Thirty Minor Upanishads: 28. Maṇdalabrāhma&#77... | Internet Sacred Text Archive

Hinduism

MAṆDALABRĀHMAṆA-UPANISHAḌ 1

OF

ŚUKLA-YAJURVEḌA

Brāhmaṇa I

Om. The great muni Yājñavalkya went to Aḍiṭyaloka (the sun's world) and saluting him (the Purusha of the sun) said: "O reverend sir, describe to me the Āṭmā-ṭaṭṭva (the ṭaṭṭva or truth of Āṭmā)."

(To which,) Nārāyaṇa (viz., the Purusha of the sun) replied: "I shall describe the eightfold yoga together with Jñāna. The conquering of cold and heat as well as hunger and sleep, the preserving of (sweet) patience and unruffledness ever and the restraining of the organs (from sensual objects)—all these come under (or are) yama. Devotion to one's guru, love of the true path, enjoyment of objects producing happiness, internal satisfaction, freedom from association, living in a retired place, the controlling of the manas and the not longing after the fruits of actions and a state of vairāgya—all these constitute niyama. The sitting in any posture pleasant to one and clothed in tatters (or bark) is prescribed for āsana (posture). Inspiration, restraint of breath and expiration, which have respectively 16, 64 and 32 (māṭrās) constitute prāṇāyāma (restraint of breath). The restraining of the mind from the objects of

senses is praṭyāhāra (subjugation of the senses). The contemplation of the oneness of consciousness in all objects is ḍhyāna. The mind having been drawn away from the objects of the senses, the fixing of the chaiṭanya (consciousness) (on one alone) is ḍhāraṇā. The forgetting of oneself in ḍhyāna is samāḍhi. He who thus knows the eight subtle parts of yoga attains salvation.