Upanishad
means the inner or mystic teaching. The term Upanishad is
derived from upa (near), ni (down) and s(h)ad (to sit),
i.e.. sitting down near. Groups of pupils sit near the teacher
to learn from him the secret doctrine. In the quietude of
the forest hermitages the Upanishad thinkers pondered on
the problems of deepest concerns and communicated their
knowledge to fit pupils near them. Samkara derives the word
Upanishad as a substitute from the root sad, 'to loosen'.
'To reach' or 'to destroy' with Upa and ni as prefixes amd
kvip as termination. If this determination os accepted,
Upanishad means brahma-knowledge by which ignorance is loosened
or destroyed. The treatises that Vedanta. The different
derivations together make out that the Upanishads give us
bothe spiritual vision and philosophical argument. There
is a core of certainty which is essentially incommunicable
except by a way of life. It is by a strictly personal effort
that one can reach the truth.
The Upanishads more clearly set forth the prime Vedic doctrines
like Self-realization, yoga and meditation, karma and reincarnation,
which were hidden or kept veiled under the symbols of the
older mystery religion. The older Upanishads are usually
affised to a particularly Veda,through a Brahmana or Aranyaka.
Upanishad means the inner or mystic teaching. The term Upanishad
is derived from upa (near), ni (down) and s(h)ad (to sit),
i.e., sitting down near. Groups of pupils sit near the teacher
to learn from him the secret doctrine. In the quietude of
the forest hermitages the Upanishad thinkers pondered on
the problems of deepest concerns and communicated their
knowledge to fit pupils near them. Samkara derives the word
Upanishad as a substitute from the root sad, 'to loosen.,'
'to reach' or 'to destroy' with Upa and ni as prefixes and
kvip as termination. If this determination is accepted,
upanishad means brahma-knowledge by which ignorance is loosened
or destroyed. The treatises that deal with brahma-knowledge
are called the Upanishads and so pass for the Vedanta. The
different derivations together make out that the Upanishads
give us both spiritual vision and philosophical argument.
There is a core of certainty which is essentially incommunicable
except by a way of life. It is by a strictly personal effort
that one can reach the truth.
The Upanishads more clearly set forth the prime Vedic doctrines
like Self-realization, yoga and meditation, karma and reincarnation,
which were hidden or kept veiled under the symbols of the
older mystery religion. The older Upanishads are usually
affixed to a particularly Veda, through a Brahmana or Aranyaka.
The more recent ones are not. The Upanishads became prevalent
some centuries before the time of Krishna and Buddha.
The
main figure in the Upanishads, though not present in many
of them, is the sage Yajnavalkya. Most of the great teachings
of later Hindu and Buddhist philosophy derive from him.
He taught the great doctrine of "neti-neti", the
view that truth can be found only through the negation of
all thoughts about it. Other important Upanishadic sages
are Uddalaka Aruni, Shwetaketu, Shandilya, Aitareya, Pippalada,
Sanat Kumara. Many earlier Vedic teachers like Manu, Brihaspati,
Ayasya and Narada are also found in the Upanishads.
In
the Upanishads the spiritual meanings of the Vedic texts
are brought out and emphasized in their own right.
1.The
Paramahamsa Upanishad
1. Narada (Lord of Events) inquired of the Lord of Love:
"What is the state of the illumined man?"
The Lord replied: "Hard to reach is the state
Of the illumined man. Only a few
Attain to it. But even one is enough.
For he is the pure Self of the Scriptures;
He is truly great because he serves me.
And I reveal myself through him always."
He has renounced all selfish attachments
And observes no rites or ceremonies.
He has only minimum possessions,
And lives his life for the welfare of all.
2.
He has no staff nor tuft nor sacred thread.
He faces heat and cold, pleasure and pain,
Honor and dishonor with equal calm.
He is not affected by calumny,
Pride, jealousy, status, joy, or sorrow,
Greed, anger, or infatuation,
Excitement, egoism, or other goads;
For he knows he is neither body nor mind.
Free
from the sway of doubt and false knowledge
He lives united with the Lord of Love.
Who is ever serene, immutable,
Indivisible, the source of all joy
And wisdom. The Lord is his true home,
His pilgrim's tuft of hair, his sacred thread;
For he has entered the unitive state.
3.
Having renounced every selfish desire,
He has found his rest in the Lord of Love.
Wisdom is the staff that supports him now.
Those who take a mendicant's staff while they
Are still at the mercy of their senses
Cannot escape enormous suffering.
The illumined man knows this truth of life.
4.
For him the universe is his garment
And the Lord not separate from himself.
He offers no ancestral oblations;
He praises nobody, blames nobody,
Is never dependent on anyone.
He has no need to repeat the mantram,
No more need to practice meditation.
The world of change and changeless reality
Are one to him, for he sees all in God.
5.
The aspirant who is seeking the Lord
Must free himself from selfish attachments
To people, money, and possessions.
When his mind sheds every selfish desire,
He becomes free from the duality
Of pleasure and pain and rules his senses.
No more is he capable of ill will;
No more is he subject to elation,
For his senses come to rest in the Self.
Entering into the unitive state,
He attains the goal of evolution.
Truly he attains the goal of evolution.
2.The
Amritabindu Upanishad
1. The mind may be said to be of two kinds,
Pure and inpure; Driven by the senses
It becomes inpure; but with senses
Under control, the mind becomes pure.
2.
It is the mind that frees us or enslaves.
Driven by the senses we become bound;
Master of the senses we become free.
3. Those who seek freedom must master their senses.
4.
When the mind is detached from the senses
One reaches the summit of consciousness.
5. Mastery of the mind leads to wisdom.
Practice meditation. Stop all vain talk.
6. The highest state is beyond the reach of thought,
For it lies beyond all duality.
7.
Keep repeating the ancient mantram OM
Until it reverberates in your heart.
8.
Brahman is indivisible and pure;
Realize Brahman and go beyond all change.
9. He is (both) immanent and transcendent.
Realizing him, sages attain freedom
10. And declare there are no separate minds.
They have realized what they always are.
11.
Waking, sleeping, dreaming, the Self is one.
Transcend these three and go beyond rebirth.
12.
There is only one Self in all creatures.
The One appears many, just as the moon
Appears many, reflected in water.
3.The
Atma Upanishad
1. This is the teaching of a great sage:
Purusha
(highest Spirit) manifests itself in three ways:
As outer, inner, and supreme Self.
Skin, flesh, vertebral column, hair, fingers,
Toes, nails, ankles, stomach, navel, hips, thighs,
Cheeks, eyebrows, forehead, head, eyes, outer self.
The body, subject to birth and death.
2.
The inner self perceives the outside world.
Made up of earth, water, fire, air and space (akasha).
It is the victim of likes and dislikes,
Pleasure and pain, and delusion and doubt.
It knows all the subtleties of language,
Enjoys dance, music, and all the fine arts;
Delights in the senses, recalls the past,
Reads the Scriptures, and is able to act.
This is the mind, the inner person.
3.
The supreme Self, adored in the Scriptures,
Can be realized through the path of yoga.
Subtler than the banyan seed, subtler
Than the hundred-thousandth part of a hair,
This Self cannot be grasped, cannot be seen.
The
supreme Self is neither born nor dies.
He cannot be burned, moved, pierced, cut, nor dried.
Beyond all attributes, the supreme Self
Is the eternal witness (shanta atman), ever pure,
Indivisible, and uncompounded,
Far beyond the senses and the ego.
In him conflicts and expectations cease.
He is omnipresent, beyond all thought,
Without action in the external world.
Detached from the outer and the inner,
This supreme Self purifies the impure.
