Key Passages From The Vedas and Up Ani Shads

Key Passages from the Vedas and Upanishads
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This section contains a selection of the Vedas' most important passages to study and contemplate for spiritual self-understanding. The self, verily, was all this, one only, in the beginning. Nothing else whatsoever winked. He thought, let me now create the worlds. He created these worlds, water, light rays, death and the waters. The water is above the heaven. The heaven is its support. The light rays are the atmosphere. Death is the earth. What are beneath, they are the waters. He brooded over him. Of him who has thus been brooded over, the mouth was separated out, like an egg. From the mouth speech, from speech fire. The nostrils were separated out: from the nostrils breath, from breath air. The eyes were separated out: from the eyes sight from sight the sun. The ears were separated out: from the ears hearing and from hearing the quarters of space. The skin was separated out: from the skin the hairs, from the hairs plants and trees. The heart was separated out: from the heart the mind and from the mind, the moon. The navel was separated out: from the navel, the outbreath, from the outbreath death. The generative organ was separated out: from it semen, from semen water. Fire, becoming speech, entered the mouth. Air becoming breath, entered the nostrils. The sun, becoming sight, entered the eyes. The quarters of space, becoming hearing, entered the ears. Plants and trees, becoming hairs, entered the skin. The moon, becoming the mind, entered the heart. Death, becoming the outbreath, entered the navel:
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Aitareya Upanishad 1:1:1
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water becoming semen entered the generative organ. He thought, How can this food exist without me? He thought, through what (way) shall I enter it? He thought (again), If speaking is through speech, if breathing is through breath, if seeing is through the eyes, hearing is through the ears, if touching is through the skin, if meditation is through the mind, if breathing out is through the outbreath, if emission is through the generative organ, then who am I? After opening that very end (of the head), by that way he entered. This is the opening known as vidrti. This is the pleasing. For that, there are three abodes; three kinds of dreams as: this is the abode; this is the abode; this is the abode. Therefore his name is Idandra. Indeed, Idandra is the name. Of him who is Idandra, they speak indirectly (cryptically) as Indra. Gods appear indeed to be fond of the cryptic. In a person, indeed, this one first becomes an embryo. That which is semen is the vigour come together from all the limbs. In the self, indeed, one bears a self. When he sheds this in a woman, he then gives it birth. That is its first birth. She, being the nourisher, should be nourished. The woman bears him as an embryo. He nourishes the child before birth and after the birth. While he nourishes the child before birth and after the birth, he thus nourishes his own self, for the continuation of these worlds; for thus are these worlds continued. This is one's second birth. He (the son) who is one self of his (father) is made his substitute for (performing) pious deeds. Then the other self of his (father's) having accomplished his work, having reached his age, departs. So departing hence, he is, indeed, born again. That is his third birth. That has been stated by the seer. That which is heart, this mind, that is
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That which is heart, this mind, that is consciousness, perception, discrimination, intelligence, wisdom, insight, steadfastness, thought, thoughtfulness, impulse, memory, conception, purpose, life, desire, control, all these, indeed, are names of intelligence.
Aitareya Upanishad 3:1:3, Rig Veda Amrita Nada Upanishad
Wisdom is Brahman
As a man sucks water through a lotus stem so should breath be drawn in as immortal elixir. As an eagle, weary after soaring in the sky, folds its wings and flies down to rest in the nest, so does the shining Self enter the state of dreamless sleep, where one is freed from all desires.
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1:4:10 Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2:15:19 and 4:4:5 (also in Mandukya Upanishad 2) Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4:4:19 Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4:5:15
I am Brahman
This Self is Brahman
Only by the mind is if to be perceived. In it there is no diversity. He goes from death to death, who sees in it, as it were, diversity.
Not this, not this
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 6:4:3
Her lap is a sacrificial altar; her hairs, the sacrificial grass; her skin, the soma-press. The two lips of the vulva are the fire in the middle of the yoni So great is the world of him who practices sexual intercourse, knowing this.
Aum. One should meditate on this syllable, the

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Chandogya Upanishad 1:1:1
Aum. One should meditate on this syllable, the udgitha, for one sings the loud chant beginning with Aum. This white colour of the sun that is sa. Then there is blue colour, i.e. deep black. Then there is golden colour...etc."
Chandogya Upanishad 1:13:4 Chandogya Upanishad 2:23:3 Chandogya Upanishad 3:14:1 Chandogya Upanishad 6:8:7 Chandogya Upanishad 7:25:2
Speech yields to him the milk, which is the milk of speech itself.
Everything is Om
The whole world is God
That Thou Art
The Self indeed is all this (world)
From purity of food follows the purity of internal organs. From purification of the internal organs, comes unfailing memory. After achievement of memory (i.e. establishment of Soul-consciousness) comes falling into pieces of all knots of life." That is full; this is full. The full comes out of the full. Taking the full from the full the full itself remains. Aum, peace, peace, peace. All this which moves and changes is covered by God, however insignificant it may be. Therefore enjoy all with a sense of renunciation. Do not covet others wealth (nobody steals anything it is all God). Every person should live a complete life span of
Isha Upanishad Invocation
Isha Upanishad Verse 1
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Every person should live a complete life span of hundred years. And he should constantly strive to fulfill the purpose of life i.e. Self-Realization. The mouth of Truth is covered with a golden plate (hiranmaya patra). O Sun of my soul, please remove it so that I who love the Truth may behold it.
That also I am
May this life enter into the immortal (short) breath, may I feel as if body is burned. That soul awareness will constantly remain. Remember this, my soul. O Agni, lead us, along the auspicious path to prosperity. O God, who knowest all our deeds. Take away from us deceitful sins. We shall offer many prayers unto Thee.
Katha Upanishad Invocation 1
May he protect us both; may He be pleased with us both; may we work together with vigour; may our study make us illumined; may there be no dislike between us. Aum, peace, peace, peace
Katha Upanishad
One who realizes the Self, God, is constantly pure.
Katha Upanishad 1:1:23
(Yama said:): Even the gods of old had doubt on this point. It is not, indeed, easy to understand; (so) subtle is this truth. Choose another boon, O Naciketas. Do not press me. Release me this. If thou deemest (any) boon like unto this, choose (that) as also wealth and long life. O Naciketas, prosper then on this vast earth. I will make thee the enjoyer of thy desires. Whatever desires are hard to attain in this world of mortals, ask for all those desires at thy will. Here are noble maidens with chariots and musical instruments: the like of them cannot be won by
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Katha Upanishad
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1:1:25
instruments: the like of them cannot be won by men. Be served by these whom I give to thee. O Naciketas, (pray) ask not about death. (Naciketas said:) Transient (are these) and they wear out, O Yama, the vigour of all the senses of men. All life (a full life), moreover, is brief. Thine be the chariots, thine the dance and song. Man is not to be contented with wealth. Shall we enjoy wealth when we have seen thee? Shall we live as long as thou art in power? That alone is (still) the boon chosen by me. There is a path of joy and there is the path of pleasure. Pondering on them, the wise (one) chooses the of joy; the fool takes the path of pleasure. Both the good and the pleasant approach a man. The wise man, pondering over them, discriminates. The wise chooses the good in preference to the pleasant. The simple-minded, for the sake of worldly well-being, prefers the pleasant. Smaller than the small, greater than the great, the self is set in the heart of every creature. The unstriving man beholds Him, freed from sorrow. Through tranquility of the mind and the senses (he sees) the greatness of the self. The Soul cannot be realized through hearing scholarly explanation of the discourses, not even by the intellect. Know the Self as the lord of the chariot and the body as, verily, the chariot, know the intellect as the charioteer and the mind as, verily, the reins. Arise, awake and learn the spirituality by approaching the Excellent One (Realized Master). The wise one describes the path to be as impassable as a sharp razors edge, which when sharpened, is difficult to tread on."
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Through the knowledge of the Soul, God, one is pure and clean constantly. Neither by reading the book, nor by taking a bath at holy place one becomes pure. Inner purity is possible when one remains in constant touch with the Soul. Constant Soul-Consciousness is the real purity. He who is associated with the Soul, being endowed with discriminating intellect and well-regulated and disciplined mind is ever pure. Beyond the senses are the objects (of the senses) and beyond the objects is the mind is the understanding and beyond the understanding is the great self. Beyond the great self is the unmanifest; beyond the unmanifest is the spirit. Beyond the spirit there is nothing. That is the end (of the journey); that is the final goal.
"Arise, awake, and learn by approaching the excellent ones."
Katha Upanishad 7:75
Pay respect to womankind, as they are born of the family of the Divine Mother. Abuse or punish them not, in however a mild manner, whatever the reason. Their worth and excellences, not their shortcomings, are to be stressed.
Katha Upanishad Katha Upanishad Katha Upanishad 2:1:10 and Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4:4:19
There are two paths: the good and the pleasant.
The soul with the help of the ears, eyes, tongue and skin seeks to enjoy and possess everything.
Whatever is here, that (is) there. Whatever is there, that, too, is here. One who perceives many, faces death.
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(There is) a city of eleven gates (belonging to) the unborn, uncrooked intelligence. By ruling it one does not grieve and being freed is freed indeed. This, verily is that. The sun shines not there, nor the moon and the stars, these lightings shine not, where then could this fire be? Everything shines only after that shining light. His shining illumines all this world. Not by speech, not by mind, not by sight can he be apprehended. How can he be comprehended except by him who says, 'He is'? The peepal tree that has its roots above and branches down has the roots pure i.e. Brahma, also called as Immortal.
KaushitakiBrahmana Upanishad 2:1 Kena Upanishad Invocation 1
"Prana is God"
May my limbs grown vigorous, my speech, breath, eye, ear as also my strength and all my senses.
Kena Upanishad Invocation 2
All is the Brahman of the Upanisads. May I never discard Brahman. May the Brahman never discard me. May there be no discarding. May there be no discarding of me. Let those truths which are (set forth) in the Upanisads live in me dedicated to the self. Aum, peace, peace, peace. That which is not breathed by life, but by which life breathes; that, verily, know thou, is Brahman and not what (people) here adore. I do not think I know well enough, not that I do not know."
Kena Upanishad Invocation 3
Kena Upanishad 1:1-9
Kena Upanishad 2:2
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Kena Upanishad 2:4
When it is known through every state of cognition, it is rightly known, for (by such knowledge) one attains life eternal. Through one's own self one gains power and through wisdom one gains immortality. If here one knows it, then there is truth, and if here one knows it not, there is a great loss. Hence, seeing the Real in all beings, wise men become immortal on departing from this world. And thus it has been said elsewhere: 'The channel called susumna leading upward, serving as the passage for the breath, is divided within the palate. Through it, when it is joined by the breath, the syllable aum and by the mind, let him proceed upwards. By causing the tip of the tongue to turn back on the palate, by binding together the senses, let greatness perceived greatness. he is not (ceases to be) an experiencer of pleasure and pain. He obtains aloneness. For thus has it been said: 'Having first fixed the breath that has been restrained, having crossed the limit, let him join the limitless in (the crown of the head.'
Kena Upanishad 2:5
Maitri Upanishad 6:21
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2:15:19 and 4:4:5
This Self is Brahman
Mundaka Upanishad
Two types of knowledge must be acquired, material knowledge, and the Absolute Knowledge i.e. Self Knowledge." Saunaka, the great householder, duly approached Angiras and asked, through what being known, Venerable Sir, does all this become known? Two types of knowledge are to be known, as indeed the knowers of Brahman declarethe higher (absolute) as well as the lower (relative) As the spider creates the cobweb out of its saliva, it lives and plays in it and at the end the same spider swallows up the cobweb, similarly the God, the Lord creates the whole universe as the act of
Mundaka Upanishad 1:1:3
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the Lord creates the whole universe as the act of His thought. He manifests in it and again He withdraws the whole universe in Himself. God is the material cause and the instrumental cause of the creation. God is the cause of creation, maintenance and dissolution of the whole universe. By contemplative power Brahman expands. From that food is produced. From food, life (thence) mind, (thence) the reals (the five elements); (thence) the worlds; (thence the rituals) in the rituals, immortality. He whose agnihotra sacrifice is not followed by the sacrifice of the new moon and of the full moon, by the four months' sacrifice, by the ritual (performed in the harvest season) is without guests, without oblations, without the ceremony to all the gods or gives offerings contrary to rule, (such conduct) destroys his worlds till the seventh. Unsteady, verily, are these boats of the eighteen sacrificial forms, which are said to be inferior karma. The deluded who delight in this as leading to good, fall again into old age and death. Remaining in the fold of ignorance and thinking we are extremely wise and learned, the fools with boastful nature ramble about like the blind led by the blind alone. For gaining the knowledge of the Absolute, he should go with the bundle of sacrificial wood in hand as a symbol of purity, humility and determination. Let the disciple approach the Master, whose wisdom is based upon Realization. Purusha (the Soul) is transcendental; since He is formless. He is birthless, without breath (the vital life force) and without mind. He is pure and superior to everything. From him are born life, mind, all the sense-organs (also) ether, air, light, water and earth, the supporter of all.
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From him come forth the seven life-breaths, the seven flames, their fuel, the seven oblations, these seven worlds in which move the life-breaths, seven and seven which dwell in the secret place (of the heart). Om is the bow; ones Self, indeed, is the arrow; God is said to be the target. It is to be hit with an unmoving mind. Thus one becomes united with it as the arrow (becomes one with the target.) One who meditates, all his knots of his heart, the bondages are opened; all the doubts are eliminated and one becomes gradually free from the fetters of action with ego. Within the effulgent light of sahasrra, is revealed the One, the parambrahma, the Absolute. He is luminous, pure-conscious, He is the Light of lights. It is the Supreme Reality that realizes the man of meditation.
In the highest golden sheath is Brahman without stain, without parts; Pure is it, the light of lights. That is what the knowers of self know. Brahman, verily, is this immortal. In front is Brahman, behind is Brahman, to the right and to the left. It spreads forth below and above. Brahman, indeed, is this universe. It is the greatest. Two birds, companions (who are) always united, cling to the self-same tree. Of these two, the one eats the sweet fruit and the other looks on without eating. On the self-same tree, a person immersed (in the sorrows of the world) is deluded and grieves on account of his helplessness. When he sees the other, the Lord Who is worshipped and His greatness, he becomes freed from sorrow. Breath is the life of every human being. Knowing
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this, the man of realization does not talk anymore. His breath is his work, his breath is his joy--that is a kriyavan. He is the greatest of the knowers of Brahman. Truth alone conquers, not untruth. By truth is laid out the path leading to the gods by which the sages who have their desires fulfilled travel to where is that supreme abode of truth. The weak and timid cannot realize the Self. Self Realization is not possible through intellect or hearing spiritual discourse. One who welcomes God in every activity, through a thorough controlled and disciplined life, to him also the Soul is revealed."
The Soul cannot be realized by the weak and timid.
Just as the flowing rivers disappear in the ocean casting off name and shape, even so the knower, freed from name and shape, attains to the divine person, higher than the high.
Mundaka Upanishad 3:2:9 Mundaka Upanishad 2 Narashimha Upanishad 7:3
The knower of God becomes God
All this is, verily, Brahman. This self is Brahman. This same self has four quarters.
Everything is God
Prasna Upanishad Invocation 1
Aum. May we, O gods, hear what is auspicious with our ears. Oh ye, who are worthy of worship, may we se with our eyes what is auspicious. May we enjoy the life allotted to us by the gods, offering praise, with our bodies strong of limb. May Indra, of increasing glory, bestow prosperity on us; may Pusan, the knower of all, bestow prosperity on us; may Tarksya, of unobstructed path, bestow prosperity on us. May Brhaspati
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Prasna Upanishad Invocation 2
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bestow prosperity on us. Aum, peace, peace, peace. "Let every wind that blows drop honey. Let the rivers and streams recreate honey. Let all our medicines turn honey. Let the dawn and evening be full of honey. Let the dark particles be converted to honey. Our nourisher, this sky above, be full of honey. Let our trees be honey. Let the Sun be honey. Let our cows secrete honey."
Rig Veda 1:90:6-8
Rig Veda 1:64:46 Rig Veda 8:19
"Truth is one but wise men speak in many ways."
Let this mortal clay (self) be the immortal God. As oil in sesame seeds, as butter in cream, as water in river beds, as fire in friction sticks, so is the atman grasped in one's own self when one searches for Him with truthfulness and austerity. Listen O children of immortality, let this universe be divine. Realize God as (the) Father of all, shining more brilliant than thousand suns. Know Him and be immortal. There is no other way than this.
Shvetashvatara Upanishad 1:15
Shvetashvatara Upanishad 2:5 and 3:8
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Key Passages From The Vedas and Up Ani Shads

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Key Passages from the Vedas and Upanishads