The Vision of Upanishads - Introduction

Origin and history

Around 3000 BC there flourished a civilization called Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) in India. This civilization was well established in itself. Ample archaeological evidences prove this fact. In the excavations of Mohanjodaro and Harrapa Archaeologists found a seal which a figure sitting in meditative posture with legs crossed and hands firmly planted on the knees. There are animals surrounding the Yogi. This Yogi is no one else but Pashupati or Lord Shiva. Thus traces of Yoga can be found in the ancient Indus Valley Civilization. The name Harrapa consists of two words Hara + Appa. Hara means Shiva and Appa means Father. Thus Harrapa means father Shiva. In fact many experts believe that it was the time when Tantra (including Yoga) prevailed throughout India.

Around 2000 BC Aryans came to India. They settled here and developed Vedas and Vedik systems. Vedas which are four in number - Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and Atarva Veda - mainly consists of three aspects. These three aspects are:

• Karma Kanda
• Upasana Kanda
• Jana Kanda

The Karma Kanda refers to all the ritualistic techniques including Yagnas. Aryans uses Yagnas to please nature gods such as fire, air and rain. They believed that by performing Yagnas one gets a chance to go to heaven and attain prosperity. Karma Kanda was followed mainly by those who can not focus on higher spiritual aspects. It is important to remember that Karma Kanda is important for those who are not ready for higher spiritual practices for it prepares them for further journey.

Upasana Kanda is a higher stage than Karma Kanda in that it deals with "why" aspect of rituals in addition to "how". Upasana Kanda includes meditation on deities and mental worship. This is an intermediate stage of the practitioner that is higher than Karma Kanda but lower than Jana Kanda.

Jana Kanda is the most important part of Vedas. It must be remembered that today Vedas are considered as supreme authority because of Jana Kanda and not because of Karma Kanda or Upasana Kanda alone. You can clearly see a dramatic shift in the thought streams between Karma Kanda and Jana Kanda. After practicing Karma Kanda for many years Vedik people realized that there is still a higher authority than natural forces such as fire, wind and rain. They got convinced that heaven cannot be the ultimate goal of human life. The only way to end sufferings of human life is to obtain liberation. This liberation can be achieved only by knowing the true supreme being. This knowledge of supreme being is the subject matter of Upanishads. The supreme being is referred as Bramhan in Upanishads.

The dramatic shift from ritualistic approach to knowledge based approach can be attributed to the mixing of IVC and Vedik civilizations. Both of these paths influenced each other in positive way. Tantrik practices are always esoteric and transcendental in nature. Though Tantra itself includes ritualistic approach it is considered as inferior to higher spiritual aspects in many Tantrik texts. Here, a parallel can be drawn between Karma Kanda of Vedas and rituals of Tantra. Yoga has its origin in Indus Valley Civilization rather than in Vedas as it is commonly believed. Later as the IVC and Aryan civilizations merged with each other they shared philosophical and spiritual aspects also. That is why in the Upanishads you find mention of Yoga at many places. In Upanishads you find clear merging of Tantrik Yoga and Vedik thought streams. Concepts such as Kundalini Yoga which are Tantrik by origin are accepted by Upanishads whereas authority of Vedas is accepted in Tantrik texts. This can be easily seen from the classification of Upanishads mentioned in the next section. Thus what we see today in India is a mix of Vedik and Tantrik thought streams and not a one particular thought stream. The period of Upanishads is considered as 800 BC.

Classification of Upanishads

The word Upanishad consists of three words - Upa + Ni + Shad. It can be translated as "sit near down". Thus Upanishad is knowledge gained by sitting down near one's Guru. That is how ancient Indian knowledge was passed from generation to generation. There are 108 known Upanishads although some scholars talk about 200. These 108 Upanishads are classified into seven categories. They are:

• Major Upanishads - 10
• Vedanta Upanishads - 24
• Yoga Upanishads - 20
• Sanyasa Upanishads - 17
• Shaiva Upanishads -14
• Vaishnava Upanishads - 14
• Shakta Upanishads - 9

A complete list of these Upanishads as per above classification is given below.

Main Upanishads

• Aitareya
• Brhadaranyaka
• Chandogya
• Isavasya
• Katha
• Kena
• Mandukya
• Mundaka
• Prasna
• Taittiriya

Vedanta Upanishads

• Adhyatma
• Akshi
• Atma
• Atmabodha
• Ekakshara
• Garbha
• Kaushitaki
• Mahat
• Maitrayani
• Mantrika
• Mudgala
• Muktika
• Niralamba
• Paingala
• Pranagnihotra
• Sariraka
• Sarvasara
• Savitri
• Skanda
• Subala
• Sukarahasya
• Surya
• Svetasvatara
• Vajrasuci

Yoga Upanishads

• Advayataraka
• Amrtabindu
• Amrtanada
• Brahmavidya
• Dhyanabindu
• Hamsa
• Jabaladarsana
• Kshurika
• Mahavakya
• Mandalabrahmana
• Nadabindu
• Pasupatabrahma
• Sandilya
• Tejobindu
• Trisikhibrahmana
• Varaha
• Yogacudamani
• Yogakundalini
• Yogasikha
• Yogatattva

Sanyasa Upanishads

• Avadhuta
• Bhikshuka
• Brahma
• Jabala
• Katharudra
• Nirvana
• Paramahamsa
• Satyayani
• Turiyatita
• Yajnavalkya

Shaiva Upanishads

• Akshamala
• Atharvasikha
• Atharvasira
• Bhasmajabala
• Brhajjabala
• Dakshinamurti
• Ganapati
• Jabali
• Kaivalya
• Kalagnirudra
• Pancabrahma
• Rudrahrdaya
• Rudrakshajabala
• Sarabha

Vaishnava Upanishads

• Avyakta
• Dattatreya
• Garuda
• Gopalatapani
• Hayagriva
• Kalisantarana
• Krshna
• Narayana
• Nrsimhatapani
• Ramarahasya
• Ramatapani
• Tarasara
• Tripadvibhutimahanarayana
• Vasudeva

Shakta Upanishads

• Annapurna
• Bahvrca
• Bhavana
• Devi
• Sarasvatirahasya
• Saubhagyalakshmi
• Sita
• Tripura
• Tripuratapani

In this series of articles titled "The Vision of Upanishads" I will present the essence of each of these 108 Upanishads. Verse by verse translations of these Upanishads are available in book form in the market. However, considering the need of the time I feel that instead of line by line translations synthesis and simplified explanation is needed. Considering the fact that Sanskrit is not a main stream language today the essence of Upanishads must be presented in today's language understandable to everyone. Further, all the 108 Upanishads are difficult to obtain (in terms of easy availability and cost) to an ordinary man. Through this series I hope to fulfill the above mentioned goals.

Bipin Joshi is an independent software consultant and trainer by profession specializing in Microsoft web development technologies. Having embraced the Yoga way of life he is also a yoga mentor, meditation teacher, and spiritual guide to his students. He is a prolific author and writes regularly about software development and yoga on his websites. He is programming, meditating, writing, and teaching for over 27 years. To read more about him go here. More details about his Kriya and Meditation online course are available here.