Thath thvam asi-Chandhogya Upanishadh 6

[Guest guest]

asanaapipaase

ye soumya vijaaneehi ithi

 

Dear boy, know from me about hunger and thirst.

 

yathra ethath purushaH aSiSishathi naama

 

when a man eats,

 

aapa eva thath aSitham nayanthe thath yaThaa

 

that food is carried by water just as,

 

gonaayaH aSvanaayaH purushanaayaH ithi

 

a cowherd, or a groom or a leader of men leads

others under their care,

 

evam

thath apa aachakshathe asanaaya ithi

 

water is said to do the same with respect to

eating. The water is therefore termed as asanaaya

like gonaaya, aSvanaaya etc.

 

In this passage eating is mentioned. The water in

the body carries the food to the respective organs to get digested.

 

gaavaH nayathi ithi gonaayaH, one who leads the

cows, a cowherd. aSvaan nayathiithi aSvanaayaH the groom who leads the horses.

Purushaan nayathi ithi purushanaayaH , aleader of men like a king or commander.

Similarly aSanam nayathi ithi asanaayaH, that which leads or carries the food

eaten.

 

thathra ethath Sungam uthpathitham soumya

vijaaneehi na idham amoolam bhavishyathi

 

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

not be without a root.

 

The body is compared to a shoot which means that it

must have a root and that is shown to be the Supreme Being.

 

thasya

kva moolam syaath anyathra annaath

 

Where can be the root of this body apart from the

food? ( which denotes the element earth)

 

evameva

khalu soumya annena Sungena aapaH moolam anvicCha

 

Like this my dear, know the root to be water, the

cause, by the shoot, the effect, in the form of food

(as earth came from water in the order of creation)

 

 

adhbhiH

soumya Sungena thejaH moolam anvicCha

 

By the shoot that is water know the root to be

light ( as water came from fire or light.)

 

thejasaa

soumya Sungena sanmoolam anvicCha

 

By the shoot that is light, know the root to be the

Supreme Being, sath. ( as said earlier thath thejo asrjatha)

 

 

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.

 

The parallel idea can be found in the text from

Thaithireeya Upanishad Yatho vaa imaani

bhoothaani jaayanthe yena jathaani jeevanthi yasmin abhisamvisanthi

thathvijinjaasava thath brahma, know thatto be Brahman from which all

beings arise, by which everything is sustained and into which everything merges

again. The words sath, thath and braham are synonymous.