The
Upanishads (
Devanagari: उपनिषद्,
IAST: upaniṣad) are regarded as part of the
Vedas and as such form part of the
Hindu scriptures. They primarily discuss
philosophy,
meditation, and the nature of
God; they form the core spiritual thought of
Vedantic Hinduism. Considered as
mystic or
spiritual contemplations of the
Vedas, their putative end and essence, the Upanishads are known as
Vedānta ("the end/culmination of the Vedas").
The Upanishads don't belong to a particular period of
Sanskrit literature. The oldest, such as the
Brhadaranyaka and
Chandogya Upanishads, may date to the
Brahmana period (roughly before the 7th century BCE; before
Gita was constructed), while the youngest, depending on the canon used, may date to the medieval or early modern period.
Etymology
The
Sanskrit term literally means "sitting down beside".
Monier-Williams notes that "according to some the sitting down at the feet of another to listen to his words (and hence, secret knowledge given in this manner; but according to native authorities
upanishad means 'setting at rest ignorance by revealing the knowledge of the supreme spirit..." It derives from
upa- (near),
ni- (down) and
sad (to sit), for example referring to the "sitting down near" a spiritual teacher (
guru) in order to receive instruction in the
Guru-shishya tradition.
Other dictionary meanings include "esoteric doctrine" and "secret doctrine".
A gloss of the term based on
Shankara's commentary on the [[KathaUpanishad|]] and [[BrhadaranyakaUpanishad|]] Upanishads equates it with
Ātmavidyā, that's "knowledge of the
Self", or
Brahmavidyā "knowledge of Brahma".
Place in the Hindu canon
Scholars of the Vedic books consider the four Vedas as poetic
liturgy, collectively called
mantra or
samhitā-, adoration and supplication to the deities of
Vedic religion, in parts already melded with
monist and
henotheist notions, and an overarching order (
Rta) that transcended even the gods.
The
Brāhmana were a collection of ritual instructions, books detailing the priestly functions (which first were available to all men, and so concretized into strictly Brahmin privilege). These came after the Mantra.
Vedanta, is chiefly composed of
Āranyakas and Upanishads. The Aranyakas ("of the forest") detail meditative yogic practices, contemplations of the mystic one and the manifold manifested principles. The Upanishad basically realized all the monist and universal mystical ideas that started in earlier Vedic hymns, and have exerted an influence unprecedented on the rest of
Hindu and
Indian philosophy.
The philosopher and commentator
Shankara (8th century) composed commentaries to eleven Upanishads. These
mukhya Upanishads are generally regarded as the oldest ones, spanning the late
Vedic and the
Mauryan periods.
By the 17th century, there was a large number of Upanishads: The
Muktika Upanishad (predates 1656) lists 108 Upanishads. The number of Upanishads translated into Persian by
Dara Shikoh (d. 1659) is 50. There are also counts that give a total number of Upanishads in excess of 108:
Max Müller (1879) is aware of 170, and there are other counts in excess of 200 or even 300. The category of Upanishads has remained somewhat permeable, with the later additions being highly sectarian, perhaps representing "one of the strategies used by sectarian movements to legitimate their own texts through granting them the nominal status of
Śruti."
Contents
The
Taittiriya Upanishad says this in the Ninth Chapter:
He who knows the Bliss of Brahman, whence words together with the mind turn away, unable to reach It? He isn't afraid of anything whatsoever. He doesn't distress himself with the thought: "Why did I not do what is good? Why did I do what is evil?". Whosoever knows this regards both these as Atman; indeed he cherishes both these as Atman. Such, indeed, is the Upanishad, the secret knowledge of Brahman. |
The Upanishads hold information on basic Hindu beliefs, including belief in a world soul, a universal spirit, Brahman, and an individual soul, Atman (Smith 10). In Sanskrit, the word Brahman has two genders (masculine, Brahmâ, the creator-god or Brahman, neuter, the Absolute). A variety of lesser gods are seen as aspects of this one divine ground, Brahman (different from
Brahma). Brahman is the ultimate, both transcendent and immanent, the absolute infinite existence, the sum total of all that ever is, was, or ever shall be.
Shankara's exegesis of the Upanishads describes Brahman not as God in the monotheistic sense; he ascribes to it no limiting characteristics, not even those of being and non-being. Thus, Shankara's philosophy is named
advaita, "not two."
Dvaita philosophy is a very different interpretation. Founded by
Madhvacharya, this school holds that Brahman is ultimately a personal God,
Vishnu, or
Krishna (
brahmano hi pratisthaham,
I am the Foundation of Brahman Bhagavad Gita 14.27).
Vishishtadvaita is the third major school of Vedanta, and it has some aspects in common with the other two.
Who is the Knower?
What makes my mind think?
Does life have a purpose, or is it governed by chance?
What is the cause of the Cosmos? |
The sages of the Upanishad try to solve these mysteries and seek knowledge of a Reality beyond ordinary knowing. They also show a preoccupation with states of consciousness, and observed and analysed dreams as well as dreamless sleep.
Philosophy
Due to their mystical nature and intense philosophical bent that does away with all ritual and completely embraces principals of One Brahman and the inner Atman (Self), the Upanishads have a universal feel that has led to their explication in numerous manners, giving birth to the three schools of
Vedanta.
The Upanishads are summed up in one phrase तत् त्वं असि "
Tat Tvam Asi" (That thou art) by the
Advaita Vedanta and they believe that in the end, the ultimate, formless, inconceivable Brahman is the same as our soul, Atman. We only have to realize it through discrimination.
The Upanishads also contain the first and most definitive explications of
aum as the divine word, the cosmic vibration that underlies all existence and contains multiple trinities of being and principles subsumed into its One Self.
The
Isha says of the Self (Verses 6, 7 & 8 of
Isha Upanishad):
Whoever sees all beings in the soul
and the soul in all beings
does not shrink away from this.
In whom all beings have become one with the knowing soul
what delusion or sorrow is there for the one who sees unity?
It has filled all.
It is radiant, incorporeal, invulnerable,
without tendons, pure, untouched by evil.
Wise, intelligent, encompassing, self-existent,
it organizes objects throughout eternity. |
"
Aum Shanti Shanti Shanti" This, too, is found first in the Upanishads, the call for tranquility, for divine stillness, for Peace everlasting.
Dara Shikoh, the
Muslim sufi, and son of
Mughal emperor
Shah Jahan, translated the Upanishads in
Persian in order to find in it elements of
monotheism that might pave the way for a common
mystical bond between
Islam and
Hinduism..
List of Upanishads
"Principal" Upanishads
The following is a list of the eleven "principal" (
mukhya) Upanishads that were commented upon
(External Link
) by
Shankara, and that are accepted as shruti by all Hindus. They are listed with their associated Veda (
Rigveda (ṚV),
Samaveda (SV),
White Yajurveda (ŚYV),
Black Yajurveda (KYV),
Atharvaveda (AV)).
- (ṚV)
- (ŚYV)
- [[IshaUpanishad|]] (ŚYV)
- [[TaittiriyaUpanishad|]] (KYV)
- (KYV)
- (SV)
- [[Kenopanishad|]] (SV)
- (AV)
- (AV)
- (AV)
- (KYV)
The and Upanishads are sometimes added to extend the canon to 13. They are also the oldest Upanishads, likely all of them dating to before the
Common Era. From linguistic evidence, the oldest among them are likely the and Chāndogya Upanishads, belonging to the late
Vedic Sanskrit period; the remaining ones are at the transition from Vedic to Classical Sanskrit.
Canon by Vedic Shakha
The older Upanishads are associated with Vedic Charanas (
Shakhas or schools). The Aitareya Upanishad with the Shakala shakha, the Upanishad with the Bashakala shakha; the Upanishad with the Kauthuma shakha, the Kena Upanishad, and the
Jaiminiya Upanishad Brahmana, with the
Jaiminiya shakha; the Upanishad with the Caraka-Katha shakha, the and with the
Taittiriya shakha; the Upanishad with the Maitrayani shakha; the and Upanishads with the Vajasaneyi Madhyandina shakha, and the and Upanishads with the
Shaunaka shakha. Additionally, parts of earlier texts, of
Brahmanas or passages of the Vedas themselves, are sometimes considered Upanishads.
The Muktika canon
The following is a list of the 108 canonical Upanishads of the
Advaita school, according to the
Muktika Upanishad (number 108), 1:30-39 (which doesn't list the associated Veda). In this canon,
10 Upanishads are associated with the Rigveda and have the Shānti beginning .
16 Upanishads are associated with the Samaveda and have the Shānti beginning .
19 Upanishads are associated with the White Yajurveda and have the Shānti beginning .
32 Upanishads are associated with the Black Yajurveda and have the Shānti beginning .
31 Upanishads are associated with the Atharvaveda and have the Shānti beginning .
The first 10 are grouped as mukhya "principal", and are identical to those listed above. 21 are grouped as Sāmānya Vedānta "common Vedanta", 23 as Sannyāsa, 9 as Shākta, 13 as Vaishnava, 14 as Shaiva and 17 as Yoga Upanishads.
[[IshaUpanishad|]], (ŚYV, Mukhya) "The Inner Ruler"
[[Kenopanishad|]] (SV, Mukhya) "Who moves the world?"
[[KathaUpanishad|]] (KYV, Mukhya) "Death as Teacher"
[[Prashnopanishad|]], (AV, Mukhya) "The Breath of Life"
[[MundakaUpanishad|]] (AV, Mukhya) "Two modes of Knowing"
(AV, Mukhya) "Consciousness and its phases"
[[TaittiriyaUpanishad|]] (KYV, Mukhya) "From Food to Joy"
[[AitareyaUpanishad|]], (Mukhya) "The Microcosm of Man"
[[Chandogya|]] (SV, Mukhya) "Song and Sacrifice"
(ŚYV, Mukhya)
(KYV, Sannyasa)
(KYV, Shaiva)(External Link)
(ŚYV, Sannyasa)
[[ShvetashvataraUpanishad|]] (KYV, Sannyasa) "The Faces of God"
(ŚYV, Yoga)
(SV, Sannyasa)
(KYV, Sannyasa)
(KYV, Vaishnava)
(ŚYV, Sannyasa)
(KYV, Yoga)
(KYV, Yoga)
(AV, Shaiva)
(AV, Shaiva)
[[MaitrayaniyaUpanishad|]] (SV, Sannyasa)
(Samanya)
(AV, Shaiva)
(AV, Vaishnava)
(KYV, Shaiva)
(SV, Sannyasa)
(ŚYV, Samanya)
(KYV, Yoga)
(ŚYV, Samanya)
(KYV, Samanya)
(ŚYV, Samanya)
(KYV, Samanya)
(SV, Samanya)
(KYV, Sannyasa)
(Yoga) (External Link)
(KYV, Yoga)
(KYV, Yoga)
(KYV, Yoga)
(Samanya)
(AV, Sannyasa)
(ŚYV, Yoga)
(AV, Shakta)
(SV, Yoga)
(Sannyasa)
(ŚYV, Yoga)
(KYV, Shaiva)
(AV, Shaiva)
(KYV, Samanya)
(AV, Vaishnava)
(ŚYV, Sannyasa)
(AV, Vaishnava)
(AV, Vaishnava)
(SV, Vaishnava)
(Samanya)
(AV, Yoga)
(ŚYV, Samanya)
(ŚYV, Sannyasa)
(SV, Samanya)
(KYV, Samanya)
(KYV Yoga)
(ŚYV, Sannyasa)
(SV, Sannyasa)
(AV, Sannyasa)
(Shaiva)
(SV, Vaishnava)
(KYV, Samanya)
(AV, Shakta)
(AV, Samanya)
(KYV, Samanya)
(ŚYV, Samanya)
(SV, Sannyasa)
(SV, Samanya)
(AV, Samanya)
(AV, Yoga)
(AV, Sannyasa)
(KYV, Sannyasa)
(AV, Shakta)
(AV, Shakta)
(Shakta)
(KYV, Sannyasa)
(AV, Shakta)
(KYV, Shaiva)
(KYV, Yoga)
(AV, Shaiva)
(SV, Shaiva)
(AV, Shaiva)
(SV, Yoga)
(ŚYV, Vaishnava)
(AV, Yoga)
(KYV, Shaiva)
(KYV, Samanya)
(AV, Vaishnava)
(AV, Vaishnava)
(ŚYV, Sannyasa)
(KYV, Sannyasa)
(ŚYV, Sannyasa)
(AV, Vaishnava)
(AV, Vaishnava)
(AV, Vaishnava)
[[Kali-SantaranaUpanishad|]] (KYV, Vaishnava)
(SV, Shaiva)
(Shakta)
(KYV, Shakta)
(Shakta)
(ŚYV, Samanya)
Shakta Upanisads
For the most part, the canonical Shakta Upanishads are sectarian tracts reflecting doctrinal and interpretative differences between the two principal sects of Srividya upasana (a major Tantric form of Shaktism). As a result, the many extant listings of "authentic" Shakta Upanisads are highly variable as to content, inevitably reflecting the sectarian bias of their compilers:
"Past efforts to construct lists of Shakta Upanisads have left us no closer to understanding either their 'location' in Tantric tradition or their place within the Vedic corpus. [...] At stake for the Tantric isn't the authority of sruti per se, which remains largely undisputed, but rather its correct interpretation. For non-Tantrics, [itis a text's] Tantric contents that brings into question its identity as an Upanisad. At issue is the text's classification as sruti and thus its inherent authority as Veda."
Of the Upanishads listed in the Muktika only nine are classified as Shakta Upanisads. They are here listed with their associated Vedas:
Sītā (AV)
Annapūrṇa (AV)
Devī (AV)
Tripurātapani (AV)
Tripura (RV)
Bhāvana (AV)
Saubhāgya (RV)
Sarasvatīrahasya (KYV)
Bahvṛca (RV)
The list excludes several notable and widely used Shakta Upanisads, including the Kaula Upaniṣad, the Śrīvidyā Upaniṣad and the Śrichakra Upaniṣad.
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