk; that is, the Ṛk should be viewed as the Earth. Similarly, Fire is Sāman; that is, the Sāman should be viewed as Fire.

Question:—“How can Earth and Fire be regarded as Ṛk and Sāman (respectively)

Answer:—This—What has been just spoken of—Sāman—which has been called ‘Fire’,—rests upon this Ṛk— i. e. the Earth; which means that the Fire stands upon the Earth, in the same manner as the Sāman rests upon the Ṛk—verse.—hence,—for this reason,—the Sāman is, even now, sung by Sāmavedins, as based upon the Ṛk-verse.—Just as Ṛk and Sāman are not entirely different from one another, so also are Earth and Fire not entirely different from one another.—“How so?”—This—Earth—is ‘Sā’, i.e. Earth is expressed by the letter ‘Sā’ which is one half of the name ‘Sāma’; and Fire is ‘ama’, i.e. expressed by the other half of the same name ‘Sāma’; thus Earth and Fire together, being expressible by the same name ‘Sāma’, make up the Sāma.—Thus then the two, Earth and Fire, are not entirely different from each other: they are always mingled together, exactly like Ṛk and Sāman,—and thus Earth and Fire are Ṛk and Sāma. This is the upshot.

Some people have suggested the explanation that the sentence’ This is sā and Fire is ama’ is meant to lay down the meditation upon the two letters of the name ‘Sāma’ as Earth and Fire.—(1)

Upaniṣad text:

‘The Sky, is Ṛk; the Air is Sāma; this Sāma rests upon this Ṛk; hence is the Sāma sung as resting upon the Ṛk. The Sky is Sā, the Air is ama, and that makes up Sāma’.—(2)

‘The Heaven is Ṛk; the Sun is Sāma; this Sāma rests upon this Ṛk; hence is the Sāma sung as resting upon the Ṛk. The Heaven is Sā, the Sun is āma,—and that makes up Sāma.—(3)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

The Sky is Ṛk and Air is Sāma etc. etc. as before. (2-3)

Upaniṣad text:

The Stars are Ṛk, the Moon is Sāma; this Sāma rests upon this Ṛk. Hence is the Sāma sung as resting upon the Ṛk. The Stars are Sā, the Moon is ama; and that makes up Sāma.—(4)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

The Moon is the Lord of Stars; hence it is Sāma.—(4)

Upaniṣad text:

Now That which is the White Light in the Sun is Ṛk; that which is Blue, very black, is Sāma; this Sāma rests upon this Ṛk; hence is the Sāma sung as resting upon the Ṛk.—(5)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

Now, that which is white Light,—the white effulgence—in the Sun—is Ṛk. That which is Blue, very dark,—extreme blackness,—is Sāma; this Blackness is perceived only by one who is able to concentrate his eyes absolutely upon the Sun.—(5)

Upaniṣad text:

That which is the white Light in the Sun is Sō, and that which is Blue, the very black, is ama; and that makes up Sāma,—Now that golden Personality who is seen within the Sun, with golden beard and golden hair, and golden all through to the very nail-tips.—[His name is Ut—next text.]—(6)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

These two lights, the White and the Black, are (respectively) ‘Sā’ and ‘ama’.

Now that which is within the Sun,—inside the Sun, within the Solar disc.—‘golden’.—as if made of gold; it is not possible for the Deity to be ‘golden’ in the sense of being made of gold, as, in that case He could not be endowed with such qualities as having Ṛk, Sāma for his joints (as described in text 8, below) and being free from evil. It is not possible for a thing made of gold, which must be inanimate, to have any evil propensities which could be precluded by the qualification of ‘being free from evil’;—also because no such ‘golden’ character is visible to the eye. For these reasons the two terms ‘Hiraṇmaya’, have to be taken in the metaphorical sense, standing for luminous. The same interpretation is to be applied to the rest of the passage.—The ‘personality, ‘Puruṣa’ is so called because it lies (śete) in the body (puri), or because it pervades the entire universe with its self (Pūrayati).—‘Is seen’—by persons who have withdrawn their physical eyes and have concentrated their mind, through such means as leading the life of the Religious Student and the like.—Inasmuch as even effulgent beards and hairs might be black, the text adds the qualification ‘with golden beard and golden hair’; the sense being that His hairs and beard also are luminous.—To the very nail-tips,’—‘praṇakha’ stands for the nail-tips; the meaning therefore is that upto and including the nail-tips, it is like one mass of gold, pure effulgence.—(6)

Upaniṣad text:

His eyes are like “monkey—seat” lotus. His name is Ut. He is risen above all evils.—He verily rises above all evils who knows thus.—(7)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

Of the person who is all through of golden colour, there is a peculiarity in the eyes. “How?”—‘Kapyāsa’ is the ‘āsa’, seat, of the ‘Kapi’, monkey; the term ‘āsa’ being derived from the root ‘āsa’ to sit, with the ghañ affix. The term ‘Kapyāsa’ therefore stands for that part of the monkey’s back on which it sits; so that when the lotus is spoken of as ‘Kapyāsa’, ‘monkey-seat’, what is meant is that it is extremely bright (and red);—so the eyes of the Solar Person also are bright red. Inasmuch as the Simile is an indirect one,—the lotus being likened to the monkey’s seat, and the eyes being likened to the lotus,—it cannot be regarded as incompatible with the dignity of the subject.—Of this person, thus qualified, the indirect (figurative^ name is ‘Ut.’—“Why should this be regarded as the indirect name?”—‘He’—This deity (the Person in the Sun),—‘above all evils’,—above all evils along with their effects;—the text is going to speak of ‘the Self being one in whom all evil has been destroyed’;—‘has risen’, ‘Uditaḥ’ standing for Ut-itaḥ, risen above, passed beyond; hence He is named ‘Ut’.—One who knows this Deity as endowed with the qualities described above and as bearing the name ‘Ut’—he also rises’ above, passes beyond, all evils.—The particles ‘ha’ and ‘vā’ indicate emphasis; he verily, surely, rises above evils.—(7)

Upaniṣad text:

Ṛk and Sāma are His joints; hence is the Udgītha, Hence one who sings this (Deity, Ut) is the Udgātṛ (lit. ‘singer of ut’). He controls the regions above Him, as also the desires of the Deities.—This is in reference to the Deities.—(8)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

What the text means to describe now is the fact of the said Deity (Person in the Sun) being Udgītha, just like Āditya and others (described above as Udgītha).—‘Ṛk and Sāma are his joints’,—they are his joints, in the shape of Earth and the rest as described above (Earth standing for Ṛk and so on). The Deity in question is the Self ensouling all things; and inasmuch as he controls the lower as well as the higher regions, as also all desires, it is only right that the Earth and Fire, as Ṛk and Sāma, should be His joints;—also because he is the origin of all things.—Inasmuch as this Deity is named ‘Ut’ and has the Ṛk and Sāma for his joints,—this character of having Ṛk and Sāma for His joints makes him the Udgītha;—this is what is asserted mystically,—as the Deity is fond of mysticism,—in the phrase ‘Hence is Udgītha’.—Hence,—for this reason,—the Priest who sings to the Ut is called the ‘Udgātṛ—Priest’; that is, inasmuch as he is the singer (‘gātṛ’) of the aforesaid Deity named ‘Ut’, it is only right that he should be known as Udgātṛ; this is what fixes the name of the Udgātṛ Priest.—This same Deity named ‘Ut’ controls the regions that lie above Him—i.e, the Sun; He is not only the Controller of the regions, but also the Upholder; this is what is implied by the particle ‘ca’; this idea is supported by such Vedic texts as ‘He upheld this Earth and also Heaven.’—Further, He controls also the desires of the Deities.—This is in reference to the Deities; that is, herein has been described that form of the Udgītha which consists of the Deity.—(8)

End of Section 6 of Discourse I.