THE Doctrine of Maya - HolyBooks.com

"""""""DEVELOPMENT OF ITS CONCEPTION 47Which was the tree, which was the wood, of which theyhewed the earth and heaven ?This questionisrepeated in the text of the TaittiriyaBrahmana, and is followed by the answerBrahman was the tree, the wood from which they hewedthe earth and heaven."The conception of Prajapati and of Purusa isalso developed in the Vajasaneyi Samhita and theTaittiriya Brahmana. 1 The simple note of unityis also sounded, for instance, in the Satap. Br., iv.2. 2. i.sarvam hy ayam atma," i.e., "this soul is everything."We are, however, mainlyconcerned with theUpanisads, which are, as a rule, the final positionsof the Brahmanas. The word is derived from theroot sad, to sit, with the prepositions upa, near, andni=very (adverbial), and conveys the sense, thatwhich isimparted to a pupil when he sits very nearhis teacher hence, secret doctrine." The Upanisads may, therefore, be said to embody the esotericdoctrines of the Vedas.They mostly contain philosophical expositions, elucidations and discussionson some Vedic passages, and by themselves form amore or less complete and comprehensive philoso-* Cf. V.S. viii. 36 ;xxxi. 18-21 ; xxxiv. 1-6, etc. ; T.A.i.23. 9 ;T.B. ii. 8. 8. 8-10 ; ii. 8. 9. 6-7 ; iii. 12. 9.