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Frequently Asked Questions About Upanishads SWAMI HARSHANANDA Question & nsuuers __________________ __ Frequently Asked Questions About Upanishads SWAMI HARSHANANDA QUESTION: What does the term 'Upani;;ad' The Upan~ads have been an integral part mean? of the Vedas. 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. (Max Muller). 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 Brahman 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 Hindu philosophy. 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 Ramanuja (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 Ramakrishna 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 Sanskrit to his credit. D V e dan t a K e s a r i - 488 - DEC E M B E R 2 0 0 7 49 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 Yoga 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 Sannyasa 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) Vedanta 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 Raikva-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 Hinduism? 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 Hindus 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 Ayurveda done, not only by a fearless spirit of inquiry (Health Sciences), Bharata 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 Angiras, Bhrgu, Cargl, Chora Angirasa, quintessence of Vedic religion and philosophy. Haridrumata, Mahidasa Aitareya, Narada, The $aqdarsanas or the six systems of Indian Pippalada, Raikva, Sanatkumara, Sanqilya, Philosophy derive their strength and Satyakama J abala, U ddalaka Arul)i, Vamadeva inspiration from them. The Vedanta systems and Varul)a. are entirely an outcome of their study. The Yama, the god or death, Prajapati, the idea of mo~a as the primary goal of life, which creator, great kings like Janaka, Ajatastru and has permeated the Indian religions and culture Pravahal)a Jaivali also appear in the role of of the succeeding centuries, owes its origin teachers.
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