Prashna Upanishad — Chapter 5

PrUp 5.1

atha hainaṃ śaibyaḥ satyakāmaḥ papraccha | sa yo ha vai tad bhagavan manuṣyeṣu prāyaṇāntam oṃkāram abhidhyāyīta | katamaṃ vāva sa tena lokaṃ jayatīti

Then Saivya Satyakâma asked him: "Sir, if some one among men should meditate here until death on the syllable Om, what would he obtain by it?"

— tr. F. Max Müller (SBE, 1879/1884) (public domain)

PrUp 5.2

tasmai sa hovāca | etad vai satyakāma paraṃ cāparaṃ ca brahma yad oṃkāraḥ | tasmād vidvān etenaivāyatanenaikataram anveti

He replied: "O Satyakâma, the syllable Om (AUM) is the highest and also the other Brahman; therefore he who knows it arrives by the same means at one of the two.

— tr. F. Max Müller (SBE, 1879/1884) (public domain)

PrUp 5.3

sa yady ekamātram abhidhyāyīta | sa tenaiva saṃveditas tūrṇam eva jagatyām abhisampadyate | tam ṛco manuṣyalokam upanayante | sa tatra tapasā brahmacaryeṇa śraddhayā sampanno mahimānam anubhavati

If he meditate on one Mâtrâ (the A), then, being enlightened by that only, he arrives quickly at the earth. The Rik-verses lead him to the world of men, and being endowed there with penance, abstinence, and faith, he enjoys greatness.

— tr. F. Max Müller (SBE, 1879/1884) (public domain)

PrUp 5.4

atha yadi dvimātreṇa manasi saṃpadyate | so 'ntarīkṣaṃ yajurbhir unnīyate somalokam | sa somaloke vibhūtim anubhūya punar āvartate

If he meditate with two Mâtrâs (A+U) he arrives at the Manas, and is led up by the Yagus-verses to the sky, to the Soma-world. Having enjoyed greatness in the Soma-world, he returns again.

— tr. F. Max Müller (SBE, 1879/1884) (public domain)

PrUp 5.5

yaḥ punar etaṃ trimātreṇomity etenaivākṣareṇa paraṃ puruṣam abhidhyāyīta | sa tejasi sūrye saṃpannaḥ | yathā pādodaras tvacā vinirmucyate | evaṃ ha vai sa pāpmanā vinirmuktaḥ sa sāmabhir unnīyate brahmalokam | sa etasmāj jīvadhanāt parāparaṃ puriśayaṃ puruṣam īkṣate tad etau ślokau bhavataḥ

Again, he who meditates with this syllable AUM of three Mâtrâs, on the Highest Person, he comes to light and to the sun. And as a snake is freed from its skin, so is he freed from evil. He is led up by the Sâman-verses to the Brahma-world; and from him, full of life (Hiranyagarbha, the lord of the Satya-loka), he learns to see the all-pervading, the Highest Person. And there are these two Slokas:

— tr. F. Max Müller (SBE, 1879/1884) (public domain)

PrUp 5.6

tisro mātrā mṛtyumatyaḥ prayuktā anyonyasaktā anaviprayuktāḥ / kriyāsu bāhyābhyantaramadhyamāsu samyakprayuktāsu na kampate jñaḥ

The three Mâtrâs (A+U+M), if employed separate, and only joined one to another, are mortal; but in acts, external, internal, or intermediate, if well performed, the sage trembles not.

— tr. F. Max Müller (SBE, 1879/1884) (public domain)

PrUp 5.7

ṛgbhir etaṃ yajurbhir antarikṣaṃ sāmabhir yat tat kavayo vedayante / tam oṃkāreṇaivāyatanenānveti vidvān yat tac chāntam ajaram amṛtam abhayaṃ paraṃ ceti

Through the Rik-verses he arrives at this world, through the Yagus-verses at the sky, through the Sâman-verses at that which the poets teach,— he arrives at this by means of the Onkâra; the wise arrives at that which is at rest, free from decay, from death, from fear,— the Highest."

— tr. F. Max Müller (SBE, 1879/1884) (public domain)