Brihadaranyaka Upanishad-1

The Creation and Its Cause

We go singly, independently, alone and un-befriended without any association, any appendage whatsoever. But we take something with us. Like the forces of Karma cling to our subtle body which alone departs when the physical body is shed.

Lingam mano yatra nisaktam asya:

‘The mind which is the ruling principle in the subtle body carries with it the result of its actions, the Karma-Phala,’ which clings to it like a leech. It will not leave it, wherever it goes. In some other Upanishad it is said that a calf finds its own mother even in the midst of a thousand cows by moving hither and thither in the herd; as it goes to its own mother though the cows may be thousands in number, likewise our Karma will find us wherever we are. We may go to the highest heaven, but the Karma is not going to leave us. We may go to the nether regions; it is not going to leave us. We may go to any corner of creation, but this is not going to leave us. It will find us.

In the beginning, this universe was the self (Viraj) alone, in the shape of a person. He reflected and saw nothing else but His self. He first said: "I am He." Therefore He came to be known by the name I (Aham). Hence, even now, when a person is addressed, he first says: "It is I," and then says whatever other name he may have. And because He, before (purva) the whole group of aspirants, burnt (aushat) all evils, therefore He is called Purusha. He who knows this verily burns up him who wishes to be Viraj in advance of him.

He was afraid. Therefore people still are afraid when alone. He thought: "Since there is nothing else but myself, what am I afraid of?" Thereupon His fears were gone; for what was there to fear? Assuredly, it is from a second entity that fear arises.

He was not at all happy. Therefore a person even today is not happy when alone. He desired a mate. He became the size of a man and wife in close embrace. He divided this body into two. From that division arose husband (pati) and wife (patni). Therefore, as Yajnavalkya said, the body before one accepts a wife is one half of oneself, like the half of a split pea. Therefore this space is indeed filled by the wife. He was united with her. From that union human beings were born.

She reflected: "How can he unite with me after having produced me from himself? Well, let me hide myself." She became a cow, the other (Manu) became a bull and was united with her; from that union cows were born. The one became a mare, the other became a stallion; the one became a she—ass, the other became a he—ass and was united with her; from that union one—hoofed animals were born. The one became a she—goat, the other became a he—goat; the one became a hew, the other became a ram and was united with her; from that union goats and sheep were born. Thus, indeed, he produced everything that exists in pairs, down to the ants.

Prajapati said to Himself: "Well, let Me make a firm basis for it (semen)." So He created woman. Having created her, He placed her below and worshipped her. Therefore one should worship a woman, placing her below. He (Prajapati) extended His organ that projects and with it impregnated her.

Her lap is the sacrificial altar, her hair the sacrificial grass, her skin within the organ the lighted fire; the two labia of the vulva are the two stones of the soma—press. He who, knowing this, practices sexual intercourse wins as great a world as is won through the Vajpayee sacrifice; he acquires for himself the fruit of the good deeds of the woman. But he who, without knowing this, practices sexual intercourse turns over to the woman his own good deeds.

If a man desires his wife with the thought: "May she enjoy love with me," then, after inserting the member in her, joining mouth to mouth and stroking her organ, he should utter the following mantra:

"O semen, you have been produced from my every limb; especially from my heart through the essence of food you are the essence of the limbs. Bring this woman under my control, like a deer pierced by a poisoned arrow."

Now, the wife whom he desires with the thought: "May she conceives"—after inserting the member in her and joining mouth to mouth, he should inhale and then exhale, repeating the following mantra: "With power, with semen, I deposit semen in you." Thus she verily becomes pregnant.

Then he embraces her, repeating the following mantra: I am the vital breath and you are speech. You are speech and I am the vital breath. I am Semen and you are Rig; I am heaven and you are earth. Come; let us strive together so that we may have a male child."

Then he spreads apart her thighs, repeating the following mantra: "Spread yourselves apart, Heaven and Earth."

Inserting the member in her and joining mouth to mouth, he strokes her three times from head to foot, repeating the following mantra:

"Let Vishnu make the womb capable of bearing a son! Let Tvashtra shape the various limbs of the child! Let Prajapati pour in the semen! Let Dhatra support the embryo! O Sinivali, make her conceive; O goddess whose glory is widespread, make her conceive! May the two Atvins, garlanded with lotuses, support the embryo!

"Let the two Atvins chum the womb with the two golden arani sticks! I am placing a seed in your womb to be delivered in the tenth month. As the earth has fire in its womb, as heaven is pregnant with the sun, as the quarters are impregnated by air, so I am impregnating you by placing this seed in your womb."

After the reciting of the mantra, he utters his own name and that of his wife and places the seed.

"Man, O Gautama, woman is the fire, the open mouth is its fuel, the vital breath its smoke, speech its flame, the eye its coals and the ear its sparks. In this fire the gods offer food as libation. Out of that offering semen is produced.

"Woman, O Gautama, Man is the fire, her sexual organ is the fuel, the hairs the smoke, the vulva the flame, sexual intercourse the coals, enjoyment the sparks. In this fire the gods offer semen as libation. Out of this offering a man is born. He lives as long as he is to live. Then, he dies,

To cooperate in others' pleasures is also a duty. "Never repulse a woman who offers herself," says the Chandogya Upanishad.

In the cosmic scheme man represents Purusha (the Person, Spirit) and woman Prakriti (Nature, Primal Matter), both of whom unite to keep the world going. So goes the Vedic verse: ‘I am He, you are she; I am song, you are verse; I am heaven, you are earth. We two shall here together dwell becoming parents of children’.

The earth is verily the essence of all these beings, water is the essence of the earth, herbs of water, flowers of herbs, fruits of flowers, man of fruits and semen is the essence of man.