The Science of the Upanishads
By Karthikeyan Sreedharan
[Shri Karthikeyan Sreedharan has been posting at the IndiaDivine.org Web site crystal clear and crisp explication of the principal Upanishads bringing uniquely the convergence in the ancient Indian message of Advaita taught by different Sages. So far four major Upanishads have been covered and seven more to go.
When I requested Shri Karthikeyan for a few lines about himself to serve as an Intro at this Blog, he said that "Kindly introduce me as a student of Vedanta. My expertise, background, interests, etc. are to be discerned from my writings, not from my claims. For, my writings reflect them all." Though he has been so humble and reticent in talking about himself, his understanding of the Aupanishadic philosophy undoubtedly surpasses many of those who claim themselves as Pundits.
I am grateful to Shri Karthikeyan for his ready consent to let me post at our Blog an abridged version of his Introduction to the Science of Upanishads. Shri Karthikeyan can be reached by e-mail -- ramesam.]
The Science of the Upanishads
By Karthikeyan Sreedharan
Upaniṣads are treasures of Indian spiritual thoughts of ancient times. The ten most ancient Upaniṣads belong to the period of 1500 BC to 600 BC, according to commonly agreed estimations. They are called the Principal Upaniṣads and are considered to be the most authentic ones.
There is another Upaniṣad by name Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad belonging to a later period, but viewed at par with the Principal Upaniṣads, considering the dexterity and erudition with which the subject matter is dealt with therein.
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Upaniṣads represent philosophical postulations either extracted from these three or compiled independently. Of the eleven Principal Upaniṣads, one (Īśa Upaniṣad) is part of a Samhita (Śukla Yajurveda), four (Bṛhadāraṇyaka, Chāndogya, Kaṭha, Kena) are parts of Brāhmaṇas and two (Aitareya, Taittirīya) are parts of Āraṇyakas. The remaining four (Praśna, Muṇḍaka, Māṇḍukya of Atharva veda and Śvetāśvatara of Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda) are independent compilations.
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Upaniṣads are not like ordinary spiritual texts which dwell on glorification and appeasement of an almighty god through prayers, rituals and offerings with an intention to secure protection, prosperity, happiness and long life. The primary concern of Upaniṣads is not the physical life as such, but the ultimate principle that sustains the physical life. Upanishads recognize the existence of an entity beyond the phenomenal world. They advance the concept of reality from a relative plain to the absolute state, to the reality that is free from all limitations of time and space. This advancement is the greatest achievement that Indian meditative mind accomplished and it is the greatest ever height that human mind scaled in speculative thinking.
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[Upanishds] being extracts from other three parts of the Vedas, most of the Principal Upaniṣads contain some portions that do not fit well with the main theme under discussion in that particular Upaniṣad. Therefore, while interpreting the Upaniṣads to derive lessons therefrom, these portions have to be omitted from detailed consideration. In the present endeavour we concentrate on those teachings that a rational mind should take note of and assimilate into its own cognitive constitution; in this process we simply ignore those contents which are rather ritualistic or purely mythological in nature.
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The Links to the respective essays are given below:
1. IshAvAsya
3. ChAndogya
4. KaTha
