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The Upanishads are Sanskrit philosophical texts that summarize the teachings of individual chapters of the four Vedas and are typically found in the concluding portions of the Brahmanas and Aranyakas. Many Upanishads have survived to this day, and have been commented on by representatives of various schools of Vedanta. The Upanishads should not be viewed as uniform books; each text is associated with the Veda in which it occurs, and the teachings of a particular Upanishad are often presented in the context of a specific Vedic hymn or ritual. In the Vedanta traditions, the Upanishads are referred to as sruti-prasthana, or revealed scriptures, through the comprehension of which knowledge of Brahman (the Absolute) is gained.
The Main Upanishads
The Upanishads which were commented upon by Shankara and other famous teachers acquired special importance as the principal, or more or less "canonical" Upanishads. These are:
The Threefold Canon of Vedanta (prasthana-traya): |
Brahma Sutras (Vedanta Sutras) Upanishads Bhagavad Gita |
These ten Upanishads are the most important and fundamental. Modern scholars believe that they are also among the oldest of all the Upanishadic texts. Some add Kaushitaki and Shvetashvatara to the list of the major Upanishads, and some add Maitrayani to them.
Other Upanishads
Many other Upanishads have survived to this day. In the Hindu tradition, the Upanishads are considered to be shruti, which are considered to be timeless, eternal, and apaurusheya (without a specific author). For this reason, dating the composition of the various Upanishads is of no significance to Hindus and is considered a pointless exercise. Some of the texts that are called Upanishads cannot be assigned to specific traditions. However, in reality, it is a matter of recognizing the shruti status of each particular text, not of determining the date of its composition. Modern scholars try to establish the periods of composition of all these texts. It goes without saying that the date of composition of these texts, including the major Upanishads, has absolutely no significance in the Vedanta tradition.
The Upanishads are most often classified according to their subject matter. Thus there are a large number of Upanishads that deal with the general themes of Vedanta, in addition to those that teach yoga and detail the injunctions of sannyasa. The Upanishads that deal in some way with one or another of the major deities of Hinduism are generally classified as Shaiva (Shiva), Vaishnava (Vishnu), and Shakta (Shakti) Upanishads.
The list of the 108 Upanishads as given in the Muktika Upanishad is given in the table below. The Yajurveda column contains two rows under each heading, with the Krishnayajurveda texts in the top row and the Shuklayajurveda texts in the bottom row.
108 Upanishads
Classifying the Upanishads on the basis of their subject matter seems reasonable, and apart from the 10 major Upanishads, most of the Upanishads cited by the earliest commentators fall under the category of Samanyavedanta. However, some Upanishads could easily be classified in more than one category. For example, the Varaha Upanishad and the Pashupatabrahma Upanishad are classified as Yoga Upanishads, rather than as Vaishnava and Saiva Upanishads respectively. Similarly, the Ganapati Upanishad is classified as a Saiva Upanishad, while the Skanda Upanishad is not. In the same way, the Hamsa Upanishad is called a Yoga Upanishad and not a Sannyasa Upanishad, while Paramahamsa is considered a Sannyasa Upanishad. Similarly, the Mahavakya Upanishad and the Brahmavidya Upanishad could equally well be included among the Sannyasa Upanishads.
In any case, it is quite obvious that there is a great deal of overlap in the themes of the Yoga Upanishads and the Sannyasa Upanishads, indicating close links between the practice of yoga and the institution of Sannyasa. This also inevitably raises the possibility that the traditional association of yoga with Samkhya philosophy in terms of the six darsanas (here: philosophies) may be a little misleading. In this connection, it is interesting to note that the most important texts on the yoga system were written by teachers of Advaita Vedanta, beginning with Shankara and going back further into the past centuries, although all these commentators interpret yoga more or less in Samkhya terms. Another interesting observation in this connection is that the Advaita Vedantins have fully embraced the practice of yoga as an aid to meditation and the realization of the non-dual Brahman.
At the beginning and end of each Upanishad there is always a short verse - mangalam ("auspicious, bringing good luck"), or mangala-shloka. The purpose of this verse is to tune the reader to the circle of thoughts to which the Upanishad is devoted and to pacify his mind. In its volume, it is always a short prayer verse with an appeal to Brahman and/or other famous deities, such as Indra, Brihaspati, etc. Each of the Vedas has its own mangala-shloka. The Yajurveda has two - one for the Krishnayayajurveda (the dark Yajurveda), the second - for the Shuklayajurveda (the light Yajurveda). In addition, some schools of Hinduism have their own mangala-shlokas - but, as a rule, they are known only within their school.
At the end of any mangal shloka there is a phrase "auṃ shaantiH shaantiH shaantiH" ("Om Shanti Shanti Shanti"), where the word "shaantiH" can be translated as "peace", "calm", "tranquility". This phrase eventually acquired the status of an independent mantra. After the "hippie revolution" it was repeatedly performed by various Indian and Western performers both in the traditional manner and in a modern arrangement. Due to its rhythmic and textual simplicity, the mangala from Shuklayajurveda has also gained great popularity in recent decades. It is widely used in the puja of various Shaivite and Shakti schools and in New Age musical compositions.
Belonging of Mangala-shloka to Veda | Sanskrit in Roman ITRANS encoding | Translation |
Rigveda | auṃ vaaN^me manasi pratishhThitaa . mano me vaachi pratishhThitam.h . aaviraaviirma edhi . vedasya maa aaNiisthaH . shrutaM me maa prahaasiiH . anenaadhiitenaahoraatraansandadhaami . R^ita.n vadishhyaami . satya.n vadishhyaami . tanmaamavatu . tadvaktaaramavatu . avatu maamavatu vaktaaram.h . auṃ shaantiH shaantiH shaantiH .. |
Om. Let my mind be based on speech. O Radiant One, reveal Thyself to me. May both of them (mind and speech) bring to me the knowledge of the Vedas. May all that I have learned not leave me. I will join (i.e. destroy the difference between) day and night by these studies. I will utter what is verbally true; I will utter what is mentally true. May That (Brahman) protect me; May That protect the speaker (i.e. the teacher), May That protect me; May That protect the speaker – may That protect the speaker. Om! Peace! Peace! Peace! |
Krishna Yajurveda | auṃ saha naavavatu . saha nau bhunaktu . saha viirya.n karavaavahai . tejasvi naavadhiitamastu . maa vidvishhaavahai .. auṃ shaantiH shaantiH shaantiH .. |
May He protect us both (the teacher and the student), together, (by revealing knowledge). May He protect us both, (by bestowing the fruits of knowledge). May we attain strength together. May what we learn be inspiring. May we not find fault with each other. Om! Peace! Peace! Peace! |
Shukla Yajurveda | auṃ puurNamadaH puurNamidaM puurNaat.h puurNamudachyate . puurNasya puurNamaadaaya puurNamevaavashishhyate .. auṃ shaa.ntiH shaa.ntiH shaa.ntiH .. |
Om. That is infinity (fullness), and this is infinity. Infinity comes from infinity, Having acquired the infinity of the infinite, it remains only infinity. Om! Peace! Peace! Peace! |
Sama Veda | auṃ aapyaayantu mamaa~Ngaani vaakpraaNashchakshuH shrotramatho balamindriyaaNi cha .. sarvaaNi sarvaM brahmopanishhadaM maahaM .. brahma niraakuryaaM maa maa brahma niraakarodaniraakaraNamastvaniraakaraNaM mestu tadaatmani nirate ya upanishhatsu dharmaaste .. mayi santu te mayi santu .. auṃ shaantiH shaantiH shaantiH .. |
May the limbs, speech, vitality, eyes, ears, and strength and all the organs be well developed in my body. All is Brahman, revealed in the Upanishads. May I not reject Brahman; may Brahman not reject me. May there be no rejection (of me by Brahman); may there be no rejection (of Brahman) by me. May all the virtues (discussed) in the Upanishads be in me, engaged in the search for my self; may they be in me. Om! Peace! Peace! Peace! |
Atharvaveda | auṃ bhadra.n karNebhiH shR^iNuyaama devaaH . bhadraM pashyemaakshabhiryajatraaH . sthiraira~NgaistushhTuvaamsastanuubhirvyashema devahita.n yadaayuH . svasti na indro vR^iddhashravaaH . svasti naH puushhaa vishvavedaaH . svasti nastaarkshyo arishhTanemiH . svasti no bR^ihaspatirdadhaatu .. auṃ shaantiH shaantiH shaantiH .. |
Om! May our ears hear what is auspicious, O gods. May our eyes see what is auspicious, O worshipable ones! May we enjoy the life span allotted by the gods, Praising them with our bodies and limbs unwaveringly! May the glorious Indra bless us! May the omniscient Sun bless us! May Tarkshya, the thunderstorm of the wicked and vicious, bless us! May Brihaspati grant us prosperity and good fortune! Om! Peace! Peace! Peace! |
Most of the Vaishnava (9 out of 14), Shaivite (6 out of 14) and Shakti (5 out of 9) Upanishads are related to the Atharvaveda. However, it should be noted that the other three Vedas also contain a significant proportion of "late" Upanishadic texts. Three Shakti Upanishads belong to the Rigveda, while it contains no Vaishnava and only one Shaivite Upanishad. Similarly, no Shaivite or Shakti Upanishads are related to the Shuklayajurveda, but a significant number of Shaivite (5 out of 14) Upanishads are included in the Krishnayajurveda. The Shakti Upanishads are grouped together, although some of them teach the worship of Saraswati, Lakshmi or Parvati, and others describe the Srichakra Upasana, where Shakti is identified with Brahman Himself rather than with individual shaktis of such deities as Brahma, Vishnu or Shiva.
The rivalry between different sects of Hinduism often led to multiple reworking of existing Upanishads and writing of new texts, which happened especially often in the Middle Ages. The Sharabha Upanishad serves as an example. Everyone who has studied Hinduism knows the story of the bhakta Prahlada, the demon-titan Hiranyakashipu, and Narasimha (Nrisimha, an avatar of Vishnu). The Sharabha Upanishad describes a continuation of this story, in which Sharabha-Virabhadra, an incarnation of Shiva, does to Narasimha approximately the same thing that Narasimha did to Hiranyakashipu. At the same time, the Shakti texts have their own continuation of the story of Sharabha, in which, in turn, the formidable form of Devi - Pratyangira - pacifies Sharabha, which, according to the idea of the Shakti authors of this story, should serve as an example of the supremacy of Devi and Shaktism over other currents of Hinduism.
The original sacred texts of Hinduism in Sanskrit have many different readings and editions in the different versions of the manuscripts that have come down to our time, which clearly indicates a long-term competitive struggle between representatives of different Hindu schools and movements. When studying these texts, it is important not to forget that the words about the exclusivity of worship of one or another deity are the result of significant temporary influence of certain religious groups within Hinduism, who presented their deity or their cult as the main one. At the same time, the first philosophical texts of the Upanishads were revealed by ancient sages as the pinnacle of spiritual wisdom, designed to help a sincere seeker in his spiritual quest.
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