GIST OF THE 10 PRINCIPAL UPANISHADS.

Before I give you the gist of the Upanishads, I would like to explain to you the fundamental important concepts of the Vedas. There are 3  terms that are extremely important. They are “BRAHMAN”, “ATMAN” also mentioned as the “SELF” and “ISHWARA”.

The Vedas define BRAHMAN  in two different ways-1. PARA BRAHMA & 2. APARA BRAHMA.

The PARA BRAHMA is also known as Nirvisehsa, Nirvichara, Nirguna Brahman. This Brahman is the ultimate and it is formless, all comprehensive (present everywhere) and has no qualities. The Vedas say it cannot be defined by us and we can describe it only by negation, that is all we can say as to what is not Brahman. The Brahman itself cannot be defined. The Vedas say BRAHMAN as something that is Universal and there is nothing that is not Brahman. It is all comprehensive, all knowing and is beyond all human intellect.

The APARA BRAHMA is also known as Saprapancha, Sadachara Saguna Brahman.  Apara Brahma has form, it can be defined and is full of good qualities. This is what is known to us as ISWARA or the personal God and we worship it.

The Vedas say ATMAN is nothing but a part of God, but it identifies itself with a body and loses the ultimate consciousness of Brahman. When it realizes the fact that it is a part of Brahman and is not separate from it, it again becomes one with Brahman as it originally was.

The SELF is nothing but ATMAN coloured by MAYA.

I give the main Gist of each of the 10 Principal Upanishads below:

1.       ISHA: Life in the world and life in the Spirit are not incompatible. Work or action is not contrary to knowledge of God, but indeed if performed without attachment, is a means to it.

 On the other hand, renunciation is the renunciation of the ego, of selfishness and not of life itself.

 The end, both of work and renunciation, is to know the SELF within and BRAHMAN without and to realize their identity.

 The SELF is BRAHMAN, and the BRAHMAN is all.

 

2.       KENA: The power behind every activity of nature and of man is the power of BRAHMAN. To realize this truth is to be immortal.

 

3.       KATHA: The secret of immortality is to be found in purification of the heart, in meditation, in realization of the identity of the SELF within and BRAHMN without. For immortality is simply union with God.

 

4.       PRASNA: Man is composed of such elements as vital breath, deeds, thought and the senses, all of them deriving their being from the SELF. They have come out of the SELF and they ultimately disappear into it, the same way the waters of a river disappear into the sea.

 

5.       MUNDAKA: Since the manifold objects of sense are merely emanations of Brahman, to know them in themselves is not enough. Since all the actions of men are but phases of the universal process of creation, action alone is not enough.

 The sage must distinguish between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is of things, acts and relations. But wisdom is of BRAHMAN alone. And beyond all things, acts and relations, HE abides forever. To become one with him is the only wisdom.

 

6.        MANDUKYA: The life of man is divided between working, dreaming, and dreamless sleep. But transcending these three states is super conscious vision called simply the FOURTH.

 

7.       TAITTIRIYA: Man, in his ignorance, identifies himself with the material sheaths that encompass his true SELF. Transcending these, he becomes one with BRAHMAN, who is pure bliss.

 

8.       AITAREYA: BRAHMAN, the source, sustenance and end of the Universe, partakes of every phase of existence. He wakes with the waking man, dreams with the dreamer, and sleeps the deep sleep of the dreamless sleeper: but he transcends these 3 states to become himself. His true nature is PURE CONSCIOUSNES.

 

9.       CHANDOGYA: BRAHMAN is all. From Brahman come appearances, sensations, desires and deeds. But all these are merely names and forms. To know BRAHMAN one must experience the identity between HIM and the SELF, or BRAHMAN dwelling in the lotus of the heart.  Only by so doing can man escape from sorrow and death, and become one with the subtle essence beyond all knowledge.

 

10.   BRIHADARANYAKA: The SELF is the dearest of all things, and only through the SELF  is anything else dear. The SELF is the origin of all finite happiness, but it is itself pure bliss, transcending definition. It remains unaffected by deeds, good or bad. It is beyond feeling and beyond knowledge, but it is not beyond the meditation of the sage.