Talk:Muktikopaniṣad

By Swami Harshananda

Muktikopaniṣad

This is a well-known minor Upanisad assigned to the Sukla Yajurveda. It is often referred to by others since it gives a long list of 108 Upaniṣads. It is in two adhyāyas or chapters containing 134 mantras mostly in the anuṣṭubh metre, the rest being in prose.

It is cast in the form of a dialogue between Hanumān and Srī Rāma the emperor, (considered as an incarnation of Lord Viṣṇu Himself) at Ayodhyā, the capital from where he ruled.

Hanumān asks Srī Rāma as to his greatness and the way of attaining liberation without much effort. Śrī Rāma replies that by the true knowledge of Vedānta, one can get the mukti or liberation known as sāyujya, absorption into him. Incidentally he gives the several divisions of the Vedas (which are produced by his breath as it were) and the Upaniṣads.

In answer to another question by Hanumān about the various descriptions of mukti given by others, Srī Rāma delineates four kinds of mukti—sālokya (attaining his world), sāmīpya (living near him), sārupya (having a form similar to his) and sāyujya (unity in him)—and praises the greatness of the tārakamantra (‘Rāma’) uttered by Siva, the Lord of Kāśī, in the ears of persons dying there.

However, he also stresses that only a knowledge of the Upaniṣads can give liberation. Then he proceeds to give the names of 108 Upaniṣads. (All these are now available in print, with the commentary of Upaniṣadbrahma Yogīndra.)

Then comes the method of giving the knowledge of these Upaniṣads to worthy seekers. Atheists, ungrateful ones, persons of evil character, those who lack devotion to God, those who have no love for the guru—all these are unfit to receive this knowledge. On the other hand, the disciples devoted to the service of the guru, those who are of good character and devoted to God should be given this knowledge after testing them.

Next, there is a long section giving

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the Sāntimantras (peace-invocations) for the various Upaniṣads. They are decided as per the Veda to which the Upaniṣad belongs: vāh me manasi for the Upaniṣads of the Rgveda (like Aitareya and Kausitaki); purnamadah for the Upaniṣads of the Sukla Yajurveda (like īśāvāsya and Brhadāranyaka)-, saha nā vavatu for the Upaniṣads of the Krsna Yajurveda (like Katha and Taittiriya)', āpyāyantu for the Upaniṣads of the Sāmaveda (like Kena and Chāndogya)', bhadrarh karnebhih for the Upaniṣads of the Atharvanaveda (like Praśna and Mundaka).

Here ends the first chapter.

The Second chapter deals mainly with jīvanmukti (liberation while living in the body) and videhamukti (liberation from future transmigration after death).

It is the vāsanās (tendencies and impressions in the mind carried over from previous lives) that are responsible for bondage. Hence, in order to get liberation, the seeker has to practise simultaneously vijñāna (knowledge about the ātman or the true Self), vāsanākṣaya (attenuation and destruction of the vāsanās) and manonāśa (destruction of the tendencies in the mind that arise involuntarily).

The Upaniṣad then proceeds to describe in detail how they can be achieved. Desisting from the will to fulfil desires, practising prāṇāyāma and meditating on pure consciousness as the essence behind one’s Self and the world—these are the means of attaining jīvanmukti.

See also jīvanmukti-viveka.

References

• The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore