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The Spirit of the Upanishads

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The Spirit of the Upanishads SWAMI NIKHILANANDA RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY The Spirit of the Upanishads SWAMI NIKHILANANDA he Upanishads are called the Vedanta. perception (aparokshànubhuti), these truths, The Vedanta is the essence, and forms which cannot be reached through our senses Tthe concluding section of the Vedas. or reasoning. The Vedas are the basis of the orthodox When we say that the rishis had a direct Hindu philosophical systems. They are the and an immediate perception of the truths, earliest extant literary, philosophical, and we mean that the perception was uncoloured religious monument of the Indo-Aryans. The by the senses or mind. What we call direct age of the Vedas has been a matter of perception of reality in science is but sense controversy amongst Western and Indian perception; but according to the Hindu seers, scholars, but we are told that the Vedas date our senses, or even our mind, cannot always from 1500 B.C. to 3000 B.C. Now the be relied upon, because our senses and mind Hindu students of the Upanishads are not are always conditioned by various factors, very much disturbed by the matter of age, both internal and external. So the rishis because to them the Vedas are eternal, transcended the mind, the conscious mind, without beginning or end, and devoid of any and they realized truths by what Sri human authorship. Of course, by the Vedas Ramakrishna called shuddha-buddhi, the we do not mean a particular book, for the inner consciousness which realizes the Vedas refer to eternal truths and eternal universal Consciousness. That does not wisdom. These deal with supersensuous and mean that the Vedic truths are opposed to supra-mental topics such as the Godhead, reason; reason helped the rishis as much as the soul, the nature of creation, the hereafter it could and then bowed itself out. of souls, and the invisible planes of Being. Now we realize that there are three factors, which determine truth: Shruti, yukti The truths of the Vedas and anubhuti, that is, the scriptures, reason, and their character and personal experience. Because these The truths of the Vedas, the supra- truths are supersensible and superconscious, mental and superconscious truths of the in order to understand them, you must accept Vedas, were revealed to those spiritually certain hypotheses and then use reasoning. qualified souls whom we call rishis. These The scriptures, as explained by qualified rishis reached great spiritual heights by the teachers, are subjected to rigorous reasoning practice of yoga, which mainly consists of and then, after reason is satisfied, the student self-control and concentration. Thus they immerses himself in these truths and realizes made themselves the conduits for the their inner meaning. If we rely only upon manifestation of the eternal truths, and scriptures, then revelation becomes realized, through direct and immediate dogmatic. If we depend entirely upon 8 Bulletin of the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture September 2018 THE SPIRIT OF THE UPANISHADS reason, then also we cannot get a correct nihshreyasa or the attainment of the highest appreciation of truth, because reason, as we good. This is the subject-matter of the know, is oftentimes only the rationalization Upanishads: the immortality of the soul, the of our desires: If we depend solely upon freedom of man, and the highest good. In the experience, we may be misguided, because early stages of our spiritual development, we experience without reason may lead us are full of desires, and we may enjoy the astray. But if all the three point to the same fulfilment of desires in this world and the conclusion, then we can be sure that we have next. But the time comes when we seek found the truth. When truth meets with the deliverance from desire, and then we follow approval of the Shruti, that is, the record of the teachings of the Upanishads. past experience, and of our reason and personal experience, then that truth becomes The Upanishads and their study valid. There are one hundred and eight Upanishads, of which ten or eleven are the The two parts of the Vedas most important. For centuries the teachings and their aim of the Upanishads were transmitted by The Vedas are divided into two parts: words of mouth from the teacher to the the first is called karma-kànda, which deals student, and later on they were put down in chiefly with rituals and sacrifices. The writing. These Upanishads were made the purpose of this part of the Vedas is basis of the Indian philosophical systems, abhyudaya, which means material happiness especially the Vedanta. There have been in life and happiness hereafter in heaven. In three main interpretations of the Upanishads: order to enjoy happiness in life, the Hindu the non-dualistic (Advaita) interpretation of philosophers followed a method which is Shankaràcàrya, the qualified non-dualistic different from the methods followed in (Vishishtàdvaita) interpretation of modern times in this competitive world. The Ràmànujàcàrya, and the dualistic (Dvaita) Vedas uphold the cosmic view of life. interpretation of Madhvàcàrya. According to this view, all beings are Now, what is the meaning of the term interdependent, especially human beings in ‘Upanishad’? According to Shankaràcàrya, relation to nature. This cosmic view of life is the word etymologically means wisdom or opposed to the selfish or egocentric or knowledge. When a qualified student competitive view of life. It is said in the accepts this knowledge from a competent Bhagavad-Gità that the gods, being pleased teacher, it enables him to get rid of by the offering of sacrifices, confer the ignorance, which is the root of all false desired enjoyments on mankind. So in the values, and ultimately enables the student to Vedic sacrifices the gods are propitiated. attain supreme bliss. When that is done, we get rain; from rain The Upanishads are called âtmavidyà or comes food, which sustains our physical knowledge of the Self, ie Brahman or the bodies. This system of the Vedas has now Absolute. In the Upanishads, both âtman become more or less obsolete; we have other and Brahman are identical. The Upanishad is methods of worship. a philosophy of life. We call it darshana. The second part of the Vedas is called The purpose of darshana is the discovery of jnàna-kànda, the purpose of which is Reality, and also the application of this Bulletin of the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture September 2018 9 SWAMI NIKHILANANDA knowledge of Reality to our daily life. surface; there are deeper layers, which we Therefore by philosophy we do not mean cannot know through our senses. The mere intellectual knowledge or intellectual Upanishad gives us the knowledge of the understanding; we mean the transformation complete man. Therefore the knowledge of of life, the control of our lower nature, and the Upanishad is very important even in the the manifestation of the higher nature. daily problems of life. Therefore mere intellectual honesty or The Upanishad, like any other system of truthfulness is not enough to qualify a knowledge, is not the monopoly of any student for the study of the Upanishads. The country, race, or religion. Though the Western tradition demands of student that he wisdom of the Upanishads has been be truthful and honest; if he does not falsify developed in India, it is universal facts, if he is intellectually fit, he is well knowledge, and it offers the key to the qualified to study philosophy. But here, for understanding of other systems of religion the study of the Upanishads, there are four and philosophy. When we deal with the qualifications prescribed for the student: first Upanishads, we find that they contain of all, we have viveka, or that sharp intellect different strands of philosophical by which we can discriminate between the speculation, though all culminate, shall we real and the unreal. Secondly, we must have say, in the Advaitic or non-dualistic or vairàgya, or detachment from passion, or idealistic view of life. When knowledge is that intense power of the will by which we attained, duality ceases. Everything is can discard that which to our reason appears lighted by ‘That thou art’ (Tat-tvam-asi); so to be unreal. Thirdly, we must have the six the spirit in man is identical with the Spirit virtues: Shama (calmness), dama (self- behind the universe. The ultimate Reality in control), uparati (self-withdrawal), titikshà the Upanishads is called Brahman, which is (forbearance), shraddhà (faith), and the cause of creation, preservation, and samàdhanà (self-settledness). Fourthly, we destruction of the universe. must have mumukshutà, or that intense desire for liberation from all bondage. Relationship between God and the world The Upanishadic view of man Four different positions have been taken What does the Upanishad teach? The by the Indian philosophers regarding the Upanishad teaches knowledge, the relationship between God, or Brahman, and knowledge that liberates. It deals with the the universe. nature of God and the nature of the soul and First of all, we have the philosophy of its destiny. This knowledge is very important realism, according to which matter exists in our daily life. Man has a deeper reality in independently of God, and for eternity. God him than is seen on the surface; he is not a may be called the world fashioner, as has mere psycho-physical entity; he has a deeper been described by the Naiyàyika foundation. Man may be compared to an philosophers. The Sàmkhya philosophers iceberg. Only a very small part of an iceberg discarded the idea of God, but they cannot is seen above the water, and the remaining be called materialistic, because they part is below the surface. Likewise, only an admitted Purusha or the Soul, which is of infinitesimal part of man is seen on the the nature of consciousness.
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