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Frequently Asked Questions About SWAMI HARSHANANDA

QUESTION: What does the term 'Upani;;ad' The Upan~ads have been an integral part mean? of the . Hence, a date assigned to them ANSWER: The word 'Upani~ad' is derived can as well hold good for the Upani~ads also. from the verbal root sad which has several The date of the ~gveda has varied from 4500 meanings: loosening, movement and B.C. (B.G. Tilak) and 2400 B.C. (Hang) to 1200 annihilation. Putting all these three senses B.C. (). Modern European scholars together, the word 'Upani~ad' refers to that assign the period 700 B.C. - 600 B.C. to the divine knowledge or wisdom which loosens Upani~ads assuming a gradual evolution to the bonds of samsara (transmigratory the philosophical ideas from the period of the existence) of a being, annihilates his ajfiana or Vedic hymns to that of the Aral)yakas and the ignorance of his real nature and leads him to Upani~ads. B.G. Tilak, on the basis of an or God, the Absolute. The book or astronomical data provided in the MaitriiyatLzya the scriptural work that teaches this wisdom Upani;;ad, has however, assigned 1900 B.C. as is also called 'Upani~ad'. the date of the Upani~ad. Hence, according to The word may also mean 'sitting him and the scholars that concur with him, devotedly near'. Hence it represents the' secret the Upani~ads belong to the period 2500 B.C. teaching, of spiritual wisdom' imparted in -2000 B.C. private to worthy pupils, but zealously QUESTION: Please specify the number of guarded from the unworthy ones. Upani;;ads. QUESTION: Howald are the Upani;;ads? ANSWER: From among the extant The orthodox view is that the Upani~ads U pani~ads, only ten to fifteen are considered are Revealed Word. They are revealed by God to be the older ones. They are the basic sources himself at the commencement of each cycle of of ancient . creation to the worthy few. Hence they are The number of works that go by the eternal. However, treating them as books of name 'Upani~ad' and available in print today spiritual wisdom, can we assign any date or exceeds 200. The Muktikopani;;ad gives a list of period, in relation to human history as known 108 Upani~ads. Sankara (A.D. 788-820), the till now? Attempts in this direction have rather earliest commentator, has chosen only ten been frustrating, thanks to that peculiar trait Upani~ads to expound. He refers to a few more of the Hindu mind which accords much in his commentary on the Brahmasutras. greater importance to the principle than to the (A.D. 1017-1137) has chosen, in person or the period. addition, two more. Considering the ones

c;;( The author is a senior monk of the Order and is the President of Ramakrishna Math, Basavanagudi, ~ Bangalore. He is a versatile speaker and a prolific writer having several publications in English, Kannada, and to his credit. D

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chosen by them as more ancient and the Sakta and the Vai~l)ava Upani~ads deal authoritative we can now list them (in the with the respective cults of Siva, Devl and alphabetical order) as follows: Vi~l)u. The Upani~ads supply a lot of Aitareya Upani~ad information about Hathayoga and Rajayoga Brhadaral)yaka Upani~ad based on the Yogasutras of Patafijali and other Chandogya Upani~ad works. The Upani~ads deal exclu­ Isavasya Upani~ad sively with monasticism, its ideals and Jabala Upani~ad practices. Kaivalya Upani~ad QUESTION: Considering their vast diversity, Katha Upani~ad do all these Upani;;ads teach a single system of Kau~ltaki Upani~ad philosophy? Or, do they contain several, mutually Kena Upani~ad conflicting, systems? Mal)dukya Upani~ad ANSWER: The orthodox Hindu tradition Mahanarayal)a Upani~ad has always considered the entire body of the MUl)qaka Upani~ad Upani~adic literature as one unit ('Sruti') and Prasna Upani~ad hence teaching one philosophy. Though this Svetasvatara Upani~ad philosophy may contain several aspects, they Taittirlya Upani~ad Vajrasucika Upani~ad always form a homogeneous unit. Hindu Most of the Upani~;;ads, outside the list religious tradition has always accorded the given above, belong to a much later period in Upani~ads the status of the highest authority. our history and were written to propagate A look at the different and divergent specific cults and sects. The nomenclature teachings of these Upani~ads does not easily 'Upani~ad' was conveniently added to them convince us about the soundness of the to gain respectability, acceptance and authority orthodox standpoint. The traditional in the orthodox circles or among the followers. commentators have, however, solved this However, it must be conceded that these problem by sticking to one view as the teaching Upani~ads also, though sectarian in character, of the Upani~ads and explaining (explaining have contributed quite a lot to the propagation away?) the others in a way that suits their of popular religion and ethics as also to the interpretation. maintenance of the Vedantic spirit among the Could it be that, over the centuries, many people. vital links have been lost and what we now These minor Upani~ads are sometimes have, are only fragments of the original works grouped as follows: leading to this dichotomy of views? Though this is a plausible explanation, there is no a) Upani~ads b) Saiva Upani~ads clinching evidence to prove it. c) Sakta Upani~ads Or, can we say that the various sages d) Vai~l)ava Upani~ads that we come across in the Upani~ads---like e) Yoga Upani~ads Gautama Arul)i, Yajfiavalkya, Svetaketu or f) Sannyasa Upani~ads -were great thinkers and mystics in The Vedanta Upan~ads follow the beaten their own right, who have given independent track of the major U pani~ads as far as the views, based on their own logic and general principles are concerned. The Saiva, experience? The Truth, Brahman (the Infinite,

V e dan t a K e 5 a r i - 489 - DEC E M B E R 2 0 0 7 50 the Absolute), is too great to be known excellence, irrespective of their birth, caste or exhaustively by anyone. One can get only a gender. glimpse of the same, like the six blind men QUESTION: How have the Upani;;ads touching the same elephant. Hence, could it influenced ? not be that the views of these sages, though Answer: If there is one mass of scriptures apparently different, reflect the several facets that has inspired and sustained the of the same Brahman? over the millennia, it is the Upani~ads. By Question: Who is a T;;i? advocating the ultimate triumph of the spirit ANSWER: Derived from the verbal root 'T;; over matter, of man over nature, the Upan~ads jiiiine', the word 'r~i' means any person have created, strengthened and preserved a possessing knowledge and expertise in any great tradition of spirituality. This they have field. Thus Caraka and Susruta of done, not only by a fearless spirit of inquiry (Health Sciences), of Natyasastra to its logical conclusions, but also by intuitive (Dramaturgy, including music and dancing) mystical experiences beyond the ken of the or Kautilya of Arthasastra (Political Science intellect, these experiences almost always including Economics) are all r~is. However, converging to a unitive principle. the word is commonly used to indicate persons No school of thought, no religious of spiritual eminence. movement, of the subsequent periods in the QUESTION: How many T;;is Upani;;ads history of India has remained untouched by mention? their influence, if not pervaded by them. In ANSWER: We come across a good number fact, many of these schools and movements of r~is or sages in the Upani~ads. Some like could gain respectability or acceptance only Yajfiavalkya are extraordinarily great geniuses. because they tread the path lighted up by the Others like Cautama Arul)i are excellent Upani~ads. teachers. A few others like Svetaketu are hard Scholars of Indian thought have task-masters. Sacrifices conducted by rich and discovered the influence of the Upani~ads on powerful-but noble-kings provided the religio-cultural life of other nations far opportunities to these sages not only to exhibit beyond the boundaries of India, whether it is their skills but also earn wealth and fame. Japan, China and Korea in the East or Central A selected list of sages that occur in the Asia in the West. major Upani~ads may now be given just for QUESTION: What do the Upani;;ads contain? the sake of information: ANSWER: The Upani~ads contain the , Bhrgu, Cargl, Chora Angirasa, quintessence of Vedic religion and philosophy. Haridrumata, Mahidasa Aitareya, , The $aqdarsanas or the six systems of Indian Pippalada, Raikva, Sanatkumara, Sanqilya, Philosophy derive their strength and Satyakama J abala, U ddalaka Arul)i, inspiration from them. The Vedanta systems and Varul)a. are entirely an outcome of their study. The , the god or death, , the idea of mo~a as the primary goal of life, which creator, great kings like Janaka, Ajatastru and has permeated the and culture Pravahal)a Jaivali also appear in the role of of the succeeding centuries, owes its origin teachers. One thing that strikes us is that these entirely to the Upan~ads. And, they are the teachers were revered for their knowledge and basis of the prasthiinatraya (the three

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foundational scriptures), the other two being encased and bound in this corporeal frame and the Bhagavadg'ita and the Brahmasutras. has lost much of his freedom. In this state, he The depth as well as the catholicity of is called as 'jlvatman' or simply as the 'jlva'. their thought has attracted the attention of the The answer to the question as to why and savants of other religions and societies also, how he has come to such a pass is ',' resulting in their being translated into other the inexorable consequence of his past actions. languages too. For the question, how and when the very first QUESTION: What is the basic teaching of the karma started this chain of bondage, there is Upani;;ads? no answer, since the Upani~ads accept creation ANSWER: The Upani~ads say that the basic as an eternal process, without beginning or cause of the universe, the cause of all causes, end. is called as 'Brahman'. Atman, Sat, Alcisa and QUESTION: What is sarizsiira or relative Bhuma are the other appellations used for this existence? Brahman. The world rises out of him, is ANSWER: Atman's involvement in the supported by him and gets dissolved back into cycle of birth and death, and consequent him. He is omniscient, omnipotent and suffering, has been called' samsara.' Mo~a or omnipresent. He is greater than the greatest, liberation from this bondage of samsara has smaller than the smallest and is also the inmost been presented before him as the goal of his Self of all. He is immanent in this world even life. And, this can be achieved by jfiana, or as salt is, in saline water. He is beyond all knowledge and, or devotion, which wants and limitations. He is the lord as well includes upasana or meditation. Karma or as the substratum of the whole creation. He action as prescribed in the scriptures is an aid sees, hears and knows although none can see to this mo~a. or hear or know him. He is the very QUESTION: How to be free from sarizsiira? personification of all the great virtues to their ANSWER: An aspirant seeking spiritual perfection. It is he who responds to the prayers freedom should first cultivate certain moral of his votaries and grants them whatever they and ethical virtues as the first step. Through seek. He is the ultimate goal of all. discrimination he should understand that the QUESTION: What is atman? Vedic rituals can never lead him to the eternal ANSWER: The atman is the core of all Truth and hence renounce them. He must be living being. He is neither born nor does he ever ready to reject the preyas (the pleasant) die with the birth and the death of the body. and choose the sreyas (the good). By eschewing He is unborn and eternal. He is different from evil conduct and by practicing self-control, he the body, the senses, the vital airs, the mind should turn back his mind from outside, into and the ego-sense and is ever free. All of them himself, the region of the heart, the seat of the are enlivened by Him, made to work by Him, at man, and meditate on it. He should show for Him. The defects and the infirmities in to all the living beings. He should them, or even their loss, can never affect Him. try to give them what they need and should QUESTION: Why are we born? never be greedy. He must be vigilant forever Answer: Though ever-free as atman, it and should always speak the truth and act is also a fact of experience that we are born according to or righteousness, by and we die. This atman has been, as it were, following the scriptural injunctions. Study of

V e dan t a K e 5 a r i - 491 - DEC E M B E R 2 0 0 7 52 the Upani~;;ads, performing austerities and QUESTION: When such a one, the fivanmukta observing or celibacy are also (one who is liberated even while living here in this invaluable aids in his inner struggle. body), gives up his body, what happens to him? QUESTION: How to begin this inner journey? ANSWER: According to one view, his ANSWER: He should approach a physical body and the subtle body disintegrate competent or spiritual teacher in all at death and get absorbed into the five humility and learn the truth about the atman elements. And, he gets merged in Brahman, from him, through proper questioning and like a river entering into the ocean. Losing his or service to him. The Upani~;;ads make it separate identity, he attains complete and incumbent on the guru to teach spiritual perfect unity with Brahman. wisdom to a worthy disciple, after testing him However, a large body of the Upani~adic if necessary. lore propounds the theory of the liberated soul The disciple should then practise travelling by the Arciradimiirga or the Bright (reflection) and nididhyasana (meditation) on Path (also called Devayana and Uttarayal)a) the atman which will result in anubhliti or to the Brahmaloka (also known as Satyaloka) realization. and reside there permanently in infinite peace QUESTION: What is the nature of the spiritual and bliss. The various stations on the path are experience that an aspirant gets when he realizes fire, day, bright fortnight, the six months of the atman? the northern solstice, the year, the sun, the ANSWER: He sees all beings in himself and moon and the lightning. All these actually himself in all. Hence he feels neither special represent the guardian deities of these stations. attraction nor repulsion for others. Behind From the last station, the vidyut or lightning, every thought of his, he is able to feel the an 'amanava puru~a,' a non-human (divine) power of the atman, the pure consciousness. being, leads the liberated soul to the He clearly perceives that all the bonds of his Brahmaloka. heart which had him tied down to this Anyone reaching Brahmaloka will not mundane existence, have broken down. He return to mundane existence. experiences great joy and bliss within himself. QUESTION: What kind of society existed When he directs his attention outside, there during the time of Upani;;ads? too he sees the same spirit, the atman or the ANSWER: Gleaning through the various Brahman. Spiritual experience, thus, leads to Upani~ads it is possible to have a fairly good same-sightedness and resultant love for all. idea of the type of society that existed during QUESTION: In practical terms, what kind of the period ofthe Upani~ads. happiness does an aspirant experience when he The country extended up to Gandhiira realizes atman? (Afghanistan) in the northwest, and included ANSWER: The bliss he experiences is several kingdoms like Madra (Sailkot), Kuru incomparably superior to any other happiness (Delhi), Kekaya (Punjab), Pancala (Bareilly, one can get in this world. And he will never Kanauj in Uttar Pradesh), Kosala (Ayodhya in have any type of regret for anything in life. Uttar Pradesh), Videha (Tirhut in Bihar), He may even roam about the world in a joyous Kausambi (Kosam, in Uttar Pradesh) and Kasl. state, declaring his experiences for the benefit The kings who ruled over these countries were of others. all ~atriyas who were experts in warfare and

V e dan t a K e 5 a r i - 492 - DEC E M B E R 2 0 0 7 53 administration, as also in the Vedic lore. In The Kena describes how the gods in fact, they were the traditional custodians of heaven, under the leadership of , were some types of esoteric sciences. They not only taught a lesson by Brahman in the guise of a sheltered learned brahmal)as and sages but ya~a or demigod (3.1 to 11). also strove to propagate the Vedic dharma. Major part of the Kapha is devoted to the They were ruthless in enforcing the highest story of N aciketas and Yama. standards of (truth) and dharma The Chiindogya contains the following (righteousness). The varl)a system was very stories: Dogs singing the udgltha (1.12); the much in vogue. As for the asrama system, king Janasruti learning from the sage Raikva brahmacarya, garhasthya and (4.1 to 3); the story of were more common though there is enough approaching Haridrumata for knowledge (4.4 reason to believe that sannyasa was also being to 9); the story of Satyakama and his disciple practiced. Great stress was laid on the purity Upakosala (4.10 to 15); Svetaketu the proud and integrity of personal life, irrespective of a boy, his humble father Gautama and the king person's station in life. Pravahal)a Jaivali (5.3 to 10); Sanatkumara QUESTION: Some more details about the Vedic teaching Narada (7.1 to 26); Indra and Virocana society? approaching Prajapati for the knowledge of ANSWER: A part from religion, ethics and the atman (8.7 to 12). philosophy, a number of secular sciences like QUESTION: How are the Upanishads relevant grammar, music, dance, archery, astrology, in today's context? How to practise thier teaching exorcising the evil spirits, preparing of in our day-to-day life? perfumes, toxicology and so on, were also ANSWER: The greatest problem of the well-known. modern man is lack of inner peace and Vedic sacrifices were very common. If constant conflict with the outside world. By they provided an occasion for the kings to earn stressing meditation on the inner incorporeal merit and show their generosity, it was also self (called Atman or God) and harmonious an opportunity to the scholars to display their relationship with others-in whom too the knowledge and earn name and fame, as also same God dwells---in the outside world, the some wealth. Upani~ads are very relevant even today. This On the whole, people seemed to be solution which has worked for five millennia contended with whatever they could earn by (or more)-as indicated by the men who lived right means. They believed that their sorrows such a life-can work even today if taken and misfortunes were caused by their own seriously and implemented sincerely. karma in their previous lives and hence did An earnest study of the Upani;;ads, without not hold others responsible for the same. preconceived notions and prejudices, is bound to QUESTION: It is said that the Upani;;ads are inspire one to aspire for the life of the spirit. Swami full of stories. Please tell us something about them. Vivekananda said that Upani;;ads are a mine of ANSWER: Strangely enough, the Up ani­ strength, and anyone who reads them will derive ~ads, though teaching abstruse philosophy, strength and succour. Unlike earlier times, now also give us some interesting stories. they are available to all. D

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