Aitareyopanishad

The Aitareyãranyaka consists of five Books or Arai3yakas and in all of them, some exalted philosophical and spiritual thoughts are revealed. The first Aranyaka, in five chapters, besides giving the etymology of Mahavrata, describes also the Sastras or hymns of the morning, midday, and evening Savanas or libations, of the Mahãvrata rite of the Gavämayana-sattra, set forth in Aitareyabrahmana I. 38 and IV. 14. The material found here connected with the ceremony is allegorical, and so gives the truly aranyaka character to the work; for the main characteristic of an Aranyaka is that it supplies the esoteric meaning of the great Vedic rituals. In the course of time ritual and meditation became independent, and the Aranyaka then stood only for the spiritual forms of worship which the Vãnaprasthas used to perform. The more essentially spiritual part of the Aranyakas embodies the meditations and realizations of sages who kept no connection with the religious ceremonies performed in the domestic fires. This spiritual nature of this Aranyaka is evident at the beginning itself of the work where Gayatri and Mahãvrata day are identified with Brahman. The sage who revealed the Rgvedic hymn X. 27 is identified with Brahman, for he has realized Brahman.

The Upanisad enlarges the idea of 13rahman hinted at in the first Aranyaka. The second and the third Aranyakas are together designated Maha-Aitareyopanisad. The third Aranyaka is separately known as Samhitopanisad. Some, like Upanisad-Brahmayogin, have commented on the whole of the second Aranyaka as Aitareyopanisad. But Sri Sankaracarya takes the latter six chapters of that Aranyaka alone (called the Atmasatka, as they deal with the Atman), as the Upanisad proper. In the preceding chapters of the second Aranyaka, Prana or Hiranyagarbha is taught as the First Cause of the Universe. The ritual and meditations in connection with Pranavidya are set forth at length. A brief account of this earlier part is given as it contains germs of great philosophic thought.

The second Aranyaka opens with the sublime passage. Self-Knowledge alone leads to the bliss of immortality, and the way to attain Self-knowledge is by performing the scripture-ordained duties without any attachment to the fruits thereof and doing them as a dedication to the Divine. This alone is real, this alone is truth, and therefore a discerning man should not neglect Self-Knowledge and the means helpful to it. The ancients did not go astray from this path, those who did, perished. To those who profess the sacrificial religion, Uktha superficially means only a Sastra or mere praise –chant in prose; but esoterically according to Aitareya, it stands for the universe and man, Matter and Spirit, ‘Anna’ and Annada’. One who practices the combination of ritualistic work and meditation reflects ‘I am Uktha – the Reality consisting of Spirit and Matter. The same Purusa or Cosmic Intelligence, designated as Prajapati and in whom the aspirants meditate is also the Hiranmaya Purusa – the innermost essence of the visible universe. Human personality is centered on action, and that personality is the sphere in which Brahman dwells as the witness. In the next step, Uktha is extolled as conscious and unconscious Energy animating the body and is equated with Brahman or Prana. Brahman or Life entered man from the forepart of his feet. It proceeded higher up to the thigh, stomach, heart, and head and finally ramified into sight, hearing mind, speech, and vital breaths. So some sages meditate on Brahman in the stomach or in the hearth, the former as the seat of Brahman as Vsia vanara.