Upanishads

The Upanishads are the philosophical-religious texts of Hinduism (also known as Sanatan Dharma meaning “Eternal Order” or “Eternal Path”) which develop and explain the fundamental tenets of the religion . The name is translated as to “sit down closely” as one would to listen attentively to instruction by a teacher or other authority figure, but Upanishad has also been interpreted to mean “secret teaching” or “revealing underlying truth”. The truths addressed are the concepts expressed in the religious texts known as the vedas which orthodox Hindus consider the revealed knowledge of creation and the operation of the universe.

The word veda means “knowledge” and the four Vedas  are thought to express the fundamental knowledge of human existence. These works are considered Shruti in Hinduism meaning “what is heard” as they are thought to have emanated from the vibrations of the universe and heard by the sages who composed them orally before they were written down between c. 1500 – c. 500 BCE. The Upanishads are considered the “end of the Vedas” (Vedanta) in that they expand upon, explain, and develop the Vedic concepts through narrative dialogues and, in so doing, encourage one to engage with said concepts on a personal, spiritual level.

There are between 180-200 Upanishads but the best known are the 13 which are embedded in the four Vedas known as:

• Rig Veda
• Sama Veda
• Yajur Veda
• Atharva Veda

Division of the Upanishads

According to the Muktikopanishad 108 Upanishads are divided according to four Vedas are as follows:

1. 10 Upanishads from the Rigveda
2. 19 Upanishads from the Shukla-Yajurveda
3. 32 Upanishads from the Krishna-Yajurveda
4. 16 Upanishads from the Samaveda and
5. 31 Upanishads from the Atharvaveda.

The thirteen Upanishads, related to the Vedas are:
(A) Upanishads of the Rigveda :

1. Aitareya Upanishad

2. Kaushitaki Upanishad

(B) Upanishads of the Shukla-Yajurveda:

3. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

4. Isha Upanishad

(C) Upanishads of the Krishna-Yajurveda:

5. Taittiriya Upanishad

6. Katha Upanishad

7. Shvetashvatara Upanishad

8. Maitrayaniya Upanishad

(D) Upanishads of the Samaveda:

9. Chandogya Upanishad

10. Kena Upanishad

(E) Upanishads of the Atharvaveda:

11. MundakaUpanishad

12. MandukyaUpanishad

13. Prashna Upanishad

The Rig Veda is the oldest and the Sama Veda and Yajur Veda draw from it directly while the Atharva Veda takes a different course. All four, however, maintain the same vision, and the Upanishads for each of these address the themes and concepts expressed. The 13 Upanishads are:

• Brhadaranyaka Upanishad: Embedded in the Yajur Veda and the oldest Upanishad. Deals with the Atman as the Higher Self, the immortality of the soul, the illusion of duality, and the essential unity of all reality.
• Chandogya Upanishad: Embedded in the Sama Veda, it repeats some of the content of the Brhadaranyaka but in metrical form which gives this Upanishad its name from Chanda (poetry/meter). The narratives further develop the concept of Atman-Brahman, Tat Tvam Asi, and dharma.
• Taittiriya Upanishad: Embedded in the Yajur Veda, the work continues on the theme of unity and proper ritual until its conclusion in praise of the realization that duality is an illusion and everyone is a part of God and of each other.
• Aitereya Upanishad: Embedded in the Rig Veda, the Aitereya repeats a number of themes addressed in the first two Upanishads but in a slightly different way, emphasizing the human condition and joys in a life lived in accordance with dharma.
• Kausitaki Upanishad: Embedded in the Rig Veda, this Upanishad also repeats themes addressed elsewhere but focuses on the unity of existence with an emphasis on the illusion of individuality which causes people to feel separated from one another/God.
• Kena Upanishad: Embedded in the Sama Veda, the Kena develops themes from the Kausitaki and others with a focus on epistemology. The Kena rejects the concept of intellectual pursuit of spiritual truth claiming one can only understand Brahman through self-knowledge.
• Katha Upanishad: Embedded in the Yajur Veda, the Katha emphasizes the importance of living in the present without worrying about past or future and discusses the concept of mokshaand how it is encouraged by the Vedas.
• Isha Upanishad: Embedded in the Yajur Veda, the Isha focuses emphatically on unity and the illusion of duality with an emphasis on the importance of performing one’s karmain accordance with one’s dharma.
• Svetasvatara Upanishad: Embedded in the Yajur Veda, the focus is on the First Cause. The work continues to discuss the relationship between the Atmanand Brahman and the importance of self-discipline as the means to self-actualization.
• Mundaka Upanishad: Embedded in the Atharva Veda, focuses on personal spiritual knowledge as superior to intellectual knowledge.  The text makes a distinction between higher and lower knowledge with “higher knowledge” defined as self-actualization.
• Prashna Upanishad: Embedded in the Atharva Veda, concerns itself with the existential nature of the human condition. It focuses on devotion as the means to liberate one’s self from the cycle of rebirth and death.
• Maitri Upanishad: Embedded in the Yajur Veda, and also known as the Maitrayaniya Upanishad, this work focuses on the constitution of the soul, the various means by which human beings suffer, and the liberation from suffering through self-actualization.
• Mandukya Upanishad: Embedded in the Athar Veda, this work deals with the spiritual significance of the sacred syllable of OM. Detachment from life’s distractions is stressed as important in realizing one’s Atman.

Their origin and dating are considered unknown by some schools of thought but, generally, their composition is dated to between c. 800 – c. 500 BCE for the first six (Brhadaranyaka to Kena) with later dates for the last seven (Katha to Mandukya). Some are attributed to a given sage while others are anonymous. Many orthodox Hindus, however, regard the Upanishads, like the Vedas, as Shruti and believe they have always existed. In this view, the works were not so much composed as received and recorded.

The Upanishads deal with ritual observance and the individual’s place in the universe and, in doing so, develop the fundamental concepts of the Supreme Over Soul (God) known as Brahman (who both created and is the universe) and that of the Atman, the individual’s higher self, whose goal in life is union with Brahman. These works defined, and continue to define, the essential tenets of Hinduism but the earliest of them would also influence the development of Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, and, after their translation to European languages in the 19th century CE, philosophical thought around the world.

Nature of Upanishads

The Vedas are generally considered to have two portions viz., Karma-Kanda (portion dealing with action or rituals) and Jnana-Kanda (portion dealing with knowledge). The Samhita and the Brahmanas represent mainly theKarma-Kanda or the ritual portion, while the Upanishads chiefly represent the Jnana-Kanda or the knowledge portion. The Upanishads, however, are included in the Shruti. They are at present, the most popular and extensively read Vedic texts.

The Upanishads are often called ‘Vedanta‘. Literally, Vedanta means the end of Veda, Vedasya antah, the conclusion (Anta) as well as the goal (Anta) of the Vedas. Chronologically they came at the end of the Vedic period. As Upanishads contain difficult discussions of ultimate philosophical problems, they were taught to the pupils at about the end of their course. The chief reason why the Upanishads are called the ‘end of the Veda’ is that they represent the central aim of the Veda and contain the highest and ultimate goal of the Veda as they deal with Moksha or Supreme Bliss.

Importance of the Upanishads

• The Upanishads occupy a unique place in the development of Indian philosophical thought. They contain the highest authority on which the various systems of philosophy in India rest. So Vedanta Philosophy is directly related to the Upanishads. Not only the Vedanta philosopher professes his faith in the ends and objects of the Veda, but the Sankhya, the Vaisheshika, the Nyaya and Yoga philosophers, all pretend to find in the Upanishads some warranty for their tenets.

•   The Upanishads are associated with the Vedas and make the entire range of Vedic knowledge as complete. ‘The Upanishads generally mention the Vedas               and their study with respect. Certain verses from the Vedas, such as the Gayatri, form the subject of meditation here.

• Brahmavidyaor the knowledge of Brahman, the Supreme Reality is the great kingdom of the principal Upanishads. They give importance to ‘Knowledge’ alone. Any one having knowledge may be Guru or Acarya. Even kings approached to them for the attainment of knowledge. The story of Satyakama Jabala, who though unable to give his father’s name, was yet initiated into spiritual life, shows this fact. In the Chandogya Upanishad (4.1-3) Raikva a Brahmana not by caste but by his knowledge, instructed king Janashruti. In the same Upanishad (5.3), the king Pravahana instructed the Brahmana Gautama in the new doctrine of transmigration. This story together with the one in which king Ashvapati kaikeya instructed five Brahmanas in the doctrine of Atman (Chan. Up. 5.11) shows that for Upanishads knowledgeable person is the most important and not the Brahmana, Kshatriya or anyone else.

• Each of the Vedas has many Mahavakyasor great sayings. But four Mahavakyas found in the Upanishads related to four Vedas are very important, thought-provoking and powerful. These spell out the non-duality of the Jiva and the Brahman-Prajnanam Brahma- –RigvedaAham Brahmasm – YajurvedaTattvamasi –- SamvedaAyamatma Brahma –Aharvaveda

Important Quotes from the Upanishads

• Meditation is in truth higher than thought. The earth seems to rest in silent meditation; and the waters and the mountains and the sky and the heavens seem all to be in meditation. Whenever a man attains greatness on this earth, he has his reward according to his meditation.
• The knowing self is not born; it does not die. it has not sprung from anything; nothing has sprung from it. birthless, eternal, everlasting and ancient, it is not killed when the body is killed.
• It is indeed the mind that is the cause of men’s bondage and liberation. the mind that is attached to sense-objects leads to bondage, while dissociated from sense-objects it tends to lead to liberation.
• Knowing that great and all-pervading self by which one sees (the objects) both in the sleep and the waking states, the intelligent man grieves no more.
• Fools, dwelling in darkness, but wise in their own conceit and puffed up with vain scholarship, wander about, being afflicted by many ills, like blind men led by the blind.
• Man is bound by ‘mine’, but he is released by ‘not mine’. he should abandon all the thoughts relating to externals and so also with references to internals. o ribhu, having given up all thoughts, you should rest content (in your soul) ever.”
• Those who are clever in arguments about Brahman, but are without the action pertaining to Brahman (infinite consciousness) and who are greatly attached to the world – those certainly are born again and again (in this world) through their ajnana (ignorance).
• That which cannot be apprehended by the mind, but by which, they say, the mind is apprehended. that alone know as Brahman and not that which people here worship
• Children, immersed in ignorance in various ways, flatter themselves, saying: we have accomplished life’s purpose. because these performers of karma do not know the truth owing to their attachment, they fall from heaven, misery— stricken, when the fruit of their work is exhausted
• As flowing rivers disappear into the sea, losing their names and forms, so a wise man, freed from name and form, attains the Purusha, who is greater than the great

The Upanishads informed the development of Hinduism solely until they were translated into Persian under the reign of the prince Dara Shukoh (also given as Dara Shikoh, l. 1615-1659 CE), son and heir of the Mughal ruler Shah Jahan (r. 1628-1658 CE, best known for building the Taj Mahal). Dara Shukoh was a liberal Muslim and patron of the arts who believed the Upanishads transcended the vision expressed by any religion and, in fact, informed all. He, therefore, presented the works as “secret teachings” which revealed the final truths of existence.

Without understanding the Upanishads, it is impossible to get an insight into Indian history and culture. Every subsequent development of philosophy and religion in India has drawn heavily on the Upanishads.