Thirty Minor Upanishads: 11. Subala-Upanishaḍ of &#... | Internet Sacred Text Archive

Hinduism

SUBALA-UPANISHAḌ

OF

ŚUKLA-YAJURVEḌA

Khaṇda I

Then he (Raikva 1) asked: "What was at first?" To which (He the Lord) replied:

"There was neither Saṭ 2 nor asaṭ nor Saṭ-asaṭ. From it, ṭamas (darkness) was evolved. From ṭamas came bhūṭāḍi; 3from bhūṭāḍi came ākāś, from ākāś, vāyu; from vāyu, agni (fire); from agni, āpas (water); and from āpas, pṛṭhivī (earth). Then it became an egg. After remaining so for one (divine) year, it split into two and became earth below, 4 the ākāś above and in the midst, the infinite Purusha of a divine form of myriads of heads, eyes, feet and hands. Prior to the bhūṭas (elements), he had evolved Mṛṭyu (time or death) of three letters 5, three heads, and three feet, and having a khaṇda-paraśu 6 (broken

axe). To him, Brahma (the Purusha) spoke. He entered Brahma himself and evolved mentally the seven sons 1 and these Havirāts (or sons) as well as the seven prajāpaṭis (progenitors). Brāhmaṇas 2 were born from His mouth, Kshaṭṭriyas from His hands, Vaiśyas from His thighs, and from the feet were born the Śuḍras. The moon was born from His manas (mind), the sun from His eyes, vāyu from (His) ears and prāṇas from (His) heart. Thus all things were born."

Khaṇda II

"From apāna came Nishāḍas, Yakshas, Rākshasas, and Ganḍharvas. From (His) bones, arose the mountains. From His hairs arose the herbs and the trees. From His forehead, Ruḍra was born through His anger. The breath of this great Being became the Ṛgveḍa, Yajurveḍa, Sāmaveḍa, Aṭharvaveḍa, Śīkshā (the science of the proper pronunciation and articulation of sounds), Kalpa (the science of methodology), Vyākaraṇa (grammar), Nirukṭa (glossarial explanation of obsolete and other terms in Veḍas), Chhanḍas (prosody or veḍic metre), Jyoṭisha (astronomy), Nyāya (logic), Mīmāmsā (including rituals and veḍānṭa), Dharmaśāsṭras, commentaries, glosses and all beings. This Āṭmā (or the Self of Purusha) is Hiraṇyajyoṭis (or golden or effulgent Light) into which all the universe is absorbed. He divided Āṭmā (his Self) into two moieties; out of one moiety, the woman was created; and out of the other, man. Having become a Ḍeva, He created the Ḍevas. Having become a Ṛshi, He created the Ṛshis; also He created Yakshas, Rākshasas, Ganḍharvas, wild and domestic beasts and others such as cows, bulls, mares and horses, she-asses and asses and Viśvambhara (the Supporter) and Viśvambharā (the earth). Becoming Vaiśvānara (fire) at the end (of creation), He burnt up all objects. Then (in dissolution), pṛṭhivī was absorbed in āpas, āpas in agni, agni in vāyu, vāyu in ākaś, ākaś in inḍriyas (organs),