Talk:General Introduction to Upaniṣhads

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Vishal Agarwal

The four Vedas are the Divinely revealed scriptures. They are: Rigveda, Yajurveda, Sāmaveda, and Atharvaveda. Each Veda has four parts: Saṃhitā (the core part, considered most authoritative), which forms the basis of the other three parts: Brāhmaṇa, Āraṇyaka, and Upaniṣad. The Upaniṣhads typically occur at the end (‘anta’) of each Veda, and therefore they are also often referred to as ‘Vedānta’.

The word ‘Upaniṣhad’ means ‘secret wisdom that connects one with the Reality or with the Divine within oneself'[1] The Upanishads are concluding sections of the Vedas and are the core scriptures, dealing with

  1. Nature of the Divine,
  2. Nature of the Individual,
  3. Nature of the Universe,
  4. Relationship between the three entities,
  5. The path to Moksha, and
  6. Nature of Moksha.

Many of these six topics are dealt with in other scriptures too from their own perspectives, but none deal with the first (Nature of the Divine) in as much detail as the Upaniṣhad. Together with the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahmasūtras, the Upaniṣhads constitute the triple canonical sources (‘Prasthānatrayī’)[2] of the Vedānta Darshana, the prevailing school of Hindu Dharm.

The Upaniṣhads are often embedded within the larger texts detailing Vedic ceremonies (Yajnas) – namely the Āraṇyakas and Brāhmaṇas, although in many cases, they have been preserved separately from their larger mother text that has been lost[3]. Sometimes, it is difficult to discern where the Brāhmaṇa or Āraṇyaka ends, and the Upaniṣhad starts.

Each of the four Vedas further has several Shākhās or schools of study. The different recensions (‘Shākhās’)[4] of the four Vedas have different, ancient Upanishads attached to them, per the table below. Altogether, over 220 Upanishads survive, but most of them are recent creations and are non-Vedic. But those listed in the table are the ones of whose genuineness we are very certain. Note that different recensions sometimes share texts with each other, including the Upanishads.

The titles that are bolded are considered the 10 major Upanishads in the Advaita Vedanta tradition, and have the earliest commentaries available on them, by Shankarāchārya[5]. The titles in Italics are some other ancient Upaniṣhads bearing commentaries or quoted frequently by other ancient Gurus'. This does not mean that the remaining texts are any less ancient or authoritative, but they have not been used significantly by later teachers even though traditional commentaries do exist on some of them.


No. Veda Recension (Śākhā) Upaniṣad Notes / Source Context
1 — (Rigvedic Brāhmaṇa) Mahaitareya (Bahvṛca Brāhmaṇa) Mahaitareya Chapters 2–3 of Aitareya Āraṇyaka; Chapter 3 is the Saṃhitopaniṣad.
2 Ṛgveda Śākala, Āśvalāyana Aitareya Sections 4–6 of Chapter 2 of Aitareya Āraṇyaka.
3 Ṛgveda Śāṅkhāyana / Kauśītaki Kauśītaki [6] Chapters 3–6 of Śāṅkhāyana Āraṇyaka.[7]
4 Ṛgveda Śāṅkhāyana Saṃhitopaniṣad Chapters 7–8 of Śāṅkhāyana Āraṇyaka.
5 Ṛgveda Śāṅkhāyana Mahāvākya (etc.) Chapters 13–15 of Śāṅkhāyana Āraṇyaka.
6 Ṛgveda Bāṣkala Bāṣkalamantra Upaniṣad —
7 Ṛgveda Mudgala Mudgala Upaniṣad —
8 Ṛgveda Paiṅgī Paiṅgala Upaniṣad[8] —
9 Ṛgveda Unknown Ārṣeya[9] —
10 Ṛgveda Unknown Śaunaka —
11–22 Atharvaveda Śaunaka, Paippalāda & others

Muṇḍaka, Praśna, Māṇḍūkya, Kaivalya, Brahma, Ātmā, Garbha, Chūlikā, Praṇava, Nārāyaṇa, Atharvaśiras, Atharvaśikhā, etc. || Difficult to identify the exact recensions (extant or lost) they come from.

23 Sāmaveda Kauthuma / Rāṇāyanīya Chāndogya Chapters 3–40 of Tāṇḍya Brāhmaṇa.
24 Sāmaveda Jaiminīya / Śātyāyanīya Prāṇāgnihotra Initial sections of Jaiminīya Brāhmaṇa.
25 Sāmaveda Śātyāyanīya Gāyatrī Śātyāyanī Initial sections of Chapter 4 of Talavakāra Āraṇyaka.
26 Sāmaveda Śātyāyanīya Kena Later sections of Chapter 4 of Talavakāra Āraṇyaka.
27 Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda Maitrāyaṇīya Maitrāyaṇīya Upaniṣad Also called Maitrāyaṇīya Āraṇyaka.
28 Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda Maitrāyaṇīya (lost sub-śākhā) Chhāgaleya From a lost sub-branch.
29 Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda Maitrāyaṇīya (lost Brāhmaṇa) Āruṇeya Manual for entering saṃnyāsa; part of the lost Maitrāyaṇī Brāhmaṇa.
30 Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda Kāṭhaka Kathāśikṣā Very similar to Chapter 1 (Śikṣāvalli) of Taittirīya Upaniṣad.
31 Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda Kāṭhaka Kathavallī —
32 Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda Kāṭhaka Kathāśruti Manual on saṃnyāsa; from the lost Katha Brāhmaṇa.
33 Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda Kāṭhaka Śvetāśvatara A sub-recension of the Katha tradition.
34 Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda Taittirīya Chitti Upaniṣad Chapter 3 of Taittirīya Āraṇyaka.
35 Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda Taittirīya Taittirīya Upaniṣad Chapters 7–9 of Taittirīya Āraṇyaka.
36 Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda Taittirīya Mahānārāyaṇa Chapter 10 of Taittirīya Āraṇyaka.
37–38 Śukla Yajurveda Mādhyaṃdina & Kāṇva Īśāvāsya Two similar but distinct recensional versions.
39–40 Śukla Yajurveda Mādhyaṃdina & Kāṇva Bṛhadāraṇyaka In two slightly different versions
41 Śukla Yajurveda Mādhyaṃdina & Kāṇva Agnirahasya Sections of Book 10 of Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa (both recensions).
42 Śukla Yajurveda Jābāla (lost) Jābāla Manual on saṃnyāsa; only surviving portion of this lost śākhā.
43 Śukla Yajurveda Tāpanīya Nṛsiṃha Tāpanīya Two parts: Pūrva and Uttara; Uttara is particularly ancient.
44 Śukla Yajurveda Unknown Subāla —
45 Śukla Yajurveda All Vedas Śiva-saṃkalpa Located in Saṃhitā, Chapter 34.


There are many sections in other parts of the Vedic literature (Saṃhitās , Brāhmaṇas and Āraṇyakas ) that have an Upanishadic character, but a listing of the same is being left out here for brevity.

References[edit]

  1. ↑ The popular meaning “sit and learn below and close to a teacher” is very secondary and not very accurate even though modern scholars often promote it.
  2. ↑ Vedānta itself has several sub-schools of which the most prominent ones are Advaita, Vishiṣhtadvaita and Dvaita associated with Shankarāchārya, Rāmānujāchārya and Madhvāchārya respectively. Some later schools of Vedānta add the Bhāgavata Purāṇa to the Prasthānatrayī.
  3. ↑ We don’t know which larger text had the Upanishads of the Atharvaveda embedded in it, with the exception of Praṇava Upaniṣhad that is a part of the surviving portion of the Gopatha Brāhmaṇa. Shankarāchārya mentions a collection of Atharvaveda’s Upaniṣhads starting with a specific mantra that does not exist in texts available to us. Manuscripts with a collection of 52 Upaniṣhads attached to the Atharvaveda are available but they do not begin with the Mantra quoted by Shankarāchārya
  4. ↑ According to tradition, there were 21 recensions of Rigveda (of which 3 or 4 survive), 9 of Atharvaveda (2 survive), 15 of Shukla-Yajurveda (2 survive), 86 of Krishṇa Yajurveda (11 survive fully and partially). Additionally, Sāmaveda had a thousand varieties of chanting of which most were lost very early on but perhaps 15 or so survived into the common era. Of these, only 3 survive fully today with remnants of a few others available. However, we can say with confidence that practically all major Vedic scriptures are incorporated in the portion of the Vedas that survives today. 5The list of 108 Upaniṣhads given in the Muktikā Upaniṣhad also regards these as the major ones. However, the Brahmasūtras, which are the most ancient and authoritative systematization of the Upanishads, do not refer to two of these (Kena and Māṇdūkya) and instead refer to others (Mahānārāyaṇa, Mahaitareya, Kaushitakī, Shvetāshvatara and Agnirahasya) even according to the traditional commentaries by Shankarāchārya and others.
  5. ↑ The manuscripts from Kerala have slight differences than those from other parts of India.
  6. ↑ The manuscripts from Kerala have slight differences than those from other parts of India.
  7. ↑ Numbering varies in different manuscripts.
  8. ↑ It is commonly said to belong to Shukla Yajurveda. But in my opinion it belongs to Rigveda’s lost Paingi Shākhā.
  9. ↑ We aren’t sure if this and the Shaunaka Upaniṣhad belonged to the Rigveda at all.
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