As large as this ether (all space) is, so large is that ether within the heart.When he (the Highest Self) is in union with the body, the senses, and the mind, then wise people call him the Enjoyer. The senses they call the horses, the objects of the senses their roads. Know the Self to be sitting in the chariot, the body to be the chariot, the intellect ( buddhi) the charioteer, and the mind the reins.अहम् ब्रह्म अस्मि aham brahmāsmi – “I am Brahman”, or “I am Divine” (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.10 of the Yajur Veda)īhagavad Gita, the teachings imparted to Arjuna by Sri Krishna in the battlefield of Kurukshetra in Mahabharata, is the epitome of all philosophical thought contained in the Upanishads.तत् त्वम् असि tat tvam asi – “Thou art That” (Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7 of the Sama Veda).अयम् आत्मा ब्रह्म ayam ātmā brahma – “This Self (Atman) is Brahman (Divine)” (Mandukya Upanishad 1.2 of the Atharva Veda).प्रज्ञानम् ब्रह्म prajñānam brahma – “Prajñāna (Supreme Knowledge) is Brahman (Divine)” (Aitareya Upanishad 3.3 of the Rig Veda).
The gist of these Upanishads can be given in 4 simple sentences called “mahavakyas” (the great statements): There are over 200 known Upanishads, but only eleven of them, upon which Adi Sankaracharya has written commentaries, are considered to be the principal Upanishads: Isa, Kena, Katha, Prasna, Mundaka, Mandukya, Taittiriya, Svetasvatara, Aitreya, Chandogya and Brhadaranyaka. The Upanishads uphold only the actual experience and perception of this “real” nature as the goal discrediting a mere intellectual knowledge about it or even the scriptural rote-learning. As they present the philosophical thought mostly through a dialogue between the teacher and student, no query by a student is seen to be “blasphemous” or “inappropriate”: the Upanishads implores each one of us to be fearless in our inquiry into the nature of this world and our individuality guided by a sharp and strong intellect that discerns to accept the “real” (permanent) and eschew the “unreal” (impermanent). These Smritis, by their very nature, need to evolve with time and place to be relevant for current lifestyle and thought.Īnother unique feature of Upanishads is their exhortation to have earnestness in quest for Truth with complete fearlessness. Upanishads are, therefore, called Shrutis (“that which are heard”) while all the other scriptures are called Smritis (“that which are remembered”). Upanishads deal only with the ever-lasting fundamental principles governing the nature of Truth, therefore, they are applicable at all times and climes. By these etymological connections, Upanishad is said to mean knowledge.” Those who seek liberation being endowed with the spirit of dispassion towards all sense objects, seen or heard of, and approaching this knowledge indicated by the term Upanishad presently to be explained, devote themselves to it with one-pointed determination – of such people, this knowledge removes, shatters, or destroys the avidya (ignorance or spiritual blindness), which is the seed of all relative existence or worldliness. “By what etymological process does the term Upanishad denote knowledge? This is now explained. Adi Sankaracharya in his commentary of Katha Upanishad gives the following definition for Upanishad: The word “Upanishad” etymologically means “sitting close to” implying the acquiring of knowledge by a student who is sitting close to a teacher. For this reason, Upanishads are also known as the Vedanta, that is, the end or final goal of wisdom (Veda, wisdom anta, end). This latter wisdom portion of the Vedas are called the Upanishads which deal with the ultimate spiritual vision whose attainment is portrayed as the goal of human life. Thus Vedas be classified into two sections: hymnal, ceremonial and sacrificial-rites portion (Karma-kanda) and the wisdom portion (Jnana-kanda). They are classified into four by sage Vyasa: Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva. There are no known authors of Vedas they are deemed to be revelations of great seers called rishis.
Towards their end, emerges a highly evolved section of philosophical thought and spiritual inquiry into the nature of soul, birth and death etc. or abstract qualities like speech, thought etc., sacrificial and ceremonial rituals for pleasing such gods for attainment of worldly/heavenly pleasures. Vedic literature consists of hymns praising gods personifying natural and cosmic phenomena like rain, fire etc. Vedas are a very ancient body of literature that originated in the Indian subcontinent around 1500-1000 B.C as estimated by Indologist scholars although traditional Indian Calendar (Yugabda) puts it about 4000 B.C.