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Introduction to the Upanishads

This has been published in the WISDOM BIBLE as a book. For ordering information, please click here.

The Upanishads were written by sages of India between the eighth and fourth centuries BC. They are the final part of the Vedas and the basis for the philosophy of Vedanta, which means the end of the Vedas. The Vedas are the most ancient and sacred scripture of India; the name signifies wisdom. The Rig Veda gives the verses or hymns. The Yajur Veda has sacrificial formulas. The Sama Veda contains the melodies of the chants. The Atharva Veda is magic formulas. The four parts of the Vedas are the following: Samhita is the main part and has hymns, prayers, and litanies; the Brahmanas discuss the meaning of the sacrificial rites and ceremonies; the Aranyakas are forest-texts; and the Upanishads are the teachings of the sages on mystical experience. As part of the Vedas the Upanishads are considered revealed scripture.

The word Upanishad literally means "sitting down near" and implies studying with a spiritual teacher. The seven Upanishads presented complete in this collection are drawn from the twelve principal Upanishads and appear in what is considered their chronological order, the KENA, KATHA, and ISHA being considered pre-Buddhistic and thus from the eighth or seventh centuries BC. The name KENA comes from the first word which means "By whom." ISHA comes from the first word meaning "Lord." PRASHNA comes from the word for "question."

The gods referred to in these Upanishads are Agni the god of fire, Vayu the god of air or wind, Indra the god of heroic power and storms, Rudra a god of destruction and of healing, Savitri a sun god or goddess, Brahma the creator, and Vishnu the preserver. In the KATHA UPANISHAD 5 the city of eleven gates refers to the nine openings in the body, the navel, and the sagittal suture on top of the head, and in the SHVETASHVATARA UPANISHAD 3 the nine-gated city refers merely to the body's nine openings. The triad in MUNDAKA 1 refers to the first three Vedas, while the triad in SHVETASHVATARA 1 seems to refer to three aspects of God. In MUNDAKA 3 Vedanta means the end of the Vedas.

To listen to Sanderson Beck reading the Introduction and the Isha Upanishad and the Mandukya Upanishad, please click on the play triangle below.

 

ISHA UPANISHAD

English version by Sanderson Beck

By the Lord is enveloped
all that moves in the moving world.
By renouncing this, find your enjoyment.
Do not covet the possessions of others.
Working here one may wish to live for a hundred years.
Thus it is up to you---there is no other way than this---
the work does not adhere to you.
Demonic are those worlds named, covered in blinding darkness;
there after death go those people who kill the soul.

Unmoving the one is faster than the mind.
The angels do not reach it, as it is always beyond them.
Standing still it passes beyond those who run.
In it the Mother establishes the waters.
It moves, and it does not move.
It is far, and it is near.
It is within all this, and it is also outside all this.

Whoever sees all beings in the soul
and the soul in all beings
does not shrink away from this.
In whom all beings have become one with the knowing soul
what delusion or sorrow is there for the one who sees unity?
It has filled all.

It is radiant, incorporeal, invulnerable,
without tendons, pure, untouched by evil.
Wise, intelligent, encompassing, self-existent,
it organizes objects throughout eternity.

Into blind darkness enter those who follow ignorance;
into even greater darkness go those who follow knowledge.
It is distinct, they say, from knowledge.
It is distinct, they say, from ignorance.
So have we heard from the wise who explained it to us.
Knowledge and ignorance, whoever knows the two together
with ignorance passes over death,
with knowledge attains immortality.

Into blind darkness enter those who follow non-becoming;
into greater darkness enter those who follow becoming.
It is distinct, they say, from becoming.
It is distinct, they say, from non-becoming.
So have we heard from the wise who explained it to us.
Becoming and destruction, whoever knows the two together
with destruction passes over death,
with becoming attains immortality.

The face of truth is covered with a golden disc.
Unveil it, nourisher,
for one whose duty is to see the truth.
Nourisher, one seer, controller, sun, child of the creator,
spread your light and gather your brilliance
that I may see your loveliest form.
Whatever is that Spirit, that also am I.
May this life enter into the immortal breath!
This body then ends in ashes. Aum.
Purpose, remember! Action, remember!
Purpose, remember! Action, remember!

Agni, lead us by a good path to success,
you god who knows all ways.
Keep us away from deceitful sins.
We offer ample prayer to you.

MANDUKYA UPANISHAD

English version by Sanderson Beck

AUM. This imperishable word is the universe.
It is explained as the past, the present, the future;
everything is the word AUM.
Also whatever transcends threefold time is AUM.
All here is God; this soul is God.
This same soul is fourfold.

The waking state outwardly conscious,
having seven limbs and nineteen doors,
enjoying gross objects common to all, is the first.

The dreaming state inwardly conscious,
having seven limbs and nineteen doors,
enjoying subtle objects that are bright, is the second.

When one sleeps without yearning for any desires,
seeing no dreams, that is deep sleep.
The deep-sleep state unified in wisdom gathered,
consisting of bliss, enjoying bliss,
whose door is conscious wisdom, is the third.

This is the Lord of all; this is the omniscient;
this is the inner controller; this is the universal womb,
for this is the origin and end of beings.
Not inwardly wise nor outwardly wise nor both ways wise
nor gathered wisdom, nor wise nor unwise,
unseen, incommunicable, intangible,
featureless, unthinkable, indefinable,
whose essence is the security of being one with the soul,
the end of evolution, peaceful, good, non-dual---
this they deem the fourth.

It is the soul; it should be discerned.
This is the soul in regard to the word AUM and its parts.
The parts are the letters,
and the letters are its parts: A U M.

The waking state common to all is the letter A,
the first part, from "attaining" or from being first.
Whoever knows this attains all desires and becomes first.

The sleeping state, the bright, is the letter U,
the second part, from "uprising" or from being in between.
Whoever knows this rises up in knowledge and is balanced;
no one ignorant of God is born in that family.

The deep-sleep state, the wise, is the letter M,
the third part, from "measure" or from being the end.
Whoever knows this measures everything and reaches the end.

The fourth is without a letter, the incommunicable,
the end of evolution, good, non-dual.

Thus AUM is the soul.
Whoever knows this enters by one's soul into the soul;
this one knows this.

Copyright 1996, 2002 by Sanderson Beck

This has been published in the WISDOM BIBLE as a book. For ordering information, please click here. This text is also available as spoken by Sanderson Beck on CD.

WISDOM OF CHINA AND INDIA Contents
UPANISHADS Introduction
KENA UPANISHAD
KATHA UPANISHAD
ISHA UPANISHAD
MUNDAKA UPANISHAD
PRASHNA UPANISHAD
MANDUKYA UPANISHAD
SHVETASHVATARA UPANISHAD
Vedas and Upanishads ETHICS OF CIVILIZATION

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