Thath thvam asi-Chandhogya Upanishadh 6

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aTha

yathra ethath purushaH pipaasathi naama

 

When a man is thirsty

 

theja eva

thath peetham nayathe

 

the fire alone leads what has been drunk

 

 

thath

yaThaa gonaayo aSvanaayaH purushanaaya ithi

 

Just as a cowherd, or a groom or a leader of men

leads others under their care,

 

 

evam

thath theja aachashta udhanya ithi

 

Thus understand the fire to be the conductor of

water.

 

thathra

ethatheva Sungam uthpathithaH soumya vijaaneehi nedham amoolam bhavvishyathi

ithi

 

 

Know my dear boy, when a shoot had risen it will

not be without a root.

 

thasya

kva moolam syaath anyathra adhbhiH soumya

 

Where can be the root of this body apart from the

water, my dear?

 

 

adhbhiH

soumya Sungena thejaH moolam anvicCha thejasaa soumyaa Sungena sanmoolam

anvicCha

 

By the shoot that is water know the root to be

light By the shoot that is light, know the root to be the Supreme Being, sath.

 

sanmoolaah

soumya imaaH sarvaaH sadhaayathanaaH sathprathishTaaH

 

Hence all these are rooted in the sath, which is

the first cause, abide in sath and are supported by sath.

 

yaThaa nu

khalu soumya imaa thisraH dhevathaaH purusham praapya thrivrth thrivrth ekaikaa

bhavathi purasthaath eva bhavathi

 

How these three deities on reaching man become threefold

has been explained to you already.

 

asya

soumya purushaya prayathaH vaang manasi sampadhyathe manaH praaNe praaNaH

thejasi thejaH parasyaam dhevathaayaam

 

The speech of the man at the time of departure from

the body, merges in mind , mind in prana, prana in fire and fire merges in the

supreme deity.

 

The last passage is in conclusion of the three

elements being the basis of the body of man. Before a man dies, first speech ceases to function

but mind continues . Hence it is said that

the speech merges in the mind. Then the mind also ceases to function

when one becomes unconscious when only prana is functioning. That is, the mind

merges in the prana. when prana also goes out the body retains its heat for a while.

Hence it is said that the prana merges in the fire and finally the body dies

and the fire which signifies life merges with the infinite. But it is not the

union of the jeeva with Brahman which has been explained earlier as the thuriya

state but only the state of deep sleep when the jive due to the presence of

ignorance is not aware that it has merged with Brahman. Then like man awakening

from sleep the soul enters another body. The next passage directly deals with

the mahavakya Thath thvam Asi, which is the main purport of this chapter 6 of

Chandhogya Upanishad.