The
word Upanishad, coming from ‘upa ni shad’, means “sitting down near” the
teacher to receive instruction as well as a sort of secret doctrine or
‘rahasyam “and the Upanishads, of which approximately 108 are known, record the
view of a succession of Hindu teachers and sages who were active as early as
1000B.C.” (The New Encyclopedia Britannica) They contain the earliest records
of Indian speculation. “There is no important form of Hindu thought, heterodox
Buddhism included, which is not rooted in the Upanishads.” (Bloomfield: The
Religion of the Veda, p.51) “Traditionally South Asian teachings based on the
Upanishads have been called the Vedanta, the “end of the Veda,” for the
Upanishads chronologically and formally set the closure of the Vedic canon.” (Encyclopedia
of Religion)
“The
Upanishads actually recognize only one spirit- almighty, infinite, eternal,
incomprehensible, self-existent, the creator, preserver and destroyer of the
world. However, the half-gods of the Veda are but the chief manifestations of
the highest, the immortal, the incorporal Brahman.” (Indian Philosophy by Prof.
Radhakrishna, p.144))
Of
fundamental importance of all Hindu thought is the equation in some of the
Upanishads of atman (the self) with Brahman (the ultimate reality)
The
Upanishads stress on disciplined practice of meditation and the cultivation of
extra- ordinary knowledge in order to discern the ultimate reality.
The
Upanishads have been translated in most of the dominating languages. The
influence of them on certain thinkers notably in Germany is mentionable; the
philosopher Schopenhauer fully acknowledged their influence on his
thought.
Comments
Post a Comment