The Upanishads (Devanagari: उपनिषद्, IAST: upaniṣad, also spelled “Upanisad”) are Hindu scriptures that constitute the core teachings of Vedanta. They do not belong to any particular period of Sanskrit literature: the oldest, such as the Brhadaranyaka and Chandogya Upanishads, date to the late Brahmana period (around the middle of the first millennium BCE), while the latest were composed in the medieval and early modern period. The Upanishads have exerted an important influence on the rest of Hindu Philosophy, and were collectively considered one of the 100 Most Influential Books Ever Written by the British poet Martin Seymour-Smith.
The philosopher and commentator Shankara is thought to have composed commentaries on eleven mukhya or principal Upanishads, those that are generally regarded as the oldest, spanning the late Vedic and Mauryan periods. The Muktika Upanishad (predates 1656) contains a list of 108 canonical Upanishads and lists itself as the final one. Although there are a wide variety of philosophical positions propounded in the Upanishads, commentators since Shankara have usually followed him in seeing idealist monism as the dominant one.
Dara Shikoh (d. 1659), son of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, translated fifty Upanishads into Persian. Max Müller (1879) was aware of 170. Sadhale, in his massive verse index Upaniṣad-vākya-mahā-kośa, has drawn on 223 different extant texts that call themselves by this name. Additionally, parts of earlier texts, of Brahmanas or passages of the Vedas themselves, are sometimes considered Upanishads.
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Etymology
The Sanskrit term upaniṣad derives from upa- (nearby), ni- (at the proper place, down) and sad, that is “sitting down near” a teacher in order to receive instruction- “laying siege” to the teacher, as Schayer puts it.Monier-Williams adds that “according to native authorities upanishad means ’setting to rest ignorance by revealing the knowledge of the supreme spirit’);…”A gloss of the term upaniṣad based on Shankara’s commentary on the Kaṭha and Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upanishads equates it with Ātmavidyā, that is “knowledge of the Self“, or Brahmavidyā “knowledge of Brahma”.(dictionary meanings include “esoteric doctrine” and “secret doctrine”.
Philosophy
The Upanishads speak of an universal spirit (Brahman) and of an individual soul (Atman), and at times assert the identity of both. Brahman is the ultimate, both transcendent and immanent, the absolute infinite existence, the sum total of all that ever is, was, or shall be. The mystical nature and intense philosophical bent of the Upanishads has led to their explication in numerous manners, giving birth to three main schools of Vedanta. Shankara’s exegesis of the Upanishads does not describe Brahman as the God in a monotheistic sense. His philosophy is named advaita, “not two” as opposed to dvaita, founded by Madhvacharya, which holds that Brahman is ultimately a personal God, to be aligned with Vishnu, or Krishna (brahmano hi pratisthaham, I am the Foundation of Brahman Bhagavad Gita 14.27). The third major school of Vedanta is Vishishtadvaita, founded by Ramanujacharya and it has some aspects in common with the other two. The ninth chapter of the Taittiriya Upanishad says:
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- He who knows the Bliss of Brahman (divine consciousness)..does not distress himself with the thought “why did I not do what is good? why did I do what is evil?”. Whoever knows this (bliss) regards both of these as Atman (self, soul), indeed he cherishes both as Atman. Such, indeed, is the Upanishad, the secret knowledge of Brahman.
The key phrase of the Upanishads, to Advaita Vedanta, is तत् अिस “Tat Tvam Asi” (That thou art). Vedantins believe that in the end, the ultimate, formless, inconceivable Brahman is the same as our soul, Atman. We only have to realize this through discrimination. (However, interpretations of this phrase differ.)Verses 6, 7 & 8 of Isha Upanishad:
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- Whoever sees all beings in the soul and the soul in all beings… What delusion or sorrow is there for one who sees unity?
It has filled all. It is radiant, incorporeal invulnerable… Wise, intelligent, encompassing, self-existent,
It organizes objects throughout eternity.
- Whoever sees all beings in the soul and the soul in all beings… What delusion or sorrow is there for one who sees unity?
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The Upanishads also contain the first and most definitive explications of the divine syllable Aum or OM, the cosmic vibration that underlies all existence. The mantra “Aum Shanti Shanti Shanti” (the soundless sound, peace, peace, peace)is often found in the Upanishads. ‘Devotion to God’ (Sanskrit: bhakti) is foreshadowed in Upanishadic literature, and was later realized by texts such as the Bhagavad Gita.
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List of Upanishads
“Principal” Upanishads
The following list includes the eleven “principal” (mukhya) Upanishads commented upon by Shankara, and accepted as shruti by most Hindus. Each is associated with one of the four Vedas (Rigveda (ṚV), Samaveda (SV), White Yajurveda (ŚYV), Black Yajurveda (KYV), Atharvaveda (AV));
- Aitareya (ṚV)
- Bṛhadāraṇyaka (ŚYV)
- Taittirīya (KYV)
- Chāndogya (SV)
- Kena (SV)
- Īṣa (ŚYV)
- Śvetāśvatara(KYV)
- Kaṭha (KYV)
- Muṇḍaka (AV)
- Māṇḍūkya (AV)
- Praśna (AV)
The Kauśītāki and Maitrāyaṇi Upanishads are sometimes added. All these date from before the Common Era. From linguistic evidence, the oldest among them are the Bṛhadāraṇyaka and Chāndogya Upanishads. The Jaiminīya Upaniṣadbrāhmaṇa, belonging to the late Vedic Sanskrit period, may also be included. Of nearly the same age are the Aitareya, Kauṣītaki and Taittirīya Upaniṣads, while the remnant date from the time of transition from Vedic to Classical Sanskrit.
In the Muktika Upanishad’s list of 108 Upanishads the first 10 are grouped as mukhya “principal”. 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.
