The Upanishads

The Upanishads (Sanskrit: उपनिषद्, IAST: Upaniṣad,  [upəniʂəd]) are a collection of philosophical texts which form the theoretical basis for theHindu religion. They are also known as Vedanta ("the end of the Veda"). The Upanishads are considered by orthodox Hindus to contain revealed truths (Sruti) concerning the nature of ultimate reality (brahman) and describing the character and form of human salvation (moksha). The Upanishads are found mostly in the concluding part of the Brahmanas and Aranyakas and have been passed down in oral tradition.

More than 200 Upanishads are known, of which the first dozen or so are the oldest and most important and are referred to as the principal or main (mukhya) Upanishads. With the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahmasutra (known collectively as the Prasthanatrayi),^[2] the mukhya Upanishads provide a foundation for the several later schools of Vedanta, among them, two influential monistic schools of Hinduism.^{[note 1][note 2][note 3]} The mukhyaUpanishads all predate the Common Era, possibly from the Pre-Buddhist period (6th century BCE) ^[6][7] down to the Maurya period.^[7]. The remainder of the Muktika canon was mostly composed during medieval Hinduism, but new Upanishads continued being composed in the early modern and modern era,^[8] down to at least the 19th century.

The Upanishads were collectively considered amongst the 100 Most Influential Books Ever Written by the British poet Martin Seymour-Smith.^[9] Their significance has been recognized by writers and scholars such as Schopenhauer, Emerson and Thoreau, among others.

Scholars also note similarity between the doctrine of Upanishads and those of Plato and Kant ^[10][11]

The Sanskrit term Upaniṣad translates to "sitting down near", referring to the student sitting down near the teacher while receiving esoteric knowledge.Monier-Williams' Sanskrit Dicitonary adds that, "according to native authorities Upanishad means 'setting to rest ignorance by revealing the knowledge of the supreme spirit.'"^[12] A gloss of the term Upanishad based on Shri Adi Shankara's commentary on the Kaṭha and Brihadaranyaka Upanishad equates it with Ātmavidyā, that is, "knowledge of the Self", or Brahmavidyā "knowledge of Brahma". Other dictionary meanings include "esoteric doctrine" and "secret doctrine".^[13] The term occurs in the name of the Jaiminiya Upanishad Brahmana, an early text of Vedanta, which is not counted as an Upanishad but as an Aranyaka.

Contents

 

• 1 Classification
  • 1.1 Muktika canon
  • 1.2 Mukhya Upanishads
  • 1.3 New Upanishads
• 2 Philosophy
  • 2.1 Metaphysics
• 3 Schools of Vedanta
• 4 Development
  • 4.1 Number and Authorship
  • 4.2 Chronology and geography
  • 4.3 Development of thought
• 5 Reception in the west
  • 5.1 Possible early transmission
  • 5.2 Modern reception
    • 5.2.1 Praise
    • 5.2.2 Criticism
• 6 Association with Vedas
• 7 See also
• 8 Footnotes
• 9 Citations
• 10 References
• 11 Further reading
• 12 External links