Upanishads

Upanishads (c. 1500- c.600 BC) are instructions given by the teachers to the students while students sitting near their feet in ancient India. These were believed to have composed at different stages beginning from the Vedic era itself, became part of the oral traditions of India, and finally written down down in between c 800 and c 200 BC, some believe before 6th century BC. In later days they were collected, and the voluminous heterogeneous collection is called Upanishads. These are treatises connected with the Vedas, and the chief source of our knowledge of the early metaphysical speculations and ethical doctrines of the Hindus.

These contain speculations on Being and Reality. These are also considered as last part of the Vedas, and the earlier three parts are mantras (hymns) , Brahmanas which explains the hymns, and Aranyakas which teach mysticism meant for meditation in forests.

These are to a great extent apocryphal, and are believed by many posterior to the rise of Buddhism. However, most of the historians believe that they were written at least a thousand years earlier than the advent of Buddhism.

Upanishads are the last part of the four categories of Veds - Sanhita, Brahman, Aranyak, and Upanishad. That is why these are also known as Vedant. These books dealt with the nature of being and the God.

There are hundreds of Upanishads, only a handful of them are extant. The names of 256 Upanishads are found in various books. There are 13 major Upanishads on which Sankaracharya had written his commentaries.

Fifty Upanishads were translated by Dara Shikoh and published in 1657. The translation traveled to the west and were translated from Persian to other languages including English.

Remarkable beginings

In the beginning of the Upanishads we find the hymn of peace that says:
Om!
May God protect us both (the mind and the body)
May God cause us both to enjoy the bliss
May we both exert to find out the true meaning of Scriptures
May our learning together be fruitful
May we never quarrel with each other.
Om! Be there be peace! Peace!! Peace!!!

Wisdom & Quotes

• Fetch me a fruit of the banyan tree.

Here is one, Sir,
Break it.
I have broken it , Sir .
What do you see?
Very tiny seeds, Sir.
Break one.
I have broken it , Sir.
Now What do you see?
Nothing, Sir.
"My son," the father said, " What you do not perceive is the essence, and in that essence the mighty banyan tree exists. Believe me, my son, in that existance is the Self of all that is. That is True, that is the Self. And you are that self, Svetaketu!"
- Chhandogya Upanishad

• Put this salt in water, and come to me in the morning.

The son did as he was told. The father said: "Fetch the salt."
The son looked for it, but could not find it, because it had dissolved.
"Taste the water from the top," said the father. "How does it taste?"
"Of salt," the son replied.
"Taste from the middle," How does it taste?"
"Of salt , the son replied."
"Taste from the bottom. How does it taste?"
"Of salt , "the son replied.
"Then the father said: "You don't perceive that the one Reality(sat) exists in your own body, my son, but it is truely there. Everything which is , has its being in that subtle essence. That Reality! That is the Soul! And you are that Svetketu!"
- Chhandogya Upanishad

• The Self can only be described as "Not this , not this , not this. It is incomprehensible, imperishable,... unattached, ... unfettered, ... it does not suffer, ... it does not fail.

- Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

• That great unborn Self, comprised of knowledge, is ...

the ether in the heart. In that is the ruler and lord, the king of all things. He grows no greater by good deeds, nor smaller by evil deeds, but he is the lord of all things, the king of all things, the protector of all things.
- Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

• He encircles all things, radiant and bodyless,

Unharmed, and untouched by evil,
All-seeing, all-wise, all-present, self-existence,
he has made all things well for ever and ever.
- Ishavashyopanishada

• All things whateve, the whole world,

produced from Brahm tremble in its breath.
It is a great terror, an upraised thrunderbolt.
They who know this become immortal.
From terror of Brahm the Fire burns.
From terror of Brahm the Sun shines.
From fear of Brahm Indra, and the Wind,
and Death as the fifth all run away.
- Kathopanishad

• The snarer, who rules alone in his might,

he who governs the world in his power,
is always one and the same,
though all else rise and decay...
There is one, Rudra alone,...
who rules the world in his might,
He stands behind all beings, he made all the worlds,
and protects them, and rolls them up at the end of time.
The Lord live in the faces of all beings,
in their heads, in their necks.
He lives in the inmost heart of all,
the all pervading, all-present Shiva.
- Shvetashvataropanishada

• There are three branches of the Law. Sacrifice, study and charity are the first,

austerity is the second,
and to dwell in celibacy in the house of one's teacher ... is the third.
By all these one only reaches the worlds of the blessed, but
the man who is fixed in Brahma finds immortality.
-Chhandogyopanishada

• The wise men of old did not want children. "What should we do with children, "they said, "when we have Brahma and the world besides?"

And they conquered their desire for sons and wealth and the heavenly worlds, and wandered about as beggars.... he who knows the mystery of Brahma becomes calm, restrained, satisfied, patient and confident, and he sees himsself in the great Self. ... Evil does not overcome him, but he overcomes evil. ... Free from evil, free from decay, free from hatred, free from thirst, he becomes a true brahman.
-Brihadaranyakopanishada

• When all desires which cling to the heart fall away

then the mortal becomes immortal,
and in this life finds Brahma.
When all the earthly ties of the heart are sundered
then the mortal becomes immortal.
This is the end of all instruction.
- Kathopanishad

• The good is one thing and the pleasant is another.

Both, with their different ends, control a man.
But it is well with him who chooses the good,
while he who chooses the pleasant misses his mark.
- Kathopanishad

• Da , Da, Da - be self-controlled, give , be merciful. So these three should ever be taught - self-control, charity, and mercy. (Damayat, datta, dayadhvam)

- Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

• A husband is not dear for love of the husband - a husband is dear for love of the Self. Similarly wife, sons, wealth, cattle, priests and warriors, worlds, gods, the Vedas, everything - none of them are dear in their own right, but all are dear for love of the Self.

Truly you can see and hear and perceive and know the Self, Maitreyi. And when you have seen, heard, perceived and know the Self, you will know all things.
Where seems to be a duality of self and not-self , one sees , smells, tastes, perceives, hears, touches and knows something other. But when all is the Self there is not consciousness of anything other than self. ... Thus Maitreyi I have instructed you - this is immortality.
-Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

• "There is doubt about the state of a man who is dead - some say he is, others, he is not," asked Nachiketa. "On this point," Yama replied, "even the gods formerly had their doubts. It is not easy to understand."

- Kathopanishada

Yagyavalkya the Vedic sage
Amen-em-Opet