Difference between revisions of "Upanishads (उपनिषदः)"

From Dharmawiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
(Added Introduction)
 
(99 intermediate revisions by 6 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
−
{{good article}}
+
Upanishads (Samskrit : उपनिषद्) are the concluding segments, available as a part of [[Aranyaka (आरण्यकम्)|Aranyakas]].<ref name=":42222">Gopal Reddy, Mudiganti and Sujata Reddy, Mudiganti (1997) ''[https://archive.org/stream/SAMSKRUTAKAVIJEEVITAMULUByMALLADISURYANARAYANASASTRIGARU/SAMSKRUTA%20SAHITYA%20CHARITRA%20BY%20MUDUGANTI%20GOPALA%20REDDI%26SUJATA%20REDDI%20#page/n33/mode/2up Sanskrita Saahitya Charitra] (Vaidika Vangmayam - Loukika Vangamayam, A critical approach)'' Hyderabad : P. S. Telugu University</ref><ref name=":4">Upadhyaya, Baldev. (1958) ''[https://archive.org/stream/VaidikSahityaBaldevUpadhyaya1958/Vaidik%20Sahitya%20Baldev%20Upadhyaya%201958#page/n263/mode/2up Vaidik Sahitya]''.</ref> Since they expound the various adhyatmik and dharmika siddhantas and tattvas that leads a sadhaka to the highest purpose of Moksha and because they are present at the end of the Vedas, they are also referred to as the Vedanta (वेदान्तः) . They do not forbid the rituals or rites prescribed in the Karmakanda but expound that only through Jnana one can attain moksha.<ref name=":42222" /><blockquote>वेदान्तो नामोपनिषत्प्रमाणं तदनुसारीणि। शारीरकसूत्राणि च । vedānto nāmopaniṣatpramāṇaṁ tadanusārīṇi। śārīrakasūtrāṇi ca ।<ref>Prof. K. Sundararama Aiyar (1911) ''Vedantasara of Sadananda with Balabodhini Commentary of Apadeva.'' Srirangam : Sri Vani Vilas Press</ref></blockquote>Sadananda Yogindra, in his Vedantasara says that''"Vedanta has the Upanishads for its evidence and includes the Sharira Sutras (Vedanta Sutras or Brahma Sutras) and other works which corroborate it".'' <ref>Sastri, M. N. Dutt (1909)  ''[https://archive.org/details/VedantasaraOfSadanandaDuttM.N./page/n4 Vedanta-sara. A Prose English translation and Explanatory notes and Comments.]'' Calcutta : Elysium Press.</ref>
−
{{Hindu scriptures}}
+
==परिचयः ॥ Introduction==
−
{{Contains Indic text}}
+
The Vedas have been divided into four styles of texts – the Samhitas, the Aranyakas, the Brahmanas and the Upanishads. The subject matter of the whole Veda is divided into Karma-Kanda, Upasana-Kanda and Jnana-Kanda. The Karma-Kanda or Ritualistic section deals with various sacrifices and rituals. The Upasana-Kanda or Worship section deals with various kinds of worship or meditation. The Jnana-Kanda or Knowledge-Section deals with the highest knowledge of Nirguna Brahman. The Samhitas and the Brahmanas constitute Karma-Kanda; the Aranyakas constitute Upasana-Kanda; and the Upanishads constitute Jnana-Kanda<ref>Swami Sivananda, All About Hinduism, Page 30-31</ref><ref name=":02">Sri Sri Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi Swamiji, (2000) ''[http://www.kamakoti.org/hindudharma/part19/chap6.htm Hindu Dharma (Collection of Swamiji's Speeches between 1907 to 1994)]''Mumbai : Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan</ref>The Upanishads along with the Bhagavadgita and Brahmasutras constitute the Prasthana Trayi (प्रस्थानत्रयी) and both the Gita and Brahmasutras are based again on the Upanishads. They are also the foundational sources for all Darshana shastras and including the Jain and Buddhist philosophies.
−
{{EngvarB|date=April 2015}}
 
−
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2015}}
 
  
−
The Vedas have been divided into four styles of texts – the Samhitas, the Aranyakas, the Brahmanas and the Upanishads.<ref name=":0">A Bhattacharya (2006), Hindu Dharma: Introduction to Scriptures and Theology, <nowiki>ISBN 978-0595384556</nowiki>, pages 8-14</ref> The Samhitas are sometimes identified as ''karma-kanda'' (कर्म खण्ड, action/ritual-related section), while the Upanishads are identified as''jnana-kanda'' (ज्ञान खण्ड, knowledge/spirituality-related section).<ref name=":0" /> The Aranyakas and Brahmanas are variously classified, sometimes as the ceremonial ''karma-kanda'', other times (or parts of them) as the ''jnana-kanda''.
+
According to Dr. K. S. Narayanacharya, these are four different modes of expressing the same truths, each as a cross check against others so that misrepresentations are avoided, a method used and valid even today.<ref name=":2222">Insights Into the Taittiriya Upanishad, Dr. K. S. Narayanacharya, Published by Kautilya Institute of National Studies, Mysore, Page 75 (Glossary)</ref>
  
−
Another opinion states: "The ''Samhitas'' and the ''Brahmanas'' form the ''Karma''-''Kanda'' segment of the Vedas. They are apparently concerned with the ceremonial rites and rituals. The ''Aranyakas'' and the Upanishads form the ''Gyan''-''Kanda'' segment of the Vedas. They explicitly focus on the philosophy and spiritualism.<ref><nowiki>http://indianscriptures.50webs.com/partveda.htm</nowiki>, 6th Paragraph</ref>
+
Most of the Upanishads are in forms of dialogues between a master and a disciple. In Upanishads, a seeker raises a topic and the enlightened guru satisfies the query aptly and convincingly<ref><nowiki>http://indianscriptures.50webs.com/partveda.htm</nowiki>, 6th Paragraph</ref>. Chronology and dating of Upanishads is not attempted in this article.
 +
==व्युत्पत्तिः ॥ Etymology==
 +
There are different versions about the meaning of Upanishad as given by many scholars. The term ''Upaniṣad'' term consists of उप (upa) and नि (ni) उपसर्ग-s (Upasargas or Prefixes) and सद् धातुः (Sad dhatu) followed by किव्प् प्रत्ययः (Kvip pratyaya as Suffix) used in the sense of विशरणगत्यवसादनेषु । ''viśaraṇagatyavasādaneṣu'' Shri Adi Shankaracharya explains in his commentary on Taittiriyopanishad about the meanings of Sad (सद्) dhatu thus <ref name=":42222" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":1">Sharma, Ram Murthy. (1987 2nd edition) ''[https://archive.org/details/VaidikSahityaKaItihasRamMurthySharma/page/n143 Vaidik Sahitya ka Itihas]'' Delhi : Eastern Book Linkers</ref>
 +
*विशरणम् (नाशनम्) to destroy : They destroy the seeds of Avidya causing samsara in a Mumukshu (a sadhaka who wants to attain Moksha), hence this Vidya is called Upanishads.<blockquote>अविद्यादेः संसारबीजस्य विशरणाद् विनाशनादित्यनेन अर्थयोगेन विद्या उपनिषदुच्यते । avidyādeḥ saṁsārabījasya viśaraṇād vināśanādityanena arthayogena vidyā upaniṣaducyate ।</blockquote>
 +
*गतिः (प्रपणम् वा विद्यर्थकम्) to obtain or to know : That vidya which leads to  or make the sadhaka obtain Brahma, is called Upanishad.<blockquote>परं ब्रह्म वा गमयतोति ब्रह्म गमयितृत्वेन योगाद् विद्योपनिषद् । paraṁ brahma vā gamayatoti brahma gamayitr̥tvena yogād vidyopaniṣad ।</blockquote>
 +
*अवसादनम् (शिथिलर्थकम्) to loosen or to dissolve : Through which cycles of birth, aging etc painful process are loosened or dissolved (that is bondages of samsara are dissolved allowing the sadhaka to attain the Brahma).<blockquote>गर्भवासजन्मजराद्युपद्रववृन्दस्य लोकान्तरेपौनपुन्येन प्रवृत्तस्य अवसादपितृत्वेन उपनिषदित्युच्यते । garbhavāsajanmajarādyupadravavr̥ndasya lokāntarepaunapunyena pravr̥ttasya avasādapitr̥tvena upaniṣadityucyate ।</blockquote>He also defines the primary meaning of Upanishad as Brahmavidya (ब्रह्मविद्या । Knowledge of Brahma) and secondary meaning as ब्रह्मविद्याप्रतिपादकग्रन्थः (Brahmavidya pratipadaka granth । texts which  teach Brahmavidya). Shankaracharya's commentaries of the Kaṭha and Brhadaranyaka Upanishad also support this explanation.
  
−
Dr. Radhakrishnan puts it like this. “While the hymns or Samhitas are the creation of the poets, the Brahmanas are the work of the priests; the Upanishads are the meditations of the philosophers. The flow of thought from the Samhitas to Brahmanas to Aranyakas to Upanishads is the indication of the process of evolution of Hindu religion over the centuries”
+
An alternative explanation of the word Upanishad is "to sit near" derived as follows <ref name=":42222" /><ref name=":4" />
 +
*नि (ni) उपसर्ग (Upasarga or Prefix) in front of सद् धातुः (Sad dhatu) also means 'to sit'.
 +
*उप (upa) Upasarga is used to mean 'nearness or close to'.
 +
*उपनिषद् term thus means "to sit near".
 +
Thus Upanishad came to mean as ' to sit near the Guru (preceptor) to obtain the 'secret knowledge' or Brahmavidya (as per Shabdakalpadhruma : उपनिषद्यते प्राप्यते ब्रह्म-विद्या अनया इति)
  
−
Another learned author says: These are four different modes of expressing the same truths, each as a cross check against others so that misrepresentations are avoided, a method used and valid even today.<ref>Insights Into the Taittiriya Upanishad, Dr. K. S. Narayanacharya, Published by Kautilya Institute of National Studies, Mysore, Page 75 (Glossary)</ref>
+
Generally, Upanishads are synonymous with Rahasya (रहस्यम्) or secrecy. Upanishads themselves mention statements such as <blockquote>मोक्षलक्षणमित्येतत्परं रहस्यम् इत्येवं । ''mokṣalakṣaṇamityetatparaṁ rahasyam ityevaṁ ।'' (Mait. Upan. 6.20)<ref>[https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%88%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%A3%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8D Maitrayani Upanishad] </ref></blockquote><blockquote>सैषा शांभवी विद्या कादि-विद्येति वा हादिविद्येति वा सादिविद्येति वा रहस्यम् । ''saiṣā śāṁbhavī vidyā kādi-vidyeti vā hādividyeti vā sādividyeti vā rahasyam ।'' (Bahvrchopanishad<ref>[https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%88%E0%A4%B6%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%B6%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%B6%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%83/%E0%A4%89%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%A6%E2%80%8C-%E0%A5%A7%E0%A5%A7%E0%A5%A7-%E0%A5%A7%E0%A5%A8%E0%A5%A6 Bahvrichopanishad] </ref>)</blockquote>when discussing some important siddhantas. Probably such usages are given to prevent and caution against giving this knowledge to the undeserving.<ref name=":1" />
  
 +
In the mukhya upanishads, there are many instances of रहस्यम् meaning secret or hidden knowledge especially in Atharvaveda upanishads. Kaushitaki Upanishad for example, contains detailed siddhantas of मनोज्ञानम् and तत्वज्ञानम्  (Psychology and metaphysics). Apart from them they also contain मृतकज्ञानम् (siddhantas around death, travel of Atman etc), बालमृत्यु निवारणम् (preventing untimely childhood deaths) शत्रुविनाशार्थ रहस्यम् (secrets about the destruction of enemies) etc. Chandogya Upanishads gives the secrets about the origin of worlds, Jiva, Jagat, Om and their hidden meanings.<ref name=":1" />
 +
==Classification of Upanishads==
 +
More than 200 Upanishads are known, of which, the first dozen or so are the oldest (प्राचीनम्) most important and are referred to as the principal or main (''mukhya'') Upanishads. The rest of them aid in explaining bhakti or jnana concepts and many are without bhashyas. Some scholars accept 12 Upanishads and some even consider 13 to be the principal Upanishads and some others accept 108 Upanishads given by Muktikopanishad.<ref name=":22">Malladi, Sri. Suryanarayana Sastry (1982) ''Samskruta Vangmaya Charitra, Volume 1 Vaidika Vangmayam'' Hyderabad : Andhra Sarasvata Parishad</ref>
  
−
The '''Upanishads''' ({{lang-sa|{{IAST|Upaniṣad}}}}; {{IPA-sa|ʊpən̪ɪʂəd̪|IPA}}) are a collection of texts that contain some of the central philosophical concepts of [[Hinduism]], some of which are shared with [[Buddhism]] and [[Jainism]].{{sfn|Olivelle|1998|p=xxiii}}{{refn|group=note|These include rebirth, karma, moksha, ascetic techniques and renunciation.{{sfn|Olivelle|1998|p=xxiii}}}}{{refn|group=note|The Upanishadic, Buddhist and Jain renunciation traditions form parallel traditions, which share some common concepts and interests. While [[Kuru Kingdom|Kuru]]-[[Panchala]], at the central Ganges Plain, formed the center of the early Upanishadic tradition, [[Kosala]]-[[Magadha]] at the central Ganges Plain formed the center of the other [[shramanic]] traditions.{{sfn|Samuel|2010}}}} The Upanishads are considered by Hindus to contain utterances (''[[śruti]]'') concerning the nature of ultimate reality (''[[brahman]]'') and describing the character of and path to human salvation (''[[mokṣa]]'' or ''mukti'').
+
There is no fixed list of the ''Upanishads'' as newer ones, beyond the Muktika Upanishad list of 108 Upanishads, have continued to be composed and discovered. A collection of Upanishads, namely Upanishad Samgrahah by Pt. J. K. Shastri contains 188 upanishads. <ref>Borthakur, Madhusnita. (2016) Ph. D Thesis ''Title : The Brhadaranyaka Upanisad : A Study'' at Gauhati University</ref>Pracheena Upanishads have long been revered in Sanatana Dharma traditions, and many sampradayas have interpreted the concepts of Upanishads to evolve their sampradaya. These "new Upanishads" number in the hundreds, cover diverse range of topics from physiology to renunciation.  
−
 
+
===Basis for Classification===
−
The Upanishads are commonly referred to as ''[[Vedānta]]'', variously interpreted to mean either the "last chapters, parts of the [[Vedas|Veda]]" or "the object, the highest purpose of the Veda".<ref>Max Muller, [https://archive.org/stream/upanishads01ml#page/n93/mode/2up The Upanishads], Part 1, Oxford University Press, page LXXXVI footnote 1</ref> The concepts of [[Brahman]] (Ultimate Reality) and [[Ātman (Hinduism)|Ātman]] (Soul, Self) are central ideas in all the Upanishads,{{sfn|Mahadevan|1956|p=59}}<ref name=ptraju/> and "Know your Ātman" their thematic focus.<ref name=ptraju/><ref name=wdstrappini/> The Upanishads are the foundation of Hindu philosophical thought and its diverse traditions.<ref name=wendydoniger/><ref>Wiman Dissanayake (1993), Self as Body in Asian Theory and Practice (Editors: Thomas P. Kasulis et al), State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0791410806, page 39; '''Quote''': "The Upanishads form the foundations of Hindu philosophical thought and the central theme of the Upanishads is the identity of Atman and Brahman, or the inner self and the cosmic self.";<br />Michael McDowell and Nathan Brown (2009), World Religions, Penguin, ISBN 978-1592578467, pages 208-210</ref> Of the Vedic corpus, they alone are widely known, and the central ideas of the Upanishads are at the spiritual core of Hindus.<ref name=wendydoniger>Wendy Doniger (1990), Textual Sources for the Study of Hinduism, 1st Edition, University of Chicago Press, ISBN 978-0226618470, pages 2-3; '''Quote:''' "The Upanishads supply the basis of later Hindu philosophy; they alone of the Vedic corpus are widely known and quoted by most well-educated Hindus, and their central ideas have also become a part of the spiritual arsenal of rank-and-file Hindus."</ref><ref>Patrick Olivelle (2014), The Early Upanisads, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195352429, page 3; '''Quote''': "Even though theoretically the whole of vedic corpus is accepted as revealed truth [shruti], in reality it is the Upanishads that have continued to influence the life and thought of the various religious traditions that we have come to call Hindu. Upanishads are the scriptures par excellence of Hinduism".</ref>
+
Many modern and western indology thinkers have put forth their contemplations on the classification of Upanishads and it is based on the following factors
−
 
+
#the presence or absence of Shankaracharya's bhasyas (Ten for which bhashyas are available are Dasopanishads and the rest describing devatas. Vaishnava, Shaiva, Shakta, Saurya etc)<ref name=":4" />
−
More than 200 Upanishads are known, of which the first dozen or so are the oldest and most important and are referred to as the principal or main (''[[mukhya]]'') Upanishads.<ref name=stephenphillips/><ref>E Easwaran (2007), The Upanishads, ISBN 978-1586380212, pages 298-299</ref> The ''mukhya'' Upanishads are found mostly in the concluding part of the ''[[Brahmanas]]'' and ''[[Aranyakas]]''{{sfn|Mahadevan|1956|p=56}} and were, for centuries, memorized by each generation and passed down [[oral tradition|orally]]. The early Upanishads all predate the Common Era, some in all likelihood pre-Buddhist (6th century BCE),<ref name=olivelleintro/> down to the [[Maurya period]].{{sfn|King|Ācārya|p=52|1995}} Of the remainder, some 95 Upanishads are part of the [[Muktika]] canon, composed from about the last centuries of 1st-millennium BCE through about 15th-century CE.{{sfn|Olivelle|1992|pp= 5, 8–9}}{{Sfn|Flood|1996|p=96}} New Upanishads, beyond the 108 in the Muktika canon, continued to be composed through the early modern and modern era,{{sfn|Ranade|1926|p=12}} though often dealing with subjects which are unconnected to the Vedas.{{sfn|Varghese|2008|p=101}}
+
#the ancientness of Upanishad based on association with Aranyakas and Brahmanas<ref name=":42222" />
−
 
+
#the ancientness and modernness of the Upanishads based on description of deities and other aspects ( Given by Shri Chintamani Vinayak on Page 256 of Reference <ref name=":4" />)
−
Along with the [[Bhagavad Gita]] and the [[Brahmasutra]], the ''mukhya'' Upanishads (known collectively as the ''[[Prasthanatrayi]]''){{sfn|Ranade|1926|p=205}} provide a foundation for the several later schools of [[Vedanta]], among them, two influential [[monism|monistic]] schools of Hinduism.{{refn|''Advaita Vedanta'', summarized by Shankara (788–820), advances a non-dualistic (''a-dvaita'') interpretation of the Upanishads."{{sfn|Cornille|1992|p=12}}|group=note}}{{refn|"These Upanishadic ideas are developed into Advaita monism. Brahman's unity comes to be taken to mean that appearances of individualities.{{sfn|Phillips|1995|p=10}}|group=note}}{{refn|"The doctrine of advaita (non dualism) has is origin in the Upanishads."|group=note}}
+
#the shanti patha given in each of the Upanishads<ref name=":22" />
−
 
+
#the ancientness and modernness of the Upanishads having prose or metrical compositions (mostly given by Western Indologists like Dr. Daison)<ref name=":42222" />
−
With the translation of the Upanishads in the early 19th century they also started to attract attention from a western audience. [[Arthur Schopenhauer]] was deeply impressed by the Upanishads and called it "the production of the highest human wisdom".<ref>{{cite book|last=Clarke|first=John James|title=Oriental enlightenment|publisher=Routledge|year=1997|page=68|isbn=978-0-415-13376-0}}</ref> The 19th-century [[Transcendentalism|transcendentalists]] noted the influence of the Upanishads in western philosophy.{{sfn|Deussen|2010|p=42}}<ref>[http://www.boloji.com/index.cfm?md=Content&sd=Articles&ArticleID=717 Neria H. Hebbar, ''Influence of Upanishads in the West'', Boloji.com]. Retrieved on: 2012-03-02.</ref>
+
===दशोपनिषदः ॥ Dasopanishads===
−
 
+
Muktikopanishad lists the following ten as principal Upanishads which have received attention from Shri Adi Shankaracharya in form of his bhasyas and are considered ancient (प्राचीनम्).<ref name=":4" /><blockquote>ईश-केन-कठ-प्रश्न-मुण्ड-माण्डूक्य-तित्तिरः । ऐतरेयं च छान्दोग्यं बृहदारण्यकं तथा ॥ ''īśa-kēna-kaṭha-praśna-muṇḍa-māṇḍūkya-tittiraḥ । ēētarēyaṁ ca chāndōgyaṁ br̥hadāraṇyakaṁ tathā ॥''</blockquote>The 10 Mukhya Upanishad on which Adi Shankaracharya commented are:
−
==Etymology==
+
#ईशावाश्योपनिषद् ॥ Ishavasya Upanishad (Shukla Yajur Veda)
−
The [[Sanskrit]] term ''{{IAST|Upaniṣad}}'' (u = at, pa = foot, nishat =sitting down) translates to "sitting at the foot/feet of", referring to the student sitting down near the teacher while receiving [[esoteric]] knowledge.<ref name="EoH 472">{{cite book|last=Jones|first=Constance|title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism|year=2007|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=0816073368|pages=472}}</ref> [[Monier-Williams]]' ''Sanskrit Dictionary'' adds that, "According to native authorities Upanishad means 'setting to rest ignorance by revealing the knowledge of the supreme spirit.'"{{sfn|Monier-Williams|p=201}}
+
#केनोपनिषद् ॥ Kena Upanishad (Sama Veda)
−
 
+
#कठोपनिषद् ॥ Katha Upanishad (Yajur Veda)
−
[[Adi Shankara|Shri Adi Shankara]] explains in his commentary on the [[Katha Upanishad|{{IAST|Kaṭha}}]] and Brihadaranyaka Upanishad that the word means ''Ātmavidyā'', that is, "knowledge of the [[Atman (Hinduism)|Self]]", or ''Brahmavidyā'' "knowledge of Brahma". Other dictionary meanings include "esoteric doctrine" and "secret doctrine". The word appears in the verses of many Upanishads, such as the fourth verse of the 13th volume in first chapter of the Chandogya Upanishad. Max Muller as well as Paul Deussen translate the word ''Upanishad'' in these verses as "secret doctrine",<ref>Max Muller, [https://archive.org/stream/upanishads01ml#page/n133/mode/2up Chandogya Upanishad 1.13.4], The Upanishads, Part I, Oxford University Press, page 22</ref><ref>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814684, page 85</ref> Robert Hume translates it as "mystic meaning",<ref>Robert Hume, [https://archive.org/stream/thirteenprincipa028442mbp#page/n211/mode/2up Chandogya Upanishad 1.13.4], Oxford University Press, page 190</ref> while Patrick Olivelle translates it as "hidden connections".<ref>Patrick Olivelle (2014), The Early Upanishads, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195124354, page 185</ref>
+
#प्रश्नोपनिषद् ॥ Prashna Upanishad (Atharva Veda)
−
 
+
#मुण्डकोपनिषद् ॥ Mundaka Upanishad (Atharva Veda)
−
==Development==
+
#माण्डूक्योपनिषद् ॥ Mandukya Upanishad (Atharva Veda)
−
 
+
#तैत्तियोपनिषद् ॥ Taittiriya Upanishad (Yajur Veda)
−
===Authorship===
+
#ऐतरेयोपनिषद् ॥ Aitareya Upanishad (Rig Veda)
−
The authorship of most Upanishads is uncertain and unknown. Radhakrishnan states, "almost all the early literature of India was anonymous, we do not know the names of the authors of the Upanishads".<ref name=sradha22>S Radhakrishnan, [https://archive.org/stream/PrincipalUpanishads/129481965-The-Principal-Upanishads-by-S-Radhakrishnan#page/n25/mode/2up The Principal Upanishads] George Allen & Co., 1951, pages 22, Reprinted as ISBN 978-8172231248</ref> The various philosophical theories in the early Upanishads have been attributed to famous sages such as [[Yajnavalkya]], [[Uddalaka Aruni]], [[Shvetaketu]], [[Sandilya (Rishi)|Shandilya]], Aitareya, Balaki, [[Pippalada]] and [[Sanatkumara]].<ref name=sradha22/>{{sfn|Mahadevan|1956|pp=59-60}} Women, such as Maitreyi and Gargi participate in the dialogues and are also credited in the early Upanishads.<ref>Ellison Findly (1999), [http://www.jstor.org/stable/25002352 Women and the Arahant Issue in Early Pali Literature], Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, Vol. 15, No. 1, pages 57-76</ref>
+
#छान्दोग्योपनिषद्॥ Chhandogya Upanishad (Sama Veda)
−
 
+
#बृहदारण्यकोपनिषद् Brhadaranyaka Upanishad (Yajur Veda)
−
There are exceptions to the anonymous tradition of the Upanishads and other Vedic literature. The [[Shvetashvatara Upanishad]], for example, includes closing credits to sage ''Shvetashvatara'', and he is considered the author of the Upanishad.<ref>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814684, pages 301-304</ref> Scholars believe that early Upanishads, were interpolated<ref>For example, see: [https://archive.org/stream/thirteenprincipa028442mbp#page/n327/mode/2up/search/interpolation Kaushitaki Upanishad] Robert Hume (Translator), Oxford University Press, page 306 footnote 2</ref> and expanded over time, because of the differences within manuscripts of the same Upanishad discovered in different parts of South Asia, differences in non-Sanskrit version of the texts that have survived, and differences within each text in terms of the meter,<ref>Max Muller, {{Google books|l1ApAAAAYAAJ|The Upanishads|page=PR72}}, Oxford University Press, page LXXII</ref> the style, the grammar and the structure.<ref>Patrick Olivelle (1998), Unfaithful Transmitters, Journal of Indian Philosophy, April 1998, Volume 26, Issue 2, pages 173-187;<br />Patrick Olivelle (2014), The Early Upanishads, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195124354, pages 583-640</ref><ref>WD Whitney, The Upanishads and Their Latest Translation, The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 7, No. 1, pages 1-26;<br />F Rusza (2010), The authorlessness of the philosophical sūtras, Acta Orientalia, Volume 63, Number 4, pages 427-442</ref> The texts as they exist now is believed to be the work of many authors.<ref>Mark Juergensmeyer et al. (2011), Encyclopedia of Global Religion, SAGE Publications, ISBN 978-0761927297, page 1122</ref>
+
Apart from these ten, कौषीतकि (Kaushitaki) श्वेताश्वतर (Shvetasvatara) and मैत्रायणीय (Maitrayaniya) Upanishads are regarded as ancient since the first two of these three found a mention by Shankaracharya in his Brahmasutra bhashyas along with dashopanishad bhashyas. However, there are no available commentaries on these given by him.
−
 
+
===Upanishads as Part of Aranyakas===
−
===Chronology===
+
Many Upanishads are the final or exclusive portions of the Aranyakas or the Brahmanas. But these refer mainly to the dasha upanishads. It may be seen from the table below that some Upanishads not classified in dashopanishads are from Aranyakas. (Ex: Mahanarayaneeya Upanishad, Maitrayaniya Upanishad) while the Atharvana veda associated Upanishads do not have corresponding Brahmanas or Aranyakas as they are unavailable.
−
Scholars are uncertain about the exact centuries in which the Upanishads were composed.{{sfn|Olivelle|1998|p=12-13}} The chronology of the early Upanishads is difficult to resolve, states philosopher and [[Sanskritist]] Stephen Phillips,<ref name=stephenphillips>Stephen Phillips (2009), Yoga, Karma, and Rebirth: A Brief History and Philosophy, Columbia University Press, ISBN 978-0231144858, pages 25-29 and Chapter 1</ref> because all opinions rest on scanty evidence and analysis of archaism, style and repetitions across texts, and are driven by assumptions about likely evolution of ideas, and presumptions about which philosophy might have influenced which other Indian philosophies. Indologist [[Patrick Olivelle]] says that "in spite of claims made by some, in reality, any dating of these documents [early Upanishads] that attempts a precision closer than a few centuries is as stable as a house of cards".<ref name=olivelleintro>Patrick Olivelle (2014), The Early Upanishads, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195124354, page 12-14</ref> Some scholars have sought to analyse similarities between Hindu Upanishads and Buddhist literature to establish chronology for the Upanishads.{{sfn|King|Ācārya|p=52|1995}}
 
−
 
 
−
Patrick Olivelle gives the following chronology for the early Upanishads, also called the [[Principal Upanishads]]:{{sfn|Olivelle|1998|p=12-13}}<ref name=olivelleintro/>
 
−
* The [[Brhadaranyaka Upanishad|Brhadaranyaka]] and the [[Chandogya Upanishad|Chandogya]] are the two earliest Upanishads. They are edited texts, some of whose sources are much older than others. The two texts are pre-Buddhist; they may be placed in the 7th to 6th centuries BCE, give or take a century or so.{{sfn|Olivelle|p=xxxvi|1998}}{{sfn|King|Ācārya|p=52|1995}}
 
−
* The three other early prose Upanisads—Taittiriya, Aitareya, and Kausitaki come next; all are probably pre-Buddhist and can be assigned to the 6th to 5th centuries BCE.
 
−
* The Kena is the oldest of the verse Upanisads followed by probably the Katha, Isa, Svetasvatara, and Mundaka. All these Upanisads were composed probably in the last few centuries BCE.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/618602/Upanishad Patrick Olivelle, ''Upanishads'', Encyclopedia Britannica]</ref>
 
−
* The two late prose Upanisads, the Prasna and the Mandukya, cannot be much older than the beginning of the common era.{{sfn|Olivelle|1998|p=12-13}}<ref name=olivelleintro/>
 
−
 
 
−
Stephen Phillips places the early Upanishads in the 800 to 300 BCE range. He summarizes the current Indological opinion to be that the Brhadaranyaka, Chandogya, Isha, Taittiriya, Aitareya, Kena, Katha, Mundaka, and Prasna Upanishads are all pre-Buddhist and pre-Jain, while Svetasvatara and Mandukya overlap with the earliest Buddhist and Jain literature.<ref name=stephenphillips/>
 
−
 
 
−
The later Upanishads numbering about 95, also called minor Upanishads, are dated from the late 1st-millennium BCE to mid 2nd-millennium CE.{{sfn|Olivelle|1992|pp= 5, 8–9}} [[Gavin Flood]] dates many of the twenty [[Yoga]] Upanishads to be probably from the 100 BCE to 300 CE period.{{Sfn|Flood|1996|p=96}} [[Patrick Olivelle]] and other scholars date seven of the twenty [[Sannyasa#Sannyasa Upanishads|Sannyasa Upanishads]] to likely have been complete sometime between the last centuries of the 1st-millennium BCE to 300 CE.{{sfn|Olivelle|1992|pp= 5, 8–9}} About half of the Sannyasa Upanishads were likely composed in 14th- to 15th-century CE.{{sfn|Olivelle|1992|pp= 5, 8–9}}
 
−
 
 
−
===Geography===
 
−
The general area of the composition of the early Upanishads was northern India, the region bounded on the west by the upper Indus valley, on the east by lower Ganges region, on the north by the Himalayan foothills, and on the south by the Vindhya mountain range.<ref name=olivelleintro/> There is confidence about the early Upanishads being the product of the geographical center of ancient Brahmanism, comprising the regions of [[Kuru Kingdom|Kuru]]-[[Panchala]] and [[Kosala]]-[[Videha]] together with the areas immediately to the south and west of these.{{sfn|Olivelle|1998|p=xxxvii}} This region covers modern [[Bihar]], [[Nepal]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[Uttarakhand]], [[Himachal Pradesh]], [[Haryana]], eastern [[Rajasthan]] and northern [[Madhya Pradesh]].<ref name=olivelleintro/>
 
−
 
 
−
While significant attempts have been made recently to identify the exact locations of the individual Upanishads, the results are tentative. Witzel identifies the center of activity in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad as the area of Videha, whose king, Janaka, features prominently in the Upanishad.{{sfn|Olivelle|1998|p=xxxviii}}
 
−
 
 
−
The Chandogya Upanishad was probably composed in a more Western than an Eastern location in Indian subcontinent, possibly somewhere in the western region of the Kuru-Panchala country.{{sfn|Olivelle|1998|p=xxxix}} Compared to the Principal Upanishads, the new Upanishads recorded in the {{IAST|Muktikā}} belong to an entirely different region, probably southern India, and are considerably relatively recent.{{sfn|Deussen|1908|pp=35–36}} In fourth chapter of the Kaushitaki Upanishad, a location named Kashi (modern [[Varanasi]]) is mentioned.<ref name=olivelleintro/>
 
−
 
 
−
==Classification==
 
−
 
 
−
===Muktika canon: major and minor Upanishads===
 
−
There are more than 200 known ''Upanishads'', one of which, ''{{IAST|[[Muktikā]]}}'' Upanishad, predates 1656 CE{{sfn|Tripathy|2010|p=84}} and contains a list of 108 canonical Upanishads,{{sfn|Sen|1937|p=19}} including itself as the last. The earliest ones such as the Brihadaranyaka and Chandogya Upanishads date to the early centuries of the 1st millennium BCE,{{sfn|Sharma|1985|pp=3, 10–22, 145}} and the latest to around the mid 2nd-millennium CE during a period of Islamic invasions and political instability.<ref name=stephenphillips/><ref name=olivelleintro/><ref>Geoffrey Samuel (2010), Tantric Revisionings, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120827523, pages 60–61, 87–88, 351–356</ref> Various scholars include the earliest 10, 11, 12 or 13 ''Upanishads'' as [[Mukhya]] (major) or [[Principal Upanishads]], all composed in the 1st-milliennium BCE.<ref name=stephenphillips/> The remainder 95 to 98 are called "minor Upanishads", and were likely composed between the last centuries of the 1st-millennium BCE and about mid 2nd-millennium CE.{{Sfn|Deussen| Bedekar | Palsule (tr.)|1997|pp=556-568}}{{Sfn|Olivelle|1992|pp=x-xi, 8-11}} These are further divided into Upanishads associated with [[Shaktism]] (goddess Shakti), [[Sannyasa]] (renunciation, monastic life), [[Shaivism]] (god Shiva), [[Vaishnavism]] (god Vishnu), [[Yoga]], and ''Sāmānya'' (general, sometimes referred to as Samanya-Vedanta).<ref>{{Cite book | title = The Samanya-Vedanta Upanisads | publisher = Jain Publishing (Reprint 2007) | isbn = 978-0895819833 |first = T. R. Srinivasa | last= Ayyangar |year = 1941 | oclc = 27193914 }}</ref>{{Sfn|Deussen| Bedekar | Palsule (tr.)|1997|pp=556-568}}
 
−
 
 
−
Some of the Upanishads are categorized as "sectarian" since they present their ideas through a particular god or goddess of a specific Hindu tradition such as Vishnu, Shiva, Shakti, or a combination of these such as the [[Skanda Upanishad]]. These traditions sought to link their texts as Vedic, by asserting their texts to be an Upanishad, thereby a ''[[Śruti]]''.{{sfn|Holdrege|1995|pp=426}} Most of these sectarian Upanishads, for example the [[Rudrahridaya Upanishad]] and the [[Mahanarayana Upanishad]], assert that all the Hindu gods and goddesses are the same, all an aspect and manifestation of [[Brahman]], the Vedic concept for metaphysical ultimate reality before and after the creation of the Universe.<ref>{{cite book|last=Srinivasan |first=Doris |title=Many Heads, Arms, and Eyes| publisher=BRILL Academic| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=vZheP9dIX9wC&pg=PA111| isbn=978-9004107588 |year=1997 |pages=112-120}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| last=Ayyangar| first = TRS| year=1953| title=Saiva Upanisads| publisher = Jain Publishing Co. (Reprint 2007)|isbn= 978-0895819819|pages=194-196}}</ref>
 
−
 
 
−
===Mukhya Upanishads===
 
−
{{Main|Mukhya Upanishads}}
 
−
The ''Mukhya Upanishads'' can be grouped into periods. Of the early periods are the ''Brihadaranyaka'' and the ''Chandogya'', the oldest.<ref>M. Fujii, On the formation and transmission of the JUB, [[Harvard Oriental Series]], Opera Minora 2, 1997</ref>{{refn|These are believed to pre-date [[Gautam Buddha]] (c. 500 BCE){{sfn|Olivelle|1998|pp=3–4}}|group=note}}
 
−
 
 
−
The Aitareya, Kauṣītaki and Taittirīya Upanishads may date to as early as the mid 1st millennium BCE, while the remnant date from between roughly the 4th to 1st centuries BCE, roughly contemporary with the earliest portions of the [[Sanskrit epics]].
 
−
It is alleged that the ''Aitareya, Taittiriya, Kausitaki, Mundaka, Prasna'', and ''Katha Upanishads''  show Buddha's influence, and must have been composed after the 5th century BCE, but it could just as easily have been the other way around. It is also alleged that in the first two centuries A.D., they were followed by the ''Kena, Mandukya'' and ''Isa Upanishads'', but other scholars date these earlier.{{sfn|King|1995|p=52}}
 
−
Not much is known about the authors except for those,  like Yajnavalkayva and Uddalaka, mentioned in the texts.{{sfn|Mahadevan|1956|p=56}} A few women discussants, such as Gargi and Maitreyi, the wife of Yajnavalkayva,{{sfn|Ranade|1926|p=61}} also feature occasionally.
 
−
 
 
−
Each of the principal ''Upanishads'' can be associated with one of the schools of exegesis of the four Vedas (''[[shakha]]s'').{{sfn|Joshi|1994|pp=90–92}} Many Shakhas are said to have existed, of which only a few remain. The new ''Upanishads'' often have little relation to the Vedic corpus and have not been cited or commented upon by any great Vedanta philosopher: their language differs from that of the classic ''Upanishads'', being less subtle and more formalized. As a result, they are not difficult to comprehend for the modern reader.{{sfn|Heehs|2002|p=85}}
 
−
 
 
−
[[File:Rigveda MS2097.jpg|thumb|300px| An early 19th-century manuscript of the ''Rigveda'']]
 
−
 
 
 
{| class="wikitable"
 
{| class="wikitable"
−
|+ Veda-Shakha-Upanishad association
+
|+Upanishads as part of Aranyakas and Brahmanas
−
|-
+
! colspan="2" |Veda
−
! Veda!!Recension!![[Shakha]]!! Principal Upanishad
+
!What part of Brahmana or Aranyaka constitutes Upanishad
 +
!Name of Upanishad
 +
!Name Comes from
 +
!Contents
 
|-
 
|-
−
| Rig Veda||Only one recension||Shakala || [[Aitareya Upanishad|{{IAST|Aitareya}}]]
+
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |RigVeda
 +
|4th to 6th Adhyayas of 2nd Prapathaka of 2nd Aranyaka of Aitareya Aranyaka (Page 250 of Reference <ref name=":4" />)
 +
|ऐतरेयोपनिषद् ॥ Aitareya Upanishad
 +
|Mahidasa Aitareya composed this Upanishad
 +
|Consists of 3 Adhyayas
 
|-
 
|-
−
| rowspan=3|Sama Veda||rowspan=3|Only one recension ||Kauthuma || [[Chandogya|{{IAST|Chāndogya}}]]
+
|3rd to 6th Adhyayas of Shankhyayana Aranyaka (Page 251 of Reference <ref name=":4" />)
 +
|कौषीतकि उपनिषद् ॥ Kaushitaki Upanishad
 +
|Given by Kaushitaki Rshi
 +
|Consists of 4 Adhyayas
 
|-
 
|-
−
| [[Jaiminiya]]|| [[Kena Upanishad|Kena]]
+
! rowspan="6" |Yajurveda
 +
! rowspan="4" |Krishna
 +
|7th to 9th Prapathakas of Taittiriya Aranyaka (Page 251 of Reference <ref name=":4" />)
 +
|तैत्तियोपनिषद् ॥ Taittiriya Upanishad
 +
|From source Taittiriya Aranyaka
 +
|Consists of 3 Vallis or chapters : Shikshavalli, Brahmavalli (Anandavalli) and Bhruguvalli<ref name=":03" />
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Ranayaniya
+
|10th Prapathaka of Taittiriya Aranyaka (also considered as Khila khanda) (Page 251 of Reference <ref name=":4" />)
 +
|नारायणीयोपनिषद् ॥ Narayanopanishad
 +
महानारायणीय उपनिषद् ॥ Mahanarayaniya Upanishad
 +
|From the description of Narayana as Supreme Brahman.
 +
|Consists of collection of passages  including both prose and mantras (totaling to 150 divided into two adhyayas).<ref name=":03" />
 
|-
 
|-
−
|rowspan=7|Yajur Veda||rowspan=5|Krishna Yajur Veda||Katha ||[[Katha Upanishad|{{IAST|Kaṭha}}]]
+
|Kathasamhita or Kathavalli (Page 54 of Reference <ref name=":42222" />)
 +
|कठोपनिषद् ॥ Kathopanishad or काठकोपनिषद् ॥ Kathakopanishad
 +
|Comes from the source Katha samhita
 +
|2 Adhyayas with 3 vallis each (total 6 vallis) contains 119 mantras.<ref name=":023222">Kodandaramacharyulu. K. (2011) Kathopanishat - Samajikaamsamulu (Pages 78 to 92) from Upanishat Sudha Lahari, Hyderabad: Sahiti Samskritika Samstha</ref>
 
|-
 
|-
−
|[[Taittiriya]]||[[Taittiriya Upanishad|{{IAST|Taittirīya}}]] and {{IAST|[[Śvetāśvatara]]}}{{sfn|Lal|1992||p=4090}}
+
|Maitrayaniya Aranyaka (Page 251 of Reference <ref name=":4" />)
 +
|मैत्रायणीय Maitrayaniya Upanishad
 +
|Comes from the source Maitrayaniya Aranyaka
 +
|Contains 7 Prapathakas<ref>Maitrayani Upanishad Introduction on [http://vedicheritage.gov.in/upanishads/maitrayani-upanishad/ Vedic Heritage Portal]</ref>
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Maitrayani ||[[Maitrayaniya Upanishad|{{IAST|Maitrāyaṇi}}]]
+
! rowspan="2" |Shukla
 +
|Last 6 Adhyayas of Shatapatha Brahmana (Page 56 of Reference <ref name=":42222" />)
 +
|Brhadaranyakopanishad
 +
|
 +
|Contains 6 Adhyayas
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Hiranyakeshi (Kapishthala)||
+
|40th Adhyaya of माध्यन्दिन-शतपथ-ब्राह्मणम् ॥ Madhyandina Shatapatabrahmana
 +
|ईशावाश्योपनिषद् ॥ Ishavasya Upanishad
 +
|The first word of the first mantra ॐ ईशा वास्यमिदँ सर्वं यत्किञ्च जगत्यां जगत् ।
 +
|Contains 18 mantras<ref name=":03">N. S. Ananta Rangacharya (2003) ''Principal Upanishads (Isa, Kena, Katha, Prasna, Mundaka, Mandookya, Taittiriya, Mahanarayana, Svetasvatara) Volume 1.'' Bangalore : Sri Rama Printers</ref>
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Kathaka
+
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |Samaveda
 +
|10th Anuvaka of 4th Adhyaya of जैमिनीय ॥ Jaiminiya (Talavakara तलवकार) Brahmana (Page 253 of Reference <ref name=":4" />)
 +
|केनोपनिषद् ॥ Kena Upanishad or Talavakaropanishad
 +
|The first word of the first mantra ॐ केनेषितं पतति प्रेषितं मनः
 +
|Contains 4 Khandas with 32 mantras in all.<ref name=":03" />
 
|-
 
|-
−
|rowspan=2|Shukla Yajur Veda||Vajasaneyi Madhyandina||[[Isha Upanishad|{{IAST|Isha}}]] and {{IAST|[[Bṛhadāraṇyaka]]}}
+
|Last 10 Adhyayas of Chandogyabrahmana of Kauthuma Shakha (Page 55 of Reference <ref name=":42222" />)
 +
|छान्दोग्योपनिषद्॥ Chhandogya Upanishad
 +
|
 +
|Contains 8 Prapathakas or Adhyayas each having varying number of Kandas and mantras (totaling to 154 Khandas).<ref name=":03" /><ref>Chandogya Upanishad Introduction on [http://vedicheritage.gov.in/upanishads/chandogyopanishad/ Vedic Heritage Portal] </ref>
 
|-
 
|-
−
|[[Kanva Shakha]]
+
! colspan="2" rowspan="3" |Adharvaveda
 +
|Associated with Pippalada brahmana (Page 54 of Reference <ref name=":42222" />)
 +
|प्रश्नोपनिषद् ॥ Prashna Upanishad
 +
|Comes from the Prashna or question and answer format seen in this upanishad.
 +
|Mostly in prose it has six Prashnas (sections)with 16, 13, 12, 11, 7 and 8 passages respectively.<ref name=":03" />
 
|-
 
|-
−
|rowspan=2|Atharva||rowspan=2|Two recension|| [[Shaunaka]]||[[Mandukya Upanishad|{{IAST|Māṇḍūkya}}]] and [[Mundaka Upanishad|{{IAST|Muṇḍaka}}]]
+
|Associated with Shaunaka samhita (Page 54 of Reference <ref name=":42222" />)
 +
|मुण्डकोपनिषद् ॥ Mundaka Upanishad
 +
|
 +
|3 Mundakas (chapters) each containing 2 Khandas with 64 mantras in all.
 
|-
 
|-
−
||Paippalada||[[Prashna Upanishad]]
+
|Associated with Atharvaveda (Page 55 of Reference <ref name=":42222" />)
 +
|माण्डूक्योपनिषद् ॥ Mandukya Upanishad
 +
|Composed by the son of Mandukya maharshi.<ref name=":03" />
 +
|Contains 12 mantras only
 
|}
 
|}
 +
===Deity and Samkhya Based Classification===
 +
Pt. Shri. Chintamani Vinayak Vaidya has assigned the ancientness (प्राचीनता) or modernness (अर्वाचीनता) of Upanishads using the two factors<ref name=":4" />
 +
#Siddhanta of Anatmarupa Brahma (a supreme power beyond and above deities)
 +
#Vishnu or Shiva deities are accepted as paradevata (supreme deity) and are praised
 +
#Principles of Samkhya Siddhanta (Prakriti, Purusha, Gunas-Satva, Rajas and Tamas)
 +
It is proved beyond doubt that the ancient upanishads have described a Supreme Anatmarupa Brahma, above the vaidika deities, who has created regulated and maintained order of the creation. They are thus very ancient and include Aitareya, Isha, Taittiriya, Brhadaranyaka, Chandogya, Prashna, Mundaka and Mandukya Upanishads.
  
−
The {{IAST|[[Kauśītāki]]}} and {{IAST|[[Maitrāyaṇi]]}} Upanishads are sometimes added to the list of the mukhya Upanishads.
+
Only in the more recent upanishads one can see the older ones in praise of Vishnu as the Supreme Being followed by the more recent one's in praise of Shiva. In this group is classified Kathopanishad where Vishnu is the Supreme Being. Krishna Yajurveda Upanishads are famous for their Shiva and Rudra stutis (Rudra Prashna is a famous stuti) and in this way Shevetashvatara Upanishad which accepts Shiva as paradevata is more recent compared to Kathopanishad. In this series, Maitrayaniya Upanishad which accepts all the Trimurti's (Brahma Vishnu and Shiva) is more recent than the above two mentioned Upanishads.
−
 
 
−
===New Upanishads===
 
−
There is no fixed list of the ''Upanishads'' as newer ones, beyond the Muktika anthology of 108 Upanishads, have continued to be discovered and composed.{{sfn|Rinehart|2004|p=17}} In 1908, for example, four previously unknown Upanishads were discovered in newly found manuscripts, and these were named ''Bashkala'', ''Chhagaleya'', ''Arsheya'' and ''Saunaka'', by [[Friedrich Schrader]],{{sfn|Singh|2002|pp=3–4}} who attributed them to the first prose period of the Upanishads.{{sfn|Schrader|Adyar Library|1908|p=v}} The text of three, the ''Chhagaleya, Arsheya'' and ''Saunaka'', were incomplete and inconsistent, likely poorly maintained or corrupted.{{sfn|Schrader|Adyar Library|1908|p=v}}
 
−
 
 
−
Ancient Upanishads have long enjoyed a revered position in Hindu traditions, and authors of numerous sectarian texts have tried to benefit from this reputation by naming their texts as Upanishads.{{sfn|Olivelle|1998|pp=xxxii-xxxiii}} These "new Upanishads" number in the hundreds, cover diverse range of topics from physiology<ref>Paul Deussen (1966), The Philosophy of the Upanishads, Dover, ISBN 978-0486216164, pages 283-296; for an example, see [[Garbha Upanishad]]</ref> to renunciation<ref name=olivellesamnyasa1>Patrick Olivelle (1992), The Samnyasa Upanisads, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195070453, pages 1-12, 98-100; for an example, see [[Bhikshuka Upanishad]]</ref> to sectarian theories.{{sfn|Olivelle|1998|pp=xxxii-xxxiii}} They were composed between the last centuries of the 1st millennium BCE through the early modern era (~1600 CE).{{sfn|Olivelle|1998|pp=xxxii-xxxiii}}<ref name=olivellesamnyasa1/> While over two dozen of the minor Upanishads are dated to pre-3rd century CE,{{sfn|Olivelle|1992|pp= 5, 8–9}}{{Sfn|Flood|1996|p=96}} many of these new texts under the title of "Upanishads" originated in the first half of the 2nd millennium CE,{{sfn|Olivelle|1998|pp=xxxii-xxxiii}} they are not Vedic texts, and some do not deal with themes found in the Vedic Upanishads.{{sfn|Varghese|2008|p=101}}
 
−
 
 
−
The main [[Shaktism|Shakta]] Upanishads, for example, mostly discuss doctrinal and interpretative differences between the two principal sects of a major [[tantra|Tantric]] form of Shaktism called [[Shri Vidya]] [[upasana]]. The many extant lists of authentic ''Shakta Upaniṣads'' vary, reflecting the sect of their compilers, so that they yield no evidence of their "location" in Tantric tradition, impeding correct interpretation. The Tantra content of these texts also weaken its identity as an Upaniṣad for non-Tantrikas. Sectarian texts such as these do not enjoy status as [[shruti]] and thus the authority of the new Upanishads as scripture is not accepted in Hinduism.{{sfn|Brooks|1990|pp=13–14}}
 
−
 
 
−
==Association with Vedas==
 
−
All Upanishads are associated with one of the four Vedas—[[Rigveda]], [[Samaveda]], [[Yajurveda]] (there are two primary versions or ''Samhitas'' of the Yajurveda: [[White Yajurveda|Shukla Yajurveda]], [[Black Yajurveda|Krishna Yajurveda]]), and [[Atharvaveda]].{{sfn|Parmeshwaranand|2000|pp=404–406}} During the modern era, the ancient Upanishads that were embedded texts in the Vedas, were detached from the [[Brahmana]] and [[Aranyaka]] layers of Vedic text, compiled into separate texts and these were then gathered into [[anthology|anthologies]] of Upanishads.{{sfn|Olivelle|1998|pp=xxxii-xxxiii}} These lists associated each Upanishad with one of the four Vedas, many such lists exist, and these lists are inconsistent across India in terms of which Upanishads are included and how the newer Upanishads are assigned to the ancient Vedas. In south India, the collected list based on Muktika Upanishad,{{refn|group=note|The Muktika manuscript found in colonial era Calcutta is the usual default, but other recensions exist.}} and published in [[Telugu language]], became the most common by the 19th-century and this is a list of 108 Upanishads.{{sfn|Olivelle|1998|pp=xxxii-xxxiii}}<ref>Paul Deussen (2010 Reprint), Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 2, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814691, pages 566-568</ref> In north India, a list of 52 Upanishads has been most common.{{sfn|Olivelle|1998|pp=xxxii-xxxiii}}
 
−
 
 
−
The {{IAST|Muktikā}} Upanishad's list of 108 Upanishads groups the first 13 as ''[[mukhya]]'',<ref name=PeterHeehs/>{{refn|group=note|name=mukhya101213|Some scholars list ten as principal, while most consider twelve or thirteen as principal ''mukhya'' Upanishads.<ref>Robert C Neville (2000), Ultimate Realities, SUNY Press, ISBN 978-0791447765, page 319</ref><ref name=stephenphillips28>Stephen Phillips (2009), Yoga, Karma, and Rebirth: A Brief History and Philosophy, Columbia University Press, ISBN 978-0231144858, pages 28-29</ref>{{sfn|Olivelle|1998|p=xxiii}}}} 21 as [[Sāmānya Vedānta]], 20 as [[Sannyāsa]],<ref name=olivellesamnyasa/> 14 as [[Vaishnava]], 12 as [[Shaiva]], 8 as [[Shakta]], and 20 as [[Yoga]].<ref name=ayyangaryoga>[https://archive.org/stream/TheYogaUpanishads/TheYogaUpanisadsSanskritEngish1938#page/n3/mode/2up The Yoga Upanishads] TR Srinivasa Ayyangar (Translator), SS Sastri (Editor), Adyar Library</ref> The 108 Upanishads as recorded in the {{IAST|Muktikā}} are shown in the table below.{{sfn|Parmeshwaranand|2000|pp=404–406}} The mukhya Upanishads are the most important and highlighted.<ref name=stephenphillips28/>
 
  
−
<center>
+
Katha Upanishad (which has no principles of Samkhya) is ancient as against Shvetashvatara (which expounds principles of Samkhya and its preceptor Kapila Maharshi), further more recent is Maitrayaniya Upanishad where samkhya philosophy along with the description of the gunas is given in detail.<ref name=":4" />
 +
===Shanti Patha Based Classification===
 +
Some upanishads are not related to any veda, while some are definitely associated with one or the other veda. Based on the Shanti patha that is given in the beginning of the Upanishads the following classification is proposed.(Page 288-289 of Reference <ref name=":22" />)
 
{| class="wikitable"
 
{| class="wikitable"
−
|+ Veda-Upanishad association
+
|+108 Upanishads Classified Based on Shanti Patha of Each Veda
−
! Veda !!Number{{sfn|Parmeshwaranand|2000|pp=404–406}} !!style="background: #FFDD00; color: black"|Mukhya<ref name=PeterHeehs>Peter Heehs (2002), Indian Religions, New York University Press, ISBN 978-0814736500, pages 60-88</ref>!!Sāmānya !!Sannyāsa<ref name=olivellesamnyasa>[[Patrick Olivelle]] (1992), The Samnyasa Upanisads, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195070453, pages x-xi, 5</ref> !!Śākta<ref>AM Sastri, The Śākta Upaniṣads, with the commentary of Śrī Upaniṣad-Brahma-Yogin, Adyar Library, {{oclc|7475481}}</ref> !!Vaiṣṇava<ref>AM Sastri, The Vaishnava-upanishads: with the commentary of Sri Upanishad-brahma-yogin, Adyar Library, {{oclc|83901261}}</ref> !!Śaiva<ref>AM Sastri, The Śaiva-Upanishads with the commentary of Sri Upanishad-Brahma-Yogin, Adyar Library, {{oclc|863321204}}</ref> !!Yoga<ref name=ayyangaryoga/>
+
!Veda
 +
!Shanti patha
 +
!Upanishads
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Ṛigveda||10||style="background: #FFDD00; color: black"|[[Aitareya Upanishad|Aitareya]], [[Kaushitaki Upanishad|Kauśītāki]]||[[Atmabodha Upanishad|Ātmabodha]], [[Mudgala Upanishad|Mudgala]]||[[Nirvana Upanishad|Nirvāṇa]]||[[Tripura Upanishad|Tripura]], [[Saubhagyalakshmi Upanishad|Saubhāgya-lakshmi]], [[Bahvricha Upanishad|Bahvṛca]]||-||[[Akshamalika Upanishad|Akṣamālika]]||[[Nada Bindu Upanishad|Nādabindu]]
+
|Rigveda
 +
|वाङ् मे मनसि प्रतिष्ठिता मनो मे वाचि प्रतिष्ठितमाविरावीर्म एधि ॥ vāṅ mē manasi pratiṣṭhitā manō mē vāci pratiṣṭhitamāvirāvīrma ēdhi ॥
 +
|Aitareya, Kaushitaki, Atmaprabodha, Nadabindu, Nirvana, Mudgala, Akshamalika, Tripura, Saubhagya, Bahvrucha Upanishads (10)
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Samaveda||16 || style="background: #FFDD00; color: black"|[[Chandogya Upanishad|Chāndogya]], [[Kena Upanishad|Kena]]||[[Vajrasuchi Upanishad|Vajrasūchi]], [[Maha Upanishad|Maha]], [[Savitri Upanishad|Sāvitrī]]||[[Aruneya Upanishad|Āruṇi]], [[Maitreya Upanishad|Maitreya]], [[Brihat-Sannyasa Upanishad|Brhat-Sannyāsa]], [[Kundika Upanishad|Kuṇḍika]] (Laghu-Sannyāsa)||-||[[Vasudeva Upanishad|Vāsudeva]], [[Avyakta Upanishad|Avyakta]]||[[Rudrakshajabala Upanishad|Rudrākṣa]], [[Jabali Upanishad|Jābāli]]||[[Yogachudamani Upanishad|Yogachūḍāmaṇi]], [[Darshana Upanishad|Darśana]]
+
|Krishna Yajurveda
 +
|ॐ सह नाववतु । सह नौ भुनक्तु । सहवीर्यं करवावहै । oṁ saha nāvavatu । saha nau bhunaktu । sahavīryaṁ karavāvahai ।
 +
|Kathavalli (commonly referred to as Kathopanishad), Taittiriya, Narayana, Brahma, Kaivalya, Shvetasvatara, Garbha, Amrtabindu, Amrtanada, Kalagnirudra, Kshurika, Sarvasara, Shukarahasya, Tejobindu, Dhyanabindu, Brahmavidya, Yogatattva, Dakshinamurty, Katha (different from Kathavalli), Skanda, Shareeraka, Varaha, Yogashikha, Ekakshara, Akshi, Avadhuta, Rudrahrdaya, Yogakundalini, Panchabrahma, Kalisantarana, Pranagnihotra, Sarasvatirahasya Upanishads (32)
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Krishna Yajurveda||32 ||style="background: #FFDD00; color: black"|[[Taittiriya Upanishad|Taittiriya]], [[Katha Upanishad|Katha]], [[Shvetashvatara Upanishad|Śvetāśvatara]], [[Maitrayaniya Upanishad|Maitrāyaṇi]]{{refn|group=note|Parmeshwaranand classifies Maitrayani with Samaveda, most scholars with Krishna Yajurveda{{sfn|Parmeshwaranand|2000|pp=404–406}}<ref>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814684, pages 217-219</ref>}}||[[Sarvasara Upanishad|Sarvasāra]], [[Shukarahasya Upanishad|Śukarahasya]], [[Skanda Upanishad|Skanda]], [[Garbha Upanishad|Garbha]], [[Sariraka Upanishad|Śārīraka]], [[Ekakshara Upanishad|Ekākṣara]], [[Akshi Upanishad|Akṣi]]||[[Brahma Upanishad|Brahma]], (Laghu, Brhad) [[Avadhuta Upanishad|Avadhūta]], [[Kathashruti Upanishad|Kaṭhasruti]]||[[Sarasvati-rahasya Upanishad|Sarasvatī-rahasya]]||[[Narayana Upanishad|Nārāyaṇa]], [[Kali-Saṇṭāraṇa Upaniṣad|Kali-Saṇṭāraṇa]]||[[Kaivalya Upanishad|Kaivalya]], [[Kalagni Rudra Upanishad|Kālāgnirudra]], [[Dakshinamurti Upanishad|Dakṣiṇāmūrti]], [[Rudrahridaya Upanishad|Rudrahṛdaya]], [[Pancabrahma Upanishad|Pañcabrahma]]||[[Amritabindu Upanishad|Amṛtabindu]], [[Tejobindu Upanishad|Tejobindu]], [[Amritanada Upanishad|Amṛtanāda]], [[Kshurika Upanishad|Kṣurika]], [[Dhyanabindu Upanishad|Dhyānabindu]], [[Brahmavidya Upanishad|Brahmavidyā]], [[Yogatattva Upanishad|Yogatattva]], [[Yogashikha Upanishad|Yogaśikhā]], [[Yoga-kundalini Upanishad|Yogakuṇḍalini]], [[Varaha Upanishad|Varāha]]
+
|Shukla Yajurveda
 +
|ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते । oṁ pūrṇamadaḥ pūrṇamidaṁ pūrṇāt pūrṇamudacyatē ।
 +
|Ishavasya, Brhadaranya, Jabala, Subaala, Hamsa, Paramahamsa, Mantrikaniralamba, Tarasara, Trishikhi, Brahmanamandala, Brahmana, Advayataraka, Paingala, Bhikshuka, Turiyateeta, Adhyatma, Muktika, Shatyayani, Yajnavalkya Upanishads (19)
 
|-
 
|-
−
|Shukla Yajurveda||19 ||style="background: #FFDD00; color: black"|[[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad|Bṛhadāraṇyaka]], [[Isha Upanishad|Īśa]]||[[Subala Upanishad|Subala]], [[Mantrika Upanishad|Mantrika]], [[Niralamba Upanishad|Niralamba]], [[Paingala Upanishad|Paingala]], [[Adhyatma Upanishad|Adhyatma]], [[Muktikā|Muktika]]||[[Jabala Upanishad|Jābāla]], [[Paramahamsa Upanishad|Paramahaṃsa]], [[Bhikshuka Upanishad|Bhikṣuka]], [[Turiyatitavadhuta Upanishad|Turīyātītavadhuta]], [[Yajnavalkya Upanishad|Yājñavalkya]], [[Shatyayaniya Upanishad|Śāṭyāyaniya]]||-||[[Tarasara Upanishad|Tārasāra]]||-||[[Advayataraka Upanishad|Advayatāraka]], [[Hamsa Upanishad|Haṃsa]], [[Trishikhibrahmana Upanishad|Triśikhi]], [[Mandala-brahmana Upanishad|Maṇḍalabrāhmaṇa]]
+
|Samaveda
−
|-
+
|ॐ आप्यायन्तु ममाङ्गानि वाक्प्राणश्चक्षुः
−
|Atharvaveda ||31 || style="background: #FFDD00; color: black"|[[Mundaka Upanishad|Muṇḍaka]], [[Mandukya Upanishad|Māṇḍūkya]], [[Prashna Upanishad|Praśna]]||[[Atma Upanishad|Ātmā]], [[Surya Upanishad|Sūrya]], [[Pranagnihotra Upanishad|Prāṇāgnihotra]]<ref>Prāṇāgnihotra is missing in some anthologies, included by Paul Deussen (2010 Reprint), Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 2, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814691, page 567</ref>||Āśrama, [[Naradaparivrajaka Upanishad|Nārada-parivrājaka]], [[Paramahamsa Parivrajaka Upanishad|Paramahaṃsa parivrājaka]], [[Parabrahma Upanishad|Parabrahma]]||[[Sita Upanishad|Sītā]], [[Devi Upanishad|Devī]], [[Tripuratapini Upanishad|Tripurātapini]], [[Bhavana Upanishad|Bhāvana]]||[[Nrisimha Tapaniya Upanishad|Nṛsiṃhatāpanī]], [[Mahanarayana Upanishad|Mahānārāyaṇa (Tripād vibhuti)]], [[Rama Rahasya Upanishad|Rāmarahasya]], [[Rama tapaniya Upanishad|Rāmatāpaṇi]], [[Gopala Tapani Upanishad|Gopālatāpani]], [[Krishna Upanishad|Kṛṣṇa]], [[Hayagriva Upanishad|Hayagrīva]], [[Dattatreya Upanishad|Dattātreya]], [[Garuda Upanishad|Gāruḍa]]||[[Atharvashiras Upanishad|Atharvasiras]],<ref>Atharvasiras is missing in some anthologies, included by Paul Deussen (2010 Reprint), Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 2, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814691, page 568</ref> [[Atharvashikha Upanishad|Atharvaśikha]], [[Brihajjabala Upanishad|Bṛhajjābāla]], [[Sharabha Upanishad|Śarabha]], [[Bhasmajabala Upanishad|Bhasma]], [[Ganapati Upanishad|Gaṇapati]]||[[Shandilya Upanishad|Śāṇḍilya]], [[Pashupatabrahma Upanishad|Pāśupata]], [[Mahavakya Upanishad|Mahāvākya]]
+
 
 +
श्रोत्रमथो बलमिन्द्रियाणि च सर्वाणि । oṁ āpyāyantu mamāṅgāni vākprāṇaścakṣuḥ
 +
 
 +
śrōtramathō balamindriyāṇi ca sarvāṇi ।...
 +
|Kena, Chandogya, Aaruni, Maitrayani, Maitreyi, Vajrasuchi, Yoga, Chudamani, Vasudeva, Sanyasa, Avyakta, Savitri, Rudrakshajabala, Darshanajabali, Kundika, Mahopanishad Upanishads (16)
 
|-
 
|-
−
|style="background: #FFCC88; color: black"|Total Upanishads||style="background: #FFCC88; color: black"|108||style="background: #FFCC88; color: black"|13{{refn|group=note|name=mukhya101213}} ||style="background: #FFCC88; color: black"| 21 ||style="background: #FFCC88; color: black"|19||style="background: #FFCC88; color: black"|8 ||style="background: #FFCC88; color: black"|14||style="background: #FFCC88; color: black"|13 ||style="background: #FFCC88; color: black"|20
+
|Atharvaveda
 +
|ॐ भद्रं कर्णेभिः शृणुयाम देवाः भद्रं पष्येमाक्षभिर्यजत्राः । oṁ bhadraṁ karṇēbhiḥ śr̥ṇuyāma dēvāḥ bhadraṁ paṣyēmākṣabhiryajatrāḥ ।
 +
|Prashna, Mundaka, Mandukya, Brhadjabala, Nrsimhatapini, Narada parivrajaka, Sitaa, Sharabha, Mahanarayana, Ramarahasya, Ramatapini, Shandilya, Paramahamsa parivrajaka, Annapurna, Surya, Atma, Parambrahma, Pashupata, Tripuratapini, Devi, Bhavana, Bhasmajabala, Ganapati, Mahavakya, Gopalatapini, Krishna, Hayagriva, Garuda, Dattatreya, Atharvashikha, Atharvashiro Upanishads (31)
 
|}
 
|}
−
</center>
 
  
−
==Philosophy==
+
=== Content Based Classification ===
−
{{main|Vedanta}}
+
Based on their content Upanishads can be divided into six categories.<ref name=":42222" />
−
[[File:Wassertropfen.jpg|right|thumb|Impact of a drop of water, a common analogy for [[Brahman]] and the [[Atman (Hinduism)|Ātman]]]]
+
#Vedanta siddhanta
 +
#Yoga siddhanta
 +
#Samkhya siddhanta
 +
#Vaishnava siddhanta
 +
#Shaiva siddhanta
 +
#Shakta siddhanta
  
−
The Upanishadic age was characterized by a pluralism of worldviews. While some Upanishads have been deemed 'monistic', others, including the [[Katha Upanishad]], are [[dualistic]].{{sfn|Glucklich|2008|p=70}} The Maitri is one of the Upanishads that inclines more toward dualism, thus grounding classical [[Samkhya]] and [[Yoga (philosophy)|Yoga]] schools of Hinduism, in contrast to the non-dualistic Upanishads at the foundation of its Vedanta school.{{sfn|Fields |2001|p=26}} They contain a plurality of ideas.{{sfn|Olivelle|1998|p=4}}{{refn|group=note|Oliville: "In this Introduction I have avoided speaking of 'the philosophy of the upanishads', a common feature of most introductions to their translations. These documents were composed over several centuries and in various regions, and it is futile to try to discover a single doctrine or philosophy in them."{{sfn|Olivelle|1998|p=4}}}}
+
== Authorship ==
 +
The authorship of most Upanishads is uncertain and unknown. The various philosophical theories in the early Upanishads have been attributed to famous seers such as Yajnavalkya, Uddalaka Aruni, Shvetaketu, Shandilya, Aitareya, Balaki, Pippalada and Sanatkumara.<ref name=":0">Mahadevan, T. M. P (1956), Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, ed., History of Philosophy Eastern and Western, George Allen & Unwin Ltd</ref> Women, such as Maitreyi and Gargi participated in the dialogues and are also credited in the early Upanishads. Prasnopanishad is based on Prashna (questions) and Uttara (answer) format between gurus and shishyas, as such a number of rshis are mentioned in this Upanishad.  
  
−
[[Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan]] states that the Upanishads have dominated Indian philosophy, religion and life ever since their appearance.<ref>S Radhakrishnan, [https://archive.org/stream/PrincipalUpanishads/129481965-The-Principal-Upanishads-by-S-Radhakrishnan#page/n19/mode/2up The Principal Upanishads] George Allen & Co., 1951, pages 17-19, Reprinted as ISBN 978-8172231248</ref> The Upanishads are respected not because they are considered revealed (''[[Shruti]]''), but because they present spiritual ideas that are inspiring.<ref name="Radhakrishnan">{{Citation |last =  Radhakrishnan |first = Sarvepalli |title = The Principal Upanishads|url=https://archive.org/stream/PrincipalUpanishads/129481965-The-Principal-Upanishads-by-S-Radhakrishnan#page/n5/mode/2up |publisher = Indus / Harper Collins India; 5th edition (1994) |isbn = 978-8172231248}}</ref> The Upanishads are treatises on Brahman-knowledge, that is knowledge of Ultimate Hidden Reality, and their presentation of philosophy presumes, "it is by a strictly personal effort that one can reach the truth".<ref>S Radhakrishnan, [https://archive.org/stream/PrincipalUpanishads/129481965-The-Principal-Upanishads-by-S-Radhakrishnan#page/n21/mode/2up The Principal Upanishads] George Allen & Co., 1951, pages 19-20, Reprinted as ISBN 978-8172231248</ref> In the Upanishads, states Radhakrishnan, knowledge is a means to freedom, and philosophy is the pursuit of wisdom by a way of life.<ref>S Radhakrishnan, [https://archive.org/stream/PrincipalUpanishads/129481965-The-Principal-Upanishads-by-S-Radhakrishnan#page/n27/mode/2up The Principal Upanishads] George Allen & Co., 1951, page 24, Reprinted as ISBN 978-8172231248</ref>
+
There are exceptions to the anonymous tradition of the Upanishads and other Vedic literature. The Shvetashvatara Upanishad, for example, includes credits to the seer Shvetashvatara in 6.21, and he is considered the author of the Upanishad.<ref name=":222">Swami Gambhirananda (2009 Fourth Edition) ''Svetasvara Upanishad With the Commentary of Sankaracharya.'' Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama (See Introduction)</ref>
  
−
The Upanishads include sections on philosophical theories that have been at the foundation of Indian traditions. For example, the [[Chandogya Upanishad]] includes one of the earliest known declaration of [[Ahimsa]] (non-violence) as an ethical precept.<ref>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814684, pages 114-115 with preface and footnotes;<br />Robert Hume, [https://archive.org/stream/thirteenprincipa028442mbp#page/n233/mode/2up Chandogya Upanishad] 3.17, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Oxford University Press, pages 212-213</ref><ref>[[Henk Bodewitz]] (1999), Hindu Ahimsa, in Violence Denied (Editors: Jan E. M. Houben, et al), Brill, ISBN 978-9004113442, page 40</ref> Discussion of other ethical premises such as [[Temperance (virtue)|Damah]] (temperance, self-restraint), [[Satya]] (truthfulness), [[Dāna]] (charity), [[Ārjava]] (non-hypocrisy), [[Compassion#Hinduism|Daya]] (compassion) and others are found in the oldest Upanishads and many later Upanishads.<ref>PV Kane, [https://archive.org/stream/historyofdharmas029210mbp#page/n61/mode/2up Samanya Dharma], History of Dharmasastra, Vol. 2, Part 1, page 5</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Chatterjea|first1=Tara|title=Knowledge and Freedom in Indian Philosophy|publisher=Lexington Books|location=Oxford|page=148}}</ref> Similarly, the Karma doctrine is presented in the [[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]], which is the oldest Upanishad.<ref>Tull, Herman W. The Vedic Origins of Karma: Cosmos as Man in Ancient Indian Myth and Ritual. SUNY Series in Hindu Studies. P. 28</ref>
+
== Interpretations ==
 +
Upanishads not only speak about evolution and manifestation of the world, as 'srshti', but also about its dissolution which make them a welcome support towards a better understanding of ancient discoveries. Inquiries into origin of the worldly things have been widely discussed. However, in such matters as above, one finds that  Upanishads abound in statements that are apparently contradictory in their nature.  
  
−
===Development of thought===
+
Some describe the world to be real while others call it a illusion. One calls the Atman as essentially different from Brahman, while other texts describe the essential identity of the two. Some call Brahman the goal and the Atman the seeker, another draws an eternal verity of both. In between these extreme positions, there are varieties of other views. Yet all the divergent conceptions are based on the Upanishads. One must bear in mind that such views and perspectives have been traditionally existing from time immemorial in Bharatavarsha and the founders of these schools of thought are outstanding spokesmen of those systems. So is the case of the rshis and maharshis associated with the shad darshanas; they simply were their best expounders or codifiers.<ref name=":04">Swami Madhavananda author of A Bird's-Eye View of the Upanishads (1958) ''The Cultural Heritage of India, Volume 1 : The Early Phases (Prehistoric, Vedic and Upanishadic, Jaina and Buddhist).'' Calcutta : The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture. (Pages 345-365)</ref>
−
{{Hindu philosophy}}
 
  
−
While the hymns of the Vedas emphasize rituals and the Brahmanas serve as a liturgical manual for those Vedic rituals, the spirit of the Upanishads is inherently opposed to ritual.{{sfn|Mahadevan|1956|p=57}} The older Upanishads launch attacks of increasing intensity on the ritual. Anyone who worships a divinity other than the Self is called a domestic animal of the gods in the [[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]. The {{IAST|Chāndogya}} Upanishad parodies those who indulge in the acts of sacrifice by comparing them with a procession of dogs chanting ''Om! Let's eat. Om! Let's drink''.{{sfn|Mahadevan|1956|p=57}}
+
Although everyone of these six systems of thought claims to derive its authority from the Upanishads, it is the Vedanta that bases itself wholly on them. In the Upanishads, the highest truths are given out as and when they were glimpsed by the rshis, hence may lack the systematic arrangement which can be expected of leisurely deliberation.<ref name=":04" />
  
−
The [[Kaushitaki Upanishad]] asserts that "external rituals such as [[Agnihotra]]m offered in the morning and in the evening, must be replaced with inner Agnihotram, the ritual of introspection", and that "not rituals, but knowledge should be one's pursuit".<ref>[[Paul Deussen]], Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814684, pages 30-42;</ref> The [[Mundaka Upanishad]] declares how man has been called upon, promised benefits for, scared unto and misled into performing sacrifices, oblations and pious works.<ref name=maxmuller12/> Mundaka thereafter asserts this is foolish and frail, by those who encourage it and those who follow it, because it makes no difference to man's current life and after-life, it is like blind men leading the blind, it is a mark of conceit and vain knowledge, ignorant inertia like that of children, a futile useless practice.<ref name=maxmuller12>Max Muller (1962), Manduka Upanishad, in The Upanishads - Part II, Oxford University Press, Reprinted as ISBN 978-0486209937, pages 30-33</ref><ref>Eduard Roer, [https://www.shemtaia.com/SKT/PDF/Upanishads/roermundakaeng.pdf Mundaka Upanishad] Bibliotheca Indica, Vol. XV, No. 41 and 50, Asiatic Society of Bengal, pages 153-154</ref> The [[Maitrayaniya Upanishad|Maitri Upanishad]] states,<ref>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814684, pages 331-333</ref>
+
The task of introducing order into Upanishad thoughts taken up by Badarayana, in the sutra format (Brahmasutras), failed to convey the exact meanings as intended by him. As a consequence the Brahmasutras also suffered the same fate as Upanishads with commentators interpreting them as per their predilections and training.
 +
==विषयविभागम् ॥ Contents==
 +
The main subject of Upanishads is the discussion about Paramatmatattva. There are two kinds of Vidyas : Para (पराविद्या) and Apara (अपराविद्या). Of these Paravidya is supreme and is called Brahmavidya (ब्रह्मविद्या). Upanishads present the detailed discussion about Paravidya. Aparavidya is primarily related to Karmas, hence called Karmavidya (कर्मविद्या). The fruits of Karmavidya are perishable while the results of Brahmavidya are indestructable. Aparavidya may not lead one to Moksha (may lead to svarga and other worlds) but Paravidya always gives Moksha.<ref name=":42222" />  
  
−
{{Quote|
+
=== मौलिकसिद्धान्ताः ॥ Core Siddhantas ===
−
The performance of all the sacrifices, described in the Maitrayana-Brahmana, is to lead up in the end to a knowledge of Brahman, to prepare a man for meditation. Therefore, let such man, after he has laid those fires,<ref>"laid those fires" is a phrase in Vedic literature that implies [[yajna]] and related ancient religious rituals; see [https://www.shemtaia.com/SKT/PDF/Upanishads/cowellmaitriskt.pdf Maitri Upanishad - Sanskrit Text with English Translation] EB Cowell (Translator), Cambridge University, Bibliotheca Indica, First Prapathaka</ref> meditate on the Self, to become complete and perfect.
+
The central concepts found in the Upanishads involve the following aspects that are the fundamental and unique values of Sanatana Dharma which have been guiding the Chitta (Manas) of people of Bharatavarsha from ages. None of these concepts have ever been mentioned or used in any kind of ancient literatures in any other part of the world.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":22" /><ref name=":022">''Sanatana Dharma : An Advanced Textbook of Hindu Religion and Ethics''. (1903) Benares : The Board of Trustees, Central Hindu College</ref>
−
|Maitri Upanishad<ref>Max Muller, The Upanishads, Part 2, [https://archive.org/stream/upanishads02ml#page/286/mode/2up Maitrayana-Brahmana Upanishad], Oxford University Press, pages 287-288</ref><ref name=hume11>{{citation|first=Robert Ernest|last=Hume|title=The Thirteen Principal Upanishads|url=https://archive.org/stream/thirteenprincipa028442mbp#page/n433/mode/2up |publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1921|pages=412–414}}</ref>}}
 
  
−
The opposition to the ritual is not explicit in the oldest Upanishads. On occasions, the Upanishads extend the task of the Aranyakas by making the ritual allegorical and giving it a philosophical meaning. For example, the Brihadaranyaka interprets the practice of horse-sacrifice or ''[[ashvamedha]]'' allegorically. It states that the over-lordship of the earth may be acquired by sacrificing a horse. It then goes on to say that spiritual autonomy can only be achieved by renouncing the universe which is conceived in the image of a horse.{{sfn|Mahadevan|1956|p=57}}
+
'''Unmanifested'''
 +
*ब्रह्मन् ॥ [[Brahman (ब्रह्मन्)|Brahman]], Paramatma (परमात्मा), That (तत्), Purusha (पुरुषः) Nirguna Brahman (निर्गुणब्रह्मन्) (Supreme Being, Ultimate Reality)
 +
'''Manifested'''
 +
*आत्मा ॥ [[Atman (आत्मन्)|Atman]], जीवात्मा ॥ Jivatma, Ishvara (ईश्वरः), Sat (सत्), Saguna Brahman (सर्गुणब्रह्मन्), the Subject (Self)
 +
*प्रकृतिः ॥ Prkriti, Asat (असत्), Not Self, The Object (Material Cause)
 +
*मनः ॥ Manas (Prajna, Chitta, Samkalpa)
 +
*कर्म ॥ Karma (Action) of Past, Present and Future
 +
*माया ॥ Maya (Illusion), Shakti, Power, the Will, of Ishvara.
 +
*जीवः ॥ Jiva (Embodiment of Atman in an [[Upadhi (उपाधिः)|Upadhi]]), The Many, arising from Mulaprkriti.
 +
*सर्गः ॥ Sarga (Origin) of Srshti (सृष्टिः)<ref name=":022" />
 +
*ज्ञानम् ॥ Jnana (Knowledge)
 +
*अविद्या ॥ Avidya (Ignorance)
 +
*मोक्षम् ॥ Moksha (The Paramapurushartha)
 +
The Upanishads speak about the identity of the Supreme Being, the Brahman, the individual Atman, their mutual relationship, the Universe (jagat) and man’s place in it. In short they deal with Jiva, Jagat, Jnana and Jagadishwara and ultimately the path to Brahman called as ''mokṣa'' or ''mukti.''<ref>http://www.esamskriti.com/e/Spirituality/Upanishads-Commentary/Vedas-And-Upanishads~-A-Structural-Profile-3.aspx</ref>
 +
==== Brahman and Atman ====
 +
Brahman and Atman are two concepts that are unique to Bharatiya Jnana  siddhantas which are highly developed in the Upanishads. From the root cause Prkriti the world came into being. Paramatma is Nitya, Puratana, Shasvata (Eternal) devoid of the cycles of birth and death. The Sharira or body is subjected to death and birth but Atma residing in it continues to exist. Just like butter is evenly distributed in milk so also Paramatma is all-pervading in the world. Just like the sparks arise out of fire so also the beings take shape from the Paramatma. Such aspects which are explained in Upanishads have been widely discussed and elucidated in the Darshana shastras.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":4" />
  
−
In similar fashion, [[Rigvedic deities|Vedic gods]] such as the ''Agni'', ''Aditya'', ''Indra'', ''Rudra'', ''Visnu'', ''Brahma'' and others become equated in the Upanishads to the supreme, immortal and incorporeal Brahman-Atman of the Upanishads, god becomes synonymous with Self, and is declared to be everywhere, inmost being of each human being and within every living creature.<ref>{{citation|first=Robert Ernest|last=Hume|title= The Thirteen Principal Upanishads | url=https://archive.org/stream/thirteenprincipa028442mbp#page/n449/mode/2up|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1921|pages=428–429}}</ref><ref>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814684, pages 350-351</ref><ref name=pauldeussenov>Paul Deussen, {{Google books|2h0YAAAAYAAJ|The Philosophy of Upanishads}}, University of Kiel, T&T Clark, pages 342-355, 396-412</ref> The one reality or ''ekam sat'' of the Vedas becomes the ''ekam eva advitiyam''  or "the one and only and sans a second" in the Upanishads.{{sfn|Mahadevan|1956|p=57}} Brahman-Atman and Self-realization develops, in the Upanishad, as the means to [[moksha]] (liberation, freedom in this life or after-life).<ref name=pauldeussenov/><ref>RC Mishra (2013), Moksha and the Hindu Worldview, Psychology & Developing Societies, Vol. 25, No. 1, pages 21-42</ref><ref>Mark B. Woodhouse (1978), [http://www.jstor.org/stable/27902516 Consciousness and Brahman-Atman], The Monist, Vol. 61, No. 1, Conceptions of the Self: East & West (JANUARY, 1978), pages 109-124</ref>
+
===== ब्रह्मन् ॥ Brahman =====
 +
The word [[Brahman (ब्रह्मन्)|Brahman]] is used to represent the all pervading, ultimate reality without a second. While this is a principle of universal acceptance for all sects of Vedantins, there is a variation in these schools as to relationship between Brahman and Jivatma.  
  
−
According to Jayatilleke, the thinkers of Upanishadic texts can be grouped into two categories.{{sfn|Jayatilleke|1963|p=32}} One group, which includes Early Upanishads along with some Middle and Late Upanishads, were composed by metaphysicians who used rational arguments and empirical experience to formulate their speculations and philosophical premises. The second group includes many middle and later Upanishads, where their authors professed theories based on yoga and personal experiences.{{sfn|Jayatilleke|1963|p=32}} Yoga philosophy and practice, adds Jayatilleke, is "not entirely absent in the Early Upanishads".{{sfn|Jayatilleke|1963|p=32}} The development of thought in these Upanishadic theories contrasted with Buddhism, since the Upanishadic inquiry assumed there is a soul ([[Atman (Hinduism)|Atman]]), while Buddhism assumed there is no soul (''Anatta''), states Jayatilleke.{{sfn|Jayatilleke|1963|pp=36-39}}
+
The Unity which never appears but which IS, is implied in the very existence of universes and systems, worlds and individuals. IT (tat) is not only recognised now in all religions, but also in all philosophy and in all science as a fundamental necessity. Endless disputes and controversies have surrounded IT, many names describe IT and many have left it unnamed, but none have denied IT (except the Charvakas and other atheists). The idea put forth by the Upanishadic seers that Atman and Brahman are One and the same, is one of the greatest contributions made to the thought process of the mankind. <ref name=":022" />
  
−
===Brahman and Atman===
+
===== Nirguna Representation of Brahman =====
−
{{main|Ātman (Hinduism)|Brahman}}
+
One which is described as without a second, is Infinite, Absolute, eternal is called as तत् । THAT, without attributes, gunas, beyond name and form, and cannot be explained by any similies or worldly descriptions is the Nirguna Brahman.
−
Two concepts that are of paramount importance in the Upanishads are ''[[Brahman]]'' and ''[[Ātman (Hinduism)|Atman]]''.{{sfn|Mahadevan|1956|p=59}} The Brahman is the ultimate reality and the Atman is individual self (soul).<ref name=james122/><ref name=scholarsatman3/> Brahman is the material, efficient, formal and final [[Four causes|cause]] of all that exists.<ref name=ptraju426>PT Raju (2006), Idealistic Thought of India, Routledge, ISBN 978-1406732627, page 426 and Conclusion chapter part XII</ref><ref>Mariasusai Dhavamony (2002), Hindu-Christian Dialogue: Theological Soundings and Perspectives, Rodopi Press, ISBN 978-9042015104, pages 43-44</ref><ref name=fxclooney>For dualism school of Hinduism, see: Francis X. Clooney (2010), Hindu God, Christian God: How Reason Helps Break Down the Boundaries between Religions, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0199738724, pages 51-58, 111-115;<br>For monist school of Hinduism, see: B Martinez-Bedard (2006), Types of Causes in Aristotle and Sankara, Thesis - Department of Religious Studies (Advisors: Kathryn McClymond and Sandra Dwyer), Georgia State University, pages 18-35</ref> It is the pervasive, genderless, infinite, eternal truth and bliss which does not change, yet is the cause of all changes.<ref name=james122>James Lochtefeld, ''Brahman'', The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A–M, Rosen Publishing. ISBN 978-0823931798, page 122</ref><ref name=jeffreybrodd>Jeffrey Brodd (2009), World Religions: A Voyage of Discovery, Saint Mary's Press, ISBN 978-0884899976, pages 43-47</ref> Brahman is "the infinite source, fabric, core and destiny of all existence, both manifested and unmanifested, the formless infinite substratum and from which the universe has grown". Brahman in Hinduism, states [[Paul Deussen]], as the "creative principle which lies realized in the whole world".<ref>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814684, page 91</ref>
 
  
−
The word ''Atman'' means the inner self, the soul, the immortal spirit in an individual, and all living beings including animals and trees.<ref>'''[a]''' [http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/atman Atman], Oxford Dictionaries, Oxford University Press (2012), '''Quote''': "1. real self of the individual; 2. a person's soul";<br>'''[b]''' John Bowker (2000), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0192800947, See entry for Atman;<br>'''[c]''' WJ Johnson (2009), A Dictionary of Hinduism, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0198610250, See entry for Atman (self).</ref><ref name=scholarsatman3>'''[a]''' Richard King (1995), Early Advaita Vedanta and Buddhism, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0791425138, page 64, '''Quote:''' "Atman as the innermost essence or soul of man, and Brahman as the innermost essence and support of the universe. (...) Thus we can see in the Upanishads, a tendency towards a convergence of microcosm and macrocosm, culminating in the equating of Atman with Brahman".<br>'''[b]''' Chad Meister (2010), The Oxford Handbook of Religious Diversity, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195340136, page 63; '''Quote''': "Even though Buddhism explicitly rejected the Hindu ideas of Atman (“soul”) and Brahman, Hinduism treats Sakyamuni Buddha as one of the ten avatars of Vishnu."<br>'''[c]''' David Lorenzen (2004), The Hindu World (Editors: Sushil Mittal and Gene Thursby), Routledge, ISBN 0-415215277, pages 208-209, '''Quote''': "Advaita and nirguni movements, on the other hand, stress an interior mysticism in which the devotee seeks to discover the identity of individual soul (atman) with the universal ground of being (brahman) or to find god within himself".</ref> Ātman is a central idea in all the [[Upanishad]]s, and "Know your Ātman" their thematic focus.<ref name=ptraju>PT Raju (1985), Structural Depths of Indian Thought, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0887061394, pages 35-36</ref> These texts state that the inmost core of every person is not the body, nor the mind, nor the ego, but ''Atman'' – "Soul" or "Self".<ref>Soul is synonymous with Self in translations of ancient texts of Hindu philosophy</ref> Atman is the spiritual essence in all creatures, their real innermost essential being.<ref name=alicebailey>Alice Bailey (1973), The Soul and Its Mechanism, ISBN 978-0853301158, pages 82-83</ref><ref>Eknath Easwaran (2007), The Upanishads, Nilgiri Press, ISBN 978-1586380212, pages 38-39, 318-320</ref> It is eternal, it is ageless. Atman is that which one is at the deepest level of one's existence.
+
Chandogya Upanishad expounds the Nirguna Brahmatattva through the Mahavakyas such as<blockquote>एकमेवाद्वितीयम्। ''ekamevādvitīyam।'' One only, without a second. (Chand. Upan. 6.2.1)<ref name=":3">Chandogya Upanishad ([https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%9B%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%97%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D/%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%A7%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%83_%E0%A5%AC Adhyaya 6])</ref></blockquote><blockquote>सर्वं खल्विदं ब्रह्म । ''sarvaṁ khalvidaṁ brahma ।'' All this is verily Brahman. (Chand. Upan. 3.14.1)<ref>Chandogya Upanishad ([https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%9B%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%97%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D/%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%A7%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%83_%E0%A5%A9 Adhyaya 3])</ref></blockquote>Shevatasvatara Upanishad says  <blockquote>यदाऽतमस्तन्न दिवा न रात्रिर्न सन्नचासच्छिव एव केवलः ।... ॥ १८ ॥ ''yadā'tamastanna divā na rātrirna sannacāsacchiva eva kevalaḥ ।... ॥ 18 ॥'' (Shvet. Upan. 4.18)<ref name=":5">Shvetashvatara Upanishad ([https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%B6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B5%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8D/%E0%A4%9A%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A5%E0%A4%83_%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%A7%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%83 Adhyaya 4])</ref></blockquote>When there was mere tamas, and neither day nor the night, neither the universe (having a form) or without a form, there existed that pure auspicious principle alone signifying the One Principle.<ref name=":03" />
  
−
''Atman'' is the predominantly discussed topic in the Upanishads, but they express two distinct, somewhat divergent themes. Some state that Brahman (Highest Reality, Universal Principle, Being-Consciousness-Bliss) is identical with ''Atman'', while others state ''Atman'' is part of Brahman but not identical.<ref name=johnkoller/><ref>[[Paul Deussen]], {{Google books|B0QzAQAAMAAJ|The Philosophy of the Upanishads}}, Dover Publications, pages 86-111, 182-212</ref> This ancient debate flowered into various dual, non-dual theories in Hinduism. The [[Brahmasutra]] by Badarayana (~ 100 BCE) synthesized and unified these somewhat conflicting theories, stating that Atman and Brahman are different in some respects particularly during the state of ignorance, but at the deepest level and in the state of Self-realization, Atman and Brahman are identical, non-different.<ref name=johnkoller>John Koller (2012), Shankara, in Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Religion, (Editors: Chad Meister, Paul Copan), Routledge, ISBN 978-0415782944, pages 99-102</ref>
+
These common and well known examples amply illustrate the concept of Nirguna or formless Brahman.
  
−
The idea put forth by the Upanishadic seers that Atman and Brahman are One and the same is one of the greatest contributions made to the thought of the world.{{sfn|Lanman|1897|p=790}}{{sfn|Brown|1922|p=266}}{{sfn|Slater|1897|p=32}}{{sfn|Varghese|2008|p=132}}
+
'''Brahman Represented by Pranava''' '''(Omkara)'''
  
−
===Illusion===
+
That this Nirguna Brahman is also referred by Omkara or Pranavanada is also well illustrated in the Upanishads. Kathopanishad states that<blockquote>सर्वे वेदा यत्पदमामनन्ति तपाँसि सर्वाणि च यद्वदन्ति । यदिच्छन्तो ब्रह्मचर्यं चरन्ति तत्ते पदँ संग्रहेण ब्रवीम्योमित्येतत् ॥ १५ ॥ (Kath. Upan. 1.2.15)</blockquote><blockquote>sarvē vēdā yatpadamāmananti tapām̐si sarvāṇi ca yadvadanti . yadicchantō brahmacaryaṁ caranti tattē padam̐ saṁgrahēṇa bravīmyōmityētat .. 15 ..</blockquote><blockquote>एतद्ध्येवाक्षरं ब्रह्म एतद्ध्येवाक्षरं परम् । एतद्ध्येवाक्षरं ज्ञात्वा यो यदिच्छति तस्य तत् ॥ १६ ॥ (Kath. Upan. 1.2.16)<ref>Kathopanishad ([https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%A0%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8D/%E0%A4%AA%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%A5%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%A7%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%83/%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%80%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%B2%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B2%E0%A5%80 Adhyaya 1 Valli 2])</ref></blockquote><blockquote>ētaddhyēvākṣaraṁ brahma ētaddhyēvākṣaraṁ param . ētaddhyēvākṣaraṁ jñātvā yō yadicchati tasya tat .. 16 ..</blockquote>Meaning : That which all the Vedas declare, that which all austerities utter, That desiring which they lead the life of Brahmacharya, That Word I tell thee briefly : it is Aum. That word is even Brahman; that Word is even the Supreme.<ref name=":022" />
−
{{main|Maya (illusion)}}
 
−
Two different types of the non-dual Brahman-Atman are presented in the Upanishads, according to Mahadevan.{{sfn|Mahadevan|1956|p=62}} The one in which the non-dual Brahman-Atman is the all inclusive ground of the universe and another in which empirical, changing universe is a form of ''Maya'', often translated as "illusion".
 
  
−
The Upanishads describe the universe, and the human experience, as an interplay of [[Purusha]] (the eternal, unchanging principles, consciousness) and [[Prakṛti]] (the temporary, changing material world, nature).<ref>[[Paul Deussen]], {{Google books|2h0YAAAAYAAJ|The Philosophy of the Upanishads|page=161}}, pages 161, 240-254</ref> The former manifests itself as [[Ātman (Hinduism)|Ātman]] (Soul, Self), and the latter as [[Maya (illusion)|Māyā]]. The Upanishads refer to the knowledge of ''Atman'' as "true knowledge" (''Vidya''), and the knowledge of ''Maya'' as "not true knowledge" (''Avidya'', Nescience, lack of awareness, lack of true knowledge).<ref name=beamsc>Ben-Ami Scharfstein (1998), A Comparative History of World Philosophy: From the Upanishads to Kant, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0791436844, page 376</ref>
+
===== आत्मन् ॥ Atman, The Saguna Representation of Brahman =====
 +
The next important concept is that of Saguna Brahman, also Supreme like the Nirguna Brahman, except that here there are a few limiting adjuncts (name, form etc), called variously as Atman, Jivatma, Inner Self, Self, Consciousness etc. The Individual Self, Atman, is the internal ruler, the that immortal part of a visible entity, which includes all living beings including humans, animals and trees. The discussion about Brahman being gross and subtle is raised by Satyakama as explained in the Prashnopanishad. <blockquote>एतद्वै सत्यकाम परं चापरं च ब्रह्म यदोङ्कारः । ''etadvai satyakāma paraṁ cāparaṁ ca brahma yadoṅkāraḥ ।'' (Pras. Upan. 5.2)<ref>Prashnopanishad ([https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%AA%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%B6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8D/%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%9E%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%9A%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%83_%E0%A4%AA%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%B6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%83 Prashna 5])</ref></blockquote>Meaning : Verily, O Satyakama, this Omkara is the Supreme and the lower Brahman.<ref name=":022" />
  
−
Hendrick Vroom explains, "the term ''Maya'' [in the Upanishads] has been translated as 'illusion,' but then it does not concern normal illusion. Here 'illusion' does not mean that the world is not real and simply a figment of the human imagination. ''Maya'' means that the world is not as it seems; the world that one experiences is misleading as far as its true nature is concerned."<ref>H.M. Vroom (1996), No Other Gods, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, ISBN 978-0802840974, page 57</ref> According to [[Wendy Doniger]], "to say that the universe is an illusion (māyā) is not to say that it is unreal; it is to say, instead, that it is not what it seems to be, that it is something constantly being made. Māyā not only deceives people about the things they think they know; more basically, it limits their knowledge."<ref>Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty (1986), Dreams, Illusion, and Other Realities, University of Chicago Press, ISBN 978-0226618555, page 119</ref>
+
Brhdaranyaka Upanishad also says the following about the existence of two forms of Brahman - the Sat and Asat forms.<ref name=":1" /><blockquote>द्वे वाव ब्रह्मणो रूपे मूर्तं चैवामूर्तं च मर्त्यं चामृतं च स्थितं च यच्च सच्च त्यच्च ॥ १ ॥ ''dve vāva brahmaṇo rūpe mūrtaṁ caivāmūrtaṁ ca martyaṁ cāmr̥taṁ ca sthitaṁ ca yacca sacca tyacca ॥ 1 ॥'' (Brhd. Upan. 2.3.1)<ref>Brhdaranyaka Upanishad ([https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%AC%E0%A5%83%E0%A4%B9%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%A3%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%95_%E0%A4%89%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D_2p Adhyaya 2])</ref></blockquote>Meaning : There are two states of Brahman, मूर्तं । gross (with form, body and organs) and अमूर्तं । subtle (formless), mortal (मर्त्यं) and immortal (अमृतं), finite and infinite, existent and beyond (existence).<ref>Swami Madhavananda, (1950). ''[https://archive.org/details/Brihadaranyaka.Upanishad.Shankara.Bhashya.by.Swami.Madhavananda/page/n356 The Brhdaranyaka Upanishad with the commentary of Sankaracharya.]'' Mayavati: Avaita Ashrama</ref>  
  
−
In the Upanishads, Māyā is the perceived changing reality and it co-exists with Brahman which is the hidden true reality.<ref name=aegough>Archibald Edward Gough (2001), The Philosophy of the Upanishads and Ancient Indian Metaphysics, Routledge, ISBN 978-0415245227, pages 47-48</ref><ref>Teun Goudriaan (2008), Maya: Divine And Human, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120823891, pages 1-17</ref> ''Maya'', or "illusion", is an important idea in the Upanishads, because the texts assert that in the human pursuit of blissful and liberating Self-knowledge, it is ''Maya'' which obscures, confuses and distracts an individual.<ref name=knaiyar>KN Aiyar (Translator, 1914), Sarvasara Upanishad, in Thirty Minor Upanishads, page 17, {{oclc|6347863}}</ref><ref name=adishankaratu>Adi Shankara, {{Google books|d0oAAAAYAAJ|Commentary on Taittiriya Upanishad}}, SS Sastri (Translator), Harvard University Archives, pages 191-198</ref>
+
This second, lower, gross, mortal, finite, existent Brahman is not "another" but is Brahman conditioned - therefore limited, manifesting and is thus Saguna with Attributes. The subtle formless Brahman has already been described as Nirguna Brahman.<blockquote>यो दिवि तिष्ठन्दिवोऽन्तरो यं द्यौर्न वेद यस्य द्यौः शरीरं यो दिवमन्तरो यमयत्य् एष त आत्माऽन्तर्याम्यमृतः ॥ ८ ॥ ''yo divi tiṣṭhandivo'ntaro yaṁ dyaurna veda yasya dyauḥ śarīraṁ yo divamantaro yamayaty eṣa ta ātmā'ntaryāmyamr̥taḥ ॥ 8 ॥'' (Brhd. Upan. 3.7.8)<ref>Brhdaranyaka Upanishad ([https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%AC%E0%A5%83%E0%A4%B9%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%A3%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%95_%E0%A4%89%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D_3p Adhyaya 3])</ref></blockquote>The Vedanta Darshana extensively debates the concept of Plurality (the Manyness, [[Bahupurushavada (बहुपुरुषवादः)|Bahupurushas]]) based on the various explanations of Saguna Brahman according to that particular school of thought.
  
−
==Schools of Vedanta==
+
===== Unity of Atman and Brahman =====
−
{{Main|Vedanta}}
+
''Atman'' is the predominantly discussed topic in the Upanishads, but one finds two distinct versions. Some state that Brahman (Highest Reality, Universal Principle, Being-Consciousness-Bliss) is identical with ''Atman (Advaita siddhanta)'', while others state ''Atman'' is part of Brahman but not identical (Visishtadvaita and Dvaita siddhantas of Vedanta). This ancient debate flowered into various dual, non-dual theories in Hinduism. More about these aspects are discussed under the heading [[Brahman (ब्रह्मन्)|Brahman]].
−
[[File:Raja Ravi Varma - Sankaracharya.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Adi Shankara]], expounder of [[Advaita Vedanta]] and [[Works of Adi Shankara|commentator]] (''[[bhashya]]'') on the Upanishads]]
 
  
−
The Upanishads form one of the three main sources for all schools of Vedanta, together with the [[Bhagavad Gita]] and the [[Brahmasutra]]s.{{sfn|Radhakrishnan|1956|p=272}} Due to the wide variety of philosophical teachings contained in the Upanishads, various interpretations could be grounded on the Upanishads. The schools of Vedānta seek to answer questions about the relation between [[Ātman (Hinduism)|atman]] and Brahman, and the relation between Brahman and the world.{{sfn|Raju|1992|p=176-177}} The schools of Vedanta are named after the relation they see between atman and Brahman:{{sfn|Raju|1992|p=177}}
+
That Brahman and Atman are one and the same was proposed in Chandogya Upanishads mahavakyas. One of them being the following<blockquote>स य एषोऽणिमैतदात्म्यमिदँ सर्वं तत्सत्यँ स आत्मा '''तत्त्वमसि''' श्वेतकेतो | ''sa ya eṣo'ṇimaitadātmyamidam̐ sarvaṁ tatsatyam̐ sa ātmā tattvamasi śvetaketo |'' (Chand. Upan. 6.8.7)</blockquote>That which is this subtle essense, all this has got That as the Self, That is Truth, That is Self. You are That O! Svetaketu.<ref>Swami Gambhirananda. (1983) ''Chandogya Upanishad With the Commentary of Sri Sankaracharya.'' Calcutta : Advaita Ashrama</ref>
−
* According to [[Advaita Vedanta]], there is no difference.{{sfn|Raju|1992|p=177}}
 
−
* According to [[Vishishtadvaita]] the jīvātman is a part of Brahman, and hence is similar, but not identical.  
 
−
* According to [[Dvaita]], all individual souls (jīvātmans) and matter as eternal and mutually separate entities.
 
  
−
Other schools of Vedanta include Nimbarka's ''Dvaitadvaita'', Vallabha's ''Suddhadvaita'' and Chaitanya's ''Acintya Bhedabheda''.{{sfn|Ranade|1926|pp=179–182}} The philosopher [[Adi Sankara]] has provided commentaries on 11 [[mukhya]] Upanishads.{{sfn|Mahadevan|1956|p=63}}
+
In the Mandukya Upanishad another mahavakya stresses this point<blockquote>सर्वं ह्येतद् ब्रह्मा'''यमात्मा ब्रह्म''' सोऽयमात्मा चतुष्पात् ॥ २ ॥ ''sarvaṁ hyetad brahmāyamātmā brahma so'yamātmā catuṣpāt ॥ 2 ॥'' (Mand. Upan. 2)<ref>Mandukya Upanishad ([https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A3%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A1%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D 12 Mantras])</ref></blockquote>All this is surely Brahman. This Self is Brahman. The Self, such as It is, is possessed of four quarters.<ref>Swami Gambhirananda (1989 Second Edition) ''[https://archive.org/details/EightUpanishadsWithSankarabhashyamSwamiGambhiranandaVol11966/page/n183 Eight Upanishads, Volume 2 (Aitareya, Mundaka, Mandukya, Prashna)]'' Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama</ref>
  
−
===Advaita Vedanta===
+
==== मनस् ॥ Manas ====
 +
Manas (not equivalent to Mind but used in that sense) is also called as Prajna, Chitta, Samkalpa which is engaged in a Vrtti (वृत्तिः) or states of existence (Yoga Darshana describes 6 such states). The thinking nature of man has been understood as the very essence of human beings since ancient times in India. Serious searches for unravelling the mystery of Manas and its impacts on life proved decisive in deepening the philosophical thoughts of human race making definite impacts upon the socio-cultural standards of life. Studies of Manas have contributed much in the fields of arts and science. It is a matter of fact that all philosophical thoughts and knowledge systems in India spring out explicitly or implicitly from the Vedas. The Upanishads being an integral part of Vedas represent the philosophical zenith of the Vedic thoughts and in depth discussions on Manas contribute to their uniqueness.
  
−
Advaita literally means non-duality, and it is a [[monistic]] system of thought.{{sfn|Encyclopædia Britannica}} It deals with the non-dual nature of [[Brahman]] and [[Ātman (Hinduism)|Atman]]. Advaita is considered the most influential sub-school of the ''Vedanta'' school of Hindu philosophy.{{sfn|Encyclopædia Britannica}} Gaudapada was the first person to expound the basic principles of the Advaita philosophy in a commentary on the conflicting statements of the Upanishads.{{sfn|Radhakrishnan|1956|p=273}} Gaudapada's Advaita ideas were further developed by [[Adi Shankara|Shankara]].{{sfn|King|1999|p=221}}{{sfn|Nakamura|2004|p=31}} King states that Gaudapada's main work, Māṇḍukya Kārikā, is infused with philosophical terminology of Buddhism, and uses Buddhist arguments and analogies.{{sfn|King|1999|p=219}} King also suggests that there are clear differences between Shankara's writings and the ''Brahmasutra'',{{sfn|King|1999|p=221}}{{sfn|Nakamura|2004|p=31}} and many ideas of Shankara are at odds with those in the Upanishads.{{sfn|Collins|2000|p=195}} Radhakrishnan, on the other hand, suggests that Shankara's views of Advaita were straightforward developments of the Upanishads and the ''Brahmasutra'',{{sfn|Radhakrishnan|1956|p=284}} and many ideas of Shankara derive from the Upanishads.<ref>John Koller (2012), Shankara in Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Religion (Editors: Chad Meister, Paul Copan), Routledge, ISBN 978-0415782944, pages 99-108</ref>
+
Aitareya Upanishad describes the origin of cosmic mind along with the origin of universe in a sequential manner. <blockquote>हृदयं निरभिद्यत हृदयान्मनो मनसश्चन्द्रमा । ''hr̥dayaṁ nirabhidyata hr̥dayānmano manasaścandramā ।'' (Aite. Upan. 1.1.4)<ref>Aitareya Upanishad ([https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%90%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%AF%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D All Adhyayas] )</ref></blockquote>A heart parted open and from it came the mind. from the internal organ, mind, came the Moon.
  
−
Shankara in his discussions of the Advaita Vedanta philosophy referred to the early Upanishads to explain the key difference between Hinduism and Buddhism, stating that Hinduism asserts "Atman (Soul, Self) exists", while Buddhism asserts that there is "no Soul, no Self".<ref name=eroer1>Edward Roer (Translator), {{Google books|3uwDAAAAMAAJ|Shankara's Introduction|page=3}} to ''Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad'' at pages 3-4; Quote - "(...) Lokayatikas and Bauddhas who assert that the soul does not exist. There are four sects among the followers of Buddha: 1. Madhyamicas who maintain all is void; 2. Yogacharas, who assert except sensation and intelligence all else is void; 3. Sautranticas, who affirm actual existence of external objects no less than of internal sensations; 4. Vaibhashikas, who agree with later (Sautranticas) except that they contend for immediate apprehension of exterior objects through images or forms represented to the intellect."</ref><ref name=eroer2>Edward Roer (Translator), {{Google books|3uwDAAAAMAAJ|Shankara's Introduction|page=3}} to ''Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad'' at page 3, {{oclc|19373677}}</ref><ref>KN Jayatilleke (2010), Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge, ISBN 978-8120806191, pages 246-249, from note 385 onwards;<br />Steven Collins (1994), Religion and Practical Reason (Editors: Frank Reynolds, David Tracy), State Univ of New York Press, ISBN 978-0791422175, page 64; Quote: "Central to Buddhist soteriology is the doctrine of not-self (Pali: anattā, Sanskrit: anātman, the opposed doctrine of [[Ātman (Hinduism)|ātman]] is central to Brahmanical thought). Put very briefly, this is the [Buddhist] doctrine that human beings have no soul, no self, no unchanging essence.";<br />Edward Roer (Translator), {{Google books|3uwDAAAAMAAJ|Shankara's Introduction|page=2}}, pages 2-4<br />Katie Javanaud (2013), [https://philosophynow.org/issues/97/Is_The_Buddhist_No-Self_Doctrine_Compatible_With_Pursuing_Nirvana Is The Buddhist 'No-Self' Doctrine Compatible With Pursuing Nirvana?], Philosophy Now;<br />John C. Plott et al (2000), Global History of Philosophy: The Axial Age, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120801585, page 63, Quote: "The Buddhist schools reject any Ātman concept. As we have already observed, this is the basic and ineradicable distinction between Hinduism and Buddhism".</ref>
+
Thought becomes the power that triggers the process of creation driven by the supposition of a cosmic mind or cosmic intelligent behind creation. While Brhadaranyaka says एतत्सर्वं मन एव | ''etatsarvaṁ mana eva |''" (Brhd. Upan. 1.5.3)<ref>Brhadaranyaka Upanishad ([https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%AC%E0%A5%83%E0%A4%B9%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%A3%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%95_%E0%A4%89%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D_1a Adhyaya 1])</ref> All this is the Mind itself", Ishavasya Upanishad refers to Manas in अनेजदेकं मनसो जवीयो । ''anejadekaṁ manaso javīyo ।'' (Aite. Upan. 4) <ref>Isavasyopanishad ([https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%88%E0%A4%B6%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8D All Mantras])</ref> the context of Atman being faster than the mind. Here the speed is described as a property of mind. Brhdaranyaka further says that सर्वेषा सङ्कल्पानां मन एकायनम् एव meaning Manas is the common ground for all imaginations and deliberations (Brhd. Upan. 4.5.12<ref>Brhadaranyaka Upanishad ([https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%AC%E0%A5%83%E0%A4%B9%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%A3%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%95_%E0%A4%89%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D_4p Adhyaya 4])</ref><ref name=":2">Swami Madhavananda, (1950). ''[https://archive.org/details/Brihadaranyaka.Upanishad.Shankara.Bhashya.by.Swami.Madhavananda/page/n807 The Brhdaranyaka Upanishad with the commentary of Sankaracharya.]'' Mayavati: Avaita Ashrama</ref>). 
  
−
The Upanishads contain four sentences, the [[Mahavakyas|Mahāvākyas]] (Great Sayings), which were used by Shankara to establish the identity of Atman and Brahman as scriptural truth:
+
That Manas is not consciousness but is a subtle form of matter like the body is expounded in the Chandogya Upanishad. Further it says that Anna consumed is sorted in three ways post digestion. The grossest part becomes faeces; the middle component becomes flesh; the subtle ingredient becomes the mind. (Chan. Upan. 6.5.1)<ref name=":6">N. S. Ananta Rangacharya (2003) ''Principal Upanishads (Chandogya Upanishad) Volume 2.'' Bangalore : Sri Rama Printers</ref>
−
* [[Mahāvākyas#Prajñānam Brahma|"Prajñānam brahma"]] - "Consciousness is Brahman" ([[Aitareya Upanishad]]){{sfn|Panikkar|2001|p=669}}
 
−
* "Aham brahmāsmi" - "I am Brahman" ([[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]){{sfn|Panikkar|2001|pp=725–727}}
 
−
* [[Tat Tvam Asi|"Tat tvam asi"]] - "That Thou art" ([[Chandogya Upanishad]]){{sfn|Panikkar|2001|pp=747–750}}
 
−
* "Ayamātmā brahma" - "This Atman is Brahman" ([[Mandukya Upanishad]]){{sfn|Panikkar|2001|pp=697–701}}
 
  
−
Although there are a wide variety of philosophical positions propounded in the Upanishads, commentators since [[Adi Shankara]] have usually followed him in seeing [[idealism|idealist]] [[monism]] as the dominant force.{{sfn|Olivelle|1998}}{{refn|group=note|According to Collins, the breakdown of the Vedic cults is more obscured by retrospective ideology than any other period in Indian history. It is commonly assumed that the dominant philosophy now became an idealist monism, the identification of atman (self) and Brahman (Spirit), and that this mysticism was believed to provide a way to transcend rebirths on the wheel of karma. This is far from an accurate picture of what we read in the Upanishads. It has become traditional to view the Upanishads through the lens of Shankara's Advaita interpretation. This imposes the philosophical revolution of about 700 C.E. upon a very different situation 1,000 to 1,500 years earlier. Shankara picked out monist and idealist themes from a much wider philosophical lineup.{{sfn|Collins|2000|p=195}}}}
+
The rituals of the Vedas, purify the Manas, discipline his Kama pravrtti and helps a Jiva to ascend in the path of attaining Brahmajnana.<ref name=":022" />
  
−
===Dvaita===
+
==== माया ॥ Maya ====
−
The Dvaita school was founded by [[Madhvacharya]].{{sfn|Raghavendrachar|1956|p=322}} Dvaita is regarded as the best philosophic exposition of theism.{{sfn|Chari|1956|p=305}} Madhva, much like Adi Shankara claims for Advaita, states that his theistic Dvaita Vedanta is grounded in the Upanishads.<ref name=staffordbetty/>
+
[[Maya (माया)|Maya]] (not always meaning Illusion) is another most important concept touched upon in the Upanishads. The Supreme being or Paramatma, by his power of Maya projects the Universe and Jivatma (manifested Brahman) gets entangled in this Maya as long as He does not realize that His real nature is that of Paramatma. The siddhanta about Maya is mentioned as follows in the Upanishads.
  
−
===Vishishtadvaita===
+
Chandogya Upanishad explains the plurality feature as follows <blockquote>तदैक्षत बहु स्यां प्रजायेयेति तत्तेजोऽसृजत । तत्तेज ऐक्षत बहु स्यां प्रजायेयेति तदपोऽसृजत । ''tadaikṣata bahu syāṁ prajāyeyeti tattejo'sr̥jata । tatteja aikṣata bahu syāṁ prajāyeyeti tadapo'sr̥jata ।'' (Chan. Upan. 6.2.3)<ref name=":3" /></blockquote>That 'Sat' deliberated, 'may I become many; May I be born'. Then 'It' created Tejas (fire). The Fire deliberated 'may I become many; May I be born'. That created "Ap" or water.<ref name=":6" />
−
The third school of Vedanta is the Vishishtadvaita, which was founded by [[Ramanuja]]. Ramanuja strenuously refuted Shankara's works.{{sfn|Klostermaier|2007|pp=361–363}} Visistadvaita is a synthetic philosophy bridging the monistic Advaita and theistic Dvaita systems of Vedanta.{{sfn|Chari|1956|p=305}} Ramanuja, just as Madhva claims for Dvaita sub-school, states that Vishishtadvaita is grounded in the Upanishads.<ref name=staffordbetty>Stafford Betty (2010), Dvaita, Advaita, and Viśiṣṭādvaita: Contrasting Views of Mokṣa, Asian Philosophy, Vol. 20, No. 2, pages 215-224, {{doi|10.1080/09552367.2010.484955}}</ref>
 
  
−
==Similarities with Platonic thought==
+
Shvetasvatara Upanishad says<blockquote>क्षरं प्रधानममृताक्षरं हरः क्षरात्मानावीशते देव एकः । तस्याभिध्यानाद्योजनात्तत्त्वभावाद्भूयश्चान्ते विश्वमायानिवृत्तिः ॥ १० ॥ (Shvet. Upan. 1.10)</blockquote><blockquote>''kṣaraṁ pradhānamamr̥tākṣaraṁ haraḥ kṣarātmānāvīśate deva ekaḥ । tasyābhidhyānādyojanāttattvabhāvādbhūyaścānte viśvamāyānivr̥ttiḥ ॥ 10 ॥''</blockquote>Matter (Pradhana) is the kshara or perishable. The jivatman is akshara or imperishable on account of being immortal. He, the only Supreme being, rules over both matter and Atman. By meditating on Him (अभिध्यानात्), being in "yoga" with Him (योजनात्), by the knowledge of identity with Him  (तत्त्वभावाद्), one attains, in the end, freedom from the Maya of the world.<ref name=":03" /><ref>Sarma, D. S. (1961) ''[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.487423/page/n265 The Upanishads, An Anthology.]'' Bombay : Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan</ref><ref>Swami Tyagisananda (1949) ''Svetasvataropanisad.'' Madras : Sri Ramakrishna Math</ref><blockquote>छन्दांसि यज्ञाः क्रतवो व्रतानि भूतं भव्यं यच्च वेदा वदन्ति । अस्मान्मायी सृजते विश्वमेतत्तस्मिंश्चान्यो मायया सन्निरुद्धः ॥ ९ ॥ (Shvet. Upan. 4.9)</blockquote><blockquote>''chandāṁsi yajñāḥ kratavo vratāni bhūtaṁ bhavyaṁ yacca vedā vadanti । asmānmāyī sr̥jate viśvametattasmiṁścānyo māyayā sanniruddhaḥ ॥ 9 ॥''</blockquote>The shrutis (chandansi), the yajnas and kratus, the vratas (vows), the past, the future and all that the Vedas declare, have been produced from the imperishable Brahman. Brahman projects the universe through the power of Its maya. Again, in that universe Brahman as the jivatma gets entangled through the delusion of maya.<ref name=":03" /><blockquote>मायां तु प्रकृतिं विद्यान्मायिनं च महेश्वरम् । तस्यावयवभूतैस्तु व्याप्तं सर्वमिदं जगत् ॥ १० ॥ (Shvet. Upan. 4.10)<ref name=":5" /></blockquote><blockquote>''māyāṁ tu prakr̥tiṁ vidyānmāyinaṁ ca maheśvaram । tasyāvayavabhūtaistu vyāptaṁ sarvamidaṁ jagat ॥ 10 ॥''</blockquote>Know that the prakriti or nature is maya and that Supreme Being (Mahesvara) is the mayin (the maker of Maya). The whole universe is filled with jivatmans which are parts of His being.<ref name=":03" />
−
{{See also|Proto-Indo-European religion|Satya|Ṛta|Asha|Form of the Good}}
 
  
−
Several scholars have recognised parallels between the philosophy of [[Pythagoras]] and [[Plato]] and that of the Upanishads, including their ideas on [[epistemology|sources of knowledge]], concept of justice and path to salvation, and Plato's [[allegory of the cave]]. Platonic psychology with its divisions of reason, spirit and appetite, also bears resemblance to the three ''[[gunas]]'' in the Indian philosophy of [[Samkhya]].{{sfn|Chousalkar|pp=130-134}}{{sfn|Wadia|1956|p=64-65}}{{refn|group=note|For instances of Platonic [[Pluralism (philosophy)|pluralism]] in the early Upanishads see Randall.{{sfn|Collins|2000|pp=197–198}}}}
+
Brhdaranyaka Upanishad says<blockquote>इदं वै तन्मधु दध्यङ्ङाथर्वणोऽश्विभ्यामुवाच । तदेतदृषिः पश्यन्नवोचत् । रूपरूपं प्रतिरूपो बभूव तदस्य रूपं प्रतिचक्षणाय । इन्द्रो मायाभिः पुरुरूप ईयते युक्ता ह्यस्य हरयः शता दशेतिय् अयं वै हरयो ऽयं वै दश च सहस्रणि बहूनि चानन्तानि च । तदेतद्ब्रह्मापूर्वमनपरमनन्तरमबाह्यम् अयमात्मा ब्रह्म सर्वानुभूरित्यनुशासनम् ॥ १९ ॥ (Brhd. Upan. 2.5.19)<ref>Brhdaranyaka Upanishad ([https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%AC%E0%A5%83%E0%A4%B9%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%A3%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%95_%E0%A4%89%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D_2p Adhyaya 2])</ref></blockquote><blockquote>''idaṁ vai tanmadhu dadhyaṅṅātharvaṇo'śvibhyāmuvāca । tadetadr̥ṣiḥ paśyannavocat । rūparūpaṁ pratirūpo babhūva tadasya rūpaṁ praticakṣaṇāya । indro māyābhiḥ pururūpa īyate yuktā hyasya harayaḥ śatā daśetiy ayaṁ vai harayo 'yaṁ vai daśa ca sahasraṇi bahūni cānantāni ca । tadetadbrahmāpūrvamanaparamanantaramabāhyam ayamātmā brahma sarvānubhūrityanuśāsanam ॥ 19 ॥''</blockquote>Darshanas particularly the Vedanta darshana of Sri Adi Shankaracharya highlights this Maya as the cause of bondage to samsara and that Brahman alone is real and all else is unreal.<ref name=":022" />
  
−
Based on these common features some scholars, most notably E.J. Urwick and [[Martin Litchfield West|M.L. West]], have argued that the [[Ancient Greek philosophy]] was influenced by, and borrowed some core concepts from, the Upanishads. Various mechanisms for such a transmission of knowledge have been conjectured including Pythagoras traveling as far as India; Indian philosophers visiting Athens and meeting [[Socrates]]; Plato encountering the ideas when in exile in Syracuse; or, intermediated through Persia.{{sfn|Chousalkar|pp=130-134}}{{sfn|Urwick|1920}}
+
==== सर्गः ॥ Sarga ====
 +
Upanishads abound with the srsti siddhantas (theories of origin of universe) which have ramified and flowered when it came to the darshana shastras. The one classic concept of origin (synonymous with procession from or production of, the evolving of, the sending forth) of the Universe, the Srsti siddhanta proposes that Ishvara evolves all beings out of Himself. Mundakopanishad proclaims <blockquote>यथोर्णनाभिः सृजते गृह्णते च यथा पृथिव्यामोषधयः संभवन्ति । यथा सतः पुरुषात् केशलोमानि तथाऽक्षरात् संभवतीह विश्वम् ॥ ७ ॥ (Mund. Upan. 1.1.7)<ref>Mundaka Upanishad ([https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%A3%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A1%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D All Mundakas])</ref></blockquote><blockquote>''yathorṇanābhiḥ sr̥jate gr̥hṇate ca yathā pr̥thivyāmoṣadhayaḥ saṁbhavanti । yathā sataḥ puruṣāt keśalomāni tathā'kṣarāt saṁbhavatīha viśvam ॥ 7 ॥''</blockquote>
  
−
However other scholars, such as [[Arthur Berriedale Keith]], [[John Burnet (classicist)|J. Burnet]] and [[Ardeshir Ruttonji Wadia|A.R. Wadia]], believe that the two systems developed independently. They note that there is no historical evidence of the philosophers of the two schools meeting, and point out significant differences in the stage of development, orientation and goals of the two philosophical systems. Wadia writes that Plato's metaphysics were rooted in ''this'' life and his primary aim was to develop an ideal state.{{sfn|Wadia|1956|p=64-65}} In contrast, Upanishadic focus was the individual, the self (atman, soul), self-knowledge, and the means of an individual's [[moksha]] (freedom, liberation in this life or after-life).{{sfn|Keith|2007|pp=602-603}}<ref name=wdstrappini/><ref>RC Mishra (2013), Moksha and the Hindu Worldview, Psychology & Developing Societies, Vol. 25, No. 1, pages 21-42; Chousalkar, Ashok (1986), Social and Political Implications of Concepts Of Justice And Dharma, pages 130-134</ref>
+
===उपनिषद्वैशिष्ट्यम् ॥ Vaishishtya ===
 +
Although all Upanishads proclaim that the goal of human life, embroiled in the flow of samsara, is to attain Jnana that leads to Moksha, the ultimate paramapurushartha, each of the upanishads have their own special features about their siddhantas as follows <ref name=":22" />
 +
#Aitareya upanishad establishes the characteristics of Brahma
 +
#Brhadaranyaka gives the paths to higher worlds
 +
#Katha discusses the doubts about post death path of a Jiva.
 +
#Shvetasvatara says Jagat and Paramatma are Maya.
 +
#Mundakopanishad stressed the fact that the whole Universe is nothing but Parabrahma
 +
#Ishavasya defines that a Jnani is one who sees Self and Paramatma pervading the world.
 +
#Taittiriyopanishad proclaims that Brahmajnana leads to Moksha.
 +
#Chandogyopanishad gives the outline of how janmas (births) happen and paths to reach Brahmaloka.
 +
#Prashnopanishad logically answers the questions regarding the nature of Atma.
 +
#Mandukya upanishad proclaims Atman to be Brahman
  
−
==Translations==
+
The Upanishads include sections on certain siddhantas that have been the very foundation of [[Sanatana Dharma (सनातनधर्मः)|Sanatana Dharma]]. For example, the Chandogya Upanishad includes one of the earliest known declaration of Ahimsa (non-violence) as an ethical precept. Discussion of other ethical premises such as Damah (temperance, self-restraint), Satya (truthfulness), Dāna (charity), Ārjava (non-hypocrisy), Daya (compassion) and others are found in the oldest Upanishads and many later Upanishads. Similarly, the Karma doctrine is presented in the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad, which is the oldest Upanishad.
−
The Upanishads have been translated into various languages including [[Persian language|Persian]], [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Urdu]], [[French language|French]], [[Latin]], [[German language|German]], [[English language|English]], [[Dutch language|Dutch]], [[Polish language|Polish]], [[Japanese language|Japanese]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]] and [[Russian language|Russian]].{{sfn|Sharma|1985|p=20}} The [[Moghul]] Emperor [[Akbar]]'s reign (1556–1586) saw the first translations of the Upanishads into Persian.{{sfn|Müller|1900|p=lvii}}{{sfn|Muller|1899|p=204}} His great-grandson, Sultan Mohammed [[Dara Shikoh]], produced a collection called ''Oupanekhat'' in 1656, wherein 50 Upanishads were translated from Sanskrit into [[Persian language|Persian]].{{Sfn|Deussen| Bedekar | Palsule (tr.)|1997|pp=558-59}}
 
  
−
[[Abraham Hyacinthe Anquetil-Duperron|Anquetil Duperron]], a French Orientalist received a manuscript of the ''Oupanekhat'' and translated the Persian version into French and Latin, publishing the Latin translation in two volumes in 1801–1802 as ''Oupneck'hat''.{{Sfn|Deussen| Bedekar | Palsule (tr.)|1997|pp=558-59}}{{sfn|Müller|1900|p=lvii}} The French translation was never published.{{sfn|Müller|1900|p=lviii}} The Latin version was the initial introduction of Upanishadic thought to Western scholars.{{Sfn|Deussen| Bedekar | Palsule (tr.)|1997|pp=558-559}} However, according to Deussen, the Persian translators took great liberties in translating the text and at times changed the meaning.{{Sfn|Deussen| Bedekar | Palsule (tr.)|1997|pp=915-916}}
+
=== Mahavakyas ===
−
 
+
The Upanishads contain several ''mahā-vākyas'' or "Great Sayings" on the the most unique concept of Brahman which is one of the knowledge treasures belonging to Bharatavarsha.  
−
The first Sanskrit to English translation of the [[Aitareya Upanishad]] was made by [[Henry Thomas Colebrooke|Colebrooke]],<ref name=colebrook1858>See Henry Thomas Colebrooke (1858), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=o4tc6WjwJrcC&pg=PA26 Essays on the religion and philosophy of the Hindus]''. London: Williams and Norgate. In this volume, see chapter 1 (pp. 1–69), ''On the Vedas, or Sacred Writings of the Hindus'', reprinted from Colebrooke's ''Asiatic Researches'', Calcutta: 1805, Vol 8, pp. 369–476. A translation of the [[Aitareya Upanishad]] appears in pages 26–30 of this chapter.</ref> in 1805 and the first English translation of the [[Kena Upanishad]] was made by [[Rammohun Roy]] in 1816.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vV_FAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA187&lpg=PA187&dq=Rammohun+Roy,+Translation+of+Upanishad&source=bl&ots=MFrea85aLJ&sig=tTahe6Cvo9Fctja3P7jbGGU5GAc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ycmKU-WICM6PuAS_74GgAQ&ved=0CE0Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=Rammohun%20Roy%2C%20Translation%20of%20Upanishad&f=false||title=Rammohun Roy and the Making of Victorian Britain,By Lynn Zastoupil|accessdate=1 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sbe01/sbe01011.htm|title=The Upanishads, Part 1, by Max Müller}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Paramananda|first1=Swami|title=The Upanishads|publisher=The Pennsylvania State University|page=7|year=1919|url=http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/upanishads/upanishads1.pdf|accessdate=1 June 2014}}</ref> [[Henry Thomas Colebrooke|Colebrooke]] was aware of 170 Upanishads. Sadhale's catalog from 1985, the {{IAST|''Upaniṣad-vākya-mahā-kośa''}} lists 223 Upanishads.{{sfn|Sadhale|1987}}
+
{| class="wikitable"
−
 
+
!Text
−
The first German translation appeared in 1832 and Roer's English version appeared in 1853. However, Max Mueller's 1879 and 1884 editions were the first systematic English treatment to include the 12 Principal Upanishads.{{sfn|Sharma|1985|p=20}} Other major translations of the Upanishads have been by Robert Ernest Hume (13 Principal Upanishads),<ref>{{citation|first=Robert Ernest|last=Hume|url=https://archive.org/details/thirteenprincipa028442mbp |title=The Thirteen Principal Upanishads|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1921}}</ref> [[Paul Deussen]] (60 Upanishads),{{Sfn|Deussen| Bedekar | Palsule (tr.)|1997}} [[Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan]] (18 Upanishads),<ref>{{citation|first=Sarvapalli|last=Radhakrishnan |year=1953|url=https://archive.org/stream/PrincipalUpanishads/129481965-The-Principal-Upanishads-by-S-Radhakrishnan#page/n5/mode/2up |title=The Principal Upanishads|location=New Delhi|publisher=HarperCollins Publishers (1994 Reprint)|isbn=81-7223-124-5}}</ref> and [[Patrick Olivelle]] (32 Upanishads in two books).{{Sfn|Olivelle|1992}}{{Sfn|Olivelle|1998}}
+
!Upanishad
−
 
+
!Translation
−
==Reception in the West==
+
|-
−
[[File:Schopenhauer.jpg|right|thumb|German philosopher [[Arthur Schopenhauer]], impressed by the Upanishads, called the texts "the production of the highest human wisdom".]]
+
|'''अहं ब्रह्म अस्मि ॥''' ''aham brahmāsmi''
−
 
+
|Brhadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.10
−
The German philosopher [[Arthur Schopenhauer]] read the Latin translation and praised the Upanishads in his main work, ''[[The World as Will and Representation]]'' (1819), as well as in his ''[[Parerga and Paralipomena]]'' (1851).{{sfn|Schopenhauer|Payne|2000|p=395}} He found his own philosophy was in accord with the Upanishads, which taught that the individual is a manifestation of the one basis of reality. For Schopenhauer, that fundamentally real underlying unity is what we know in ourselves as "will". Schopenhauer used to keep a copy of the Latin ''Oupnekhet'' by his side and commented,
+
|"I am Brahman"
−
{{quote|It has been the solace of my life, it will be the solace of my death.{{sfn|Schopenhauer|Payne|2000|p=397}}}}
+
|-
−
 
+
|'''अयम् आत्मा ब्रह्म ॥''' ''ayam ātmā brahma''
−
Another German philosopher, [[Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling]], praised the mystical and spiritual aspects of the Upanishads.{{sfn|Singh|p=456-461|1999}} Schelling and other philosophers associated with [[German idealism]] were dissatisfied with [[Christianity]] as propagated by churches. They were fascinated with the Vedas and the Upanishads.{{sfn|Singh|1999|p=456-461}} In the United States, the group known as the [[Transcendentalism|Transcendentalists]] were influenced by the German idealists. These Americans, such as [[Ralph Waldo Emerson|Emerson]] and [[Henry David Thoreau|Thoreau]], were not satisfied with traditional Christian mythology and therefore embraced Schelling's interpretation of [[Immanuel Kant|Kant]]'s [[Transcendental idealism]], as well as his celebration of the romantic, exotic, mystical aspect of the Upanishads. As a result of the influence of these writers, the Upanishads gained renown in Western countries.{{sfn|Versluis|1993|pp=69, 76, 95. 106–110}}
+
|Mandukya Upanishad 1.2
−
 
+
|The Atma is Brahman
−
One of the great English-language poets of the 20th century, [[T. S. Eliot]], inspired by his reading of the Upanishads, based the final portion of his famous poem ''[[The Waste Land]]'' (1922) upon one of its verses.{{sfn|Eliot|1963}} [[Erwin Schrödinger]], the great quantum physicist said,
+
|-
−
{{quote|The multiplicity is only apparent. This is the doctrine of the Upanishads. And not of the Upanishads only. The mystical experience of the union with God regularly leads to this view, unless strong prejudices stand in the West.{{sfn|Schrödinger|1992|p=129}}}}
+
|'''सत्यं ज्ञानमनन्तं ब्रह्मा ॥'''
−
 
+
|
−
[[Eknath Easwaran]], in translating the Upanishads, articulates how they
+
|
−
{{quote|...form snapshots of towering peaks of consciousness taken at various times by different observers and dispatched with just the barest kind of explanation.{{sfn|Easwaran|2007|p=9}}}}
+
|-
−
 
+
|'''सर्वं खल्विदं ब्रह्म ॥''' ''sarvam khalvidam brahma''
−
[[Juan Mascaró]] states that the Upanishads represents for the Hindu approximately what the [[New Testament]] represents for the Christian, and that the message of the Upanishads can be summarized in the words, "the kingdom of God is within you".<ref>Juan Mascaró, The Upanishads, Penguin Classics, ISBN 978-0140441635, page 7, 146, cover</ref>
+
|Chandogya Upanishad 3.14.1
−
 
+
|"All this is Brahman"
−
[[Paul Deussen]] in his review of the Upanishads, states that the texts emphasize Brahman-Atman as something that can experienced, but not defined.<ref name=pauldeussenreview/> This view of the soul and self are similar, states Deussen, to those found in the dialogues of Plato and elsewhere. The Upanishads insisted on oneness of soul, excluded all plurality, and therefore, all proximity in space, all succession in time, all interdependence as cause and effect, and all opposition as subject and object.<ref name=pauldeussenreview>Paul Deussen, [https://archive.org/stream/philosophyoftheupa00deusuoft#page/n167/mode/2up The Philosophy of the Upanishads] University of Kiel, T&T Clark, pages 150-179</ref> Max Muller, in his review of the Upanishads, summarizes the lack of systematic philosophy and the central theme in the Upanishads as follows,
+
|-
−
 
+
|'''एकमेवाद्वितीयम् ॥''' ''ekam evadvitiyam''
−
{{quote|
+
|Chandogya Upanishad 6.2.1
−
There is not what could be called a philosophical system in these Upanishads. They are, in the true sense of the word, guesses at truth, frequently contradicting each other, yet all tending in one direction. The key-note of the old Upanishads is "know thyself," but with a much deeper meaning than that of the ''γνῶθι σεαυτόν'' of the [[Know thyself|Delphic Oracle]]. The "know thyself" of the Upanishads means, know thy true self, that which underlines thine Ego, and find it and know it in the highest, the eternal Self, the One without a second, which underlies the whole world.
+
|"That [Brahman] is one, without a second"
−
|[[Max Muller]]<ref name=wdstrappini>WD Strappini, {{Google books|111FAAAAYAAJ|The Upanishads|page=258}}, The Month and Catholic Review, Vol. 23, Issue 42</ref>}}
+
|-
−
 
+
|'''तत्त्वमसि ॥''' ''tat tvam asi''
−
==See also==
+
|Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7 et seq.
−
{{Portal|Hinduism}}
+
|"Thou art that" ("You are Brahman")
−
*[[100 Most Influential Books Ever Written]]
+
|-
−
* [[Bhagavad Gita]]
+
|'''प्रज्ञानं ब्रह्म ॥''' ''prajnānam brahma''
−
* [[Hinduism]]
+
|Aitareya Upanishad 3.3.7
−
 
+
|"Knowledge is Brahman"
−
==Notes==
+
|}
−
{{Reflist|2|group=note}}
 
  
 +
=== Prasthana Trayi ===
 +
The Upanishads form one of the three main sources for all schools of Vedanta, together with the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahmasutras. Vedanta seeks to answer questions about the relation between Atman and Brahman, and the relation between Brahman and the world.
 +
Major schools of Vedanta include the Advaita, Visishtadvaita, Dvaita  with the others such as Nimbarka's ''Dvaitadvaita'', Vallabha's ''Suddhadvaita'' and Chaitanya's ''Acintya Bhedabheda'' schools all of which are named based on their theory of the relationship of brahman and atman.
 
==References==
 
==References==
−
{{Reflist|2}}
+
<references />
−
 
+
[[Category:Vedanta]]
−
==Sources==
+
[[Category:Upanishads]]
−
{{Refbegin}}
+
[[Category:Vedas]]
−
* {{Citation | last = Brodd | first = Jefferey | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = World Religions | publisher = Saint Mary's Press | year= 2003 | location = Winona, MN|isbn=978-0-88489-725-5 }}
 
−
* {{Citation | last =Brooks | first=Douglas Renfrew|title=The Secret of the Three Cities: An Introduction to Hindu Shakta Tantrism|publisher=The University of Chicago Press|year=1990}}
 
−
* {{Citation|title=Missionary review of the world|volume=Volume 45|last=Brown|first=Rev. George William|publisher=Funk & Wagnalls|year=1922|url=https://books.google.com/?id=klwDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA266&dq=upanishads+greatest+contribution&q=upanishads%20greatest%20contribution}}
 
−
* {{Citation|title=Causality: The Central Philosophy of Buddhism|publisher=The University Press of Hawaii|year=1975|isbn=0-8248-0298-5}}
 
−
*{{cite book|last1= Deussen |first1=Paul |last2= Bedekar |first2=V.M. (tr.)|last3= Palsule (tr.)|first3=G.B. |title=Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 2| year=1997| publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-1467-7|ref=harv}}
 
−
* {{Citation | last1 =Deussen | first1 =P. | last2 =Geden | first2 =A. | year =2010 | title =The Philosophy of the Upanishads | publisher =Cosimo | isbn =978-1-61640-239-6 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=k_Bea7AXHY4C&pg=PA42&lpg=PA42&dq=Upanishads+influence+on+Kant&source=bl&ots=nne6DNTeDb&sig=qidaeA9SLm3w3nJp8MdXBo-kw7o&hl=en&sa=X&ei=cuBQT66YJYLr0gHJ_bjCDQ&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Upanishads%20influence%20on%20Kant&f=false}}
 
−
* {{Citation|title=History of Philosophy Eastern and Western|editor=Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan|first=P. N. Srinivasa|last=Chari|year=1956}}
 
−
* {{Citation|title=Social and Political Implications of Concepts Of Justice And Dharma|first=Ashok|last=Chousalkar|publisher=Mittal Publications|year=1986|url=https://books.google.com/?id=bsGJNVUMigAC&printsec=frontcover&q}}
 
−
* {{Citation|title=History of Philosophy Eastern and Western|first=Tarapada|last=Chowdhry|editor=Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan|page=46|publisher=George Allen and Unwin Limited|year=1956}}
 
−
* {{Citation|year=2000|last=Collins|first=Randall|title=The Sociology of Philosophies: A Global Theory of Intellectual Change|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=0-674-00187-7}}
 
−
* {{Citation|first=|last=Coningham|title=The earliest Buddhist shrine: excavating the birthplace of the Buddha, Lumbini (Nepal)|journal=Antiquity|volume=87|number=338|pages=1104–1123|year=2013}}
 
−
* {{Citation | title =The Guru in Indian Catholicism: Ambiguity Or Opportunity of Inculturation|first=Catherine|last=Cornille|publisher= Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|year=1992|isbn=978-0-8028-0566-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vpGr1OkD9xMC&dq=9780802805669}}
 
−
* {{Citation|first=L. S. |last=Cousins |year=1996|url=http://indology.info/papers/cousins |title=The dating of the historical Buddha: a review article|publisher=[[Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society]]|volume=3|issue=6(1)|pages=57–63}}
 
−
* {{Citation | last =Deussen | first =Paul | authorlink =Paul Deussen | title =The philosophy of the Upanishads | others =Alfred Shenington Geden | publisher=T. & T. Clark|year=1908|isbn=0-7661-5470-X}}
 
−
* {{Citation|url=http://www.vedarahasya.net/muktika.htm|title=Muktika Upanishad|publisher= The Theosophical Publishing House, Chennai|accessdate=10 August 2010|last=A.G.Krishna Warrier (translator)|first=}}
 
−
* {{Citation|first=Eknath|last=Easwaran|authorlink=Eknath Easwaran|title=The Upanishads|publisher=Nilgiri Press|year=2007|isbn=978-1-58638-021-2}}
 
−
* {{Citation|first=T. S.|last=Eliot|authorlink=T. S. Eliot|title = Collected Poems, 1909-1962|publisher=Harcourt, Brace & World|location=New York|year=1963|isbn=0-15-118978-1}}
 
−
* {{Citation|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/6636/Advaita|accessdate=10 August 2010|author=Encyclopædia Britannica|title=Advaita}}
 
−
* {{Citation|title=An outline of the religious literature of India|first=John Nicol|last=Farquhar|publisher=H. Milford, Oxford university press|year=1920|isbn=81-208-2086-X}}
 
−
* {{Citation|first=Gregory P|last=Fields|title=Religious Therapeutics: Body and Health in Yoga, Āyurveda, and Tantra|publisher=SUNY Press|year=2001|isbn=0-7914-4916-5}}
 
−
* {{Citation | last =Flood | first =Gavin D. | authorlink = Gavin Flood | year =1996 | title =An Introduction to Hinduism | publisher =Cambridge University Press |isbn = 978-0521438780 |ref=harv}}
 
−
* {{Citation|last=Glucklich|first=Ariel|title=The Strides of Vishnu: Hindu Culture in Historical Perspective|publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2008|isbn=0-19-531405-0}}
 
−
* {{Citation|title=Indian religions: a historical reader of spiritual expression and experience|first=Peter|last=Heehs|publisher=NYU Press|year=2002|isbn=978-0-8147-3650-0}}
 
−
* {{Citation |last=Holdrege |first=Barbara A. |title=Veda and Torah |year=1995 |publisher= SUNY Press|location=Albany |isbn=0-7914-1639-9|url= }}
 
−
*{{Citation |last=Jayatilleke | first=K.N. | title=Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge | year=1963 | edition=1st | publisher=George Allen & Unwin Ltd. | place=London | pages= | url=http://www.ahandfulofleaves.org/documents/Early%20Buddhist%20Theory%20of%20Knowledge_Jayatilleke.pdf | isbn=}}
 
−
* {{Citation|title=The Veda and Indian culture: an introductory essay|first=Kireet |last=Joshi|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ.|year=1994|isbn=978-81-208-0889-8|url=https://books.google.com/?id=1CJlM2nhlt0C&printsec=frontcover&q}}
 
−
* {{Citation|first=|last=Kalupahana|title=Causality: The Central Philosophy of Buddhism|publisher=The University Press of Hawaii|year=1975|isbn=0-8248-0298-5}}
 
−
* {{Citation|first=|last=Coningham|title=The earliest Buddhist shrine: excavating the birthplace of the Buddha, Lumbini (Nepal)|journal=Antiquity|volume=87|number=338|pages=1104–1123|year=2013}}
 
−
* {{cite book|ref=harv|last=Keith|first=Arthur Berriedale|authorlink=Arthur Berriedale Keith|title=The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p9zCbRMQbyEC|year=2007|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers|isbn=978-81-208-0644-3}}
 
−
* {{citation|first=Richard|last=King|title=Indian philosophy: an introduction to Hindu and Buddhist thought|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|year=1999|isbn=0-87840-756-1}}
 
−
* {{Citation|title=Early Advaita Vedānta and Buddhism: the Mahāyāna context of the Gauḍapādīya-kārikā|isbn=978-0-7914-2513-8|first1=Richard|last1=King|first2=Gauḍapāda|last2=Ācārya|year=1995|publisher=SUNY Press}}
 
−
* {{Citation|first=Klaus K.|last=Klostermaier|authorlink=Klaus Klostermaier|title=A survey of Hinduism|publisher=SUNY Press|year=2007|isbn=0-585-04507-0}}
 
−
* {{Citation|title=The Outlook|volume=Volume 56|publisher=Outlook Co.|first=Charles R|last=Lanman|year=1897|url=https://books.google.com/?id=M7oRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA790&dq=The+Outlook+1897+upanishads&q}}
 
−
* {{Citation|last=Lal|first=Mohan|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: sasay to zorgot|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KnPoYxrRfc0C&pg=PA4090|year=1992|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=978-81-260-1221-3}}
 
−
* {{Citation|title=The Upanishads Sacred books of the East The Upanishads, Friedrich Max Müller |first=Friedrich Max|last=Müller|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1900}}
 
−
* {{Citation|first=Arthur Anthony|last=Macdonell|title=A practical Sanskrit dictionary with transliteration, accentuation, and etymological analysis throughout|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|year=2004|isbn= 978-81-208-2000-5|url=https://books.google.com/?id=laIPgMQF_XsC&printsec=frontcover&q}}
 
−
* {{Citation|title=History of Philosophy Eastern and Western|first=T. M. P|last=Mahadevan|editor=Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan|year=1956|publisher=George Allen & Unwin Ltd}}
 
−
* {{Citation|title=The foundations of the composite culture in India|first=Malika|last=Mohammada|publisher=Aakar Books|year= 2007|isbn=978-81-89833-18-3|url=https://books.google.com/?id=dwzbYvQszf4C&printsec=frontcover&q}}
 
−
* {{Citation|last=Monier-Williams|title=A Sanskrit-English Dictionary|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia/ebooks/mw/0200/mw__0234.html|accessdate=10 August 2010|isbn=0-8426-0286-0}}
 
−
* {{Citation|title=A history of ancient Sanskrit literature so far as it illustrates the primitive religion of the Brahmans|first=Friedrich Max |last=Mueller|publisher=Williams &  Norgate|year=1859}}
 
−
* {{Citation|title=The science of language founded on lectures delivered at the royal institution in 1861 AND 1863|first=F. Max|last=Muller|year=1899|url=https://books.google.com/?id=2DQTAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&q|isbn=0-404-11441-5}}
 
−
* {{citation|first=Hajime|last=Nakamura|others=Trevor Leggett|title=A history of early Vedānta philosophy|volume=Volume 2|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ.|year=2004}}
 
−
* {{citation|title=The Date of the Historical Śākyamuni Buddha'|year=2003|first=A. K|last=Narain|editor-first= A. K|editor-last=Narain|publisher=B. R. Publishing Corporation, New Delhi|isbn=81-7646-353-1}}
 
−
*{{cite book|first=Patrick| last=Olivelle|year=1992|title= The Samnyasa Upanisads|publisher= Oxford University Press|isbn= 978-0195070453| ref=harv}}
 
−
* {{Citation|last=Olivelle|first=Patrick|title=Upaniṣads|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1998|isbn=978-0192835765}}
 
−
* {{Citation|title=The Vedic experience: Mantramañjarī : an anthology of the Vedas for modern man and contemporary celebration|first=Raimundo|last=Panikkar|authorlink=Raimundo Panikkar|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|year=2001|isbn=978-81-208-1280-2}}
 
−
* {{Citation|title=Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Upanisads|last=Parmeshwaranand|first=Swami |publisher=Sarup & Sons|year=2000|isbn=978-81-7625-148-8}}
 
−
* {{citation|title=Classical Indian metaphysics: refutations of realism and the emergence of "new logic"|first=Stephen H.|last=Phillips|publisher=Open Court Publishing|year=1995|isbn=978-81-208-1489-9|url=http://www.google.com/search?tbs=bks%3A1&tbo=1&q=9788120814899&btnG=Search+Books|accessdate=2010-10-24}}
 
−
* {{Citation | last =Samuel | first =Geoffrey | year =2010 | title =The Origins of Yoga and Tantra. Indic Religions to the Thirteenth Century | publisher =Cambridge University Press}}
 
−
* {{Citation | last =Radhakrishnan | first =Sarvepalli | editor=Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan | authorlink =Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan | year =1956 | title =History of Philosophy Eastern and Western | publisher =George Allen & Unwin Ltd}}
 
−
* {{Citation|title=History of Philosophy Eastern and Western|editor=Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan|first=Vidvan H. N|last=Raghavendrachar|year=1956}}
 
−
* {{Citation|title=A constructive survey of Upanishadic philosophy|first=R. D.|last=Ranade|year=1926|publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan}}
 
−
* {{Citation|title=Contemporary Hinduism: ritual, culture, and practice|first=Robin|last=Rinehart|editor=Robin Rinehart|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2004|isbn=978-1-57607-905-8}}
 
−
* {{Citation|first=S. Gajanan Shambhu|last=Sadhale|title=Sri Garibdass Oriental Series|issue=44|publisher=Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications|year=1987|isbn=}}
 
−
* {{Citation|first=Stanislaw|last=Schayer|title=Die Bedeutung des Wortes Upanisad|publisher= Rocznik Orientalistyczny|volume=3|year=1925}}
 
−
* {{Citation|title=Parerga and paralipomena: short philosophical essays|volume=Volume 2 of Parerga and Paralipomena|first1=Arthur|last1=Schopenhauer|first2=E. F.J|last2=Payne|editor=E. F. J. Payne|others=E. F. J. Payne|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2000|isbn=978-0-19-924221-4|url=https://books.google.com/?id=88CV8JOYUmsC&pg=PA395&lpg=PA395&dq=Some+Remarks+on+Sanskrit+Literature+parerga+and+Paralipomena&q}}
 
−
* {{Citation|title=What is life?|first=Erwin|last=Schrödinger|authorlink=Erwin Schrödinger|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1992|isbn=978-0-521-42708-1|url=https://books.google.com/?id=dg2bYMwdaBwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=9780521427081&q}}
 
−
* {{Citation|title=A descriptive catalogue of the Sanskrit manuscripts in the Adyar Library|first1=Friedrich Otto|last1=Schrader|author2=Adyar Library|publisher=Oriental Pub. Co|year=1908}}
 
−
* {{Citation|first= Sris Chandra|last=Sen|year = 1937| title =The Mystic Philosophy of the Upanishads| publisher = General Printers & Publishers| isbn =|chapter=Vedic literature and Upanishads}}
 
−
* {{Citation|title=A history of the Dvaita school of Vedānta and its literature: from the earliest beginnings to our own times|first=B. N. Krishnamurti|last=Sharma|isbn=978-81-208-1575-9|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers|year=2000}}
 
−
* {{Citation|title=Life in the Upanishads|first=Shubhra|last=Sharma|publisher=Abhinav Publications|year=1985|isbn=978-81-7017-202-4}}
 
−
* {{Citation|title=Encyclopaedia of Hinduism|first=N.K|last=Singh|publisher=Anmol Publications PVT. LTD|year=2002|isbn=978-81-7488-168-7}}
 
−
* {{Citation|first=Nagendra Kr|last=Singh|year=2000|isbn=978-81-261-0503-8|publisher=Anmol Publications|title=Ambedkar on religion}}
 
−
* {{Citation|title=Studies in the Upanishads ATLA monograph preservation program|first=Thomas Ebenezer|last=Slater|publisher=Christian Literature Society for India|year=1897}}
 
−
* {{Citation|first=Huston|last=Smith|authorlink=Huston Smith|title=The Illustrated World’s Religions: A Guide to Our Wisdom Traditions|publisher=New York: Labyrinth Publishing|year=1995|isbn=0-06-067453-9}}
 
−
* {{Citation|url=http://www.vedah.com/org/literature/upanishads/108Upanishads.asp|title=SAKSIVC: Vedic Literature: Upanishads: 108 Upanishads:|publisher=www.vedah.com|accessdate=10 August 2010|last=Sri Aurbindo Kapali Sastr Institute of Vedic Culture|first=}}
 
−
* {{Citation|last=Tripathy|first=Preeti |title=Indian religions: tradition, history and culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lixAAQAAIAAJ|year=2010|publisher=Axis Publications|isbn=978-93-80376-17-2}}
 
−
* {{Citation|title=The message of Plato: a re-interpretation of the "Republic"|first=Edward Johns|last=Urwick|publisher=Methuen & co. ltd|year=1920|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CjedyT6Ts20C&}}
 
−
* {{Citation|title=India : History, Religion, Vision And Contribution To The World|volume=Volume 1|first=Alexander P|last=Varghese|publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Distributors|year=2008|isbn=978-81-269-0903-2|url=https://books.google.com/?id=y7GKwhuea9kC&printsec=frontcover&q}}
 
−
* {{Citation|title=American transcendentalism and Asian religions|first=Arthur|last=Versluis|isbn=978-0-19-507658-5|publisher=Oxford University Press US|year=1993|url=https://books.google.com/?id=mNPMzoVEv3sC&}}
 
−
* {{Citation|title=History of Philosophy Eastern and Western|first=A.R.|last=Wadia|authorlink=Ardeshir Ruttonji Wadia| chapter= Socrates, Plato and Aristotle| volume = vol. II| editor=Radhakrishnan, Sarvepalli |year=1956|publisher=George Allen & Unwin Ltd}}
 
−
* {{Citation|title=The Hindu world: an encyclopedic survey of Hinduism|volume=volume 2|publisher=Praeger|year=1968|first=Benjamin|last=Walker}}
 
−
* {{Citation | last =Raju | first =P. T. | year =1992 | title =The Philosophical Traditions of India | place =Delhi | publisher =Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited}}
 
−
{{Refend}}
 
−
 
 
−
==Further reading==
 
−
* {{cite book|last=Edgerton |first=Franklin|title=The Beginnings of Indian Philosophy|location=Cambridge|publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1965}}
 
−
* {{cite book|last=Embree|first=Ainslie T. | authorlink= Ainslie Embree |title=The Hindu Tradition|location=New York|publisher=Random House|year=1966|isbn=0-394-71702-3}}
 
−
* {{cite book|first=Robert Ernest|last=Hume|url=https://archive.org/stream/thirteenprincipa028442mbp#page/n7/mode/2up |title= The Thirteen Principal Upanishads |publisher=Oxford University Press}}
 
−
* {{cite book|first=Charles|last=Johnston|url=https://archive.org/stream/fromupanishadsby00thomiala#page/n9/mode/2up |title=From the Upanishads |publisher=Kshetra Books (Reprinted in 2014) |year=1898|isbn=9781495946530}}
 
−
* [[Max Muller|Müller, Max]], translator, [https://archive.org/stream/upanishads01ml#page/n7/mode/2up ''{{IAST|The Upaniṣads}}'', Part I], New York: Dover Publications (Reprinted in 1962), ISBN 0-486-20992-X
 
−
* Müller, Max, translator, [https://archive.org/stream/upanishads02ml#page/n7/mode/2up ''{{IAST|The Upaniṣads}}'', Part II], New York: Dover Publications (Reprinted in 1962), ISBN 0-486-20993-8
 
−
* {{cite book|first=Sarvapalli|last=Radhakrishnan |year=1953 |title=The Principal Upanishads|location=New Delhi|publisher=HarperCollins Publishers India (Reprinted in 1994) |isbn=81-7223-124-5| url = https://archive.org/stream/PrincipalUpanishads/129481965-The-Principal-Upanishads-by-S-Radhakrishnan#page/n5/mode/2up}}
 
−
 
 
−
==External links==
 
−
{{Wikiquote}}
 
−
{{wikisourcelang|sa|उपनिषत्}}
 
−
* [http://www.gayathrimanthra.com/Library.html Complete set of 108 Upanishads and other documents]
 
−
* [http://hinduebooks.blogspot.com/2010/09/108-upanishads-with-sanskrit-commentary.html Complete set of 108 Upanishads with Sanskrit Commentaries of Upanishad Brahma Yogin]
 
−
* [http://sanskrit.gde.to/doc_upanishhat/ Upanishads at Sanskrit documents site]
 
−
* [http://www.celextel.org/upanishads/ Complete translation on-line into English of all 108 Upanishads]
 
−
* [https://www.academia.edu/19972388/Tripura_Upanishad_English_Translation_Prabuddha_Bharata_January_2016 Complete English Translation of the Tripura Upanishad by Swami Narasimhananda]
 
−
* [http://www.iep.utm.edu/upanisad/ The Upaniṣads] article in the ''[[Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]''
 
−
 
 
−
{{Mukhya Upanishads}}
 
−
{{Hindudharma}}
 
−
{{Indian Philosophy}}
 
−
 
 
−
{{Authority control}}
 
−
 
 
−
[[Category:Upanishads|*]]
 
−
[[Category:Yoga texts and documentation]]
 
−
[[Category:Hindu texts]]
 
−
[[Category:Sanskrit texts]]
 
−
[[Category:Works of unknown authorship]]
 

Latest revision as of 09:00, 24 June 2021

Upanishads (Samskrit : उपनिषद्) are the concluding segments, available as a part of Aranyakas.[1][2] Since they expound the various adhyatmik and dharmika siddhantas and tattvas that leads a sadhaka to the highest purpose of Moksha and because they are present at the end of the Vedas, they are also referred to as the Vedanta (वेदान्तः) . They do not forbid the rituals or rites prescribed in the Karmakanda but expound that only through Jnana one can attain moksha.[1]

वेदान्तो नामोपनिषत्प्रमाणं तदनुसारीणि। शारीरकसूत्राणि च । vedānto nāmopaniṣatpramāṇaṁ tadanusārīṇi। śārīrakasūtrāṇi ca ।[3]

Sadananda Yogindra, in his Vedantasara says that"Vedanta has the Upanishads for its evidence and includes the Sharira Sutras (Vedanta Sutras or Brahma Sutras) and other works which corroborate it". [4]

परिचयः ॥ Introduction

The Vedas have been divided into four styles of texts – the Samhitas, the Aranyakas, the Brahmanas and the Upanishads. The subject matter of the whole Veda is divided into Karma-Kanda, Upasana-Kanda and Jnana-Kanda. The Karma-Kanda or Ritualistic section deals with various sacrifices and rituals. The Upasana-Kanda or Worship section deals with various kinds of worship or meditation. The Jnana-Kanda or Knowledge-Section deals with the highest knowledge of Nirguna Brahman. The Samhitas and the Brahmanas constitute Karma-Kanda; the Aranyakas constitute Upasana-Kanda; and the Upanishads constitute Jnana-Kanda[5][6]The Upanishads along with the Bhagavadgita and Brahmasutras constitute the Prasthana Trayi (प्रस्थानत्रयी) and both the Gita and Brahmasutras are based again on the Upanishads. They are also the foundational sources for all Darshana shastras and including the Jain and Buddhist philosophies.

According to Dr. K. S. Narayanacharya, these are four different modes of expressing the same truths, each as a cross check against others so that misrepresentations are avoided, a method used and valid even today.[7]

Most of the Upanishads are in forms of dialogues between a master and a disciple. In Upanishads, a seeker raises a topic and the enlightened guru satisfies the query aptly and convincingly[8]. Chronology and dating of Upanishads is not attempted in this article.

व्युत्पत्तिः ॥ Etymology

There are different versions about the meaning of Upanishad as given by many scholars. The term Upaniṣad term consists of उप (upa) and नि (ni) उपसर्ग-s (Upasargas or Prefixes) and सद् धातुः (Sad dhatu) followed by किव्प् प्रत्ययः (Kvip pratyaya as Suffix) used in the sense of विशरणगत्यवसादनेषु । viśaraṇagatyavasādaneṣu Shri Adi Shankaracharya explains in his commentary on Taittiriyopanishad about the meanings of Sad (सद्) dhatu thus [1][2][9]

  • विशरणम् (नाशनम्) to destroy : They destroy the seeds of Avidya causing samsara in a Mumukshu (a sadhaka who wants to attain Moksha), hence this Vidya is called Upanishads.

    अविद्यादेः संसारबीजस्य विशरणाद् विनाशनादित्यनेन अर्थयोगेन विद्या उपनिषदुच्यते । avidyādeḥ saṁsārabījasya viśaraṇād vināśanādityanena arthayogena vidyā upaniṣaducyate ।

  • गतिः (प्रपणम् वा विद्यर्थकम्) to obtain or to know : That vidya which leads to or make the sadhaka obtain Brahma, is called Upanishad.

    परं ब्रह्म वा गमयतोति ब्रह्म गमयितृत्वेन योगाद् विद्योपनिषद् । paraṁ brahma vā gamayatoti brahma gamayitr̥tvena yogād vidyopaniṣad ।

  • अवसादनम् (शिथिलर्थकम्) to loosen or to dissolve : Through which cycles of birth, aging etc painful process are loosened or dissolved (that is bondages of samsara are dissolved allowing the sadhaka to attain the Brahma).

    गर्भवासजन्मजराद्युपद्रववृन्दस्य लोकान्तरेपौनपुन्येन प्रवृत्तस्य अवसादपितृत्वेन उपनिषदित्युच्यते । garbhavāsajanmajarādyupadravavr̥ndasya lokāntarepaunapunyena pravr̥ttasya avasādapitr̥tvena upaniṣadityucyate ।

    He also defines the primary meaning of Upanishad as Brahmavidya (ब्रह्मविद्या । Knowledge of Brahma) and secondary meaning as ब्रह्मविद्याप्रतिपादकग्रन्थः (Brahmavidya pratipadaka granth । texts which teach Brahmavidya). Shankaracharya's commentaries of the Kaṭha and Brhadaranyaka Upanishad also support this explanation.

An alternative explanation of the word Upanishad is "to sit near" derived as follows [1][2]

  • नि (ni) उपसर्ग (Upasarga or Prefix) in front of सद् धातुः (Sad dhatu) also means 'to sit'.
  • उप (upa) Upasarga is used to mean 'nearness or close to'.
  • उपनिषद् term thus means "to sit near".

Thus Upanishad came to mean as ' to sit near the Guru (preceptor) to obtain the 'secret knowledge' or Brahmavidya (as per Shabdakalpadhruma : उपनिषद्यते प्राप्यते ब्रह्म-विद्या अनया इति)

Generally, Upanishads are synonymous with Rahasya (रहस्यम्) or secrecy. Upanishads themselves mention statements such as

मोक्षलक्षणमित्येतत्परं रहस्यम् इत्येवं । mokṣalakṣaṇamityetatparaṁ rahasyam ityevaṁ । (Mait. Upan. 6.20)[10]

सैषा शांभवी विद्या कादि-विद्येति वा हादिविद्येति वा सादिविद्येति वा रहस्यम् । saiṣā śāṁbhavī vidyā kādi-vidyeti vā hādividyeti vā sādividyeti vā rahasyam । (Bahvrchopanishad[11])

when discussing some important siddhantas. Probably such usages are given to prevent and caution against giving this knowledge to the undeserving.[9]

In the mukhya upanishads, there are many instances of रहस्यम् meaning secret or hidden knowledge especially in Atharvaveda upanishads. Kaushitaki Upanishad for example, contains detailed siddhantas of मनोज्ञानम् and तत्वज्ञानम् (Psychology and metaphysics). Apart from them they also contain मृतकज्ञानम् (siddhantas around death, travel of Atman etc), बालमृत्यु निवारणम् (preventing untimely childhood deaths) शत्रुविनाशार्थ रहस्यम् (secrets about the destruction of enemies) etc. Chandogya Upanishads gives the secrets about the origin of worlds, Jiva, Jagat, Om and their hidden meanings.[9]

Classification of Upanishads

More than 200 Upanishads are known, of which, the first dozen or so are the oldest (प्राचीनम्) most important and are referred to as the principal or main (mukhya) Upanishads. The rest of them aid in explaining bhakti or jnana concepts and many are without bhashyas. Some scholars accept 12 Upanishads and some even consider 13 to be the principal Upanishads and some others accept 108 Upanishads given by Muktikopanishad.[12]

There is no fixed list of the Upanishads as newer ones, beyond the Muktika Upanishad list of 108 Upanishads, have continued to be composed and discovered. A collection of Upanishads, namely Upanishad Samgrahah by Pt. J. K. Shastri contains 188 upanishads. [13]Pracheena Upanishads have long been revered in Sanatana Dharma traditions, and many sampradayas have interpreted the concepts of Upanishads to evolve their sampradaya. These "new Upanishads" number in the hundreds, cover diverse range of topics from physiology to renunciation.

Basis for Classification

Many modern and western indology thinkers have put forth their contemplations on the classification of Upanishads and it is based on the following factors

  1. the presence or absence of Shankaracharya's bhasyas (Ten for which bhashyas are available are Dasopanishads and the rest describing devatas. Vaishnava, Shaiva, Shakta, Saurya etc)[2]
  2. the ancientness of Upanishad based on association with Aranyakas and Brahmanas[1]
  3. the ancientness and modernness of the Upanishads based on description of deities and other aspects ( Given by Shri Chintamani Vinayak on Page 256 of Reference [2])
  4. the shanti patha given in each of the Upanishads[12]
  5. the ancientness and modernness of the Upanishads having prose or metrical compositions (mostly given by Western Indologists like Dr. Daison)[1]

दशोपनिषदः ॥ Dasopanishads

Muktikopanishad lists the following ten as principal Upanishads which have received attention from Shri Adi Shankaracharya in form of his bhasyas and are considered ancient (प्राचीनम्).[2]

ईश-केन-कठ-प्रश्न-मुण्ड-माण्डूक्य-तित्तिरः । ऐतरेयं च छान्दोग्यं बृहदारण्यकं तथा ॥ īśa-kēna-kaṭha-praśna-muṇḍa-māṇḍūkya-tittiraḥ । ēētarēyaṁ ca chāndōgyaṁ br̥hadāraṇyakaṁ tathā ॥

The 10 Mukhya Upanishad on which Adi Shankaracharya commented are:

  1. ईशावाश्योपनिषद् ॥ Ishavasya Upanishad (Shukla Yajur Veda)
  2. केनोपनिषद् ॥ Kena Upanishad (Sama Veda)
  3. कठोपनिषद् ॥ Katha Upanishad (Yajur Veda)
  4. प्रश्नोपनिषद् ॥ Prashna Upanishad (Atharva Veda)
  5. मुण्डकोपनिषद् ॥ Mundaka Upanishad (Atharva Veda)
  6. माण्डूक्योपनिषद् ॥ Mandukya Upanishad (Atharva Veda)
  7. तैत्तियोपनिषद् ॥ Taittiriya Upanishad (Yajur Veda)
  8. ऐतरेयोपनिषद् ॥ Aitareya Upanishad (Rig Veda)
  9. छान्दोग्योपनिषद्॥ Chhandogya Upanishad (Sama Veda)
  10. बृहदारण्यकोपनिषद् Brhadaranyaka Upanishad (Yajur Veda)

Apart from these ten, कौषीतकि (Kaushitaki) श्वेताश्वतर (Shvetasvatara) and मैत्रायणीय (Maitrayaniya) Upanishads are regarded as ancient since the first two of these three found a mention by Shankaracharya in his Brahmasutra bhashyas along with dashopanishad bhashyas. However, there are no available commentaries on these given by him.

Upanishads as Part of Aranyakas

Many Upanishads are the final or exclusive portions of the Aranyakas or the Brahmanas. But these refer mainly to the dasha upanishads. It may be seen from the table below that some Upanishads not classified in dashopanishads are from Aranyakas. (Ex: Mahanarayaneeya Upanishad, Maitrayaniya Upanishad) while the Atharvana veda associated Upanishads do not have corresponding Brahmanas or Aranyakas as they are unavailable.

Upanishads as part of Aranyakas and Brahmanas
Veda What part of Brahmana or Aranyaka constitutes Upanishad Name of Upanishad Name Comes from Contents
RigVeda 4th to 6th Adhyayas of 2nd Prapathaka of 2nd Aranyaka of Aitareya Aranyaka (Page 250 of Reference [2]) ऐतरेयोपनिषद् ॥ Aitareya Upanishad Mahidasa Aitareya composed this Upanishad Consists of 3 Adhyayas
3rd to 6th Adhyayas of Shankhyayana Aranyaka (Page 251 of Reference [2]) कौषीतकि उपनिषद् ॥ Kaushitaki Upanishad Given by Kaushitaki Rshi Consists of 4 Adhyayas
Yajurveda Krishna 7th to 9th Prapathakas of Taittiriya Aranyaka (Page 251 of Reference [2]) तैत्तियोपनिषद् ॥ Taittiriya Upanishad From source Taittiriya Aranyaka Consists of 3 Vallis or chapters : Shikshavalli, Brahmavalli (Anandavalli) and Bhruguvalli[14]
10th Prapathaka of Taittiriya Aranyaka (also considered as Khila khanda) (Page 251 of Reference [2]) नारायणीयोपनिषद् ॥ Narayanopanishad

महानारायणीय उपनिषद् ॥ Mahanarayaniya Upanishad

From the description of Narayana as Supreme Brahman. Consists of collection of passages including both prose and mantras (totaling to 150 divided into two adhyayas).[14]
Kathasamhita or Kathavalli (Page 54 of Reference [1]) कठोपनिषद् ॥ Kathopanishad or काठकोपनिषद् ॥ Kathakopanishad Comes from the source Katha samhita 2 Adhyayas with 3 vallis each (total 6 vallis) contains 119 mantras.[15]
Maitrayaniya Aranyaka (Page 251 of Reference [2]) मैत्रायणीय Maitrayaniya Upanishad Comes from the source Maitrayaniya Aranyaka Contains 7 Prapathakas[16]
Shukla Last 6 Adhyayas of Shatapatha Brahmana (Page 56 of Reference [1]) Brhadaranyakopanishad Contains 6 Adhyayas
40th Adhyaya of माध्यन्दिन-शतपथ-ब्राह्मणम् ॥ Madhyandina Shatapatabrahmana ईशावाश्योपनिषद् ॥ Ishavasya Upanishad The first word of the first mantra ॐ ईशा वास्यमिदँ सर्वं यत्किञ्च जगत्यां जगत् । Contains 18 mantras[14]
Samaveda 10th Anuvaka of 4th Adhyaya of जैमिनीय ॥ Jaiminiya (Talavakara तलवकार) Brahmana (Page 253 of Reference [2]) केनोपनिषद् ॥ Kena Upanishad or Talavakaropanishad The first word of the first mantra ॐ केनेषितं पतति प्रेषितं मनः Contains 4 Khandas with 32 mantras in all.[14]
Last 10 Adhyayas of Chandogyabrahmana of Kauthuma Shakha (Page 55 of Reference [1]) छान्दोग्योपनिषद्॥ Chhandogya Upanishad Contains 8 Prapathakas or Adhyayas each having varying number of Kandas and mantras (totaling to 154 Khandas).[14][17]
Adharvaveda Associated with Pippalada brahmana (Page 54 of Reference [1]) प्रश्नोपनिषद् ॥ Prashna Upanishad Comes from the Prashna or question and answer format seen in this upanishad. Mostly in prose it has six Prashnas (sections)with 16, 13, 12, 11, 7 and 8 passages respectively.[14]
Associated with Shaunaka samhita (Page 54 of Reference [1]) मुण्डकोपनिषद् ॥ Mundaka Upanishad 3 Mundakas (chapters) each containing 2 Khandas with 64 mantras in all.
Associated with Atharvaveda (Page 55 of Reference [1]) माण्डूक्योपनिषद् ॥ Mandukya Upanishad Composed by the son of Mandukya maharshi.[14] Contains 12 mantras only

Deity and Samkhya Based Classification

Pt. Shri. Chintamani Vinayak Vaidya has assigned the ancientness (प्राचीनता) or modernness (अर्वाचीनता) of Upanishads using the two factors[2]

  1. Siddhanta of Anatmarupa Brahma (a supreme power beyond and above deities)
  2. Vishnu or Shiva deities are accepted as paradevata (supreme deity) and are praised
  3. Principles of Samkhya Siddhanta (Prakriti, Purusha, Gunas-Satva, Rajas and Tamas)

It is proved beyond doubt that the ancient upanishads have described a Supreme Anatmarupa Brahma, above the vaidika deities, who has created regulated and maintained order of the creation. They are thus very ancient and include Aitareya, Isha, Taittiriya, Brhadaranyaka, Chandogya, Prashna, Mundaka and Mandukya Upanishads.

Only in the more recent upanishads one can see the older ones in praise of Vishnu as the Supreme Being followed by the more recent one's in praise of Shiva. In this group is classified Kathopanishad where Vishnu is the Supreme Being. Krishna Yajurveda Upanishads are famous for their Shiva and Rudra stutis (Rudra Prashna is a famous stuti) and in this way Shevetashvatara Upanishad which accepts Shiva as paradevata is more recent compared to Kathopanishad. In this series, Maitrayaniya Upanishad which accepts all the Trimurti's (Brahma Vishnu and Shiva) is more recent than the above two mentioned Upanishads.

Katha Upanishad (which has no principles of Samkhya) is ancient as against Shvetashvatara (which expounds principles of Samkhya and its preceptor Kapila Maharshi), further more recent is Maitrayaniya Upanishad where samkhya philosophy along with the description of the gunas is given in detail.[2]

Shanti Patha Based Classification

Some upanishads are not related to any veda, while some are definitely associated with one or the other veda. Based on the Shanti patha that is given in the beginning of the Upanishads the following classification is proposed.(Page 288-289 of Reference [12])

108 Upanishads Classified Based on Shanti Patha of Each Veda
Veda Shanti patha Upanishads
Rigveda वाङ् मे मनसि प्रतिष्ठिता मनो मे वाचि प्रतिष्ठितमाविरावीर्म एधि ॥ vāṅ mē manasi pratiṣṭhitā manō mē vāci pratiṣṭhitamāvirāvīrma ēdhi ॥ Aitareya, Kaushitaki, Atmaprabodha, Nadabindu, Nirvana, Mudgala, Akshamalika, Tripura, Saubhagya, Bahvrucha Upanishads (10)
Krishna Yajurveda ॐ सह नाववतु । सह नौ भुनक्तु । सहवीर्यं करवावहै । oṁ saha nāvavatu । saha nau bhunaktu । sahavīryaṁ karavāvahai । Kathavalli (commonly referred to as Kathopanishad), Taittiriya, Narayana, Brahma, Kaivalya, Shvetasvatara, Garbha, Amrtabindu, Amrtanada, Kalagnirudra, Kshurika, Sarvasara, Shukarahasya, Tejobindu, Dhyanabindu, Brahmavidya, Yogatattva, Dakshinamurty, Katha (different from Kathavalli), Skanda, Shareeraka, Varaha, Yogashikha, Ekakshara, Akshi, Avadhuta, Rudrahrdaya, Yogakundalini, Panchabrahma, Kalisantarana, Pranagnihotra, Sarasvatirahasya Upanishads (32)
Shukla Yajurveda ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते । oṁ pūrṇamadaḥ pūrṇamidaṁ pūrṇāt pūrṇamudacyatē । Ishavasya, Brhadaranya, Jabala, Subaala, Hamsa, Paramahamsa, Mantrikaniralamba, Tarasara, Trishikhi, Brahmanamandala, Brahmana, Advayataraka, Paingala, Bhikshuka, Turiyateeta, Adhyatma, Muktika, Shatyayani, Yajnavalkya Upanishads (19)
Samaveda ॐ आप्यायन्तु ममाङ्गानि वाक्प्राणश्चक्षुः

श्रोत्रमथो बलमिन्द्रियाणि च सर्वाणि । oṁ āpyāyantu mamāṅgāni vākprāṇaścakṣuḥ

śrōtramathō balamindriyāṇi ca sarvāṇi ।...

Kena, Chandogya, Aaruni, Maitrayani, Maitreyi, Vajrasuchi, Yoga, Chudamani, Vasudeva, Sanyasa, Avyakta, Savitri, Rudrakshajabala, Darshanajabali, Kundika, Mahopanishad Upanishads (16)
Atharvaveda ॐ भद्रं कर्णेभिः शृणुयाम देवाः भद्रं पष्येमाक्षभिर्यजत्राः । oṁ bhadraṁ karṇēbhiḥ śr̥ṇuyāma dēvāḥ bhadraṁ paṣyēmākṣabhiryajatrāḥ । Prashna, Mundaka, Mandukya, Brhadjabala, Nrsimhatapini, Narada parivrajaka, Sitaa, Sharabha, Mahanarayana, Ramarahasya, Ramatapini, Shandilya, Paramahamsa parivrajaka, Annapurna, Surya, Atma, Parambrahma, Pashupata, Tripuratapini, Devi, Bhavana, Bhasmajabala, Ganapati, Mahavakya, Gopalatapini, Krishna, Hayagriva, Garuda, Dattatreya, Atharvashikha, Atharvashiro Upanishads (31)

Content Based Classification

Based on their content Upanishads can be divided into six categories.[1]

  1. Vedanta siddhanta
  2. Yoga siddhanta
  3. Samkhya siddhanta
  4. Vaishnava siddhanta
  5. Shaiva siddhanta
  6. Shakta siddhanta

Authorship

The authorship of most Upanishads is uncertain and unknown. The various philosophical theories in the early Upanishads have been attributed to famous seers such as Yajnavalkya, Uddalaka Aruni, Shvetaketu, Shandilya, Aitareya, Balaki, Pippalada and Sanatkumara.[18] Women, such as Maitreyi and Gargi participated in the dialogues and are also credited in the early Upanishads. Prasnopanishad is based on Prashna (questions) and Uttara (answer) format between gurus and shishyas, as such a number of rshis are mentioned in this Upanishad.

There are exceptions to the anonymous tradition of the Upanishads and other Vedic literature. The Shvetashvatara Upanishad, for example, includes credits to the seer Shvetashvatara in 6.21, and he is considered the author of the Upanishad.[19]

Interpretations

Upanishads not only speak about evolution and manifestation of the world, as 'srshti', but also about its dissolution which make them a welcome support towards a better understanding of ancient discoveries. Inquiries into origin of the worldly things have been widely discussed. However, in such matters as above, one finds that Upanishads abound in statements that are apparently contradictory in their nature.

Some describe the world to be real while others call it a illusion. One calls the Atman as essentially different from Brahman, while other texts describe the essential identity of the two. Some call Brahman the goal and the Atman the seeker, another draws an eternal verity of both. In between these extreme positions, there are varieties of other views. Yet all the divergent conceptions are based on the Upanishads. One must bear in mind that such views and perspectives have been traditionally existing from time immemorial in Bharatavarsha and the founders of these schools of thought are outstanding spokesmen of those systems. So is the case of the rshis and maharshis associated with the shad darshanas; they simply were their best expounders or codifiers.[20]

Although everyone of these six systems of thought claims to derive its authority from the Upanishads, it is the Vedanta that bases itself wholly on them. In the Upanishads, the highest truths are given out as and when they were glimpsed by the rshis, hence may lack the systematic arrangement which can be expected of leisurely deliberation.[20]

The task of introducing order into Upanishad thoughts taken up by Badarayana, in the sutra format (Brahmasutras), failed to convey the exact meanings as intended by him. As a consequence the Brahmasutras also suffered the same fate as Upanishads with commentators interpreting them as per their predilections and training.

विषयविभागम् ॥ Contents

The main subject of Upanishads is the discussion about Paramatmatattva. There are two kinds of Vidyas : Para (पराविद्या) and Apara (अपराविद्या). Of these Paravidya is supreme and is called Brahmavidya (ब्रह्मविद्या). Upanishads present the detailed discussion about Paravidya. Aparavidya is primarily related to Karmas, hence called Karmavidya (कर्मविद्या). The fruits of Karmavidya are perishable while the results of Brahmavidya are indestructable. Aparavidya may not lead one to Moksha (may lead to svarga and other worlds) but Paravidya always gives Moksha.[1]

मौलिकसिद्धान्ताः ॥ Core Siddhantas

The central concepts found in the Upanishads involve the following aspects that are the fundamental and unique values of Sanatana Dharma which have been guiding the Chitta (Manas) of people of Bharatavarsha from ages. None of these concepts have ever been mentioned or used in any kind of ancient literatures in any other part of the world.[9][12][21]

Unmanifested

  • ब्रह्मन् ॥ Brahman, Paramatma (परमात्मा), That (तत्), Purusha (पुरुषः) Nirguna Brahman (निर्गुणब्रह्मन्) (Supreme Being, Ultimate Reality)

Manifested

  • आत्मा ॥ Atman, जीवात्मा ॥ Jivatma, Ishvara (ईश्वरः), Sat (सत्), Saguna Brahman (सर्गुणब्रह्मन्), the Subject (Self)
  • प्रकृतिः ॥ Prkriti, Asat (असत्), Not Self, The Object (Material Cause)
  • मनः ॥ Manas (Prajna, Chitta, Samkalpa)
  • कर्म ॥ Karma (Action) of Past, Present and Future
  • माया ॥ Maya (Illusion), Shakti, Power, the Will, of Ishvara.
  • जीवः ॥ Jiva (Embodiment of Atman in an Upadhi), The Many, arising from Mulaprkriti.
  • सर्गः ॥ Sarga (Origin) of Srshti (सृष्टिः)[21]
  • ज्ञानम् ॥ Jnana (Knowledge)
  • अविद्या ॥ Avidya (Ignorance)
  • मोक्षम् ॥ Moksha (The Paramapurushartha)

The Upanishads speak about the identity of the Supreme Being, the Brahman, the individual Atman, their mutual relationship, the Universe (jagat) and man’s place in it. In short they deal with Jiva, Jagat, Jnana and Jagadishwara and ultimately the path to Brahman called as mokṣa or mukti.[22]

Brahman and Atman

Brahman and Atman are two concepts that are unique to Bharatiya Jnana siddhantas which are highly developed in the Upanishads. From the root cause Prkriti the world came into being. Paramatma is Nitya, Puratana, Shasvata (Eternal) devoid of the cycles of birth and death. The Sharira or body is subjected to death and birth but Atma residing in it continues to exist. Just like butter is evenly distributed in milk so also Paramatma is all-pervading in the world. Just like the sparks arise out of fire so also the beings take shape from the Paramatma. Such aspects which are explained in Upanishads have been widely discussed and elucidated in the Darshana shastras.[9][2]

ब्रह्मन् ॥ Brahman

The word Brahman is used to represent the all pervading, ultimate reality without a second. While this is a principle of universal acceptance for all sects of Vedantins, there is a variation in these schools as to relationship between Brahman and Jivatma.

The Unity which never appears but which IS, is implied in the very existence of universes and systems, worlds and individuals. IT (tat) is not only recognised now in all religions, but also in all philosophy and in all science as a fundamental necessity. Endless disputes and controversies have surrounded IT, many names describe IT and many have left it unnamed, but none have denied IT (except the Charvakas and other atheists). The idea put forth by the Upanishadic seers that Atman and Brahman are One and the same, is one of the greatest contributions made to the thought process of the mankind. [21]

Nirguna Representation of Brahman

One which is described as without a second, is Infinite, Absolute, eternal is called as तत् । THAT, without attributes, gunas, beyond name and form, and cannot be explained by any similies or worldly descriptions is the Nirguna Brahman.

Chandogya Upanishad expounds the Nirguna Brahmatattva through the Mahavakyas such as

एकमेवाद्वितीयम्। ekamevādvitīyam। One only, without a second. (Chand. Upan. 6.2.1)[23]

सर्वं खल्विदं ब्रह्म । sarvaṁ khalvidaṁ brahma । All this is verily Brahman. (Chand. Upan. 3.14.1)[24]

Shevatasvatara Upanishad says

यदाऽतमस्तन्न दिवा न रात्रिर्न सन्नचासच्छिव एव केवलः ।... ॥ १८ ॥ yadā'tamastanna divā na rātrirna sannacāsacchiva eva kevalaḥ ।... ॥ 18 ॥ (Shvet. Upan. 4.18)[25]

When there was mere tamas, and neither day nor the night, neither the universe (having a form) or without a form, there existed that pure auspicious principle alone signifying the One Principle.[14]

These common and well known examples amply illustrate the concept of Nirguna or formless Brahman.

Brahman Represented by Pranava (Omkara)

That this Nirguna Brahman is also referred by Omkara or Pranavanada is also well illustrated in the Upanishads. Kathopanishad states that

सर्वे वेदा यत्पदमामनन्ति तपाँसि सर्वाणि च यद्वदन्ति । यदिच्छन्तो ब्रह्मचर्यं चरन्ति तत्ते पदँ संग्रहेण ब्रवीम्योमित्येतत् ॥ १५ ॥ (Kath. Upan. 1.2.15)

sarvē vēdā yatpadamāmananti tapām̐si sarvāṇi ca yadvadanti . yadicchantō brahmacaryaṁ caranti tattē padam̐ saṁgrahēṇa bravīmyōmityētat .. 15 ..

एतद्ध्येवाक्षरं ब्रह्म एतद्ध्येवाक्षरं परम् । एतद्ध्येवाक्षरं ज्ञात्वा यो यदिच्छति तस्य तत् ॥ १६ ॥ (Kath. Upan. 1.2.16)[26]

ētaddhyēvākṣaraṁ brahma ētaddhyēvākṣaraṁ param . ētaddhyēvākṣaraṁ jñātvā yō yadicchati tasya tat .. 16 ..

Meaning : That which all the Vedas declare, that which all austerities utter, That desiring which they lead the life of Brahmacharya, That Word I tell thee briefly : it is Aum. That word is even Brahman; that Word is even the Supreme.[21]

आत्मन् ॥ Atman, The Saguna Representation of Brahman

The next important concept is that of Saguna Brahman, also Supreme like the Nirguna Brahman, except that here there are a few limiting adjuncts (name, form etc), called variously as Atman, Jivatma, Inner Self, Self, Consciousness etc. The Individual Self, Atman, is the internal ruler, the that immortal part of a visible entity, which includes all living beings including humans, animals and trees. The discussion about Brahman being gross and subtle is raised by Satyakama as explained in the Prashnopanishad.

एतद्वै सत्यकाम परं चापरं च ब्रह्म यदोङ्कारः । etadvai satyakāma paraṁ cāparaṁ ca brahma yadoṅkāraḥ । (Pras. Upan. 5.2)[27]

Meaning : Verily, O Satyakama, this Omkara is the Supreme and the lower Brahman.[21] Brhdaranyaka Upanishad also says the following about the existence of two forms of Brahman - the Sat and Asat forms.[9]

द्वे वाव ब्रह्मणो रूपे मूर्तं चैवामूर्तं च मर्त्यं चामृतं च स्थितं च यच्च सच्च त्यच्च ॥ १ ॥ dve vāva brahmaṇo rūpe mūrtaṁ caivāmūrtaṁ ca martyaṁ cāmr̥taṁ ca sthitaṁ ca yacca sacca tyacca ॥ 1 ॥ (Brhd. Upan. 2.3.1)[28]

Meaning : There are two states of Brahman, मूर्तं । gross (with form, body and organs) and अमूर्तं । subtle (formless), mortal (मर्त्यं) and immortal (अमृतं), finite and infinite, existent and beyond (existence).[29] This second, lower, gross, mortal, finite, existent Brahman is not "another" but is Brahman conditioned - therefore limited, manifesting and is thus Saguna with Attributes. The subtle formless Brahman has already been described as Nirguna Brahman.

यो दिवि तिष्ठन्दिवोऽन्तरो यं द्यौर्न वेद यस्य द्यौः शरीरं यो दिवमन्तरो यमयत्य् एष त आत्माऽन्तर्याम्यमृतः ॥ ८ ॥ yo divi tiṣṭhandivo'ntaro yaṁ dyaurna veda yasya dyauḥ śarīraṁ yo divamantaro yamayaty eṣa ta ātmā'ntaryāmyamr̥taḥ ॥ 8 ॥ (Brhd. Upan. 3.7.8)[30]

The Vedanta Darshana extensively debates the concept of Plurality (the Manyness, Bahupurushas) based on the various explanations of Saguna Brahman according to that particular school of thought.

Unity of Atman and Brahman

Atman is the predominantly discussed topic in the Upanishads, but one finds two distinct versions. Some state that Brahman (Highest Reality, Universal Principle, Being-Consciousness-Bliss) is identical with Atman (Advaita siddhanta), while others state Atman is part of Brahman but not identical (Visishtadvaita and Dvaita siddhantas of Vedanta). This ancient debate flowered into various dual, non-dual theories in Hinduism. More about these aspects are discussed under the heading Brahman.

That Brahman and Atman are one and the same was proposed in Chandogya Upanishads mahavakyas. One of them being the following

स य एषोऽणिमैतदात्म्यमिदँ सर्वं तत्सत्यँ स आत्मा तत्त्वमसि श्वेतकेतो | sa ya eṣo'ṇimaitadātmyamidam̐ sarvaṁ tatsatyam̐ sa ātmā tattvamasi śvetaketo | (Chand. Upan. 6.8.7)

That which is this subtle essense, all this has got That as the Self, That is Truth, That is Self. You are That O! Svetaketu.[31] In the Mandukya Upanishad another mahavakya stresses this point

सर्वं ह्येतद् ब्रह्मायमात्मा ब्रह्म सोऽयमात्मा चतुष्पात् ॥ २ ॥ sarvaṁ hyetad brahmāyamātmā brahma so'yamātmā catuṣpāt ॥ 2 ॥ (Mand. Upan. 2)[32]

All this is surely Brahman. This Self is Brahman. The Self, such as It is, is possessed of four quarters.[33]

मनस् ॥ Manas

Manas (not equivalent to Mind but used in that sense) is also called as Prajna, Chitta, Samkalpa which is engaged in a Vrtti (वृत्तिः) or states of existence (Yoga Darshana describes 6 such states). The thinking nature of man has been understood as the very essence of human beings since ancient times in India. Serious searches for unravelling the mystery of Manas and its impacts on life proved decisive in deepening the philosophical thoughts of human race making definite impacts upon the socio-cultural standards of life. Studies of Manas have contributed much in the fields of arts and science. It is a matter of fact that all philosophical thoughts and knowledge systems in India spring out explicitly or implicitly from the Vedas. The Upanishads being an integral part of Vedas represent the philosophical zenith of the Vedic thoughts and in depth discussions on Manas contribute to their uniqueness.

Aitareya Upanishad describes the origin of cosmic mind along with the origin of universe in a sequential manner.

हृदयं निरभिद्यत हृदयान्मनो मनसश्चन्द्रमा । hr̥dayaṁ nirabhidyata hr̥dayānmano manasaścandramā । (Aite. Upan. 1.1.4)[34]

A heart parted open and from it came the mind. from the internal organ, mind, came the Moon.

Thought becomes the power that triggers the process of creation driven by the supposition of a cosmic mind or cosmic intelligent behind creation. While Brhadaranyaka says एतत्सर्वं मन एव | etatsarvaṁ mana eva |" (Brhd. Upan. 1.5.3)[35] All this is the Mind itself", Ishavasya Upanishad refers to Manas in अनेजदेकं मनसो जवीयो । anejadekaṁ manaso javīyo । (Aite. Upan. 4) [36] the context of Atman being faster than the mind. Here the speed is described as a property of mind. Brhdaranyaka further says that सर्वेषा सङ्कल्पानां मन एकायनम् एव meaning Manas is the common ground for all imaginations and deliberations (Brhd. Upan. 4.5.12[37][38]).

That Manas is not consciousness but is a subtle form of matter like the body is expounded in the Chandogya Upanishad. Further it says that Anna consumed is sorted in three ways post digestion. The grossest part becomes faeces; the middle component becomes flesh; the subtle ingredient becomes the mind. (Chan. Upan. 6.5.1)[39]

The rituals of the Vedas, purify the Manas, discipline his Kama pravrtti and helps a Jiva to ascend in the path of attaining Brahmajnana.[21]

माया ॥ Maya

Maya (not always meaning Illusion) is another most important concept touched upon in the Upanishads. The Supreme being or Paramatma, by his power of Maya projects the Universe and Jivatma (manifested Brahman) gets entangled in this Maya as long as He does not realize that His real nature is that of Paramatma. The siddhanta about Maya is mentioned as follows in the Upanishads.

Chandogya Upanishad explains the plurality feature as follows

तदैक्षत बहु स्यां प्रजायेयेति तत्तेजोऽसृजत । तत्तेज ऐक्षत बहु स्यां प्रजायेयेति तदपोऽसृजत । tadaikṣata bahu syāṁ prajāyeyeti tattejo'sr̥jata । tatteja aikṣata bahu syāṁ prajāyeyeti tadapo'sr̥jata । (Chan. Upan. 6.2.3)[23]

That 'Sat' deliberated, 'may I become many; May I be born'. Then 'It' created Tejas (fire). The Fire deliberated 'may I become many; May I be born'. That created "Ap" or water.[39] Shvetasvatara Upanishad says

क्षरं प्रधानममृताक्षरं हरः क्षरात्मानावीशते देव एकः । तस्याभिध्यानाद्योजनात्तत्त्वभावाद्भूयश्चान्ते विश्वमायानिवृत्तिः ॥ १० ॥ (Shvet. Upan. 1.10)

kṣaraṁ pradhānamamr̥tākṣaraṁ haraḥ kṣarātmānāvīśate deva ekaḥ । tasyābhidhyānādyojanāttattvabhāvādbhūyaścānte viśvamāyānivr̥ttiḥ ॥ 10 ॥

Matter (Pradhana) is the kshara or perishable. The jivatman is akshara or imperishable on account of being immortal. He, the only Supreme being, rules over both matter and Atman. By meditating on Him (अभिध्यानात्), being in "yoga" with Him (योजनात्), by the knowledge of identity with Him (तत्त्वभावाद्), one attains, in the end, freedom from the Maya of the world.[14][40][41]

छन्दांसि यज्ञाः क्रतवो व्रतानि भूतं भव्यं यच्च वेदा वदन्ति । अस्मान्मायी सृजते विश्वमेतत्तस्मिंश्चान्यो मायया सन्निरुद्धः ॥ ९ ॥ (Shvet. Upan. 4.9)

chandāṁsi yajñāḥ kratavo vratāni bhūtaṁ bhavyaṁ yacca vedā vadanti । asmānmāyī sr̥jate viśvametattasmiṁścānyo māyayā sanniruddhaḥ ॥ 9 ॥

The shrutis (chandansi), the yajnas and kratus, the vratas (vows), the past, the future and all that the Vedas declare, have been produced from the imperishable Brahman. Brahman projects the universe through the power of Its maya. Again, in that universe Brahman as the jivatma gets entangled through the delusion of maya.[14]

मायां तु प्रकृतिं विद्यान्मायिनं च महेश्वरम् । तस्यावयवभूतैस्तु व्याप्तं सर्वमिदं जगत् ॥ १० ॥ (Shvet. Upan. 4.10)[25]

māyāṁ tu prakr̥tiṁ vidyānmāyinaṁ ca maheśvaram । tasyāvayavabhūtaistu vyāptaṁ sarvamidaṁ jagat ॥ 10 ॥

Know that the prakriti or nature is maya and that Supreme Being (Mahesvara) is the mayin (the maker of Maya). The whole universe is filled with jivatmans which are parts of His being.[14] Brhdaranyaka Upanishad says

इदं वै तन्मधु दध्यङ्ङाथर्वणोऽश्विभ्यामुवाच । तदेतदृषिः पश्यन्नवोचत् । रूपरूपं प्रतिरूपो बभूव तदस्य रूपं प्रतिचक्षणाय । इन्द्रो मायाभिः पुरुरूप ईयते युक्ता ह्यस्य हरयः शता दशेतिय् अयं वै हरयो ऽयं वै दश च सहस्रणि बहूनि चानन्तानि च । तदेतद्ब्रह्मापूर्वमनपरमनन्तरमबाह्यम् अयमात्मा ब्रह्म सर्वानुभूरित्यनुशासनम् ॥ १९ ॥ (Brhd. Upan. 2.5.19)[42]

idaṁ vai tanmadhu dadhyaṅṅātharvaṇo'śvibhyāmuvāca । tadetadr̥ṣiḥ paśyannavocat । rūparūpaṁ pratirūpo babhūva tadasya rūpaṁ praticakṣaṇāya । indro māyābhiḥ pururūpa īyate yuktā hyasya harayaḥ śatā daśetiy ayaṁ vai harayo 'yaṁ vai daśa ca sahasraṇi bahūni cānantāni ca । tadetadbrahmāpūrvamanaparamanantaramabāhyam ayamātmā brahma sarvānubhūrityanuśāsanam ॥ 19 ॥

Darshanas particularly the Vedanta darshana of Sri Adi Shankaracharya highlights this Maya as the cause of bondage to samsara and that Brahman alone is real and all else is unreal.[21]

सर्गः ॥ Sarga

Upanishads abound with the srsti siddhantas (theories of origin of universe) which have ramified and flowered when it came to the darshana shastras. The one classic concept of origin (synonymous with procession from or production of, the evolving of, the sending forth) of the Universe, the Srsti siddhanta proposes that Ishvara evolves all beings out of Himself. Mundakopanishad proclaims

यथोर्णनाभिः सृजते गृह्णते च यथा पृथिव्यामोषधयः संभवन्ति । यथा सतः पुरुषात् केशलोमानि तथाऽक्षरात् संभवतीह विश्वम् ॥ ७ ॥ (Mund. Upan. 1.1.7)[43]

yathorṇanābhiḥ sr̥jate gr̥hṇate ca yathā pr̥thivyāmoṣadhayaḥ saṁbhavanti । yathā sataḥ puruṣāt keśalomāni tathā'kṣarāt saṁbhavatīha viśvam ॥ 7 ॥

उपनिषद्वैशिष्ट्यम् ॥ Vaishishtya

Although all Upanishads proclaim that the goal of human life, embroiled in the flow of samsara, is to attain Jnana that leads to Moksha, the ultimate paramapurushartha, each of the upanishads have their own special features about their siddhantas as follows [12]

  1. Aitareya upanishad establishes the characteristics of Brahma
  2. Brhadaranyaka gives the paths to higher worlds
  3. Katha discusses the doubts about post death path of a Jiva.
  4. Shvetasvatara says Jagat and Paramatma are Maya.
  5. Mundakopanishad stressed the fact that the whole Universe is nothing but Parabrahma
  6. Ishavasya defines that a Jnani is one who sees Self and Paramatma pervading the world.
  7. Taittiriyopanishad proclaims that Brahmajnana leads to Moksha.
  8. Chandogyopanishad gives the outline of how janmas (births) happen and paths to reach Brahmaloka.
  9. Prashnopanishad logically answers the questions regarding the nature of Atma.
  10. Mandukya upanishad proclaims Atman to be Brahman

The Upanishads include sections on certain siddhantas that have been the very foundation of Sanatana Dharma. For example, the Chandogya Upanishad includes one of the earliest known declaration of Ahimsa (non-violence) as an ethical precept. Discussion of other ethical premises such as Damah (temperance, self-restraint), Satya (truthfulness), Dāna (charity), Ārjava (non-hypocrisy), Daya (compassion) and others are found in the oldest Upanishads and many later Upanishads. Similarly, the Karma doctrine is presented in the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad, which is the oldest Upanishad.

Mahavakyas

The Upanishads contain several mahā-vākyas or "Great Sayings" on the the most unique concept of Brahman which is one of the knowledge treasures belonging to Bharatavarsha.

Text Upanishad Translation
अहं ब्रह्म अस्मि ॥ aham brahmāsmi Brhadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.10 "I am Brahman"
अयम् आत्मा ब्रह्म ॥ ayam ātmā brahma Mandukya Upanishad 1.2 The Atma is Brahman
सत्यं ज्ञानमनन्तं ब्रह्मा ॥
सर्वं खल्विदं ब्रह्म ॥ sarvam khalvidam brahma Chandogya Upanishad 3.14.1 "All this is Brahman"
एकमेवाद्वितीयम् ॥ ekam evadvitiyam Chandogya Upanishad 6.2.1 "That [Brahman] is one, without a second"
तत्त्वमसि ॥ tat tvam asi Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7 et seq. "Thou art that" ("You are Brahman")
प्रज्ञानं ब्रह्म ॥ prajnānam brahma Aitareya Upanishad 3.3.7 "Knowledge is Brahman"

Prasthana Trayi

The Upanishads form one of the three main sources for all schools of Vedanta, together with the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahmasutras. Vedanta seeks to answer questions about the relation between Atman and Brahman, and the relation between Brahman and the world. Major schools of Vedanta include the Advaita, Visishtadvaita, Dvaita with the others such as Nimbarka's Dvaitadvaita, Vallabha's Suddhadvaita and Chaitanya's Acintya Bhedabheda schools all of which are named based on their theory of the relationship of brahman and atman.

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 Gopal Reddy, Mudiganti and Sujata Reddy, Mudiganti (1997) Sanskrita Saahitya Charitra (Vaidika Vangmayam - Loukika Vangamayam, A critical approach) Hyderabad : P. S. Telugu University
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 Upadhyaya, Baldev. (1958) Vaidik Sahitya.
  3. ↑ Prof. K. Sundararama Aiyar (1911) Vedantasara of Sadananda with Balabodhini Commentary of Apadeva. Srirangam : Sri Vani Vilas Press
  4. ↑ Sastri, M. N. Dutt (1909) Vedanta-sara. A Prose English translation and Explanatory notes and Comments. Calcutta : Elysium Press.
  5. ↑ Swami Sivananda, All About Hinduism, Page 30-31
  6. ↑ Sri Sri Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi Swamiji, (2000) Hindu Dharma (Collection of Swamiji's Speeches between 1907 to 1994)Mumbai : Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
  7. ↑ Insights Into the Taittiriya Upanishad, Dr. K. S. Narayanacharya, Published by Kautilya Institute of National Studies, Mysore, Page 75 (Glossary)
  8. ↑ http://indianscriptures.50webs.com/partveda.htm, 6th Paragraph
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 Sharma, Ram Murthy. (1987 2nd edition) Vaidik Sahitya ka Itihas Delhi : Eastern Book Linkers
  10. ↑ Maitrayani Upanishad
  11. ↑ Bahvrichopanishad
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 Malladi, Sri. Suryanarayana Sastry (1982) Samskruta Vangmaya Charitra, Volume 1 Vaidika Vangmayam Hyderabad : Andhra Sarasvata Parishad
  13. ↑ Borthakur, Madhusnita. (2016) Ph. D Thesis Title : The Brhadaranyaka Upanisad : A Study at Gauhati University
  14. ↑ 14.00 14.01 14.02 14.03 14.04 14.05 14.06 14.07 14.08 14.09 14.10 N. S. Ananta Rangacharya (2003) Principal Upanishads (Isa, Kena, Katha, Prasna, Mundaka, Mandookya, Taittiriya, Mahanarayana, Svetasvatara) Volume 1. Bangalore : Sri Rama Printers
  15. ↑ Kodandaramacharyulu. K. (2011) Kathopanishat - Samajikaamsamulu (Pages 78 to 92) from Upanishat Sudha Lahari, Hyderabad: Sahiti Samskritika Samstha
  16. ↑ Maitrayani Upanishad Introduction on Vedic Heritage Portal
  17. ↑ Chandogya Upanishad Introduction on Vedic Heritage Portal
  18. ↑ Mahadevan, T. M. P (1956), Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, ed., History of Philosophy Eastern and Western, George Allen & Unwin Ltd
  19. ↑ Swami Gambhirananda (2009 Fourth Edition) Svetasvara Upanishad With the Commentary of Sankaracharya. Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama (See Introduction)
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Swami Madhavananda author of A Bird's-Eye View of the Upanishads (1958) The Cultural Heritage of India, Volume 1 : The Early Phases (Prehistoric, Vedic and Upanishadic, Jaina and Buddhist). Calcutta : The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture. (Pages 345-365)
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.4 21.5 21.6 Sanatana Dharma : An Advanced Textbook of Hindu Religion and Ethics. (1903) Benares : The Board of Trustees, Central Hindu College
  22. ↑ http://www.esamskriti.com/e/Spirituality/Upanishads-Commentary/Vedas-And-Upanishads~-A-Structural-Profile-3.aspx
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Chandogya Upanishad (Adhyaya 6)
  24. ↑ Chandogya Upanishad (Adhyaya 3)
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Shvetashvatara Upanishad (Adhyaya 4)
  26. ↑ Kathopanishad (Adhyaya 1 Valli 2)
  27. ↑ Prashnopanishad (Prashna 5)
  28. ↑ Brhdaranyaka Upanishad (Adhyaya 2)
  29. ↑ Swami Madhavananda, (1950). The Brhdaranyaka Upanishad with the commentary of Sankaracharya. Mayavati: Avaita Ashrama
  30. ↑ Brhdaranyaka Upanishad (Adhyaya 3)
  31. ↑ Swami Gambhirananda. (1983) Chandogya Upanishad With the Commentary of Sri Sankaracharya. Calcutta : Advaita Ashrama
  32. ↑ Mandukya Upanishad (12 Mantras)
  33. ↑ Swami Gambhirananda (1989 Second Edition) Eight Upanishads, Volume 2 (Aitareya, Mundaka, Mandukya, Prashna) Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama
  34. ↑ Aitareya Upanishad (All Adhyayas )
  35. ↑ Brhadaranyaka Upanishad (Adhyaya 1)
  36. ↑ Isavasyopanishad (All Mantras)
  37. ↑ Brhadaranyaka Upanishad (Adhyaya 4)
  38. ↑ Swami Madhavananda, (1950). The Brhdaranyaka Upanishad with the commentary of Sankaracharya. Mayavati: Avaita Ashrama
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 N. S. Ananta Rangacharya (2003) Principal Upanishads (Chandogya Upanishad) Volume 2. Bangalore : Sri Rama Printers
  40. ↑ Sarma, D. S. (1961) The Upanishads, An Anthology. Bombay : Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
  41. ↑ Swami Tyagisananda (1949) Svetasvataropanisad. Madras : Sri Ramakrishna Math
  42. ↑ Brhdaranyaka Upanishad (Adhyaya 2)
  43. ↑ Mundaka Upanishad (All Mundakas)
Retrieved from ‘https://dharmawiki.org/index.php?title=Upanishads_(उपनिषदः)&oldid=130554’