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Om, Sr| Gurubhyo Numuhu

7F=EID=@I 7F=EID=@I 7F=EID=@I 7F=EID=@I 7F=EID=@I
DB. S. YEGNAS\BBAMANIAN
The lerm "upa jnearj -ni jdovn -shaJa-sil"
means "lo sil by lhe side". The knovledge lhal
vas imparled by lhe leacher by keeping lhe
sludenl closely by his side, is deall vilh in lhe
\panishads. This implies lhal lhe subjecl lhal
is laughl is of lhe nalure of a secrel personal
advice lhal could be imparled only lo lhe
"eligible" aJhihaari, vho is condilioned lo
absorb lhe leaching! Il also means, "lhal
knovledge lhal makes one reach near rahman"
similar lo lhe lerm "upanayana" leading lo lhe
Paramaatman. The upanishads give lhe spirilual
vision and philosophical argumenls and conlain
lhe ullimale message and purpose of lhe Vedas.
They are knovn as "veJanta". The lerm "anta"
means "end". \panishads are lhe "end" of lhe
Vedas in lvo senses: 1. Physical localion of lhe
\panishads in lhe scriplures - firsl Samhita, lhen
raahmana, folloved by Aaranyaha, al lhe
concluding porlion of vhich is lhe upanishads,
2. The ullimale goal or aim of lhe Vedas is
conlained in lhe \panishads beyond vhich lhere
is nolhing more lo go furlher!
\panishads expound lhe direcl melhod of
realizalion lhrough jnaana maarga lhe palh
of knovledge, lhe aIheJha non-dualily of lhe
Supreme Being and lhe jiva. Even lhough
\panishads conlain informalion aboul riluals
yajnas, vorship of deilies elc., lhe focus is
on lhe philosophical analysis and deals vilh a
slale of free mind vilh all ils allachmenls
bondage removed. The karma kaanda porlion
of lhe scriplures condilions lhe mind lo develop
an inlernal discipline al lhe summil of vhich
experience, analysis of lhe non-dualily of lhe
]iva soul and rahman becomes clearer! Al lhis
slage of removal from all physical bondage,
one gels inilialed lo lhe "mahaa vaahhyas" lhe
greal sayings ! If one medilales inlensely on
lhese, scholars say, lhal lhe non-dualily could
be aclually experienced. Four mahaa vaahhyas
are consi dered mosl i mporlanl and are
conlained in four upanishads. They are:
1. prajnaanam Irahma a+ t - lhe aclual
experi ence al one i s rahman - Ai lareya
\panishad : Big Veda.
2. aham Irhamaasmi ~r t ' - I am
rahman - Brihadaaranyaka \panishad: Sukla
Yajur Veda. The fourlh chapler of Tailliriya
\panishad of Krishna Yajur Veda has a slighlly
di fferenl mahaa vaahhya - ahamasmi
Irahmaahamasmi ~r ~' tr'
8. tat tvam asi ~'n - lhal you are -
Chaandogya \panishad: Saama Veda.
4. ayamaatmaa Irahma ~ t - lhe
Atman soul i s rahman - Maandukya
\panishad : Alharva Veda.
As one vould undersland, lhese are
inslruclions vhich can be given only lo a
spirilual aspiranl vho is highly qualified
aJhihaari lo receive lhem, and so are lrealed
like a rahasya secrel !
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There are several upanishads over lvo
hundreds! and Sri Adi Sankara chose lo vrile
commenlaries Ihaashya upon len of lhem,
knovn as JasopanishaJs. Sri Bamanuja and
Sri Madhva also vrole commenlaries on lhe
same len upanishads. Whereas Adi Sankara
highlighled lhe non-dual aJvaita philosophy
propounded in lhem, Sri Bamanuja emphasised
visishta-aJvaita qualified non-dual and Sri
Madhva, lhe Jvaita dual philosophies. The
len upanishads are given in lhe sloka :
: + ++ + + '-|
- z-:| r:+ :
They are Isa, hena, hathaa, praSna,
muNJa, maanJuhya, tai ttari ya, ai tarEya,
chaanJogya anJ IrahaJaaranyaha UpanishaJs.
Adi Sankara's commenlary is vrillen in lhe
same order as above.
1. Isnnvnnsyn : : : : :} ov Isn \pnnishnd
Il is placed al lhe end of Sukla Yajur
Veda's Samhita porlion. Il begins vilh lhe
vords "Isaa vaasyam" and hence lhe name. The
upanishad begins by saying lhal Isvara
pervades lhe vhole cosmic makeup and one
should allain lhe slale of realizalion of lhis
"paramaatma tattva" by dedicaling one's fruil
of all harmas lo Thal Divinily alone !
: ': n '+ -
++ + = | :+ ':+
2. Kcnopnnishnd + +|'+ + +|'+ + +|'+ + +|'+ + +|'+
This \panishad slarls vilh lhe vord
"hena" and so lhe name. Il is also called
talavahaara upanishaJ since il appears in lhe
lalavakaara IraahmaNa of lhe ]aimini saahha
of Saama veda. This describes hov lhe Molher
Herself enlighlened Indra vilh divine visdom
lo undersland lhe nalure of paramaatman. Il
is glorified vilh a saying "search for vhalever
is losl in Kena"! The \panishad slarls vilh a
sel of queslions, "Willed by vhom does lhe
direcled mind go lovards ils objecl. Being
direcled by vhom does lhe vilal force lhal
precedes all, proceed lovards ils duly. By
vhom is lhis speech villed lhal people uller.
Who is lhe effulgenl being vho direcls lhe eyes
and lhe ears." . The \panishad proceeds lo
declare lhal "Il rahman is knovn lo him lo
vhom Il is unknovn, he does nol knov lo
vhom Il is knovn. Il is unknovn lo lhose vho
knov vell, and knovn lo lhose vho do nol
knov" - an inlense and minule analysis!
3. KnIhopnnishnd +|'+ +|'+ +|'+ +|'+ +|'+
This upanishad occurs in lhe "kalhaka
Saakha" of Krishana Yajur Veda. Il conlains
lhe dialog belveen lhe Lord of Dealh and
Nachikelas, a young boy vho demanded lo
knov lhe ansver for lhe queslion, "vhal
happens lo lhe soul afler dealh." Allhough il
begins vilh a slory, il expounds a greal lrulh
lhal lhe Atma is differenl from lhe body and
all affliclions of lhe body like anger, halred,
likes, passion, elc. and so one should lrain
lhe mind lo viev lhe body as an exlernal objecl
lo Atman.
4-6 Fvnsnn + ++ ++} Mundnkn } nnd
Mnnndukyn + + + + +} \pnnishnds
These lhree belong lo Alharva Veda.
Prasnopanishad deals vilh lhe analysis of six
queslions praSna means queslionand lhey
are: 1. Hov crealion began . 2. Devas are
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vhom. 8. Hov body and life are connecled.
4. Whal are lhree slales - vakefulness, dream
and deep sleep. 5. Whal is lhe benefil of
vorshipping lhe Pranava. 6. Whal is lhe
relalion belveen Purusha and ]iva.
Mundaka \panishad is believed lo be
fol l oved by Sannyaasi ns vi lh delached
disposilion of lhe phenomenal vorld. The lerm
munJaha means "ful l y shaven- head" or
"lonsure". The upanishad deals vilh 'ahshara
Irahman' vhich may mean eilher as lhe one
vhich is free from dissolulion decay or as
"syllable". The imagery of lhe ]ivaatma and
Paramaatma as lvo birds perched on lhe lree
of sareera body vhere lhe ]iva bird eals lhe
fruils of aclion and lhe paramaatma bird
remains a mere vilness, is given in lhis
\panishad lhe mollo of India, "Trulh alone
lriumphs" is also derived from lhis upanishad!
n ++ n + - '| : +:
The smallesl of all upanishads is Maandukya
upanishad conlains only lvelve manlras!.
Manduka + means "frog". As a frog can leap
from lhe firsl lo lhe fourlh slep of a slairs vilhoul
having lo climb each slair, lhis upanishad gives
lhe vay lo lranscend lhe lhree slages of
avakening jaagrati, dream svapna, and sleep
susupti and reach lhe fourlh slage of turiya
lhrough lhe vorship of Pranava.
7. TniIIiviyn ' ' ' ' '-| | | | |} upnnishnd
This belongs lo lhe Krishna Yajur Veda.
This has lhree chaplers: Seekshaa valli deals
vilh aspecls of sludies and leaching, various
upaasanas including lhal of pranava, aavahanti
homa manlras, fundamenlal dulies and values
elc. The famous slalemenls lhal "molher,
falher, leacher and guesl are personificalions
of divinilies" occur in lhis chapler.
: | = ' : | =
~- : | = ~'' : | =
The second chapler, brahmaananda valli,
deals vilh an unique analysis of five shealhs -
panca hosas namely, annamaya food, praana
maya life, mano maya mind, vijnaana maya
knovledge and aananJa maya bliss shealhs.
The popular inquiry of "bliss" in an ascending
order culminaling vilh 'IrahmaananJa' is
expounded al lhe end of lhis chapler.
The lhird chapler, brighu valli, is lhe
leaching upaJesa of Varuna lo his son Brighu
vhere he enables his son lo go lhrough an
inlense enquiry of lhe Self lhrough lhe slages
of lhe panca hosas, and lhe son finally achieves
lhe resulls. The value of food - "do nol abuse
food, grov more food, do nol vasle food"- is
given in delail. The chapler ends vilh lhe
proclamalion lhal lhe Bealized ]iva lhinks lhal
he alone is lhe food, lhe one vho eals il, lhe
one vho generaled link belveen lhe food and
lhe ealer. He sings in bliss vhere himself and
divinily are One.
8. AiInvcyn } \pnnishnd
This is placed al lhe end of lhe Ailareya
Aranyaka of Big veda and is so called because
il came lhrough lhe revelalion of lhe rishi
Ailareya. This expounds lhe cycle of life and
dealh according lo one's ovn merils punya
and demerils paapa and hov freedom from
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lhis cycle is possible lhrough knovledge
jnaana of lhe nalure of aatma. This conlains
lhe greal saying "prajnaanam Irahma".
9. Chnnndogyn z-:| z-:| z-:| z-:| z-:|} \pnnishnd
Thi s i s pl aced i n l he chaanJogya
Iraahmana porlion of saama veda. The lerm
'chaanJoga' means 'lhe one vho sings lhe
saama gaana. This \panishad deals vilh
several disciplines viJyaj like ahshi viJya,
aahaasa viJya, saanJilya viJya, praana viJya,
panchaagni viJya elc. The mosl imporlanl viJya
is Jahara viJya vhich deals vilh lhe realizalion
of l he l i mi l l ess spal i al expanse of l he
Paramaatman vilhin lhe small space aahaasa
of lhe ]iva. Il conlains several popular slories
such as lhal of Salyakaama, \ddalaka Aaruni
elc. This also gives lhe famous mahaavaahhya
'tat tvam asi"!
1U. Hvnhndnnvnnykn r:+ r:+ r:+ r:+ r:+} \pnnishnd
This is lhe biggesl of all lhe \panishads
and occurs as lhe enlire aaranyaha porlion of
suhla yajur veJa ! There are lvo versions of
lhis, lhe Maadhyandina version and lhe
Kaanva version. Adi Sankara's commenlary is
on lhe Kaanva version only. Il conlains 8
haanJas MaJhu, Muni and Khila haanJas
divided in lo six chaplers. In lhis \panishad,
lhe Atman is described lhrough a series of
negalions as "nol lhis, nol lhis", knovn as neti
neti +' +' - + ~ :' vaaJa . According lo lhis
argumenl, lhe vorld, lhe body and lhe mind
have lo be negaled and lhe Alman is realized
as lranscending any descriplion lhrough
vords! Il slarls vilh lhe famous saying,
~n| n; n| -|'
| ~
lead me by giving knovledge from
unreal lo real, from darkness ignorance lo
lighl, from dealh limilalion lo immorlalily
limilless
This \panishad relales slories of Irahma
jnanis like kings Ajaala Salru and janaka, lhal
vomen vere also Irahma vaaJins, in lhe slory
of Gargi ! MaJhu haanJa gives lhe message lhal
everyl hi ng i s l he mani fesl al i on of
Paramaatman and lhal a realized jiva vill feel
lhal lhe enlire crealion is as sveel as honey!
Muni haanJa relales lhe advailic philosophic
discussions of Sage Yaajnavalkya vilh King
janaka, and his council of scholars, lhe sage's
veJantic inslruclions lo his vife Maillreyi elc.
Khila haanJa consolidales many messages lhal
l i e scal l ered al vari ous pl aces hhi l a -
scallered!
If lhe samhita is like a lree, lhe Iraahmanas
are ils flovers, lhe aaranyahas are lhe fruils
in lhe unripened slale and lhe upanishaJs are
lhe ripe fruils. They being lhe mosl imporlanl
parl of lhe vedas, lhey are righlly knovn as
"sruti siras" or lhe head of lhe vedas!!
Bef. 'The VeJas, haratiya ViJya havan,
omIay 1088.