Upanishad: Encyclopedia - Upanishad

Upanishad

Shruti

• Vedas
  • Rig Veda
  • Sama Veda
  • Yajur Veda
  • Atharva Veda
• Brahmanas
• Aranyakas
• Upanishads

Smriti

• Itihāsas
  • Mahābhārata
    • Bhagavad Gītā
  • Ramayana
  • Puranas (List)
• Tantras
• Sutras (List)
• Stotras
• Ashtavakra Gita
• Gita Govinda
• Hatha Yoga Pradipika

The Upanishads (upaniṣad; Devanagari उपनिषद्) are part of the Hindu Shruti scriptures which primarily discuss meditation and philosophy and are seen as religious instructions by most schools of Hinduism.

The Upanishads are mystic or spiritual interpretations on the Vedas, their putative end and essence, and thus known as Vedānta ("the end of the Vedas"). The Sanskrit term upaniṣad derives from upa- (near), ni- (down) and ṣad (to sit), i.e. referring to the "sitting down near" a spiritual teacher (guru) in order to receive instruction in the Guru-shishya tradition or parampara. The teachers and students appear in a variety of settings (husband answering questions about immortality, a teenage boy being taught by Yama, etc.). Sometimes the sages are women and at times the instructions (or rather inspiration) are sought by kings.

Upanishad - Place in the Hindu canon

Scholarly breakdowns of the Vedic books see the four Vedas as poetic liturgy, collectively called mantra or sam.hitā-, adoration and supplication to the deities of Vedic religion, in parts already sort of melded with monist and henotheist notions, and an overarching Order (Ŗta) that transcended even the Gods.

The Brāhmaṇa were a collection of ritual instructions, books detailing the priestly functions (which first were available to all men, and so concretized into strictly Brahmin privilege). These came after the Mantra.

In Vedanta, we have the Aranyakas and Upanishads. The Araṇyaka ("of the forest") detail meditative yogic practices, contemplations of the mystic one and the manifold manifested principles. The Upanishad basically realized all the monist and universal mystical ideas that started in earlier Vedic hymns, and have exerted an influence unprecedented on the rest of Hindu and Indian philosophy. However, by adherents they are not considered philosophy alone, and form meditations and practical teachings for those advanced enough to benefit from their wisdom.

Upanishad - List of Upanishads

Upanishad - Principal Upanishads

The following is a list of the ten "principal" (mukhya) Upanishads that were commented upon by Shankara, and that are accepted as shruti by all Hindus. They are listed with their associated Veda (Rigveda (ṚV), Samaveda (SV), White Yajurveda (ŚYV), Black Yajurveda (KYV), Atharvaveda (AV)).

1. Aitareya (ṚV)
2. Bṛhadāraṇyaka (ŚYV)
3. Īṣa (ŚYV)
4. Taittirīya (KYV)
5. Kaṭha (KYV)
6. Chāndogya (SV)
7. Kena (SV)
8. Muṇḍaka (AV)
9. Māṇḍūkya (AV)
10. Praśna (AV)

The Kauśītāki, Śvetāśvatara and Maitrāyaṇi Upanishads are sometimes added to extend the canon to 12 or 13. They are also the oldest Upanishads, likely all of them dating to before the Common Era.

Upanishad - Canon by Vedic Shakha

The older Upanishads are associated with Vedic Charanas (Shakhas or schools). The Aitareya Upanishad with the Shakala shakha, the Kauśītāki Upanishad with the Bashakala shakha; the Chāndogya Upanishad with the Kauthuma shakha, the Kena Upanishad, and the Jaiminiya Upanishad Brahmana, with the Jaiminiya shakha; the Kaṭha Upanishad with the Caraka-Katha shakha, the Taittirīya and Śvetāśvatara with the Taittiriya shakha; the Maitrāyaṇi Upanishad with the Maitrayani shakha; the Bṛhadāraṇyaka and Īṣa Upanishads with the Vajasaneyi Madhyandina shakha, and the Māṇḍūkya and Muṇḍaka Upanishads with the Shaunaka shakha. Additionally, parts of earlier texts, of Brahmanas or passages of the Vedas themselves, are sometimes considered Upanishads.

Upanishad - The Muktika canon

The following is a list of the 108 canonical Upanishads of the Advaita school, according to the Muktika Upanishad (number 108), 1:30-39 (which does not list the associated Veda). In this canon,

• 10 Upaniṣads are associated with the Rigveda and have the Shānti beginning vaṇme-manasi.
• 16 Upaniṣads are associated with the Samaveda and have the Shānti beginning āpyāyantu.
• 19 Upaniṣads are associated with the White Yajurveda and have the Shānti beginning pūrṇamada.
• 32 Upaniṣads are associated with the Black Yajurveda and have the Shānti beginning sahanāvavatu.
• 31 Upaniṣads are associated with the Atharvaveda and have the Shānti beginning bhadram-karṇebhiḥ.

The first 10 are grouped as mukhya "principal", and are identical to those listed above. 21 are grouped as Sāmānya Vedānta "common Vedanta", 23 as Sannyāsa, 9 as Shākta, 13 as Vaishnava, 14 as Shaiva and 17 as Yoga Upanishads.^{[citation needed]}

1. Īṣa, (ŚYV, Mukhya) "The Inner Ruler"
2. Kena (SV, Mukhya) "Who moves the world?"
3. Kaṭha (KYV, Mukhya) "Death as Teacher"
4. Praśna, (AV, Mukhya) "The Breath of Life"
5. Muṇḍaka (AV, Mukhya) "Two modes of Knowing"
6. Māṇḍūkya (AV, Mukhya) "Consciousness and it's phases"
7. Taittirīya (KYV, Mukhya) "From Food to Joy"
8. Aitareya, (ṚV Mukhya) "The Microcosm of Man"
9. Chāndogya (SV, Mukhya) "Song and Sacrifice"
10. Bṛhadāraṇyaka (ŚYV, Mukhya)
11. Brahma (KYV, Sannyasa)
12. Kaivalya (KYV, Shaiva)
13. Jābāla (ŚYV, Sannyasa)
14. Śvetāśvatara (KYV, Sannyasa) "The Faces of God"
15. Haṃsa (ŚYV, Yoga)
16. Āruṇeya (SV, Sannyasa)
17. Garbha (KYV, Sannyasa)
18. Nārāyaṇa (KYV, Vaishnava)
19. Paramahaṃsa (ŚYV, Sannyasa)
20. Amṛtabindu (KYV, Yoga)
21. Amṛtanāda (KYV, Yoga)
22. Śira (AV, Shaiva)
23. Atharvaśikha (AV, Shaiva)
24. Maitrāyaṇi (SV, Sannyasa)
25. Kauśītāki (ṚV, Samanya)
26. Bṛhajjābāla (AV, Shaiva)
27. Nṛsiṃhatāpanī (AV, Vaishnava)
28. Kālāgnirudra (KYV, Shaiva)
29. Maitreyi (SV, Sannyasa)
30. Subāla (ŚYV, Samanya)
31. Kṣurika (KYV, Yoga)
32. Mantrika (ŚYV, Samanya)
33. Sarvasāra (KYV, Samanya)
34. Nirālamba (ŚYV, Samanya)
35. Śukarahasya (KYV, Samanya)
36. Vajrasūchi (SV, Samanya)
37. Tejobindu (KYV, Sannyasa)
38. Nādabindu (ṚV, Yoga) [1]
39. Dhyānabindu (KYV, Yoga)
40. Brahmavidyā (KYV, Yoga)
41. Yogatattva (KYV, Yoga)
42. Ātmabodha (ṚV, Samanya)
43. Parivrāt (Nāradaparivrājaka) (AV, Sannyasa)
44. Triśikhi (ŚYV, Yoga)
45. Sītā (AV, Shakta)
46. Yogachūḍāmaṇi (SV, Yoga)
47. Nirvāṇa (ṚV, Sannyasa)
48. Maṇḍalabrāhmaṇa (ŚYV, Yoga)
49. Dakṣiṇāmūrti (KYV, Shaiva)
50. Śarabha (AV, Shaiva)
51. Skanda (Tripāḍvibhūṭi) (KYV, Samanya)
52. Mahānārāyaṇa (AV, Vaishnava)
53. Advayatāraka (ŚYV, Sannyasa)
54. Rāmarahasya (AV, Vaishnava)
55. Rāmatāpaṇi (AV, Vaishnava)
56. Vāsudeva (SV, Vaishnava)
57. Mudgala (ṚV, Samanya)
58. Śāṇḍilya (AV, Yoga)
59. Paiṅgala (ŚYV, Samanya)
60. Bhikṣu (ŚYV, Sannyasa)
61. Mahad (SV, Samanya)
62. Śārīraka (KYV, Samanya)
63. Yogaśikhā (KYV Yoga)
64. Turīyātīta (ŚYV, Sannyasa)
65. Sannyāsa (SV, Sannyasa)
66. Paramahaṃsaparivrājaka (AV, Sannyasa)
67. Akṣamālika (Mālika) (ṚV, Shaiva)
68. Avyakta (SV, Vaishnava)
69. Ekākṣara (KYV, Samanya)
70. Annapūrṇa (AV, Shakta)
71. Sūrya (AV, Samanya)
72. Akṣi (KYV, Samanya)
73. Adhyātmā (ŚYV, Samanya)
74. Kuṇḍika (SV, Sannyasa)
75. Sāvitrī (SV, Samanya)
76. Ātmā (AV, Samanya)
77. Pāśupata (AV, Yoga)
78. Parabrahma (AV, Sannyasa)
79. Avadhūta (KYV, Sannyasa)
80. Devī (AV, Shakta)
81. Tripurātapani (AV, Shakta)
82. Tripura (ṚV, Shakta)
83. Kaṭharudra (KYV, Sannyasa)
84. Bhāvana (AV, Shakta)
85. Rudrahṛdaya (KYV, Shaiva)
86. Yogakuṇḍalini (KYV, Yoga)
87. Bhasma (AV, Shaiva)
88. Rudrākṣa (SV, Shaiva)
89. Gaṇapati (AV, Shaiva)
90. Darśana (SV, Yoga)
91. Tārasāra (ŚYV, Vaishnava)
92. Mahāvākya (AV, Yoga)
93. Pañcabrahma (KYV, Shaiva)
94. Prāṇāgnihotra (KYV, Samanya)
95. Gopālatāpani (AV, Vaishnava)
96. Kṛṣṇa (AV, Vaishnava)
97. Yājñavalkya (ŚYV, Sannyasa)
98. Varāha (KYV, Sannyasa)
99. Śāṭyāyani (ŚYV, Sannyasa)
100. Hayagrīva (AV, Vaishnava)
101. Dattātreya (AV, Vaishnava)
102. Gāruḍa (AV, Vaishnava)
103. Kali-Saṇṭāraṇa (Kali) (KYV, Vaishnava)
104. Jābāla (SV, Shaiva)
105. Saubhāgya (ṚV, Shakta)
106. Sarasvatīrahasya (KYV, Shakta)
107. Bahvṛca (ṚV, Shakta)
108. Muktika (ŚYV, Samanya)

See also

• Advaita Vedanta
• Bhagavad Gita
• Hinduism
• Hindu philosophy
• Vedanta
• Vedas
• Yoga

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Upanishad", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki