{"id":23,"date":"2019-08-22T08:48:42","date_gmt":"2019-08-22T08:48:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/icp03.epgpbooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/?post_type=chapter&p=23"},"modified":"2019-08-22T08:48:42","modified_gmt":"2019-08-22T08:48:42","slug":"the-central-doctrines-of-the-upanisads","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/icp03\/chapter\/the-central-doctrines-of-the-upanisads\/","title":{"rendered":"The central doctrines of the upani\u015fads"},"content":{"raw":"
\"epgp<\/a>\r\n<\/span><\/div>\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n
\r\n

Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

Upani\u015fads <\/em>are considered to be the end portions of the Veda (Ved\u0101nta). They represent the philosophical wisdom of the classical Indian tradition. Some hold that there are more than two hundred of them and for some only hundred eight. However some of the Upani\u015fads<\/em> are considered to be very important for any philosophical discussion as the great ac\u0101ryas<\/em> wrote commentaries on them. They are: \u012c\u015ba, Kena, Katha, Pra\u015bana, Mu\u0146\u1e11aka, M\u0101nd\u016bkya,<\/em> Taittir\u012bya, Ch\u0101ndogya, B\u0157had\u0101ra\u0146yaka, <\/em>and \u015avet\u0101svatara. <\/em>These Upani\u015fads <\/em>represent all the four Vedas as they do not belong to any single Veda. Many are omitted for the contents of those lesser known Upani\u015fads<\/em> are already found in the above mentioned major Upani\u015fads<\/em>. Let us discuss in detail the philosophical significance of each of them.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

2. What are the Upani\u015fads?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

The term \u2018upani\u015fad<\/em>\u2019 means to sit nearby or close by. The deserving disciples used to sit close to the teacher (guru<\/em>) in order to have knowledge of them. It is difficult to state anything about the great Upani\u015fadic<\/em> teachers and inquirers of truth. Sometimes their names are mixed up with the gods or mythological or historical persons. The philosophy of Upani\u015fads<\/em> is not a system of philosophy but several philosophical doctrines are brought together in these texts. Upani\u015fads<\/em> do not belong to the same time or place. They are also not composed by the same authors. Hence one finds different views and interpretations on the same texts. There is no uniform method followed in explaining the contents of the Upani\u015fads<\/em> and\u00a0sometimes the methods do not adhere to any logic. Myths, etymologies, analogies, dialogues are used to explain philosophical purport of the <\/span>Upani\u015fads<\/em>. They are the only logical proof.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n

2.1. The Upani\u015fadic<\/em> Personages<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

There is a tendency to mix up mythological persons, deities and historical persons in the <\/span>Upani\u015fads<\/em>. We come across these names in the form of dialogues and narratives. For instance we often come across the names such as Y\u0101j\u0148valkya, the spiritual guru of Janaka, It is believed that both lived around 9th century B.C. It appears that the former appeared in many controversies with many philosophers. The names of Maitreyi and G\u0101rgi, the two wives of Y\u0101j\u0148avalkya, also found in the <\/span>Upani\u015fadic<\/em> literature. The other prominent names that one comes across in this literature include \u015aanatkum\u0101ra, N\u0101rada, S\u0101ndilya, Aj\u0101ta\u015batru, G\u0101rgya, Bhrugu, Aupam\u0101nyava, A\u015bvapati, Bu\u1e11ila, Gautama, Kausitaki, Raikva, Naciketa. The discussions, dialogues, and analogies are interrelated, overlapping and repetitious. It is very difficult to say very definitely who is earlier and who is later. Those names appeared in the earlier <\/span>Upani\u015fads<\/em> are likely to be earlier than those appeared in the later <\/span>Upani\u015fads<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n

3. Central Teachings of the Upani\u015fads<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

By and large, the central doctrines of the <\/span>Upani\u015fads<\/em> focus mainly on the ultimate Reality Brahman\/\u0100tman. Several illustrations are found in different <\/span>Upani\u015fads<\/em> about the nature of Brahman\/\u0100tman and how it can be realized. Let us see how the following <\/span>Upani\u015fads<\/em> discuss the ultimate philosophical truths. \u2018<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n

3.1. \u012c\u015ba Upani\u015fad<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

This <\/span>Upani\u015fad<\/em> is the part of Sukla-Yajurveda. It starts with a prayer which states that this and the other world are full. Even if something is taken out or something is added to the full, the full remains as it is. This is the doctrine of the infinite to which the addition or subtraction make no difference. Regarding Brahman this <\/span>Upani\u015fad<\/em> says that it is One and does not move, yet it is faster than mind. It is far yet it is nearer. It is outwards, yet inwards to us. Those who take to the life of action (<\/span>karma<\/em>) are ignorant and go to the darker worlds. Through action we can only purify our minds. It is only through meditation we attain immortality. Everything in this world is pervaded by the Lord.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n

3.2. Kena Upani\u015fad<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

This <\/span>Upani\u015fad<\/em> belongs to S\u0101maveda. It raises the question: What is it that impels the senses and mind to perceive and understand? What is it that sustains all, but which nothing sustains? He who says that he knows it does not really know it, and he who says that does not know it indeed knows it. That is the \u0100tman, the Brahman. Without it the sense, mind, and\u00a0<\/span>even the gods can do nothing. In this <\/span>Upani\u015fad<\/em> we come across the idea that <\/span>Vidy\u0101<\/em> (Logos or the Higher Reason) is the same as Uma, the wife of Lord \u015aiva by knowing which alone one can know the Brahman. Of the gods, Indra (the deity of our intelligence, <\/span>buddhi<\/em>, according to some commentators) also was able to see <\/span>Vidy\u0101<\/em> and recognise her as such.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n

3.3. Katha Upani\u015fad<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

This <\/span>Upani\u015fad<\/em> belongs to S\u0101maveda. This is one of the philosophically important <\/span>Upani\u015fads.<\/em> It teaches about the knowledge of what happens to man after death. Such knowledge is more valuable than any other knowledge in the world for it is none other than the knowledge of the \u0100tman, which is the smaller than the smallest, and the greater than the greatest. The objects are the higher than the senses, and the mind higher than the objects, the individual\u2019s reason (<\/span>buddhi<\/em>) higher than mind, the Cosmic reason (<\/span>Mahat<\/em>) higher than the individual reason, the Unmanifest (<\/span>Avyakta<\/em>), the same as the goddess Aditi of the Vedas, higher than the Cosmic Reason, and the <\/span>Puru\u015fa<\/em> (\u0100tman) is the higher than the Unmanifest. There is nothing higher than the <\/span>Puru\u015fa.<\/em><\/p>\r\n \r\n

The Atman cannot be understood by reason. It has to be grasped only as \u2018Is\u2019. It can be realized by withdrawing speech (senses) into mind, mind into reason (<\/span>j\u0148\u00e3na<\/em> \u0101tman<\/em>), the reason into the Cosmic Reason (<\/span>Mah\u0101n<\/em> \u0100tman<\/em>), and that into Atman of Peace <\/span>(\u015a\u0101nta<\/em> \u0100tma).<\/em> Everything else is a branch of the \u0100tman, and the \u0100tman is their root. The whole is an A\u015bvattha tree, whose roots are above and branches are below. That is the \u0100tman is above everything yet it is the main root of everything.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n

3.4. Pra\u015bna Upani\u015fad<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

This <\/span>Upani\u015fad<\/em> belongs to Atharvaveda. In this <\/span>Upani\u015fad<\/em> the sage Pippal\u0101da answers six very important questions asked by six different enquirers. The questions and their answers are mixed up with some mythological stuff. The first question is: How were creatures created? Praj\u0101pati, the creator God did penance and through it created couples (polar opposites), which in turn created the world of beings. The couples were Rayi (material stuff) and Pr\u0101\u0146a (the life principle). The life principle is the Cosmic Person (<\/span>Vai\u015bv\u0101nara)).<\/em> This life principle is one\u2019s \u0100tman. The second question is: Who are gods? And who among them is the greatest? The gods are Ether (<\/span>\u0101k\u0101\u015ba<\/em>), Air, Fire, Water, Earth, Speech, Mind, Eye and Ear. Greater than all of them is <\/span>Pr\u0101\u0146a,<\/em> the life principle. All other gods for their function are dependent on it. The third question is: What is the origin of <\/span>Pr\u0101\u0146a<\/em>? How does it divide itself into senses, etc., of man? It is the reflection of \u0100tman and employs its divisions for performing different functions in the body. The fourth question is: What happens to the gods in sleep and who is it that sleeps? In sleep all the senses become one with the god of mind.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n

Only <\/span>Pr\u0101\u0146a<\/em>, the life principle, and its involuntary activities continue to work. They do not sleep at all. In dream the agent experiences whatever is experienced during the waking state again and even what is not then experienced. In dreamless sleep the agent is overpowered by a psyche force (<\/span>tejas<\/em>) the fire of his conscious being or its intense light and does not see dreams. Like birds resting on a tree everything rests in \u0100tman. The fifth question is: What does the word \u2018Aum\u2019 represents? It is same as the Brahman, both manifest and unmanifest together. The sixth question is about <\/span>Puru\u015fa<\/em> (\u0100tman). There are sixteen phases of it. They are: <\/span>Pr\u0101\u0146a,<\/em> Faith, the five elements, all the senses taken together, mind, food, semen, penance, sacred word, ethical action, the worlds, and name. All of them are fixed to the Atman like spokes in the axle. \u0100tman is the centre and circumference of the Universe.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n

3.5. Mu\u1e45\u1e11aka Upani\u015fad<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

This <\/span>Upani\u015fad<\/em> belongs to Atharvaveda. It distinguishes higher knowledge from lower one. The former is the knowledge of Brahman\/Atman and the latter is the knowledge of empirical sciences, Vedas and their subsidiaries. Just as spider throws out its web and withdraws it into itself again, \u0100tman throws the world out of itself and withdraws itself into itself. The life of action and sacrifices are simply unstable, they belong to the world of ignorance. The lower spirit in man looks for worldly benefits and the higher simply remains as a witness. It is often compared with two birds, one as a witness and the other as the <\/span>bhokta<\/em>. The former is the higher spirit and the latter is the lower one. It is the lower spirit which is subject to the rewards and punishments depending upon its merits and demerits. But it can overcome its bondage by realizing the higher spirit. Atman cannot be known through intellect or by study. One can know it only when one is chosen by it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n

3.6. M\u0101\u0146d\u016bkya Upani\u015fad<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

This <\/span>Upani\u015fad<\/em> belongs to Atharvaveda. In fact this <\/span>Upani\u015fad<\/em> contains the gist of the rest. It teaches us that \u0100tman has four states. They are: waking (<\/span>j\u0101grt<\/em>), dream (<\/span>\u015bvapna<\/em>), deep-sleep (<\/span>su\u015fupti<\/em>) and it original pure state (<\/span>t\u016briy\u0101<\/em>). In the first state the consciousness of the \u0100tman is directed towards external material objects. In this state it has seven parts and nineteen gateways. The seven parts are: forehead, eyes, the life principle <\/span>(pr\u0101\u0146a<\/em>), bodily centre, abdomen, feet, and face. The nineteen gateways are: the five senses (ear, eye, taste, touch, and smell), the five organs of action (hands, feet, the generative organ, the excretory organ), the five vital principles (<\/span>pr\u0101\u0146a<\/em>, <\/span>ap\u0101na<\/em>, <\/span>ud\u0101na<\/em>, <\/span>vy\u0101na<\/em>, and <\/span>sam\u0101na<\/em>), the four inner and internal instruments (<\/span>manas<\/em>, <\/span>ahamk\u0101ra<\/em>, <\/span>buddhi<\/em> and <\/span>citta<\/em>). The \u0100tman in this state is worldly or mundane person (<\/span>Vai\u015bv\u0101nara<\/em>). In dream state it has all the seven parts and nineteen gates, but its consciousness is turned towards the dream objects. These objects are not made up of gross matter. In this state the \u0100tman is called psyche (<\/span>Taijasa<\/em>) for its\u00a0<\/span>experience is constituted by psychic force. In the state of deep-sleep the \u0100tman sees no dreams and desires nothing. Its consciousness is its only gate and all plurality becomes one with it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n

This state of Atman is called <\/span>Pr\u0101j\u0148a,<\/em> for it is pure and undifferentiated. The fourth state is the pure state of \u0100tman. In this state it is beyond thought and speech. It knows itself without any medium. It is free from the Unconscious.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n

3.7. Taittr\u012bya Upani\u015fad<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

This <\/span>Upani\u015fad<\/em> belongs to S\u0101maveda. It talks about five types of union. They are: the union of physical elements like earth, water, air etc., the union of shining objects such as sun, fire, lightening; the union of knowledge like that in the teacher, student, and lectures; the union of creative beings like father, mother, and creation; and the union of physiological parts like upper jaw, lower jaw, and speech. The Brahman is the Truth, the Consciousness and the Infinite. From it born is ether, from ether air, from air fire, from fire water, and from water earth. And from earth are born plants, from plans food, from food <\/span>Puru\u015fa<\/em> (\u0100tman) or man as \u2018I\u2019. Since he eats, swallows, absorbs the different elements he is called \u0100tman. It is enveloped by <\/span>annamayako\u015ba, pr\u0101\u0146amayako\u015ba, manomayako\u015ba, vij\u0148\u0101namayako\u015ba and<\/em> \u0101nandamayako\u015ba. <\/em>The first two<\/span> ko\u015bas <\/em>belong to gross body (<\/span>sth\u016bla\u015bar\u012bra<\/em>) and the rest to belong to subtle body (<\/span>s\u016bk\u015fma\u015bar\u012bra<\/em>) and the last <\/span>ko\u015ba<\/em> belong to causal body (<\/span>k\u0101ra\u0146a\u015bar\u012bra).<\/em> Each latter stage is the <\/span>\u0101tman<\/em> of the former. According to this <\/span>Upani\u015fad<\/em> everything originated from Non-being in the sense that the Reality in the beginning is indeterminate, and it was the Unmanifest (<\/span>avyakta).<\/em> The bliss of the \u0100tman is greater than everything else.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n

3.8. Aitareya Upani\u015fad<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

This <\/span>Upani\u015fad<\/em> belongs to \u1e5agveda. It gives a semi-mythological account of creation. Atman correlates the microcosm and macrocosm and the gods become the psycho-physical principles. This <\/span>Upani\u015fad<\/em> ends with a saying that all the mental functions are only names of our rational consciousness (<\/span>praj\u0148\u0101nam<\/em>) and that our rational consciousness is the Brahman.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n

3.9. Ch\u0101ndogya Upani\u015fad<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

This <\/span>Upani\u015fad<\/em> belongs to \u1e5agveda. It is second largest of the <\/span>Upani\u015fads<\/em>. After liberation man\u2019s spirit rests with the gods and the Brahman in the highest world, according to this <\/span>Upani\u015fad<\/em>. This conception is theistic. However, the<\/span> Upani\u015fad <\/em>says that \u2018everything is verily the Brahman\u2019. It is the innermost to us. Brahman is the smallest yet the largest. Udd\u0101laka Aru\u0146i teaches his son \u015avetaketu that in deep sleep speech enters mind, mind the life principle (<\/span>pr\u0101\u0146a<\/em>), the life principle the psychic force <\/span>(tejas<\/em>), the psychic force the supreme Deity. All these belong to \u0100tman and \u201cThat art thou (<\/span>tattvamasi).<\/em> Just as different rives\u00a0<\/span>merge into the same ocean and lose their self-identity, so everything ultimately enters the \u0100tman and becomes one with it. The idea of the person in the eye is elaborated in this <\/span>Upani\u015fad. <\/em>Vairocana, the king of the Demons, and Indra, the king of the gods, approached Praj\u0101pati, the creator god, to be taught about the \u0100tman which is without disease and death. As the story goes, Praj\u0101pati told them that the person seen in the eye was \u0100tman. He asked both of them to adorn themselves and look at their reflections in a pot of water, and what they would see was the \u0100tman. Following the advice of Praj\u0101pati, Vairocana saw the reflection of his own body in the water-pot, and began to worship himself as the \u0100tman, indulging himself in all the pleasures of his body. Similarly, Indra also followed the advice of Praj\u0101pati and saw his perishable body in the water-pot, and doubted how his perishable body could be the \u0100tman which is imperishable. So he came back to Praj\u0101pati for further instruction. Praj\u0101pati told him that the person in the deep-sleep and dreamless sleep is \u0100tman. It is the seer and is beyond deep-sleep and bodiless. It is unfettered and suffers no pain and pleasure. Therefore, \u201cI am all this (<\/span>ahameva idam sarvam).<\/em><\/p>\r\n \r\n

3.10. B\u0157had\u0101\u0157a\u0146yaka Upani\u015fad<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

This <\/span>Upani\u015fad<\/em> belongs to \u015eukla Yajurveda. This is the largest of the <\/span>Upani\u015fads<\/em>. One finds lots of discussion on philosophical matters in this <\/span>Upani\u015fad<\/em>. According to it, the sacrificial horse, the horse sacrificed in the <\/span>A\u015bvamedha<\/em> is the cosmos. One who sacrifices the cosmos alone can realize \u0100tman. In the beginning the was only \u0100tman and it asserted \u2018I am\u2019 and became the \u2018I\u2019. This \u2018I\u2019 felt lonely and afraid. But one can afraid of someone else.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n

There was nothing other than the \u2018I\u2019. However, it could not rejoice and wanted another. Then it became two, man and woman. All humans are born out of them. The state of love and embrace is the Unmanifest (<\/span>Avyakta<\/em>). The Unmanifest becomes the manifest world. The \u0100tman is the same as the Brahman. One who realizes one\u2019s \u0100tman realizes Brahman. The king Aj\u0101ta\u015batru teaches B\u0101l\u0101ki that the \u0100tman is found in the deep-sleep. In the similar fashion, Y\u0101j\u0148avalkya teaches his wife Maitreyi that nobody wants an object of pleasure for the object\u2019s sake, but for the sake of the \u0100tman. By knowing it everything else is known. Once the \u0100tman is known then there is no difference between the knower and the known. How can one know the knower? This \u0100tman is the Brahman (<\/span>ayam<\/em> \u0101tma brahma<\/em>). There is also a debate between Y\u0101j\u0148avalkya and a number of enquirers after truth. Y\u0101j\u0148avalkya tells \u0100rtabh\u0101ga that after death the senses and mind of man would become one with their respective deities, who are their sources, but his karma, positive and negative, would accompany him to the next life. To C\u0101kr\u0101yana he tells that \u0100tman lives through the life principles and works through all life functions. None can see the seer, none can hear the hearer, and none can know the knower. It is not an object of any form of conspicuousness.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n

To Udd\u0101laka he explains that \u0100tman is in everything and is inward (<\/span>antary\u0101min<\/em>). Y\u0101j\u0148avalkya teaches G\u0101rgi, a woman enquirer, that the \u0100tman neither subtle nor gross, it is neither senses nor the life-principle and is neither inwards nor outwards. It is something imperishable. It is the same as Brahman. The king Janaka receives the instruction from Y\u0101j\u0148avalkya that the \u0100tman is the guiding principle of man. The \u0100tman being self-luminous one comes to see it through its own light.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n

3.11. \u015avet\u0101\u015bvatara Upani\u015fad<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

This <\/span>Upani\u015fad<\/em> belongs to S\u0101maveda and its contents represent theism. It speaks of Brahman as personal being. It highlights some contemporary doctrines of the origin of the world. The origin was time, nature, necessity, chance, elements, cosmic womb, the finite self. In fact, there are two \u0100tmans, the perishable and the imperishable. Man is the combination of both.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n

The perishable is the manifest which enjoys the fruits of actions, the imperishable is the \u0100tman as Cosmos. The perishable is the <\/span>Pradh\u0101na<\/em>, the <\/span>Prak\u0157ti.<\/em> It is <\/span>M\u0101y\u0101.<\/em> Everything that belongs to <\/span>M\u0101y\u0101<\/em> is perishable. We also come across in this <\/span>Upani\u015fad<\/em> the passage about the two \u0100tmans representing two birds like in <\/span>Mu\u0146\u1e11aka Upani\u015fad.<\/em> This <\/span>Upani\u015fad<\/em> names \u015avet\u0101\u015bvatara who attained divine knowledge through penance and the grace of God. The divine truths can be known only by him one who devotes himself to God and to his teachers. The notions of grace and devotion are given importance in this <\/span>Upani\u015fad.<\/em> Therefore, it is theistic.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n

4.Summary<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

The above account suggests us that the <\/span>Upani\u015fads<\/em> discuss about the nature of the ultimate Reality and the origin of the world of objects. The ultimate reality is Brahman\/\u0100tman and is Unmanifest (<\/span>avyakta<\/em>). It is devoid of all attributes and is imperishable. The world in which we live is the manifest form of Brahman\/\u0100tman whose Being is shared by the world of existence. The perishable world appears to be real but behind its reality there is an eternal principle called Brahman\/\u0100tman. Ultimately everything subsumes under this eternal principle.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
you can view video on The central doctrines of the upani\u015fads<\/strong><\/td>\r\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n
\r\n\r\nWeb links<\/strong>\r\n