Commander Selvam Siddhar
Upanishad means the inner or mystic teaching. The term Upanishad
is derived from upa (near), Ni (down) and s (h) ad (to sit), i.e.,
sitting down near. Groups of pupils sit near the teacher to learn from him the
secret doctrine. In the quietude of the forest hermitages, the Upanishad
thinkers pondered on the problems of deepest concerns and communicated their
knowledge to fit pupils near them. Adhi Sankara derives the word Upanishad as a
substitute from the root sad, 'to loosen,' 'to reach' or 'to destroy' with Upa
and Ni as prefixes and kvip as termination. If this determination is accepted, Upanishad
means Brahma-knowledge by which ignorance is loosened or destroyed. The
treatises that deal with Brahma-knowledge are called the Upanishads and so pass
for the Vedanta. The different derivations together make out that the
Upanishads give us both spiritual vision and philosophical argument. There is a
core of certainty, which is essentially incommunicable except by a way of life.
It is by a strictly personal effort that one can reach the truth. The
Upanishads more clearly set forth the prime Vedic doctrines like
Self-realization, yoga and meditation, karma and reincarnation, which were
hidden or kept veiled under the symbols of the older mystery religion. The
older Upanishads are usually affixed to a particularly Veda, through a Brahmana
or Aranyaka. The more recent ones are not. The Upanishads became prevalent some
centuries before the time of Krishna and Buddha.
The main figure in
the Upanishads, though not present in many of them, is the sage Yajnavalkya.
Most of the great teachings of later Hindu and Buddhist philosophy derive from
him. He taught the great doctrine of "neti-neti", the view that truth
can be found only through the negation of all thoughts about it. Other
important Upanishadic sages are Uddalaka Aruni, Shwetaketu, Shandilya,
Aitareya, Pippalada, and Sanat Kumara. Many earlier Vedic teachers like Manu,
Brihaspati, Ayasya and Narada are also found in the Upanishads. In the Upanishads,
the spiritual meanings of the Vedic texts are brought out and emphasized in
their own right. Every one of us has to perform his or her duty designated as
Svadharma to please God, to serve the world and to repay one's debt to the
society. Svadharma implies ambition commensurate with one's capacity and the
necessary inclination as the drive to achieve it. Our well-being lies in
performing our Svadharma. Paradharma, duty suitable for others but not for
us, will positively harm us if chosen by us. The basic teachings of the
Upanishads are summed up in six great sayings (Mahavakyas).
The Brhad-Aranyaka Upanishad, which is generally
recognized to be the most important of the Upanishads, forms part of the
Satapatha Brahmana. It consists of three Kandas or sections, the Madhu Kanda
which expounds the teachings of the basic identity of the individual and the
Universal Self, the Yajnavalkya or the Muni Kanda which provides the
philosophical justification of the teaching of Khila Kanda, which deals with
certain modes of worship and meditation, upasana, answering roughly to the
three stages of religious life, sravana, hearing the upadesha or the teaching,
manana, logical reflection, upapatti and nididhyasana or contemplative
meditation.
Katha
Upanishad, also called Kathakopanishad, which belongs to the Taittiriya School
of the Yajur Veda, uses the setting of a story found in ancient Sanskrit
literature. A poor and pious Brahmana, Vajasravasa, performs a sacrifice and
gives as presents the priests a few old and feeble cows. His son, Naciketas,
feeling disturbed by the unreality of his father's observance of the sacrifice,
proposes that he himself may be offered as offering (daksina) to a priest. When
he persisted in his request, his father in rage said, 'Unto Yama, I give thee.'
Naciketas gives to the abode of Yama and finding him absent, waits there for
three days and nights unfed. Yama on his return offers three gifts in
recompense for the delay and discomfort caused to Naciketas. For the first,
Naciketas asked, 'Let me return alive to my father.' For the second, 'Tell me
how my good works (ista-purta) may not be exhausted'; and for the third, 'Tell
me the way to conquer re-death (punar mrtyu).' In the Upanishad, the third request is one for
enlightenment on the 'great transition’, which is called death. The Upanishad
consists of two chapters, each of which has three Vallis or sections.
The
Mandukya Upanishad belongs to the Atharva Veda and contains twelve verses. It
is an exposition of the principle of Aum as consisting of three elements, a,
u, m, which refer to the three states of walking, dream and dreamless sleep.
The Supreme Self is manifested in the universe in its gross, subtle and causal
aspects. Answering to the four states of consciousness, wakefulness, dream,
dreamless sleep, transcendental consciousness, these are aspects of the
Godhead, the last alone being all-inclusive and ultimately real. The Absolute
of mystic consciousness is the reality of the God of religion. The Upanishad by
itself, it is said, is enough to lead one to liberation.
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