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The Upanishads

Supreme Work of the Hindu Mind

The Upanishads form the core of Indian philosophy. They are an amazing collection of writings from original oral transmissions, which have been aptly described by Shri Aurobindo as "the supreme work of the Indian mind". It is here that we find all thefundamental teachings that are central to Hinduism — the concepts of 'karma' (action), 'samsara' (reincarnation), 'moksha' (nirvana), the 'atman' (soul), and the 'Brahman'(Absolute Almighty). They also set forth the prime Vedic doctrines of self-realization, yoga and meditation. The Upanishads are summits of thought on mankind and the universe, designed to push human ideas to their very limit and beyond. They give us both spiritual vision and philosophical argument, and it is by a strictly personal effort that one can reach the truth.

Meaning of 'Upanishad'

The term 'Upanishad' literally means, "sitting down near" or "sitting close to", and implies listening closely to the mystic doctrines of a guruor a spiritual teacher, who has cognized the fundamental truths of the universe. It points to a period in time when groups of pupils sat near the teacher and learnt from him the secret teachings in the quietude of forest 'ashrams' or hermitages. In another sense of the term, 'Upanishad' means 'brahma-knowledge' by which ignorance is annihilated. Some other possible meanings of the compound word 'Upanishad' are "placing side by side" (equivalence or correlation), a "near approach" (to the Absolute Being), "secret wisdom" or even "sitting near the enlightened".

Time of Composition

Historians and Indologists have put the date of composition of the Upanishads from around 800 - 400 B.C., though many of the verse versions may have been written much later. In fact, they were written over a very long period of time and do not represent a coherent body of information or one particular system of belief. However, there is a commonality of thought and approach.

The Main Books

Although there are more than 200 Upanishads, only thirteen have been identified out as presenting the core teachings. They are the Chandogya, Kena, Aitareya, Kaushitaki, Katha, Mundaka, Taittriyaka, Brihadaranyaka, Svetasvatara, Isa, Prasna, Mandukya and the Maitri Upanishads. One of the oldest and longest of the Upanishads, the Brihadaranyaka says:

"From the unreal lead me to the real!
From darkness lead me to light!
From death lead me to immortality!"

The crux of the Upanishads is that this can be achieved by meditating with the awareness that one's soul ('atman') is one with all things, and that 'one' is 'Brahman', which becomes the 'all'.

Who wrote the Upanishads?

The authors of the Upanishads were many, but they were not solely from the priestly caste. They were poets prone to flashes of spiritual wisdom, and their aim was to guide a few chosen pupils to the point of liberation, which they themselves had attained. According to some scholars, the main figure in the Upanishads is Yajnavalkya, the great sage who propounded the 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, Sanat Kumara. Many earlier Vedic teachers likeManu, Brihaspati, Ayasya and Narada are also found in the Upanishads.

The human being is the central mystery of the universe holding the key to all other mysteries. Indeed, human beings are our own greatest enigma. As the famous physicist Niels Bohr once said, "We are both spectators and actors in the great drama of existence." Hence the importance of developing of what is known as the "science of human possibilities." It was such a science that India sought and found in the Upanishads in an attempt to unravel the mystery of human beings.

Science of the Self

Today, we see a growing urge in everyone to realize the 'true self'. We are keenly feeling the need to make our knowledge flower into wisdom. A strange yearning to know about the infinite and the eternal disturbs us. It is against this background of modern thought and aspirations that the contributions of the Upanishads to the human cultural legacy become significant.

The purpose of the Vedas was to ensure the true welfare of all beings, worldly as well as spiritually. Before such a synthesis could be achieved, there was a need to penetrate the inner worlds to its depth. This is what the Upanishads did with precision and gave us the science of the self, which helps man leave behind the body, the senses, the ego and all other non-self elements, which are perishable. The Upanishads tell us the great saga of this discovery — of the divine in the heart of man.

The Inside Story!

Very early in the development of the Indian civilization, man became aware of a strange new field of human experience — the within of nature as revealed in man, and in his consciousness and his ego. It gathered volume and power as years rolled on until in the Upanishads it became a deluge issuing in a systematic, objective and scientific pursuit of truth in the depth of experience. It conveys to us an impression of the tremendous fascination that this new field of inquiry held for the contemporary mind.

These Indian thinkers were not satisfied with their intellectual speculations. They discovered that the universe remained a mystery and the mystery only deepened with the advance of such knowledge, and one of the important components of that deepening mystery is the mystery of man himself. The Upanishads became aware of this truth, which modern science now emphasizes.

n the Upanishads we get a glimpse into the workings of the minds of the great Indian thinkers who were unhampered by the tyranny of religious dogma, political authority, pressure of public opinion, seeking truth with single-minded devotion, rare in the history of thought. As Max Muller has pointed out, "None of our philosophers, not accepting Heraclitus, Plato, Kant, or Hegel has ventured to erect such a spire, never frightened by storm or lightnings."

Bertrand Russell rightly said: "Unless men increase in wisdom as much as in knowledge,

increase in knowledge will be increase in sorrow." While the Greeks and the others specialized in the subject of man in society, India specialized in man in depth, man as the individual, as Swami Ranganathananda puts it. This was one ruling passion of the Indo-Aryans in the Upanishads. The great sages of the Upanishads were concerned with man above and beyond his political or social dimensions. It was an inquiry, which challenged not only life but also death and resulted in the discovery of the immortal and the divine self of man.

Shaping the Indian Culture

The Upanishads gave a permanent orientation to Indian culture by their emphasis on inner penetration and their wholehearted advocacy of what the Greeks later formulated in the dictum "man, know thyself." All subsequent developments of Indian culture were powerfully conditioned by this Upanishadic legacy.

The Upanishads reveal an age characterized by a remarkable fervent of thought and inspiration. The physical and mental climate that made it possible is the land of plenty that was India. The entire social milieu of the Indo-Aryans was ripe with great potentialities. They had found leisure to think and ask questions. They had the choice to utilize the leisure either to conquer the outer world or the inner. With their mental gifts, they had turned their mental energies to the conquest of the inner world rather than of the world of matter and life at the sensate level.

Universal & Impersonal

The Upanishads have given us a body of insights that have a universal quality about them and this universality derives from their impersonality. The sages who discovered them had depersonalized themselves in the search for truth. They wanted to go beyond nature and realize the transcendental nature of man. They dared to take up this challenge and the Upanishads are the unique record of the methods they adopted, the struggles they undertook and the victory they achieved in this astonishing adventure of human spirit. And this is conveyed to us in passages of great power and poetic charm. In seeking the immortal, the sages conferred the immortality upon the literature that conveyed it.

http://hinduism.about.com/od/scripturesepics/a/upanishads_3.htm

Origin of Vedas

The Vedas are considered the earliest literary record of Indo-Aryan civilization, and the most sacred books of India. They are the original scriptures of Hindu teachings, and contain spiritual knowledge encompassing all aspects of our life. Vedic literature with its philosophical maxims has stood the test of time and is the highest religious authority for all sections of Hindus in particular and for mankind in general.

“Veda” means wisdom, knowledge or vision, and it manifests the language of the gods in human speech. The laws of the Vedas regulate the social, legal, domestic and religious customs of the Hindus to the present day. All the obligatory duties of the Hindus at birth, marriage, death etc. owe their allegiance to the Vedic ritual. They draw forth the thought of successive generation of thinkers, and so contain within it the different strata of thought.

Origin of the Vedas

The Vedas are probably the earliest documents of the human mind and is indeed difficult to say when the earliest portions of the Vedas came into existence. As the ancient Hindus seldom kept any historical record of their religious, literary and political realization, it is difficult to determine the period of the Vedas with precision. Historians provide us many guesses but none of them is free from ambiguity.

Who wrote the Vedas?

It is believed that humans did not compose the revered compositions of the Vedas, which were handed down through generations by the word of mouth from time immemorial. The general assumption is that the Vedic hymns were either taught by God to the sages or that they were revealed themselves to the sages who were the seers or “mantradrasta” of the hymns. The Vedas were mainly compiled by Vyasa Krishna Dwaipayana around the time of Lord Krishna (c. 1500 BC)

Classification of the Vedas

The Vedas are four: The Rig-Veda, the Sama Veda, the Yajur Veda and the Atharva Veda, the Rig Veda being the main. The four Vedas are collectively known as “Chathurveda, ” of which the first three Vedas viz., Rig Veda, Sama Veda and Yajur Veda agree in form, language and content. [Read about each one of them in detail.]

Structure of the Vedas

Each Veda consists of four parts – the Samhitas (hymns), the Brahmanas (rituals), the Aranyakas (theologies) and the Upanishads (philosophies). The collection of mantras or hymns is called the Samhita. The Brahmanas are ritualistic texts and include precepts and religious duties. Each Veda has several Brahmanas attached to it. The Upanishads form the concluding portions of the Veda and therefore called the “Vedanta” or the end of the Veda and contains the essence of Vedic teachings. The Upanishads and the Aranyakas are the concluding portions of the Brahmanas, which discuss philosophical problems. The Aryanyakas (forest texts) intend to serve as objects of meditation for ascetics who live in forests and deal with mysticism and symbolism.

The Mother of All Scriptures

Although the Vedas are seldom read or understood today, even by the devout, they no doubt form the bedrock of the universal religion or “Sanatana Dharma” that all Hindus follow. The Vedas have guided our religious direction for ages and will continue to do so for generations to come. And they will forever remain the most comprehensive and universal of all ancient scriptures.

The Rig Veda: The Book of Mantra

The Rig Veda is a collection of inspired songs or hymns and is a main source of information on the Rig Vedic civilization. It is the oldest book in any Indo-European language and contains the earliest form of all Sanskrit mantras that date back to 1500 B.C. - 1000 B.C. Some scholars date the Rig Veda as early as 12000 BC - 4000 B.C. The Rig-Vedic ‘samhita’ or collection of mantras consists of 1,017 hymns or ‘suktas’, covering about 10,600 stanzas, divided into eight ‘astakas’ each having eight ‘adhayayas’ or chapters, which are sub-divided into various groups. The hymns are the work of many authors or seers called ‘rishis’. There are seven primary seers identified: Atri, Kanwa,Vashistha, Vishwamitra, Jamadagni, Gotama and Bharadwaja. The rig Veda accounts in detail the social, religious, political and economic background of the Rig-Vedic civilization. Even though monotheism characterizes some of the hymns of Rig Veda, naturalistic polytheism and monism can be discerned in the religion of the hymns of Rig Veda. Click for Text of Rig Veda

The Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda were compiled after the age of the Rig Veda and are ascribed to the Vedic period.

The Sama Veda: The Book of Song

The Sama Veda is purely a liturgical collection of melodies (‘saman’). The hymns in the Sama Veda, used as musical notes, were almost completely drawn from the Rig Veda and have no distinctive lessons of their own. Hence, its text is a reduced version of the Rig Veda. As Vedic Scholar David Frawley puts it, if the Rig Veda is the word, Sama Veda is the song or the meaning, if Rig Veda is the knowledge, Sama Veda is its realization, if Rig Veda is the wife, the Sama Veda is her husband. Click for Text of Sama Veda

The Yajur Veda: The Book of Ritual

The Yajur Veda is also a liturgical collection and was made to meet the demands of a ceremonial religion. The Yajur Veda practically served as a guidebook for the priests who execute sacrificial acts muttering simultaneously the prose prayers and the sacrificial formulae (‘yajus’). It is similar to ancient Egypt’s “Book of the Dead”. There are no less than six complete recessions of Yajur Veda - Madyandina, Kanva, Taittiriya, Kathaka, Maitrayani and Kapishthala. Click for Text of Yajur Veda

The Atharva Veda: The Book of Spell

The last of the Vedas, this is completely different from the other three Vedas and is next in importance to Rig-Veda with regard to history and sociology. A different spirit pervades this Veda. Its hymns are of a more diverse character than the Rig Veda and are also simpler in language. In fact, many scholars do not consider it part of the Vedas at all. The Atharva Veda consists of spells and charms prevalent at its time, and portrays a clearer picture of the Vedic society. Click for Text of Atharva Veda

http://hinduism.about.com/cs/vedasvedanta/a/aa120103a_2.htm

Reciting Vedas

Without resort to writing, our forefathers had devised many ways to prevent even a very small error to creep into the Vedas. The fullest benefit from the Vedic mantras can result only if no word is changed; no unauthorised upward or downward drift in the note occurs in the recitation. Hence the numerous safeguards. How much time it should take to utter each word is indicated by resort to the notation by "maatras"-the time it takes to pronounce a short vowel. How to regulate breathing so that the vibrations can occur at what part of the body to give birth to the pure word sound is also laid down in the Vedanga Seeksha. The Taitreeya Upanishad, for e.g., begins with Seeksha thus:

Seeksham Vyakyaa syaamah - Varna Swarah - Maatrabalam - Saama Santaanah

Seeksha deals with Varna, Swara, Maatra, Strength, Saama and Santaanah

A fool-proof method is to chant each mantra in various patterns and combinations known as Vaakya, Pada, Krama, Jata, Maala, Sikha, Rekha, Dhwaja, Danda, Ratha, Ghana, etc.

Some learned pundits are called "Ghanapaatis". This means that they are learned in the Vedas to the extent of chanting of the Vedas in the pattern called "Ghanam". When we listen to a Ghanapaati reciting Vedas in Ghana form, we note that he repeats the in various ways back and forth and in different patterns. This would be pleasant to the ears and creates a sense of happiness within. It would seem that the natural grandeur of the Veda mantras is heightened, as it were. So would be the effect of recitation in the other prescribed patterns of Kramam, Jata, Sikha, Maala, etc. But the main object of reciting them is to make no mistake in the original meaning and sound pattern of the words.

Vaakya Paatha or Samhita Paatha is to recite the mantras in a sentence straight. When mantras come in sentences, some of the words therein have to be conjoined in chanting. To recite the Veda mantras, pada by pada or word by word, instead of joining the words and stringing them together is Pada Paatha. Pada Paatha occurs after Samhita paatha. In Pada Paatha the sentence is broken down to "words" or pada. This gives the student of the Vedas the knowledge of each word in a sentence.

In Krama Paatha, the first word of the mantra is added to the second, the second to the third, the third to the fourth and so on, until the whole sentence of the mantras is completed. This paatha or method of recitation helps the student understand not only the individual words but also how two words can be combined in recitation and what modification occurs in swara in such a combination.

In certain ancient edicts, notably gift deeds, at the end of the name of some illustrious persons, there would be a suffix "Krama Vit". Like "Veda Vit", "Krama Vit" means that

the person is well versed in reciting the Vedas by the Krama Paatha methods.There are many such edicts in South India.

n Jata Paatha, the first word and the second are first recited together and then the words are recited in a reverse order and then again in the original order. the order will be 1-2-2-1-1-2, 2-3-3-2-2-3, 3-4-4-3-3-4, 4-5-5-4-4-5 and so on.

In the Krama Paatha type of recitation the order of words is 1-2 ; 2-3 ; 3-4 ; 4-5 and so on.

Just as two words are repeated forwards and backwards in the Jata Paatha, in theSikha Paatha three words to be so linked.

In Ghana Paatha, which is the most enchanting to listen, the chanting will be:

1-2-2-1-1-2-3-3-2-1-1-2-3 2-3-3-2-2-3-4-4-3-2-2-3-4 3-4-4-3-3-4-5-5-4-3-3-4-5

Chanted in Ghana Paatham style as above, Rig Veda may take over 450 hours to chant!!

Listen to the following brief Ghana Paatha verses to understand the greatness of this style of reciting:

The basic verse is given here.

To listen to another Ghana Patham verse with the basic verse and the detailed repeated verse to know how it is repeated. Click here>

The Veda mantras, which are for universal benefit, have been preserved by the ancients, without resorting to writing, by such methods of recitation. It must be remembered that, while chanting words backwards and forwards, the swaras of each have to be properly preserved and the student learns how the combination of words affect the swaras. The Samhita Paatha and Pada Paatha are called Prakrithi ( or natural ) Paathas, as the words of the mantras occur in normal sequence. The rest are called Vikrithi ( or artificial and not natural ) Paathas. In Krama, although the words do not occur in the natural order of one, two and three, since they do not revert like one after two and two after three, it cannot be called fully Vikrithi or artificial. The Vikrithis are eight in number:

Jataa maalaa sikha rekha dhwajo dando ratho Ghanah
Ityashta vikritayah proktah kramapoorva maharshibhih

The above system of complicated recitation was devised in very earl times in order to preserve the purity of the word, sound, intonation, pronunciation, accent and sound combination of the Vedas. By repeating the words in manifold ways, the correct tally of the words was also kept which naturally ensured the purity of the texts. To enable
the scholars to take up the difficult methods of recitation, it was even laid down that the more difficult methods of chanting earned the chanter more punya or merit.

According to the pundits, merely reading the Vedas is of no use - excepting some academic knowledge. For gaining real the spiritual benefits one must recite the Vedas or at least must listen to the Vedic recital.

http://www.astrojyoti.com/rigvedamp3part1.htm

Atharva Veda

Atharva Veda is named after Rishi Atharvan who played a major role in the composition of the Atharva Veda. It deals with medicine and contains detailed description of medicines, anatomy and physiology. It also deals with many tantrik practices, charms, poisons etc that can be used against enemies in warfare. Apart from these it also contains many philosophical doctrines. As it contains several secret Tantrik practices, not many dare to study it and fewer still recite it openly for the general public.

Sama Veda

"Amongst the Vedas I am the Samaveda" said Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita.

The word Sama means sweet songs or hymns. It is said that Sama Veda had originally 1000 sakhas but only 13 are available now.

1. Ranayana
2. Shatyamukhya
3. Vyasa
4. Bhaguri
5. Oulundi
6. Goulgulvi
7. Bhanuman-oupamayava
8. Karati
9. Mashaka Gargya
10. Varsgagavya
11 Kuthuma

12. Sgakugitra
13. Jaimini

At present only three ( Ranayana, Kuthuma and Jaimini) are available. Samaveda consists of 1875 mantras. These mantras are divided into two broad groups- puravachika (650 mantras) and Uttarachika (1225 manrtas).Purvachika is further divided into four sections or kandas: agneya, aindra, pavamana and aranya kandas. The Uttarnchika consists of 21chapters.

The recital is as per the Kuthuma sakha.

Yajur Veda

The Yajur Veda contains hymns for ceremonial purposes which also deal with the art of living a successful and wholesome life. It was used by the adhvaryu, priests who recited the appropriate formulas from the Yajur-Veda while actually performing the sacrificial actions. There are six complete recessions of Yajur Veda - Madyandina, Kanva, Taittiriya, Kathaka, Maitrayani and Kapishthala.

There are two versions of the Yajur Veda. Veda Vyasa composed the Krishna Paksha Yajur Veda and the Pandits of South India follow only this. As for the Shukla Paksha Yajur Veda – according to the scriptures, Yagyavalkya, who was a disciple of Veda Vyasa committed an unpardonable sin and was cursed by Veda Vyasa to the effect that he would not be able to teach Vyasa’s Yajur Veda and was thrown out of the ashram. Yagyavalkya then worshipped the Sun God for a long time and pleased with his devotion, the Sun God taught him the Yajur Veda and this came to be known as Shukla Paksha Yajurveda. This is more popular in Northern India.

Shukla yajurveda (vaajasaaniiya) consists of 40 chapters in metrical form. Sukla Yajurveda follows the Aditya sampradaya or the schoolof Aditya - Sun God, and is more popular in the North India. Out of the 17 sakas in this school, only 2 are available now.

Krishna yajurveda (Taittiriiya) has some portions which are in metrical form and some protion in prose forms and some portions contains a mixure of both. Krishna Yajurveda follows the Brahma sampradaya (the school of Brahma) and is more popular in the South India. It was supposed to be having 82 branches or sakas out of which only 4 are available now.

Rigveda

Rig Veda is regarded as the oldest of all Vedas. Westernised scholars date the Rig Veda as 1200 BC - 4000 B.C. but traditional Hindus believe that Vedas are eternal knowledge and beyond time and space. The Rig-Vedic ‘samhita’ or collection of mantras consists of 1,028 hymns or ‘suktas’, The 10,589 verses of the Rigveda are divided into ten mandalas or books.

First mandala consists of 191 suktas and 2006 mantras
Second mandala consists of 43 suktas and 429 mantras
Third mandala consists of 62 suktas and 617 mantras
Fourth mandala consists of 58 suktas and 589 mantras
Fifth mandala consists of 87 suktas and 727 mantras
Sixth mandala consists of 75 suktas and 765 mantras
Seventh mandala consists of 104 suktas and 841 mantras
Eighth mandala consists of 103 suktas and 1716 mantras
Ninth mandala consists of 114 suktas and 1108 mantras
Tenth mandala consists of 191 suktas and 1754 mantras

According to the Shatapatha Brahmana, the number of syllables in the Rigveda is 432,000, equalling the number of muhurtas (1 day = 30 muhurtas) in forty years.The Rig-Vedic hymns were compiled by Paila under the guidance of Vyasa, and went to form the Rig mantra Samhita. Rgveda intones that let there be goodness in the hearts and thoughts. Since all are embodiments of the Divinity, all human beings are one. Rig Veda is important not only from religious and philosophical point of view but as some recent research has shown it also contains immense information on cosmology, astrology and mathematics.

Vedas - Introduction

The ancient Indian Vedic scriptures are the greatest heritage of India. These sacred texts were not preached by any single Messiah but evolved over a period of time - a sort of a culmination of the wisdom of several saints. Hence the depth and range of these ancient texts is so vast that one can pick and choose ones path to salvation as per ones attitudinal and spiritual inclinations.

The four Vedas, Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and Athar Veda form the core of the Hindu religion. They contain the Hindu rituals, worships, mantras and all the religious and social principles, which are the foundation of Hinduism. They also contain several coded instructions and secrets related to use of medicines and secret Tantrik rituals to attain various objectives.

“Veda” means wisdom, knowledge or vision, and it manifests the language of the God in human speech. The Vedas are the most sacred books of India. They are the original
scriptures of Hindu teachings, and contain spiritual knowledge encompassing all aspects of our life. Sage Veda Vyasa grouped the mantras into four Vedas as Rig, Yaju, Sama and Atharva and propagated through his disciples Paila Vaisampayana, Jaimini and Sumantu, respectively. The four Vedas were said to have 1131 branches earlier. But now only 13 branches are traceable ( about 1%). Out of these 13 branches only 7 are now chanted in different parts of India.

Santi-Path

"om purnamadah purnamidam

purnat purnamudacyate

purnasya purnamadaya

purnameva vashisyate

Om shantih shantih shantih"

That is Full, This is Full.
From Fullness the Fill is taken and the Fullness has come.
If you take out from the Full, the Fullness alone remains.
To All: Peace! Peace! Peace!

[Santi-Path from the Bhiksukopanisad]

Creation

Then was not non-existent nor existent: there was no realm of air, no sky beyond it.

What covered in, and where? And what gave shelter? Was water there, of unfathomed depth?

Death was not then, nor was there immortality: no sign was there, the divider of day and night.

That One Thing, breathless, breathed by its own nature: apart from it was nothing whatsoever.

Darkness there was: at first concealed in darkness, this All was indiscriminated chaos.

All that existed then was void and formless: by the great power of Warmth was born that Singularity.

Thereafter rose Desire in the beginning, Desire the primal seed and germ of Spirit.

Sages, who searched with their hearts, discovered the existent’s kinship in the non-existent.

Transversely was their severing line extended: what was above it then, and what below it?

There were begetters, there were mighty forces, free action here and energy up yonder.

Who verily knows and who can declare it, when was it born and whence comes this creation?

The gods are later than this world’s production. Who knows then when it first came into being?

He, the first origin of this creation, whether he formed it all or did not form it,

Whose eye controls this world in highest heaven, he verily knows it, or perhaps he knows it not.

[from Rig-Veda Samhita ~ Transl. R.T.H. Griffith]

Rigveda

Ekam Sat, Vipra Bahudha Vadanti

What is but one, the wise call by manifold names

Sarvam khalvidam Brahma
(All this is verily Brahma)

And That (Tat) is the Truth (Sat)