What Are the Upaniṣad-s?
The term “Upaniṣad” comes from two Sanskrit roots – “Upa” meaning near, and “ṣad”, meaning seated. The student is supposed to be seated near the teacher and receive spiritual knowledge. The prefix Ni- may be added as an indicator of a special type of presence. No two people seated beside each other, even if they are discussing Vedāntic material, become Guru and Ṣisya. There are several qualifications and special conditions that need to be fulfilled for this relationship. The nature of the prerequisites will be discussed in a later section of this chapter. However, what is to be made clear is that this is a special relationship necessary for the transmission of knowledge through the Upaniṣads.
There were once 1008 Upaniṣads, of which 108 are still available to us. Of these, ten are considered the most sacred. These are:
Translation:Isāvasya, Kena, Katha, Praśna, Mukada, Māndūkya, Taittareya, Aitareya, Chandogya and Br̥hadāranyaka are the ten (principal Upaniṣads).
These are the most commonly studied ones, and many of the examples in this chapter are drawn from these.
The themes in the Upaniṣad-s revolve around Ātmavidya, which is knowledge of the soul or Brahman. Often, the text opens with a student’s question about the nature of reality as they wonder why life is full of sorrow. Consider the Kena Upaniṣad that begins with the student’s question:
Keneṣitaṁ patati preṣitaṁ manaḥ, kena prāṇaḥ prathamaḥ praiti yuktam |
Keneṣitaṁ vācamimāṁ vadanti, cakṣuḥ śrotraṁ ka u devo yunakti ||
Translation: Willed by what does the directed mind go towards its object? Directed by what does the vital force that precedes all proceed (toward its duty)? By what is the speech that people utter willed? What is the effulgent being who directs the eyes and ears? (Gambhīrānanda, 1957, p. 40)
Sometimes, the teacher himself may introduce the subject matter without prompting from the student. This is the case in the first chapter of the Taitirīya Upaniṣad.
It is important to mention here that though the subject matter is always the Ātma, its nature is variable to some extent, based on which school of thought one follows. There are primarily three schools that interpret Vedāntic material – Advaita, Visiṣtādvaita and Dvaita. The commentaries and references in this chapter are taken from books that follow the Advaitic view. Though the subject matter of the Upaniṣads is not of interest to us at this time, it is important to note this. Some translations and explanations may vary if books from other schools are used.
Now, we return to the pedagogy. Usually, there are only two people involved in the Upaniṣadic discussion – a Guru and a Ṣisya. It is for this reason that the relationship is also called “Eka Adhyāyī-Tapas,” or the penance of one teacher. The Guru may be the father of the student, as in the case of Uddalaka and Śvethaketu in the Chandogya Upaniṣad. In some rare cases, there is a husband-wife relationship like Yājñavalkya and Maitreyī, seen in the Br̥hadāranyaka Upaniṣad. But they may also be unrelated, like the six students of Sage Pippalada, in the Praśnopaniṣad – Sukeśa, Śaivya, Gārgya, Bhargava, Kabanda, and Kausala – each from a different Gotra. The Upaniṣads do not consider dual relationships to be as problematic as modern psychology does. We shall explore this in a later section of the chapter. Additionally, it is important to note that some Upaniṣads don’t have explicitly named characters, like the Kena Upaniṣad. Though a teacher and student are clearly present, there is no name given to either of them.
It is also interesting to note that the Bhagavad Gīta is sometimes referred to as an Upaniṣad due to its conversational style. However, it is technically a part of the Ītihāsa, the Mahabhārata. This is a testament to show that “conversation” is a hallmark characteristic of the pedagogy of Upaniṣadic texts. This will be the first point of discussion.