Upanishads

Sanskrit upanisad: sitting close to one's teacher

A term most often translated as "Secret Doctrine", although the actual Sanskrit words speak of "sitting close to one's teacher"; listening to inspired teachings and wisdom.

The Upanishads are regarded as more or less authoritative summaries of the philosophy and moral codes of the Vedas and of traditional Hinduism in general.

Most of the works were written by anonymous Indian sages and scholars at some time between 800 and 400 BCE. At a later time, the texts came to be regarded as major scriptures in their own right, and were considered to be inspired revelations, for which the Sanskrit word is shruti. For this reason, these texts are also known as Vedanta, a term that actually means End of the Vedas.

There is no general consensus as to the number of Upanishads. Traditionally, they count 108; but the actual number is simply unknown. Also, there is no consensus as to which, and how many, texts are considered the Principal Upanishads, numbers range from ten to eighteen, and scholars and translators often seem to make personal choices in this regard.

Most of the Upanishads are considered to belong to one of the four Vedas. Shankara's (8th century philosopher) ten principal texts, for example, are classified in the following way:

Rig Veda: Aitareya Upanishad

Sama Veda: Kena- and Chandogya Upanishad

Yajur Veda: Isha-, Katha-, Taittiriya- and Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad

Atharva Veda: Mundaka-, Prashna-, and Mandukya Upanishad

In general, the Upanishads reflect the Vedas in the importance they attribute to the powers released through sacrifices, although the Upanishads also differ from the older Vedas in that they focus much more on what goes on inside humans, on psychological processes and states of consciousness. The texts further developed the idea of brahman, the highest concept of a divine principle in Brahmanism, and speculate extensively on how the individual soul (Skt., atman) can be united with brahman by methods of contemplation and meditation.

They also dwell on the concept of karma, the effects of a person's actions in life and on how to overcome this causality by means of renunciation and spiritual exercises such as meditation.

Originally, these works were intended to be transmitted to members of the upper three castes only, but in today's world most of the texts are accessible to everyone who seeks to read them.

Literature

Alyar, K.Narayanasvami. Thirty Minor Upanishads. El Reno, Okla.: Santarasa Publications, 1980

Deussen, Paul. Sixty Upanishads of the Veda. 2 vols. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1990

Easwaran, Eknath (trans.). The Upanishads. London: Routledge, 1988

Müller, Max (trans.). The Upanishads. Sacred Books of the East. Vols. 5, 15. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1884. Reprint. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1964

Radhakrishnan, Sarvepalli (trans.). The Principal Upanishads (4 vols.). London: Harper & Row, 1953