Upanishad

Upanishad · upa-ni-shad, “sitting near; the secret teaching”

Grammar: feminine noun; upa (near), ni (down) and the root sad (to sit): “sitting down near”, the teaching received sitting near the guru.

Meaning: a secret teaching; the Upanishads, the teachings of the Veda on Brahman and the ātmā.

In the scriptures: the Agni Purāṇa uses the word in these places.

  • In the kośa: among the words with many meanings, which Agnideva gives in the kośa, upanishad has two meanings: dharma and secret (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 362).
  • Its source: in his teaching on samādhi, Agnideva tells the order of manifestation. The Parama Purusha, the beginning of all, is beginningless, and whatever is grasped by the mind and the senses is a modification. The whole body of sacred word, the Veda, the Purāṇa, vidyā, the Upanishad, the śloka, the sūtra, the bhāshya and the rest, arose from this Paramātmā alone (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 376).

In the Bhāgavata Purāṇa: the Upanishads teach Brahman, the oneness of Brahman and the ātmā, and Śrī Hari as their final purport; the Bhāgavata calls itself their essence.

  • What they teach. Śrī Kṛshṇa tells Uddhava that the Upanishad statement teaches the oneness of Brahman and the ātmā. Some, thinking themselves learned, hold duality to be real and call that oneness an arthavāda, mere praise attached to karma; this view, he says, has no substance (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 11, Chapter 28). Saṅkarshaṇa teaches Citraketu that the undivided knowledge that pervades waking and sleep is the Parabrahma taught in the Upanishads (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 6, Chapter 16). Śrī Śuka tells Parīkshit that the Parabrahma, beyond reasoning and beyond māyā, is set forth by the Upanishads by denying what is not real (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 13), and that the Upanishads describe the form of Bhagavān Śrī Hari that is beyond the senses (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 5, Chapter 26).
  • Śrī Hari as their purport. Pṛthu tells his people that the Upanishads, which guide the jñāna-nishṭhā of the paramahaṃsas, teach as their highest purport only the form of Śrī Hari that is a mass of knowledge (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapter 21). Bharata bows to Śrī Hari, the controller of prakṛti, who is set forth by the Sāṅkhya śāstra, which the text glosses as the Upanishads, and who shines as the ātmā in every heart (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 5, Chapter 14). With Aditi‘s stuti the text adds that the basic teaching of the Upanishads is that the Parameśvara creates, protects and withdraws the world and is himself the world as well (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 8, Chapter 17). Nṛga praises Śrī Kṛshṇa as the Paramātmā whom great yogīs contemplate in a purified heart with the Upanishad’s vision of non-difference (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 64). Śrī Śuka says that Yaśodā went on thinking of Śrī Hari, whose glory the Vedas, the Upanishads, the ātma-nishṭhas, the karma-yogīs and the bhaktas all sing, as her son (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 8).
  • The Upanishad of the Śrutis. Śrī Śuka tells Parīkshit that the Upanishad that teaches Brahman was held by the Sanaka ṛshis, who were born before all the forefathers; they drew out the essence of the Vedas, Purāṇas and Upanishads in their stuti. Whoever holds this Upanishad with śraddhā becomes free of identification with the body and attains moksha (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 87).
  • Studied with the Vedas. Nārada tells Yudhishṭhira that the brahmacārī studies the three Vedas with the Upanishads and the six aṅgas, as far as his strength allows (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 7, Chapter 12). Śrī Śuka tells that Sāndīpani, pleased with the pure service of Śrī Kṛshṇa and Śrī Balarāma, taught them the four Vedas with the Upanishads and the Vedāṅgas (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 45). Sūta tells Śaunaka that the Oṃkāra is the direct name of the Parabrahman and the eternal root of all mantras, Upanishads and Vedas (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 12, Chapter 6).
  • Vidura‘s question. Vidura asked Maitreya about the nature of the jīva and of the Parameśvara, the knowledge of the Upanishads, and what guru and disciple owe each other (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapter 7).
  • The Bhāgavata and the Upanishads. Sūta tells Śaunaka that the world is born from the Brahman beyond prakṛti and dissolves into it; the Upanishads set forth this Brahman, and the Purāṇa describes that knowledge, ātma-jñāna and direct experience (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 12, Chapter 12). The Upanishads teach the oneness of Brahman and the inner ātmā, and the Bhāgavata is devoted to that non-dual truth, with moksha as its one purpose. The Bhāgavata is the essence of all the Upanishads, and one who has tasted its rasa loves no other Purāṇa (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 12, Chapter 13).

Related terms: Veda · Vedānta · Brahma-vidyā · Rahasya · Purāṇa

Sources

  • Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 362, 376
  • Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapter 7; Skandha 4, Chapter 21; Skandha 5, Chapters 14, 26; Skandha 6, Chapter 16; Skandha 7, Chapter 12; Skandha 8, Chapter 17; Skandha 10, Chapters 8, 13, 45, 64, 87; Skandha 11, Chapter 28; Skandha 12, Chapters 6, 12, 13