Subāla Upanisad
By Swami Harshananda
Subāla Upaniṣad is a fairly long minor Upaniṣad, assigned to the Śukla Yajurveda. It has 16 khaṇḍas[1] the total number of mantras being 67. Almost the whole Upaniṣad is in prose. A brief summary of the Upaniṣad may now be attempted here:
Khanda 1[edit]
It consists of 6 mantras. It discusses about the topics like:
- Nature of Brahman without attributes
- Creation of the world
Khanda 2[edit]
It has 4 mantras. It talks about the following topics:
- Puruṣa - the Supreme Person
- Creation of scriptures
- Various beings
- Reverse process of dissolution
Khanda 3[edit]
It has 3 mantras. It describes about the attainment of the Atman by practising the six disciplines like:
- Satya - truth
- Dāna - charity
- Tapas - austerity
- Ahimsā - non-violence
- Brahmacarya - celibacy
- Nirvedana - detachment or renunciation
Khanda 4[edit]
It has 4 mantras. It talks about the subject like:
- Daharākāśa - space in the region of the heart
- Three states of consciousness
Khanda 5[edit]
It has 15 mantras. This section which is fairly long, describes the following:
- how the various organs, their objects and their presiding deities are all connected by nāḍīs[2]
- How the ātman activates them all
- He[3] is the knower of all, the supreme ruler of all, fit to be worshiped by all and unaffected in any way.
- He is indescribable
Khanda 6[edit]
It has 7 mantras. This section declares that:
- The whole creation has proceeded out of Nārāyaṇa
- Nārāyaṇa is everything
Khanda 7[edit]
It has 2 mantras implying that the Nārāyaṇa is the inner Self[4] of everything.
Khanda 8[edit]
It has 1 mantra which infers that the ātman lives in the impure body but is ever pure, shining and divine.
Khanda 9[edit]
It has 16 mantras. It delineates regarding the following:
- Dissolution of the entire creation into Brahman during pralaya
- Result of knowing that Brahman is becoming that Brahman
- Means of attaining Brahman through Vedāntic disciplines like repeating the Vedas, self-control, renunciation and samādhi
Khanda 10[edit]
It has 2 mantras. It explains the following:
- All the worlds have been established in Brahman.
- One who knows it, becomes Brahman.
Khanda 11[edit]
It has 1 mantra. This section describes:
- Four types of nādīs
- Result of departure of the soul through these
- Exit through the fourth nāḍī called apunarbhavā gives the soul liberation.
Khanda 12[edit]
It has 1 mantra. This short section deals with:
- Purity of food
- One should not consume food which is stale and gone bad
- A sanyāsin can eat the food brought to him unasked by his devotees, but should not plan for it
Khanda 13[edit]
It has 2 mantras depicting the mode of sādhana of sanyāsins and the characteristics after attaining perfection.
Khanda 14[edit]
It has 1 mantra which uses the analogy of the food and the eater and concludes that the Brahman is called Paradeva and he is the substratum of all the ‘eaters’.
Khanda 15[edit]
It has 1 mantra which shows that How does one who is vijñānaghana[5] burn or destroy the seed of rebirth. As he rises above the body at the time of death, he burns everything from prāṇa right up to mṛtyu,[6] because of the very realization.
Khanda 16[edit]
It has 1 mantra which gives the tradition of transmitting Brahmavidyā whom to give and whom not to give and the importance of devotion to the guru.
References[edit]
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore