This is Twelfth part of the Third chapter of Chandogya Upanishad in English with the original texts, meanings, etymology and inner meanings. In this part of the Upanishads, in the background of the goddess Gayatri, it has been described how the divinity and the physical universe are held in the Universal Consciousness who has created the three fundamental spaces. Gayatri, who is the mother of gods, has been identified with Vaak. The entire universe is created from Vaak or from the words of the Consciousness. There are two fundamental directions or two fundamental space; internal and external, internal sky and external sky. Upanishad has said that these two spaces are the same. These two spaces are controlled by a third space called antara hridaya aakaasha or also mentioned as dahara aakaasha elsewhere in Upanishad. The seers have stated that they have seen the creation and annihilation of universe from this third space.

1. The Goddess Gayatri (gaayatrI) ---English translation of the
Third Chapter of Chandogya Upanishad with original texts
and meanings. (The Universal Consciousness and the
Universe.)
(Written following the teachings received from the great seer
Shri. BijoyKrishna Chattopadhyaya (1875-1945) and his
principal disciple Shri. Tridibnath Bandyopadhyaya
(1923-1994).
The Sanskrit words written in italics are the itrans version of
Devanagari scripts and can be found in the Sanskrit -English
dictionary by Sir. Monier Williams in the website <https://
www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/monier/>
Introduction.
Goddess Gayatri (gaayatrI) is the mother of the deities. She is
located inside the solar sphere. Her radiance (varga) manifests
Herself and everyone else. The entire physical universe and
divinity is resting in Her. She has been identified with vaak who
is the mother of all words, who is behind all expressions. The
three Vedas, Rik, yajur and saama are the three aspects of
'knowing or sensing' or the three fundamental activities of the
Consciousness. These are her three feet or motions in three
planes. In her manifestation, three spaces are created----internal,
external and the one that dominates over both internal and
external. She carries everyone beyond death by her songs, by
the words, those impart motion and transfer one beyond death.

2.
Chandogya Upanishad Third chapter, Twelfth part.
Verse 3.12.1
gaayatrI vaa idaM sarvaM bhUtaM yadidaM ki`ncha.
vaag vai gaayatrI. vaag vaa idaM sarvaM bhUtaM gaayati cha
traayate cha.
Word to word meaning
gaayatrI vaa (gaayatrI indeed) idaM (these) sarvam (all) bhUta
M (entities), yad idaM ki`ncha (what so ever).
vaag vaa (indeed vaak) idaM (these) sarvaM (all) bhUtaM (entiti
es).
gaayati (sings) cha (and) traayate ( rescues) cha (as well).
Consolidated meaning
gaayatrI indeed is all the entities (objects)----whatever all
these. vaak indeed is gaayatrI. vaak is certainly all these
entities; (vaak) sings and provides deliverance.
Inner meaning and etymology.
bhutaM is from the word bhUta.
The word bhUta means (i) past, (ii) what has been already
created, (iii) an object, a material, an entity, (iv) anything that is
created.
So, essentially bhUta means anything that has been
'materialized'.

3.
gaayati (sings) cha (and) traayate (rescues) cha (as well) :
The word 'gaayati' (= sings) is from the root word gai meaning
'to sing'. The words ga, gaana and gai are all connected and
imply meaning related to 'motion' (gati /
going) and gaana (song).
Like the force changes the state of a body from rest to motion, in
Consciousness, it is 'word' that sets us in motion. A word heard
or a song heard can take us from laughter to tears, from one state
to the other.
gaana = ga (gad) + ana; gad means 'to speak'; 'ana' means
animation or activity of Consciousness, praaNa.
gaana = ga (gati /motion or going) + ana (animation, praaNa).
So, gaana or song means to move by the song or words.
In Chandogya UpaniShad there is a word called udgaana (ut---
up + gaana--song). It is the song by which one is uplifted or
transcended beyond death. mukhya (principal) praaNa or eternal
Consciousness who is life or animation in every entity, carries
everyone beyond death, carries every one from mortality to
eternity. So here, gaana means udgaana.
vaak is the consort (shakti / power ) of mukhya (principal/
eternal) praaNa. In consciousness there is no duality; in
Consciousness all dualities are the forms of Consciousness or
expressions of Oneness. vaak is that capability or power of the
Universal Consciousness by which Consciousness becomes
many still remaining One and by which Consciousness brings all
dualities back in Oneness.

4. praaNa and vaak are the two aspects of the Consciousness. As
the Consciousness becomes many, this multiplication is
described as vaak splitting praaNa into many entities. A formed
or defined entity is a 'form or definition' of Consciousness or is a
'word' of the Consciousness. Such a defined word is
called vaakya meaning a formation of vaak. This is why,
whatever we feel, perceive or sense, we have a 'word' for it.
When we conceive the shape and quality of a thing inside us or
in our mind, we build it within our mind by our mind. Similarly
this world is the manifestation of the divine mind. Mind is the
place where the Consciousness takes a defined form or
where vaak crystallizes as words or vaakya. (This is further
transformed into coordinated and well defined actions or
activities.) Thus this universe is the formation of the words of
the Universal Consciousness and is manifested in the divine
mind. So it is cited that vaak is everything.
The nature of Consciousness is to 'speak' and 'listen'. Whatever
we say, we also listen to it. 'Speaking' is the act of 'expression' or
'creation'. Listening is to 'know' or to 'feel' what is being
expressed or created. veda (knowing) is also
called shruti (listening) since Consciousness becomes what
Consciousness 'knows' (or speaks) and whatever Consciousness
thus becomes, Consciousness 'feels or knows' it; this feeling is
listening. Everything is thus created by the Consciousness and
held (felt / listened) by the Consciousness.

5. In Consciousness, 'to know' means 'to become'. Any entity, say a
tree is the 'knowledge' of the Universal Consciousness called
'tree'. In that 'tree' 'Consciousness' has become bound and finite
by knowing Consciousness as 'the tree'. Universal, unbound
Consciousness who is existing or living as that 'tree' is also
called 'praaNa' . The particularity, the way Consciousness is
bound and held (as tree) is 'vaak'. Thus vaak is like a 'container'
in which praaNa is contained.
Similarly, in our inside, with every sensing , with every feeling,
we are becoming what we are sensing or feeling and at the
same in our core we remain unchanged, immutable.
Thus is the fire (agni) inside the earth or praaNa burning inside
our body. So, in saama veda (chaandogya upaniShad) agni (fire)
or praaNa and pRithivI (earth or body) or vaak is a pair. It has
been told that praaNa or the spirit is 'ama' and vaak is
'saa'. Together they make 'saama' or the perfect union, perfect
conjugation, the 'sameness or oneness' in everything created.
(It may be noted that the first primary note in Indian music or
song is saa.)
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (bRihadaaraaNyakya upaniShad)
explains the word gaayatrI as gayaaM tatre', i.e.'who rescues the
"gaya'. (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Fifth Chapter, Fourteenth
Brahmin, fourth verse.)
The word gaya means the sensory and functional organs and is
related to the word 'gam' in Sanskrit and to the word 'go' in
English. It means our senses or faculties by which (or with
which) we move around. Our senses and the corresponding

6. organs, like vision, listening, taste, hands, legs etc. are the
activities of Consciousness or praaNa. By praaNa we are active.
We are active by the activities of the Consciousness described
as praaNa. This is 'going' and by which we go, we work, we
sense, are called 'gaya'. We evolve and get nourished by this
'going or grazing or moving around'. Thus the organs are also
called 'go' in Sanskrit. 'go' in Sanskrit, also means 'cow' as they
are pastoral animals and we are nourished by the 'milk'. 'go' and
'gaya' in Sanskrit are related to the alphabet 'ga' and the root
word 'gam' (to go).
In our current state, our senses and the organs are decaying.
They are impaired as we age or they are impaired otherwise by
disease or accidents. They are limited. We cannot sense or
perceive beyond certain limits. We cannot do whatever we want.
In upaniShad, the seers have said that the Universal
Consciousness as the eternal praaNa (mukhya praaNa) carries
us and our faculties beyond the limitations and mortality. This is
the meaning of 'gayaaM tatre' as mentioned above and this is
why the Universal Consciousness who is carrying each of us
beyond limitations and death and to eternity is addressed
a 'gaayatrI'.
Thus as we transcend, our vision becomes unbound. It becomes
same with the sun in the external sky, the source of vision, the
source of all dimensions and colours; the source of time.
Whatever unseen becomes seen. Similarly, the listening gets
merged with the directions. Whatever unheard or not felt are

7. now heard and felt. The entire physicality becomes the body.
The touch becomes the air of the universe, touching and
communicating with everyone. The smell becomes the
fragrance that nourishes the body or physicality; the divine
fragrance is revealed as the fragrance of flowers and herbs out of
the soil by the control of moon (mind) and water (sense of
acquirement and that which solidifies to physicality). Like this
we merge with the divinity.
Thus along with the senses and faculties, we cross over the
mortality and finiteness. This is the divinity or the dyU, the
realm of the gods or the deities and gaayatrI is the mother of
them.
(In chandogya upanishad, mukkhya (principal) praaNa or
Eternal Consciousness has been termed as the goddess 'dUr' or
from whom death keeps a distance or from whom death moves
away. Also mukkhya praaNa has been described as the horse
(ashva) transcending everyone beyond the death. This is the
basis of durgaa (goddess dUr) and the Vedic ritual
called ashvamedha yaj~na.)
Verse 3.12.2
yaa vai saa gaayatrI yaM vaava saa yeyaM pRithivyaasyaaM
hIdaM sarvaM bhUtaM pratisThitametyameva naatishIyate.
Word to word meaning

8. yaa vai saa (she who is) gaayatrI (gaayatrI) yaM (it---this
earth) vaava (indeed) saa (is she) ya yaM (who is
this) pRithivI (earth);
yasyaaM hi (indeed in it----indeed in the
earth) idaM sarvaM (this all) bhUtaM (entities) pratisThitam (is
established)
etyam eva (one who is like this) na (never) atishIyate (surpass)
Consolidated meaning
She who is gaayatrI indeed she is this who is this earth;
Indeed in 'it' (in the earth) all these entities are founded (held).
gaayatrI, who is like this, no one can surpass her.
Inner meaning and etymology
pRithivI or the earth means the place or the personality of the
Universal Consciousness where or by whom every one is held in
a defined formation or identity and each is separated from the
other.
Thus we who are physicalized are the physical forms
of gaayatrI; gayatrI has physicalized Herself as the physical
universe.
We cannot overcome this limitations of physicality or defined
identity. We cannot surpass Her. We remain under Her terrestrial
regulations.

9. pRithivI (earth)= pRithaka (separated, segregated) + vI
(characterized)——who (female) is characterized by separation
or segregation——the goddess in whose domain we exist as
with separate identity, in isolation, with distinct individuality.
Verse 3.12.3
yaa vai saa pRithivIyaM vaava saa yadidamsmin puruShe
sharIramsmin hIme praaNaaH pratiShThitaa etadeva
naatishIyante.
Word to word meaning
yaa vai saa (she who is
that) pRithivI (earth), yaM(this) vaava (indeed
is) saa (that) yad (what) idam (in) asmin (this) puruShe (entity)
sharIram (the body); asmin (in this/ in this body) hi
(certainly) ime (these all) praaNaaH (praaNa/ sensory
faculties ) pratiShThitaa (are founded); etad eva (these
faculties) na (no/cannot) atishIyante (surpass/ surpass the body).
Consolidated meaning
She who is that earth, this (earth) indeed is that what in this
entity is the body. In this body, certainly these
all praaNa (sensory faculties) are founded. These faculties
cannot surpass the body.
Inner meaning and etymology

10. Our body is like a wall or a boundary between our inside and
outside. What is the earth outside, is the body in us; what is the
sky outside is the inner sky (refer verse 3.12.8 below) in us.
We see, the eyes do not see; the function of vision resides in the
eyes. We hear and not the ears; the function of hearing resides
in the ears. Our existence in the Consciousness is like this and
we ourselves are cast in the physicality (physical form of
Consciousness) in specific forms. In this way we are embodied.
As we are obsessed with physicality or with our body (or with
the mortality or earth) so accordingly we perceive, sense or
know whatever is filtered through the terrestrial system. Our
sense of vision, touch etc. are all limited by those rules or
regulations of the Universal Consciousness that govern the earth
or mortality.
At the same time, this shows how unbound, omnipotent,
omniscience, eternal Consciousness has become bound and
limited, defined and physicalized. Consciousness is
simultaneously unbound and bound, eternal and mortal.
As we are now in a system that is compelling us to identify
ourselves with our body, our sensing and other faculties decay as
the body decays or is affected by disease or injury. We are
unable to function properly with disorders in the body. Thus it is
said that these sensory faculties cannot surpass the body.
Verse 3.12.4
yat vai tat puruShe sharIramidaM vaa tad yadidamasmin
antaHpuruShe hRidayamasmin hIme praaNaH pratiShThitaa
etadeva naatishIyante.

11.
Word to word meaning
yat (what) vai (indeed) tat (that/in
that) puruShe (entity) sharIram (body) idaM (it/
this) vaa (certainly) tad (that) yad (what) idam asmin (in
this) antaH(inside) puruShe (the
entity) hRidayaH (heart) asmin (in this) hi (certainly) ime (these
all) praaNaH (sensory faculties) pratiShThitaa (are founded)
etad eva (those who are like these/ these sensory
faculties) na (no/cannot) atishIyante (surpass).
Consolidated meaning
What indeed is body in that entity, this is certainly that what is
the heart inside the entity; certainly in it (in the heart) these all
sensory faculties are founded (held). All these (sensory faculties)
cannot surpass (the heart).
Inner meaning and etymology.
The place where we feel happiness and sorrow, where we are
emotional, where we remain attached to everything is the
'heart'.
In the heart we hold everything that belongs to us.
Each of us lives in the respective world made of senses and
feelings. We see or know everything in our inside. This world
where we really live is held by the heart and so we say, 'my life,
my children, my wealth' and so on.

12. What is gravitation, the attraction of the earth by which we are
being held and stabilized as earthly beings, is also the attraction
of the heart. Earth is called dharitrI, which means the goddess
who is holding everyone. The root word is dhaa and it means
'holding or possessing'.
This is how we are materialized or the Universal Consciousness
has become physical. So, if we trace the lineage, it
is vaak materialized as objects or entities, physical
beings. vaak as the earth is holding all that is physical. Earth
(physicality of the Universal Consciousness) collectively is the
defined universal physical identity or the body of everything or
every being. Thus we or our sensory faculties are held in
coordination and cohesion in the body. This 'holding' that has
created our existence is the attraction of heart, attraction out of
love of the creator; in each of us it is revealed as what is called
heart or the centre of feelings. Our senses and feelings are held
by the 'heart' or 'hRidaya'.
Verse 3.12.5
saiShaa chatuShpadaa ShaDavidhaa gaayatrI
tadetad RichaabhynUktam
Word to word meaning
saa eShaa (she is this) chatuH (four) padaaH (footed) ShaD
(six) vidhaa (styled) gaayatrI (gaayatrI); tad
(that) etad (this) Richaa (Rik mantras) abhi (about
her) anUktam (chanted).

13. Consolidated meaning
She is this gaayatrI who is four-footed, striking (us) in six ways.
These are Rik mantras chanted about her.
Inner meaning and etymology (Please see the next verse).
Verse 3.12.6
tavaanasya mahimaa
tato jyaayaaMshcha puruShaH
paadaH asya sarvaa bhUtaani
tripaadasyaamRitaM divIti.
Word to word meaning
taavan (to that extent) asya (his /her) mahimaa (magnificence)
tato (from that) jyaayaaMshcha (excels) purusha
(puruSha excels the magnificence)
paadaH (foot) asya (his/her) sarvaa (all) bhUtaani (creatures)
(all creatures are resting on his/her one foot)
tripaada (other three feet) asya (his/
her) amRitam (eternal) divi (divinity)
(the eternal divinity is resting on the other three feet).
Consolidated meaning
Till that is his/her magnificence!
purusha (the Universal consciousness) excels it (magnificence).
All creatures are resting on his / her one foot.
The eternal divinity is resting on his /her other three feet.

14. Inner meaning and etymology.
Four feet of gaayatrI.
This is that gaayatrI who has created herself as all the creatures,
as all the objects. The earth or the entire physical universe is her
body. She is holding everyone by the heart. In her
manifestation, she has made four steps. The entire physical
universe is resting on one foot of her and the rest, which is the
eternal divinity is resting on her other three feet.
We stand on our feet and it is our stability. Our feet rest on the
earth. We are all held by the earth and are compatible to earth's
environment. This stability is called pratiShThaa.
Existence of each of us and every entity, live or inert, is
corresponding to the universal sense of 'existence / stay' or to the
state of 'to be' / 'asti' (exist) of the Universal Consciousness.
pratiShThaa = prati (corresponding)+ ShThaa (stay).
In this context, there is another word
called pratirUpa. = prati (corresponding)+ rUpa (appearance,
form, vision). Thus every formation or creation, every creature
corresponds to that form or that creation in the Universal
Consciousness.
Further, Upanishads have related the word 'pratiShThaa' to 'feet'
as well as to the 'eyes'.
Our eyes receive the perception of what has been created with
shapes and colours. The sense of existence or reality is primarily
related to vision. This is why we have a natural inclination to
believe what we see rather than what we hear.

15. The vision (eye) is related to motion (foot). In the external sky,
the sun is the source of vision or light and also the source of
motion or time.
The motion of the earth around the sun and around her own axis
has created an environment which has sustained our lives and
presented the existence of revealed, dimensioned and visible
universe to us.
In the language of Sanskrit (which is also known as the language
of the gods), the word for foot is pada. (Foot is 'ped' in Latin and
'pod' in Greek).
Also, the word for 'matter' or any object in Sanskrit is
'padaartha'.
padaartha = pada (foot)+ artha (meaning / realization).
So, padaartha means the realization or creation that results
when the Universal Consciousness set out on feet to move. All
matters, all creations are from the activities or the motion of the
Universal Consciousness called praaNa. praaNa as a divine
personality is celebrated as viShNu in the Vedas. Vedas have
made citations on the supreme foot of viShNu and on His vision
or eye spread across the divinity. The vision (eye) and motion
(foot) of viShNu is captured in our space as the sun and the
terrestrial time.
Elsewhere, in dhyaana mantra of gaayatrI, the three Vedas----
Rik, yajur and saama are mentioned as the three steps or feet
of gayatrI. veda means, 'Consciousness is knowing you and you
are knowing the Consciousness' and this is the essence of
creation! This is the universe. This 'knowing' unfolds in three

16. steps---saama, yajur and Rik and reversely
as Rik, yajur and saama.
taavan (till that) asya (his/her) mahimaa (magnificence):
(till that is his/her
magnificence) tato (from that) jyaayaaMshcha (excels) purusha -
----This means gaayatrI excels all who are in the state of
divinity and state of mortality.
This supreme soul, this gaayatrI is also her (his) own
magnificence which is all that exist and all that do not exist. She
(or he) has become all and on the other hand she (he) is
immutable, undecaying, beyond everything, surpassing
everything.
gaayatrI is ShaDvidhaa. This means that she has six forms or
she has struck (viddha ) us in six (ShaD) ways (vidha / vidhaa).
We are desirous for sound, touch, vision, taste and smell. These
five senses or five forms of praaNa and the soul (assertion less
self or aatman, nija bodha----whose assertion in a specific way
is 'I am' or aham) make six.
The number six or ShaT (ShaD, ShaH) represents the sweetness
or nectar. In Latin, six is 'sex' and sex is 'sexus'. The god of sex
or kaamadeva is said to have 'five arrows' to strike. The honey
bees are also six legged or hexapods.(Some common forms of
sugars contain six carbon atoms in a ring.)
Also, there is a goddess name ShaShThI who is worshipped on
the sixth day of a child's birth. ShaShThI means sixth.

17. (Earlier and also sometimes now, the transgenders in a group
would be visiting the homes of a newborn. They would sing and
dance to celebrate the newborn. The transgenders are also called
Chakka in 'Hindi' and 'Urdu' meaning 'hexads'.)
The word ‘fifth’ is panchama in Sanskrit. It is related to the
word pach meaning 'to cook' or 'cooking'. Thus the number
‘five’ is related to 'cooking', 'punching' or 'mixing' to create a
composition. Thus, there are five forms of praaNa, there are five
'senses' and five fundamental elements
(kShiti, ap, tejas, marut, voyma). Each of us is made of these
'five' elements or by these five forms of praaNa plus the sixth
'one' who is the One (soul) in everyone.
In Sanskrit, the consonants are classified in groups of five (and
there are five such groups). Five consonants in each group with
the One or aatman make six or make a particular class of
potency or a sphere (maNDala) for composition. (Vowels are
inbound or they are pointing toward aatman.)
Consonants are called vya~njana which means vi (specially,
particularly) + a~njana (pigment or hue). Thus the consonants
are manifestive, figurative, decorative.
(So, there is also a term called pa~ncha vya~njana meaning five
dishes or figuratively a complete and grand course of victuals.)
This part of Upanishad that narrates gaayatrI also contains a
chapter on madhu vidya (Knowledge of Nectars). Five nectars or
divine honeys have been described there along with the five
groups of deities. Each nectar or each type of honey belongs to a

18. specific group of deities. Each type of honey is connected to a
specific veda; five divine honeys belong respectively to the five
Vedas.The mantras or words of each veda are mentioned as the
honey bees. The five groups of the gods are
called vasu, rudra, aaditya, marut and saadhya. Along with five
nectars, the central theme is aaditya. aaditya is the son
of aditi who is the mother of the gods. aditi is the one who is
without (a) duality (diti). aaditya (also a name of the sun) has
been mentioned as the 'divine honey or divine nectar' in this
chapter of Upanishad. aaditya is also the centre of 'universal
assimilation, amalgamation and unification'. It is
the centre where the Universal Consciousness is enjoying the
pleasure by drawing duality into Oneness.
She is svayaM prakaasha, i.e. she manifests herself by herself
and in that manifestation everything is manifested. The divinity
is her first manifestation. Thus her radiance (varga) is emitting
through the divinity.
(Honey and the curd are the two articles used to
make mantha (mix) for making the offerings in Vedic rituals.
Honey (madhu) is aatman or soul and curd
(dadhi) is praaNa. dadhi is from the root word dadh meaning 'to
hold'. Milk stands for vaak. Milk that comes out
from vaak nourishes the universe. One of the breasts of vaak is
named as vaShaTkaara. vaShaTkaara means the act by which
everything is turned ShaT or six or 'sweet'. This turning into
sweetness happens when vaak reveals the Universal
Oneness. vaak nourishes the deities by milk from her two
breasts called svaahaakaara and vaShaTkaara; she nourishes

19. the divine fathers by the milk from her breast
called svadhaakaara; human beings are nourished by the milk
from her breast called hantakaara.
(It is noteworthy that the first primary note in Indian music
is saa and it is called ShaDja (ShaD + ja) i.e. born out of six!
In Chandogya Upanishad, it is mentioned that in the
saama, saa is vaak and ama is praaNa.)
Verse 3. 12. 7.
yad vai tad brahmetIdaM vaava tad yaH ayaM bahirdhaa
puruShaadaakaasho yo vai sa bahirdhaa puruShaadaakaashaH.
Word to word meaning
yad vai tad (what is that) brahma ( absolute being; one who is
growing and surpassing) iti (iti denotes end of a sentence or a
statement), idaM (this/ it) vaava (certainly) tad (that) ya(what)
ayaM (from this/ with respect to this) bahirdhaa (external)
puruShaad (from the being or entity) aakaasho (the space /
sky); yo (that) vai (certainly) sa (that) bahirdhaa (external)
puruShaad (from the being or entity) aakaashaH (space or sky).
Consolidated meaning
What is that brahma (absolute being; one who is growing and
surpassing), it is this the space external to the entity (creature or
any defined thing); certainly it is the space external to the entity.
Inner meaning and etymology.

20. brahma means the one who is vast and who is growing.
brahma is from the root word bRih meaning 'to expand or
grow' . The act of the vaak by which she keeps growing is
called bRiMhaNa. (Thus, bRimhaNa also means trumpeting by
an elephant.) It is for this reason, elsewhere in
Upanishad, vaak is termed as bRihatI (who keeps growing or
who is mighty) and she is known as the consort
of bRihaspati (Jupiter--the largest planet in our solar system).
Every fragment of the Universal Soul is called puruSha or an
entity. One of the meanings of the word puruSha is 'one who is
inside a pura or inside a body or envelope'. The last
alphabet Sha means 'fragment'. (In Devanagari script this
alphabet symbol contains a divisive segment; it is"ष".)
Power or the aspect of the Universal consciousness by which
Universal Consciousness or the Universal soul becomes many or
the Consciousness multiplies into many is vaak. Consciousness
is creating many from oneness by words or by talking. In
Chandogya Upanishad it is mentioned that the essence
of puruSha is vaak.
aakaasha = aa (aatman / soul) + kaasha (radiance)---the plane
or space that is irradiated by the manifesting Universal Soul or
Oneness. Thus this is the plane behind any creation. So, here in
space, all the words are held.
Here in this space the entire universe is being held as ‘words or
sound'. shavda is the word for sound in Sanskrit. shavda (shava
+ da) means who can bestow or donate (da) a state of shava or
inertness--who can freeze something into a confinement or

21. within a boundary. The word shava means 'corpse'. A word
defines Consciousness with definiteness and the unbound eternal
Consciousness freezes as that 'word'; this is becoming
'shava' by shavda (sound) or by word or by vaak.
The last alphabet da in the word shavda represents the 'act of
donating or providing a certain state'.
A word can freeze someone in a specific state or mood also a
word can unfreeze a state or a mood. By hearing certain words
one will laugh and hearing some other words the same one will
cry.
This is the act represented by da. The sound or shavda can
freeze one into inertness or confine one into a limitation or
boundary. The sound or shavda can unfreeze and remove all
confinement and boundaries. The alphabet ‘da’in ‘shavda’ is
best known in the word dyu (divinity) meaning self revealing,
self illuminating eternity, in the word vidyut (electricity) which
illuminates and which can detonate and in the word danta
(tooth). The word danta (tooth) signifies the processing of a
word (i.e. transformation of vaak to vaakya.) It is 'da'
+ anta (end)---meaning through which vaak ends or materializes
(into physicality).
Thus, in this space, where so many worlds once revealed are
now existing in 'negativity' like corpse and they will be again
illuminated and recreated. Also here so many new worlds are
being created. This is happening everywhere in the scale of
macro and in micro. In the sky or in the space or void there is
nothing and there is everything. There is absolute darkness and
there is splendid illumination.

22.
What are mentioned above with respect to the alphabet da, space
and shavda have been preached by lord prajaapati in the
Brihadaaranyaka Upanishad, Fifth Chapter, Second Brahmin.
There, this alphabet da is termed as the divine alphabet and is
mentioned can be heard in the rumbling of the thunder. It
thunders, da, da, da---the sound by which lord prajaapati is
instructing the deities 'to restrain' (dama), instructing asura (who
powerfully defies the divinity) 'to be kind' (dayaa) and
instructing human beings 'to donate' (daana).
It is vaak who takes us from negativity to positive existence and
it is vaak who transforms positivity to negativity.
Thus vaak personified as the goddess sarasvatI is white in
colour representing the manifestation into positivity. She has
also another aspect called neela sarasvatI . neela means blue.
She is the goddess where we sleep in her, where we exist as
'negative'.
vaak is growing by trumpeting. She is greater than the greatest
and none can surpass her.
(This aspect of vaak is also worshipped as goddess kaalI. The
alphabet da mentioned above also implies 'cutting off'. In
Bengali language the word 'daa' means a sickle.
Goddess kaali holds a sickle like weapon in one of her hands. It
is called khaDga. khaDga is from the root word khaD meaning
to divide or break. With this sickle like sword she has been
fragmenting herself into many, fragmenting oneness into
dualities. The severed heads are the worlds created from the
fragmentation; these heads adorn goddesses's neck in the form

23. of a garland. Neck is the organ through which the words are
aired in the external. The crematorium is her abode; it is the
space where everything loses its identity and from where
everything is revealed. Her affection and love and the pleasure
of fragmenting the Oneness are expressed as the trails of bloods
at the corners of her mouth and the blood dripping from the
severed heads. This blood is praaNa or the streaming life or
time flowing everywhere.)
Verse 3.12.8
ayaM vaava sa yaH ayamanta puruSha aakaasho yo vai saH
antaHpuruSha aakaashaH.
Word to word meaning
ayaM vaava (it indeed) sa (that) yaH (what) ayam(this) anta
(inside) puruSha (entity) aakaasho (sky); yo (what) vai (indeed)
saH(that) antaH(inside) puruSha (entity) aakaashaH (the sky).
Consolidated meaning
It (the external sky) indeed is that what is the sky inside this
entity; what indeed is that sky inside the entity.
Inner meaning and etymology
What is the space outside or the external sky is also the sky
inside us. Space or sky means where things exist without
dimensions. This inner sky is the heart or hRidaya mentioned in
the verse 3.12.4 above. This inner sky and body is analogous to
the external sky and the earth. This is our real abode. Here

24. everything is available. When this sky comes in perception, the
dependability on physicality and the body goes away. This sky is
full of pleasure or it is the pleasure personified. Thus in Sanskrit,
the word for happiness or pleasure is sukha = su (easily/greatly)
+ kha (sky).
The inner sky when easily perceptible or available (sulabha=
su /easily + labha / achievable) we get the pleasure. When this
sky is shrunk we get distress. The word for sorrow, sadness etc.
in Sanskrit is duHkha. duHkha = duH
(dur) / difficult + kha (sky).
This is the heart or the space where we feel sorrow and joy. The
revelation of this inner sky to a truth seeker brings so intense
pleasure that sometimes he / she gets so turned to inside that he /
she declares this external, physical universe as maayaa or
fictitious.
Verse 3.12.9
ayaM vaava sa yaH ayamantarhRidaya
aakaashstadetat pUrNamapravartti pUrNamapravarttinIM
shriyaM labhate ya evaM veda.
Word to word meaning
ayaM vaava (it indeed / this internal sky indeed) sa (that) yaH
(what) ayam (this) antar (inside) hRidaya (heart) aakaashaH
(sky); tad(that) etat (this is) pUrNam (full) aapravartti
(immutable) pUrNaam (that what is full) apravarttinIM (that

25. what is immutable) shriyaM (elegance / grace) labhate
(achieves) ya (who) evaM(like this) veda (knows).
Consolidated meaning
It (this external sky or space) is indeed that which is the sky
inside the heart; that this is full (absolutely content) and
immutable; the grace that is full (perfect in all respect), that is
imperishable, is acquired by the one who thus knows.
Inner meaning and etymology.
It is brahma who is the space external and who is the heart or
inner sky in us.
The One (the Universal Consciousness) who manifests as
outside and inside, as the two fundamental spaces and
directions, is termed as antar (inter /
inner) hRidaya (heart) aakaasha (sky/space). In Upanishad , this
space is also termed as daharaakaasha (dahara aakaasha).
Upanishads have cited three fundamental spaces, three planes of
the Universal consciousness which are :
(i) bahir aakaasha (external space or sky),
(ii) antara aakaasha (internal space or sky)----this is
also hRidaya or heart or space of the heart.
(iii) antara hRidaya aakasha (also dahara aakaasha)---sky or
space inside or beyond the heart----the space that controls both
internal and external.

26. The One who is our soul, every one's soul and eternal, whom we
all feel inside as 'assertion less self' and One who is the
foundation on whom we stand and assert as 'I am', whose
activities are the senses and sensations in us, our faculties and
actions, who is praaNa the life god, whenever this One
manifests, two directions are first created. These two directions
are inside or internal (antara) and outside or external (bahir).
Where we 'feel' is the heart (hRidaya) and is the 'inner space' or
the sky inside us. Everything we feel inside. Everything we
sense inside. Whatever we call outside, it is a sense or feeling
felt in us. Whatever entities vaak has become, we are feeling
them accordingly or correspondingly. The word 'accordingly' or
'correspondingly' is 'anu' in Sanskrit. So, anubhUti meaning
'feeling' is ‘to form correspondingly'.
anubhUti----anu (in correspondence) + bhUti (formation).
The tree, the moon, the river or whatever is there in the external
space, each is creating or initiating the corresponding feeling or
sensation in us and we accordingly describe it as 'tree' or 'moon'
or 'river' or as the universe.
The external or the Universe that vaak has become, is
called sambhUti. Corresponding to sambhuti, anubhUti happens
in us. In Consciousness, 'to feel' or 'to sense' means 'to become'.
In our inside, with every sensation, with every feeling, we are
actually becoming it (what we feel or sense). As vaak is casting
herself in formations as all the entities of the universe, so also
we are cast in different formations inside, in antara
aakash (inner space) with every sensation, with every feeling.

27. sambhUti means perfect (sama) formation (bhUti).
This (sambhUti and anubhUti) is something like 'parallel'
universe that modern science says.
In Ishopanishad, sambhUti (also vidya) and anubhUti (avidya)
have been cited. However, instead of anubhUti, the word
'vinaasha' has been used in Upanishad. vinaasha means
'destruction' or 'extinction'. As we are mortal and so also our
feelings and senses; they disappear as we go into sleep or death.
Since it is short lived it is called vinaasha or avidya. The
universe or sambhUti continues.
Following is a hymn in shvetaashvatara Upanishad :
RichaH akShare parame vyoman
(The Rik mantras are in this supreme, eternal sky)
yasmin devaaH adhivishve niShedhuH
(Where the deities dominating on the universe reside)
yastaM na veda kimRichaa karishyati
(Those who do not know this what will they do with the mantras
of Rik veda)
ya ittadvidusta ime samaasate
(Those who know like this, everything gets resolved for them.)

28.
This space inside the heart or the space beyond the inner sky
(antara aakaash), is antara hRidaya aakaasha, the space from
which both inner and outer spaces are created. It is perfect,
complete and content in all respects, and where everything is
rooted. This is why the seers have quoted:
" yat cha asti
(whatever exists)
yat cha naasti
(whatever does not exist)
sarvam asmin samaahitam
(All that is entirely founded in it)."
This space is described as apravartti or immutable. apravartti
means what is without any pravartana. a = without; pravartana
= rotation, cyclic motion; no motion or time exists here. This is
constant and eternal.
pUrNaam (that what is full) apravarttinIM (that what is
immutable) shriyaM (grace) labhate (acquires) ya (who) evaM
(like this) veda (knows):

29. The immutable soul who is celebrated as akShara aatman in
Upanishads, is in the core of this space called antara hRidaya
aakaasha (also dahara aakaasha). One who takes shelter here,
the one acquires the grace of perfectness and eternity.
(The word shrI means beauty or grace. It is from the root
word shri and shri is also the root word for aashraya or
shelter.)