Five sages inquire about the Vaiśvānara, another iconic passage of the Chāndogya Upaniṣad
Five sages inquire from Aśvapati on the nature of the Supreme Brahman. They are all Vedic scholars and are engaged in performing sacrifices, but their knowledge is incomplete.
The 5th chapter of the Chāndogya Upaniṣad brings another famous dialogue in the Upaniṣadic corpus.
The passage begins with five wealthy brāhmana householders: Prāśinaśāla, Satya-yajñā, Indradyumna, Jana, and Buḍila, coming together to deliberate on the nature of the Supreme Brahman. They are all Vedic scholars and are engaged in performing sacrifices, but their knowledge is incomplete.
Their inquiry starts with the words:
ko nu ātmā kiṁ brahmeti.
"Who is ātma? Who is the Supreme Brahman?" (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 5.11.1)
Incapable of finding a definitive answer by themselves, they approach Uddālaka Āruṇi, to receive from him teachings about Vaiśvānara, whom they understand to be the ātmā they are inquiring about. He, however, doesn't consider himself sufficiently qualified to instruct such great Kṣatriyas, and directs them to Aśvapati, a wise king, telling them that he knows Vaiśvānara.
They then approach Aśvapati and inquire from him:
vaiśvānaraṁ sampraty adhyeṣi tam eva no brūhīti
"You know about Vaiśvānara, please teach us." (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 5.11.6)
For one familiar with the conclusions of the Vedas, it is clear by this point that Vaiśvānara is the Supreme Lord, and the whole passage is dedicated to revealing this truth, but this is not directly indicated in the text at this point. The meaning of the word "Vaiśvānara" is kept ambiguous, letting a casual reader go through the process of inquiry and instruction, as in other passages of the Upaniṣads.
Aśvapati starts questioning the Brāhmanas about what they know and what they worship as ātma, the Supreme Lord. In this way, one by one, they reveal to have only partial knowledge about the subject. Prāśinaśāla worships the heavenly planets as Vaiśvānara, Satya-yajñā worships the Sun, Indradyumna worships Vāyu, Jana worships the element ether, and Buḍila worships water. Aśvapati explains that these are just partial understandings of the absolute truth, and although they could attain many temporary material opulences by this worship, ultimately, they would attain only disease and death as a result.
He then offers a unified explanation, explaining Vaiśvānara as the universal form of the Lord, encompassing the whole universe. The concept of Vaiśvānara as the universal form is also discussed in the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad, where Vaiśvānara is equated with Lord Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣnu (Paramātmā), appearing externally as the universal form, and internally as the Supersoul.
tān hovācaite vai khalu yūyaṁ pṛthag ivemam ātmānaṁ vaiśvānaraṁ vidvāṁso ’nnam attha, yas tv etam evaṁ prādeśa-mātram abhivimānam ātmānaṁ vaiśvānaram upaste sa sarveṣu lokeṣu sarveṣu bhūteṣu sarveṣv ātmasv annam atti
"Aśvapati said to them: You know that Self, Vaiśvānara as if He was divided and separate and experience worldly pleasures accordingly. However, one who meditates on Vaiśvānara as being the size of the distance between the thumb and forefinger and is situated inside the hearts of all, who being all-pervading, resides in all places and all elements, this person is truly nourished [he attains immortality]." (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 5.18.1)
tasya ha vā etasyātmano vaiśvānarasya mūrdhaiva su-tejāś cakṣur viśva-rūpaḥ prāṇaḥ pṛthag-vartmātmā sandeho bahulo bastir eva rayiḥ pṛthivy eva pādāv uru eva vedir lomāni barhir hṛdayaṁ gārhapatyo mano ’nvārhāryapacana āstyam āhavanīyaḥ
"The radiant heaven is the head of Vaiśvānara; the sun with its myriad forms is his eye; the wind that blows everywhere is his breath; the all-encompassing ether is his trunk, the waters, source of all nourishment are his belly; and the Earth itself, his two feet. His broad chest is the sacrificial altar and the kuśa grass His bodily hairs. His heart, mind and mouth are the three sacrificial fires, known as gārhapatya, dakṣiṇa and āhavanīya." (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 5.18.2)
The king then instructed the Brahmanas on how to perform their fire sacrifices with this understanding, obtaining then everything desirable, culminating in spiritual power obtained through the study of the scriptures. All his sins are burned, just as dry grass thrown into the fire. He also warns them that sacrifices performed without the understanding of the Supreme Lord as the ultimate beneficiary are useless, like offering oblations to ashes.
When the Vedas are studied under proper guidance, we receive all the proper conclusions of the text, and everything sounds very simple. We can take the Bhagavad-gītā as it is for example: the explanations of Prabhupada make the text of the Gītā, which challenged scholars for centuries, accessible even for a layman. However, when the Vedas are studied without such guidance, even the most elementary passages become challenging.
After studying the above passage, one could question the identity of this mysterious Vaiśvānara who should be worshiped. Is Vaiśvānara the fire of digestion, the demigod Agni, the fire element, or Lord Viṣnu?
Even though the word "vaiśvānara" has many meanings, in this passage it describes Lord Viṣnu. This is clearly indicated by the qualities described in the verse, starting with the description that the heavenly planets are His head (mūrdhaiva su-tejāś). Apart from the Lord, no one can claim to have Svargaloka as part of one's body. There is also the usage of the words ātmā and brahman, which also indicate Lord Viṣnu, especially when used together, and the result of knowing Vaiśvānara described in the text is the same as of result of knowing Lord Viṣnu indicated in other passages.
A later verse of the passage (5.44.3) mentions that just as dry grass is burned by fire, all sins of one who performs sacrifices in full knowledge of Lord Vaiśvānara are completely destroyed. Everyone in the material world, including demigods, is under the results of karma. Only Lord Viṣnu has the power to destroy the karma of His worshipers.
Finally, the word vaiśvānara is composed of two words: viśva (all) and nara (human beings), and thus it means "He who is the resting place of all human beings". Everything taken together, it is impossible to deny that Vaiśvānara means Lord Viṣnu.
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