Thath thvam asi - chandhogya upanishat chapter 6

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thaasaam thrivrtham

thrivrtham ekaikaam karavaaNi ithiseyam dhevathaa imaaH thisraH anenaiva

aathmnaa anupraviSya naamaroope vyaakaroth.

 

Of these (meaning the three elements referred to as

dhevathaas), let me make each one threefold, willing thus this dhevathaa, (Brahman

or sath) entered into these three in the form of the inner self and differentiated

them by name and form.

 

The gross elements being made up of the combination

of others this passage explains how that was done. Each of the three elements

contain the other two also and the proportion in which this is done is given as

follows. Gross fire consists of subtle fire ½ part, water ¼ and earth1/4.

Similarly the gross water is ½ subtle water+1/4 fier+1/4 earth and the gross

earth is ½ earth+ ¼ water+ ¼ fire. Elsewhere

the pancheekarana is explained similarly as the element akasa= ½ akasa+1/8 of

the other four and the other elements

are formed like wise. Consisting of ½ of the element + 1/8 of the others respectively.

 

thaasaam thrivrtham

thrivrtham,ekaikaam akaroth yaThaathu khalusoumya imaah thisraH

dhevathaaHthrivrth thrivrth ekaikaabhacathi thath me vijaaneehi ithi

 

Thus the Being , Sath made each one of them

threefold. Dear one, know from me how this threefold nature can be understood

in these three elements.

 

Yadhagne rohitham

roopam thejasaH thath roopam

 

The red colour seen in the fire is that of fire.

 

Yath Suklam

that apaam

 

Which is white in fire that is that of water.

 

Yath krshNam

that annasya

 

What is black in fire it is that of anna, meaning

earth.

 

Thus it could be seen that what appears as fire is

really the combination of all the three, namely, fire, water and earth. The

other two , akasa and wind are not mentioned

since they are not visible in gross form. Thus ,

 

apaagaath

agneh agnithvam

 

Thus the fireness is gone from fire, meaning, the fire is not an independent

element. so,

 

vaachaarambhaNam

vikaarah naamaDheyam threeNi roopaaNi ithi eva sathyam.

 

all modifications are only a matter of speech and

the three forms alone are real. This means that all the forms in the universe

are only made of these three elements and the difference in form and name are not

real.

 

Then Uddalaka Aruni goes on to give more examples

to illustrate this point.