The Chandogya Upanishad - 3-10 : Swami Krishnananda.

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Thursday, September 01,  2022. 06:00.

Chapter - 3 : Sanatkumara's Instructions on Bhuma-Vidya : 

SECTION 10: WATER -

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SECTION 10: WATER

Mantram-1.

Apo vava annad-bhuyasyah, tasmad-yada suvrstir-na bhavati, vyadhiyante pranah, annam kaniyo bhavisyatiti, atha yada suvrstir-bhavati, anandinah prana bhavati, annum bahu bhavisyatiti, apa evema murtah yeyam prthivi, yad-antarikasam, yad-dyauh, yat parvatah, yad-deva-manusyah, yat pasavas-ca vayamsi ca trna-vanaspatayah svapadany-akita-patanga-pipilikam, apah evema murtah apah upassveti.

Mantram-2.

Sa yo'po brahmetyupaste apnoti sarvan-kaman triptiman bhavati yavadapam gatam tatrasya yathakamacaro bhavati yo'po brahmetyupaste asti bhagavo'dbhyo bhuya iti, adbhyo vava bhuyo'asti iti, tanme bhagavan bravetviti.

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Life would become impossible if the liquid principle were not present. If there is no rain, there will be no food. The earth will be parched and it will no longer be fertile. The capacity of the earth to produce foodstuff would be nil, if there is not to be any rain. The coordination of the liquid element with the solid element is, therefore, necessary to produce that element called food. People will start weeping and crying if there is no rain and it is all drought. Living beings feel distressed on account of the absence of foodstuff caused by the absence of rain. They say, "There is no food, it is all dry." When there is rainfall, people and animals, the plant and vegetable kingdom, the whole of nature becomes luxurious and joyful. Whatever has been mentioned earlier under 'food' is once again repeated here by saying that everything is dependent on the element of water like food, for sustenance, inasmuch as the former is the cause of the latter. All beings live with food and water.

Now, this is evidently a subtler form of meditation that the master is prescribing. It is not necessarily a meditation on the ocean or the rivers or the water that we see in the world, but on a subtler element that is prior to the manifestation of the solid matter which is physically not visible. We must be able to conceive of the subtler principle behind the earth principle. We must be able to contemplate on the subtle principle existing prior to everything that is solid and material in its contents. It means to say that we are now gradually rising from the physical level to the conceptual and psychological level of meditation. Next comes meditation on a still subtler concept, the concept of fire, which is dealt with in the next section.

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NEXT-Chapter Three: Sanatkumara's Instructions on Bhuma-Vidya

SECTION 11: HEAT.

To be continued ....

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