Thirty Minor Upanishads: 27. Varāha-Upanishaḍ ... | Internet Sacred Text Archive

Hinduism

VARĀHA 1-UPANISHAḌ

OF

KṚSHṆA-YAJURVEḌA

Chapter I

The great sage Ṛbhu performed penance for twelve ḍeva (divine) years. At the end of the time, the Lord appeared before him in the form of a boar. He said: "Rise, rise and choose your boon." The sage got up and having prostrated himself before him said: "O Lord, I will not, in my dream, wish of thee those things that are desired by the worldly. All the Veḍas, Śāsṭras, Iṭihāsas 2 and all the hosts of other sciences, as well as Brahma and all the other Ḍevas, speak of emancipation as resulting from a knowledge of thy nature. So impart to me that science of Brahman which treats of thy nature."

Then the boar-shaped Bhagavān (Lord) said: "Some disputants hold that there are twenty-four ṭaṭṭvas (principles) and some thirty-six, whilst others maintain that there are ninety-six. I shall relate them in their order. Listen with an attentive mind. The organs of sense are five, viz.: ear, skin, eye and others. The organs of action are five, viz.: mouth, hand, leg and others. Prāṇas (vital airs) are five; 3 sound and others (viz., rudimentary principles) are five. 4 Manas, buḍḍhi, chiṭṭa and ahaṅkāra are four; 5 thus

those that know Brahman know these to be the twenty-four ṭaṭṭvas. Besides these, the wise hold the quintuplicated elements to be five, viz.: earth, water, fire, vāyu and ākāś; the bodies to be three, viz.: the gross, the subtle and the kāraṇa or causal; the states of consciousness to be three, viz.: the waking, the dreaming and the dreamless sleeping. The munis know the total collection of ṭaṭṭvas to be thirty-six (coupled with jīva).