The Vedas: An Exploration

Upanishads: The Acme of Philosophical Literature

LAKSHMI DEVNATH (Continued from previous issue...)

The Vedic seers gave to the world a compilation of teachings in religion that were at once practical and profound. A glance at the contents of the Vedas reveals the gradual but remarkable way in which the spiritual aspirant is taken towards the supreme. While the mantra portion and its corollary of the Brahmanas guide the aspirant towards action in the form of rituals and sacrifices, through the study of Aaranyakas he is gradually initiated into withdrawal from the outer world and the commencement of an inward journey. At the end of the Aaranyakas are texts called Upanishads. They can be called the acme of philosophical literature and contain answers to baffling esoteric questions that have perplexed man perennially. ‘Upa (near) – ni (down) – shad (sit)’. The term Upanishad means to sit down, close. Could it be that the word was coined to indicate that the student had to sit near the teacher, listen intently to him and absorb his teachings? The great Advaita preceptor Shankara in his Bhashya to the Taittiriya Upanishad interprets the word ‘Upanishad’ as that which destroys ignorance (shad – to destroy). It is conjectured that the word could also be related to a Pali word ‘Upanisa’, meaning cause or connection. Could it be as Western scholars like Oldenbeg and Senart speculate, that Upanishad corresponds to ‘upasana’ meaning profound knowledge? Speculations on its etymological interpretations aside, the sheer brilliance and profundity of the knowledge imparted therein can hardly be gainsaid. The supreme reality is interpreted with definiteness and with precision. This whole of literature can be categorised as contemplative and realizationoriented as opposed to ritual and ceremonial. On this basis the Vedas are considered to have two portions – Karma Kanda (portions dealing with action and rituals) and Jnana Kanda (portions dealing with knowledge). Maharishi Jaimini, a hermit of the highest order, analysed the Karma Kanda and wrote a treatise on it called the Purva Mimamsa. The great sage Veda Vyasa absorbed the essence of the Jnana Kanda portion and presented it in the form of aphorisms that gained fame as the Brahma Sutras. There are over 200 Upanishads. However, traditional literature lists 108 upanishads of which 10 belong to the Rig Veda, 19 to the Sukla yajur Veda, 32 to the Krishna yajurveda, 16 to the Sama Veda and 31 to the Atharvaveda. Again, out of these, 13 are regarded to be the principal upanishads. Sri Adi Shankara and Sri Madhvacharya, master of the dualist philosophy, have written exhaustive commentaries called Bhasyas on the Upanishads. However, Sri Ramanuja refrained from writing a regular commentary on the

Upanishads. He gave instead, Vedartha Sangraha wherein he provides a Sri Vaishnava interpretation of select Upanishadic texts. The following Shloka enumerates the 10 Upanishads on which Adi Shankara wrote his commentaries: ईशकेनकठप्रश्नमुण्डमाण् डूक्यतित्तिरि ः ऐत्रेयं च छान्दो ग्यं बृहदारण्यकं तथा ।। But rhetoric and theory apart, what is the message of the Upanishads that has both Occidental and Oriental Scholars reading it with wonder?

Messages most Profound ‘In the whole world there is no study so beneficial and so elevating as that of the Upanishads. It has been the solace of my life, it will be the solace of my death’ said the German scholar Schopenhauer; he couldn’t have made a more candid assessment of the Upanishads. This compilation has often also been described as the Veda Siras, Shruti Siras and the crowning glory of the Vedas. What is the message of the Upanishads that has scholars describing it with a profusion of superlatives? कस्मिन्नु भगवो विज्ञाते सर्वमि दं विज्ञातं भवतीति ‘(which is that thing) which having been known, all this becomes known?’ asks the Mundaka Upanishad (1.1.3). The Svetasvatara Upanishad addresses men as the children of immortality. While each Upanishad has its own message for mankind, it would not be erroneous to say that at the core they all stress on one all-important factor – realization of God. They, in a nutshell, teach Brahma Vidya or knowledge of the Brahman.

Focus of the 10 important Upanishads in a nutshell

Isavasya: ईशा वास्यमि दं सर् वं ‘The whole world is pervaded by God’ declares this Upanishad. It appears at the end of the Sukla Yajur Veda Samhita. This is a rare exception to the rule that all the Upanishads come at the end of the Braahmana portion of the Vedas.

Kena: This is also known as the Talavakaara Upanishad. It is a part of the Sama Veda and appears in the Talavakaara Brahmana of the Jaimini Saakha. Katha: It is in this Upanishad that the popular dialogue on what happens to the soul after death, takes place between Yama and a little boy Nachiketas. Many popular quotes in circulation today have been extracted from this Upanishad. Of them is the oft quoted, ‘Arise Awake and stop not till the goal is reached’ that Swami Vivekananda popularised. Prashna, Mundaka and Mandukya: All these belong to the Atharva Veda. Prashna means question. This Upanishad gives the answers for six important questions. They are: 1) How did creation begin? 2) Who are the Devas? 3) How does life get connected to the body? 4) What is the truth about the states of wakefulness, sleep and dreaming? 5) What is the benefit of worshipping Omkara? 6) What is the relationship between Purusha and Jeeva? Mundaka: It means shaven headed. Probably it derives its name because its contents are such that they can be followed only by mature minds, for example the sannyasis. This Upanishad talks of the Akshara Brahman which can either be translated as that which is free from decay, dissolution or the sound, the syllable OM. The motto of our country सत्यमेव जयते, ‘Truth alone triumphs’, is a mantra from the Mundaka Upanishad. Mandukya: Mandukya, means a frog. Nobody knows why and how this Upanishad derived its name. However, several guesses have been hazarded. It is said that the Rishi to whom this Upanishad was revealed was Varuna in the form of a frog. Others say that it belonged to a set of people or tribe who adopted the frog as their symbol. Yet another viewpoint is that if one meditates on the Omkara, in one leap like a frog, he can transcend the three stages of Jagruti, Swapna and Sushupti and reach the