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The Upanishads ( and as such form part of the Hindu Scriptures . They primarily discuss Philosophy , Meditation , and the nature of God ; they form the core spiritual thought of Vedantic Hinduism . Considered as Mystic or Spiritual contemplations of the Veda s, their putative end and essence, the Upanishads are known as '' Vedānta '' ("the end/culmination of the Vedas"). The Upanishads do not belong to a particular period of Sanskrit Literature . The oldest, such as the Brhadaranyaka and Chandogya Upanishads, may date to the Brahmana period (roughly the 8th century BC), while the youngest, depending on the canon used, may date to the medieval or early modern period. ETYMOLOGY The Sanskrit term '''' literally means "sitting down beside".Arthur Anthony Macdonell. A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary. p. 53. Monier-Williams notes that "according to some the sitting down at the feet of another to listen to his words (and hence, secret knowledge given in this manner; but according to native authorities ''upanishad'' means 'setting at rest ignorance by revealing the knowledge of the supreme spirit..."Monier-Williams. ''A Sanskrit-English Dictionary''. p. 201. {Link without Title} Web version accessed 1 April 2007. It derives from ''upa-'' (near), ''ni-'' (down) and ''sad'' (to sit), i.e. referring to the "sitting down near" a spiritual teacher ( Guru ) in order to receive instruction in the Guru-shishya Tradition . Other dictionary meanings include "esoteric doctrine" and "secret doctrine". A gloss of the term '''' based on Shankara 's commentary on the Katha Upanishad and Brhadaranyaka Upanishad Upanishads equates it with ''Ātmavidyā'', that is "knowledge of the Self ", or ''Brahmavidyā'' "knowledge of Brahma". MAJOR UPANISHADS Different Upanishads are affiliated with the four Vedas ( Rigveda , Yajurveda , Samaveda and Atharvaveda ). The Upanishads were transmitted orally by the Vedic schools Sakhas . The longest and oldest Upanishad are the Brihadaranyaka and the Chandogya respectively. The language of the Upanishads is Sanskrit , the oldest among them still classifying as late Vedic Sanskrit . The oldest Upanishads, the Brihadaranyaka and the Chandogya are composed in prose. These early texts may date back to the 8th-7th centuries BC. Later followed a series of Upanishads composed in verse, such as the Īśa, , Katha, and Śvetāśvatara Upanishads. In 1656 , at the order of Dara Shikoh , the Upanishads were translated from Sanskrit into Persian . From 1802 to 1804 Abraham-Hyacinthe Anquetil Du Perron published a Latin translation (2 vols.) from the Persian of the Oupnek'hat or Upanishada. It is a curious mixture of Latin, Greek, Persian, Arabic, and Sanskrit. These philosophical and meditative tracts form the backbone of Hindu thought. Of the early Upanishads, the Aitareya and belong to the Rig Veda , Kena and Chāndogya to the Samaveda , and Taittirīya and to the Yajurveda , and and to the Atharvaveda .Associated Upanishad and Vedic book information taken from Radhakrishnan Indian Philosophy, Vol. 1. In addition, the , Kathā, Śvetāśvatara are very important. Others also include and Maitreyi Upanishads as key. PLACE IN THE HINDU CANON Scholars of the Vedic books consider the four Vedas as poetic Liturgy , collectively called '' Mantra '' or '' Samhitā- '', adoration and supplication to the deities of Vedic Religion , in parts already melded with Monist and Henotheist notions, and an overarching order ( Rta ) that transcended even the gods. The '' Brāhmana '' were a collection of ritual instructions, books detailing the priestly functions (which first were available to all men, and so concretized into strictly Brahmin privilege). These came after the Mantra. Vedanta , is chiefly composed of '' Āranyaka s'' and Upanishads. The Aranyakas ("of the forest") detail meditative yogic practices, contemplations of the mystic one and the manifold manifested principles. The Upanishad basically realized all the monist and universal mystical ideas that started in earlier Vedic hymns, and have exerted an influence unprecedented on the rest of Hindu and Indian Philosophy . The philosopher and commentator Shankara (8th century) composed commentaries to eleven Upanishads. These Mukhya Upanishads are generally regarded as the oldest ones, spanning the late Vedic and the Mauryan periods. By the 17th century, there was a large number of Upanishads: The (1879) is aware of 170, and there are other counts in excess of 200 or even 300. The category of Upanishads has remained somewhat permeable, with the later additions being highly sectarian, perhaps representing "one of the strategies used by sectarian movements to legitimate their own texts through granting them the nominal status of '' Śruti ''." CONTENTS The '' Taittiriya Upanishad '' says this in the Ninth Chapter: The Upanishads hold information on basic Hindu beliefs, including belief in a world soul, a universal spirit, Brahman, and an individual soul, Atman (Smith 10). In Sanskrit, the word Brahman has two genders (masculine, Brahmâ, the creator-god or Brahman, neuter, the Absolute). A variety of lesser gods are seen as aspects of this one divine ground, Brahman (different from Brahma ). Brahman is the ultimate, both transcendent and immanent, the absolute infinite existence, the sum total of all that ever is, was, or ever shall be. Shankara 's exegesis of the Upanishads describes Brahman not as God in the monotheistic sense; he ascribes to it no limiting characteristics, not even those of being and non-being. Thus, Shankara's philosophy is named Advaita , "not two." Dvaita philosophy is a very different interpretation. Founded by Madhvacharya , this school holds that Brahman is ultimately a personal God, Vishnu , or Krishna (''brahmano hi pratisthaham'', ''I am the Foundation of Brahman'' Bhagavad Gita 14.27). Vishishtadvaita is the third major school of Vedanta, and it has some aspects in common with the other two. The sages of the Upanishad try to solve these mysteries and seek knowledge of a Reality beyond ordinary knowing. They also show a preoccupation with states of consciousness, and observed and analysed dreams as well as dreamless sleep. Philosophy Due to their mystical nature and intense philosophical bent that does away with all ritual and completely embraces principals of One Brahman and the inner Atman (Self), the Upanishads have a universal feel that has led to their explication in numerous manners, giving birth to the three schools of Vedanta . The Upanishads are summed up in one phrase तत् त्वं असि " Tat Tvam Asi " (That thou art) by the Advaita Vedanta and they believe that in the end, the ultimate, formless, inconceivable Brahman is the same as our soul, Atman. We only have to realize it through discrimination. The Upanishads also contain the first and most definitive explications of Aum as the divine word, the cosmic vibration that underlies all existence and contains multiple trinities of being and principles subsumed into its One Self. The ''Isha'' says of the Self (Verses 6, 7 & 8 of Isha Upanishad ): "''Aum Shanti Shanti Shanti''" This, too, is found first in the Upanishads, the call for tranquility, for divine stillness, for Peace everlasting. Dara Shikoh , the Muslim Sufi , and son of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan , translated the Upanishads in Persian in order to find in it elements of Monotheism that might pave the way for a common Mystical bond between Islam and Hinduism .. LIST OF UPANISHADS "Principal" Upanishads The following is a list of the eleven "principal" ('', and that are accepted as shruti by all Hindus. They are listed with their associated Veda ( Rigveda (), Samaveda (SV), White Yajurveda (), Black Yajurveda (KYV), Atharvaveda (AV)). # () # (ŚYV) # Isha Upanishad (ŚYV) # Taittiriya Upanishad (KYV) # (KYV) # (SV) # Kenopanishad (SV) # (AV) # (AV) # (AV) #(KYV) The and Upanishads are sometimes added to extend the canon to 13. They are also the oldest Upanishads, likely all of them dating to before the Common Era . From linguistic evidence, the oldest among them are likely the and Chāndogya Upanishads, belonging to the late Vedic Sanskrit period; the remaining ones are at the transition from Vedic to Classical Sanskrit. Canon by Vedic Shakha The older Upanishads are associated with Vedic Charanas ( Shakha s or schools). The Aitareya Upanishad with the Shakala shakha, the Upanishad with the Bashakala shakha; the Upanishad with the Kauthuma shakha, the Kena Upanishad, and the Jaiminiya Upanishad Brahmana , with the Jaiminiya shakha; the Upanishad with the Caraka-Katha shakha, the and with the Taittiriya shakha; the Upanishad with the Maitrayani shakha; the and Upanishads with the Vajasaneyi Madhyandina shakha, and the and Upanishads with the Shaunaka shakha. Additionally, parts of earlier texts, of Brahmana s or passages of the Vedas themselves, are sometimes considered Upanishads. The Muktika canon The following is a list of the 108 canonical Upanishads of the Advaita school, according to the Muktika Upanishad (number 108), 1:30-39 (which does not list the associated Veda). In this canon,
The first 10 are grouped as '' Mukhya '' "principal", and are identical to those listed above. 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. # Isha Upanishad , (ŚYV, Mukhya) "The Inner Ruler" # Kenopanishad (SV, Mukhya) "Who moves the world?" # Katha Upanishad (KYV, Mukhya) "Death as Teacher" # Prashnopanishad , (AV, Mukhya) "The Breath of Life" # Mundaka Upanishad (AV, Mukhya) "Two modes of Knowing" # (AV, Mukhya) "Consciousness and its phases" # Taittiriya Upanishad (KYV, Mukhya) "From Food to Joy" # Aitareya Upanishad , ( Mukhya) "The Microcosm of Man" # Chandogya (SV, Mukhya) "Song and Sacrifice" # (ŚYV, Mukhya) # (KYV, Sannyasa) # (KYV, Shaiva) {Link without Title} # (ŚYV, Sannyasa) # Shvetashvatara Upanishad (KYV, Sannyasa) "The Faces of God" # (ŚYV, Yoga) # (SV, Sannyasa) # (KYV, Sannyasa) # (KYV, Vaishnava) # (ŚYV, Sannyasa) # (KYV, Yoga) # (KYV, Yoga) # (AV, Shaiva) # (AV, Shaiva) # Maitrayaniya Upanishad (SV, Sannyasa) # (, Samanya) # (AV, Shaiva) # (AV, Vaishnava) # (KYV, Shaiva) # (SV, Sannyasa) # (ŚYV, Samanya) # (KYV, Yoga) # (ŚYV, Samanya) # (KYV, Samanya) # (ŚYV, Samanya) # (KYV, Samanya) # (SV, Samanya) # (KYV, Sannyasa) # (, Yoga) {Link without Title} # (KYV, Yoga) # (KYV, Yoga) # (KYV, Yoga) # (, Samanya) # () (AV, Sannyasa) # (ŚYV, Yoga) # (AV, Shakta) # (SV, Yoga) # (, Sannyasa) # (ŚYV, Yoga) # (KYV, Shaiva) # (AV, Shaiva) # () (KYV, Samanya) # (AV, Vaishnava) # (ŚYV, Sannyasa) # (AV, Vaishnava) # (AV, Vaishnava) # (SV, Vaishnava) # (, Samanya) # (AV, Yoga) # (ŚYV, Samanya) # (ŚYV, Sannyasa) # (SV, Samanya) # (KYV, Samanya) # (KYV Yoga) # (ŚYV, Sannyasa) # (SV, Sannyasa) # (AV, Sannyasa) # () (, Shaiva) # (SV, Vaishnava) # (KYV, Samanya) # (AV, Shakta) # (AV, Samanya) # (KYV, Samanya) # (ŚYV, Samanya) # (SV, Sannyasa) # (SV, Samanya) # (AV, Samanya) # (AV, Yoga) # (AV, Sannyasa) # (KYV, Sannyasa) # (AV, Shakta) # (AV, Shakta) # (, Shakta) # (KYV, Sannyasa) # (AV, Shakta) # (KYV, Shaiva) # (KYV, Yoga) # (AV, Shaiva) # (SV, Shaiva) # (AV, Shaiva) # (SV, Yoga) # (ŚYV, Vaishnava) # (AV, Yoga) # (KYV, Shaiva) # (KYV, Samanya) # (AV, Vaishnava) # (AV, Vaishnava) # (ŚYV, Sannyasa) # (KYV, Sannyasa) # (ŚYV, Sannyasa) # (AV, Vaishnava) # (AV, Vaishnava) # (AV, Vaishnava) # Kali-Santarana Upanishad () (KYV, Vaishnava) # (SV, Shaiva) # (, Shakta) # (KYV, Shakta) # (, Shakta) # (ŚYV, Samanya) NOTES REFERENCES
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