Kaivalya Upanishad
Kaivalya Upanishad | ||
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Veda Yajurveda | | |
Chapters | 1 | |
Verses | 26 | |
Philosophy | Vedanta[2] |
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Shaivism |
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Hinduism portal |
The Kaivalya Upanishad (
The Upanishad extols
(liberation).The text, states Paul Deussen – a German Indologist and professor of philosophy, is particularly beautiful in the way it describes the self-realized man who "feels himself only as of the one divine essence that lives in all", who feels identity of his and everyone's consciousness with God (Shiva, highest Atman), who has found this highest Atman within, in the depths of his heart.
Etymology
The Sanskrit word Kaivalya means "aloneness, isolation", and refers to someone who has renounced and isolated himself from all attachments to worldly desires.[4] It also refers to "the absoluteness", states Deussen, the inner conviction of a man on a spiritual journey to liberation.[3]
The term Upanishad means it is knowledge or "hidden doctrine" text that belongs to the corpus of Vedanta literature collection presenting the philosophical concepts of Hinduism and considered the highest purpose of its scripture, the Vedas.[5]
Chronology and anthology
The Kaivalya Upanishad, remarks Deussen, is from the group of five Upanishads which extol and assert god Shiva as a symbolism for Atman (Self).[6] These five Upanishads – Atharvashiras, Atharvashikha, Nilarudra, Kalagnirudra and Kaivalya – are ancient, with Nilarudra likely the oldest and Kaivalya the relatively later era 1st millennium BCE Upanishad, composed closer to Shvetashvatara Upanishad, Mundaka Upanishad, and Mahanarayana Upanishad.[7]
The manuscripts of this minor
Structure
The Kaivalya Upanishad manuscripts vary, depending on which Veda it is attached to.
The Upanishad is presented as a discourse between the Vedic sage Ashvalayana and the god Brahma, wherein the Ashvalayana asks Brahma for Brahma-vidya, that is the knowledge of ultimate reality Brahman.[19][20][21]
The Upanishad's structure is notable as it embeds key parts of verses from early Principal Upanishads, thus referencing them and yet building its own message. The fragments of earlier major Upanishads it thus integrates within it, include Mundaka Upanishad and Shvetashvatara Upanishad.[22]
The text is also notable for presenting Shaivism with Vedanta terminology, discussing the relationship of Atman (Self) and Brahman (ultimate Reality), and Self-knowledge as the means to Kaivalya (liberation).[2][1] The text describes the self-realized man as one who "feels himself only as the one divine essence that lives in all", who feels identity of his and everyone's consciousness with Shiva (the highest Self), who has found this highest Self within, in the depths of his heart.[3][23][24]
Content
The state of Self-realization
He who sees himself in all beings,
And all beings in him,
attains the highest Brahman,
not by any other means.
The setting: Ashvalayana and Brahma (verses 1-2)
The Upanishad opens with sage Ashvalayana meeting Brahma, the creator god in Hindu trimurti. Ashvalayana is a revered Vedic sage, mentioned in the Rigveda,[26] student of the ancient grammarian Shaunaka, and belonging to the Hindu tradition of forest hermits who wander.[27] Ashvalayana, states the text, asks Paramesthi (synonym for Brahma) for Brahmavidya, which Ashvalyana calls "the highest knowledge, always cultivated by the good", one that enables to reach the person who is greater than the great.[3][28] This verse references a fragment from section 3.2 of the Mundaka Upanishad.[29]
Brahma answers, asserts verse 2 of the Upanishad, "Seek knowledge with Sraddha-bhakti-dhyana-yogadavehi (faith, devotion, meditation in yoga), not ritual works, not wealth, not offsprings".[3][30][31] Aloneness and renunciation, states the text, is the path to the life of eternity.[28][3]
Brahma's answer: Grasp Vedanta doctrine (verses 3-5)
Beyond heaven, in the heart, that which shines within, states Brahma in verse 3 of the Upanishad, is the destination of those who have understood the meaning of Vedanta doctrine.[32][33][34] There, states the text, all the sannyasis (renunciates) who have reached that wisdom reside, in the state of pure being.[35] The Upanishad says, seclusion is their place, enthroned is their joy, calm is their Yoga.[32]
These are the ones, asserts the Upanishad, who revere their teachers (
The verse 4 references a fragment each from section 3.2 of Mundaka Upanishad, and section 2.8 of the Shvetashvatara Upanishad.[37]
Meditate on Shiva: He, Brahman, Indra, Vishnu are same (verses 6-9)
The text then iconographically paints god Shiva, as the one who is the companion of Uma, with three eyes, blue neck, the calm wonderful lord imbued with intelligence and bliss, the source of everything.[38] It is this supreme lord, states the text, one must meditate on, asserts verse 7.[32]
This supreme, states Kaivalya Upanishad, is the eternal, the all-pervading,
Meditate on Om: the three states of consciousness (verses 10-15)
The Kaivalya Upanishad asserts that one must see "his Atman (Self) in all beings, and all beings in his Atman" to attain salvation, there is no other way.[40][28]
In verse 11, the text makes a reference to a fragment from section 1.14 of the Shvetashvatara Upanishad, to metaphorically describe how to gain this knowledge.[43][28] Making his own Self as the lower fire stick and Om the upper fire stick, states the Kaivalya Upanishad, one must rub these together, light up the fire of knowledge, and burn the ties to ignorance.[44][40]
A
Shiva, Brahman is within you (verses 16-17)
According to
यत्परं ब्रह्म सर्वात्मा विश्वस्यायतनं महत् | |
Brahman, the supreme Self of all, the great resting place of universe, |
—Kaivalya Upanishad 16[23][44][49] |
The verse 17 of the text repeats, that all three states, experienced when one is awake, when one dreams, when one is in deep dreamless sleep, is illuminated therein.[50] "Know yourself to be that Brahman", translates Deussen, and experience liberation.[48][51]
The state of liberation (verses 18-24)
The text, in verses 18 to 24 describes the state of liberated renouncer.[51] The Upanishad states he is blissful, content in all three states of consciousness, feels everything was born in him and abides in him and dissolves in him, that he is Brahman that is in everyone, he is Sadashiva, ancient, diverse, spiritual, with the gift to know eternity.[52][53][54]
The liberated renouncer, feels he is the knower, the perceiver, the one to learn the Vedas, the one to perfect the Vedas, states verse 22 of the text.[55][51] He feels his essence is beyond good and bad, beyond body and mind, beyond merit and demerits, beyond what perishes, asserts the text.[24][51] The liberated man, states the Upanishad, has found the highest Atman in his heart.[51]
Epilogue
In the end, the glories of reciting the Kaivalya Upanishad are told. Recitation of this Upanishad, asserts the epilogue, frees one of various sins, end the cycle of
The style of the text's epilogue, that is the concluding verses, is odd and different from the rest of the text.[3] This structural anomaly, as well as the very different message therein, states Deussen, suggests that the passage on the "study of Satarudriyam and all sorts of promises" may be a later insertion or an accident of extraction from the Vedic text in which this Upanishad was embedded.[3]
Commentaries
Commentaries on the Kaivalya Upanishad are written by
See also
Notes
- ^ This is a fragment from chapter 6.8-6.16 of the Chandogya Upanishad, see: AS Gupta (1962), The Meanings of "That Thou Art", Philosophy East and West, Vol. 12, No. 2, pages 125-134; for its different meanings, see Joel Brereton (1986), Tat Tvam Asi in Context, Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenlandischen Gesellschaft, Vol 136, pages 98-109, and Robert Hume, Chandogya Upanishad, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Oxford University Press, pages 245-246
References
- ^ a b c d e Deussen 1997, pp. 791–795.
- ^ a b c Cush 2007, p. 397.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Deussen 1997, p. 791.
- ^ Cush 2007, pp. 397–398.
- ^ Max Muller, The Upanishads, Part 1, Oxford University Press, page LXXXVI footnote 1, 22, verse 13.4
- ^ Deussen 1997, p. 769 footnote 1, 791.
- ^ Deussen 1997, p. 769 footnote 1.
- ^ Chinmayananda 2003, pp. 3–4.
- ISBN 81-208-2086-X
- ^ Deussen 1997, pp. 567–568.
- ^ Deussen 1997, p. 568.
- OCLC 863321204
- ^ Deussen 1997, p. 556.
- ^ Chinmayananda 2003, p. 1.
- ^ Vedic Literature, Volume 1, A Descriptive Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts, p. PA349, at Google Books, Government of Tamil Nadu, Madras, India, pages 349-352
- ^ a b c Swami Madhavananda. "Kaivalya Upanishad". Vedanta Spiritual Library. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
- ^ Hattangadi 2003.
- ^ Chinmayananda 2003, p. 4.
- ^ a b Parmeshwaranand 2000, pp. 283–284.
- ^ Sastri 1898, pp. 72–73.
- ^ Chinmayananda 2003, pp. 9–14.
- ^ Deussen 1997, pp. 791-795 with footnotes.
- ^ ISBN 978-0195066289, page 168
- ^ ISBN 978-0814736500, pages 85-86
- ^ Deussen 1997, pp. 792–793.
- ^ Chinmayananda 2003, p. 9.
- ^ Ashvalayana (Vedic teacher), Encyclopædia Britannica (2015)
- ^ a b c d Radhakrishnan 1953, p. 929.
- ^ Deussen 1997, p. 791 footnote 1.
- ^ Sastri 1898, pp. 74–75.
- ^ Hattangadi 2003, p. verse 2.
- ^ a b c d e f Deussen 1997, p. 792.
- ^ Hattangadi 2003, p. verse 3.
- ^ Aiyar 1914, p. 31.
- ^ Sastri 1898, pp. 75–76.
- ^ a b Hattangadi 2003, p. verse 5.
- ^ Deussen 1997, p. 792 footnote 2 and 3.
- ^ Aiyar 1914, pp. 31–32.
- ^ Sastri 1898, pp. 76–82.
- ^ a b c Aiyar 1914, p. 32.
- ^ Hattangadi 2003, p. verse 8.
- ^ Sastri 1898, pp. 81–82.
- ^ Hattangadi 2003, p. verse 11.
- ^ a b c d Deussen 1997, p. 793.
- ^ Hattangadi 2003, p. verse 12.
- ^ Sastri 1898, pp. 84–85.
- ^ Hattangadi 2003, p. verse 14.
- ^ a b Hattangadi 2003, pp. verses 16-17.
- ^ Sastri 1898, p. 88.
- ^ Sastri 1898, pp. 88–89.
- ^ a b c d e Deussen 1997, p. 794.
- ^ Sastri 1898, pp. 89–91.
- ^ Hattangadi 2003, pp. verses 18-21.
- ^ Radhakrishnan 1953, pp. 930–931.
- ^ Hattangadi 2003, p. verse 22.
- ISBN 978-93-5118-443-0.
- ^ Aurobindo (2001). Kena and Other Upanishads. THE COMPLETE WORKS OF SRI AUROBINDO. Vol. 18. Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publication Department. p. 444.
- ^ Radhakrishnan 1953.
Bibliography
- Aiyar, Narayanasvami (1914). "Thirty minor Upanishads". University of Toronto Archives. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
- Cush, Denise; et al. (2007). Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Routledge. ISBN 978-0700712670.
- Chinmayananda, Swami (2003). Kaivalya Upanishad. Chinmayananda Mission Trust. OCLC 609013173.
- Hattangadi, Sunder (2003). "कैवल्योपनिषत् (Kaivalya Upanishad)" (in Sanskrit). Retrieved 8 January 2016.
- Deussen, Paul (1997). Sixty Upanishads of the Veda. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-8120814677.
- Parmeshwaranand, Swami (2000), Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Upanisads, Sarup & Sons, ISBN 978-81-7625-148-8
- Sastri, A Mahadeva (1898). Amritabindu and Kaivalya Upanishads with Commentaries. Thomson & Co.
- Radhakrishnan, Sarvapalli (1953), The Principal Upanishads, New Delhi: HarperCollins Publishers India (1994 Reprint), ISBN 81-7223-124-5
External links
- Kaivalya Upanishad in Sanskrit, SanskritDocuments.Org Archives