XVI
O Pushan! O Sun,
sole traveller of the heavens,
controller of all, son of Prajapati,
withdraw Thy rays and gather up Thy burning effulgence.
Now through Thy Grace I behold Thy blessed
and glorious form.
The Purusha (Effulgent Being)
who dwells within Thee,
I am He.
Here the sun, who is the giver of all light, is used as the symbol of the
Infinite, giver of all wisdom. The seeker after Truth prays to the Effulgent One to control His dazzling rays, that his eyes, no longer blinded by them, may behold the Truth. Having perceived It, he proclaims: “Now I see that that Effulgent Being and I are one and the same, and my delusion is destroyed.” By the light of Truth he is able to discriminate between the real and the unreal, and the knowledge thus gained convinces him that he is one with the Supreme; that there is no difference between himself and the Supreme Truth; or as
Christ said, “I and my Father are one.”
XVII
May my life-breath go to the all-pervading and immortal Prana,
and let this body be burned to ashes.
Om! O mind, remember thy deeds!
O mind, remember, remember thy deeds!
Remember!
Seek not fleeting results as the reward of thy actions, O mind! Strive only for the Imperishable. This Mantram or text is often chanted at the hour of death to remind one of the perishable nature of the body and the eternal nature of the Soul. When the clear vision of the distinction between the mortal body and the immortal Soul dawns in the heart, then all craving for physical pleasure or material possession drops away; and one can say, let the body be burned to ashes that the Soul may attain its freedom; for death is nothing more than the casting-off of a worn-out garment.
XVIII
O Agni (Bright Being)!
Lead us to blessedness by the good path.
O Lord! Thou knowest all our deeds,
remove all evil and delusion from us.
To Thee we offer our prostrations and supplications
again and again.
Here ends this Upanishad
The Upanishads translated by Swami Paramananda
Text from: Project Gutenberg
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