The Upanishads
Anonymous, c. 800-200 BCE
Held by Project Gutenberg, PG 3283read here
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This edition of the Upanishads gathers the Katha, Kena and other principal texts in a translation by Swami Paramananda, with short introductions to each. The Katha tells of the boy Nachiketas and Yama, the Ruler of Death, who teaches him that the good is one thing and the pleasant another. The texts ask what the self is, how it relates to Brahman, and how a person comes to know it.
Where it happens
Through time
Who is in it, and behind it
Swami Paramananda Translator
Made the English translation used here.1
Yajnavalkya Sage
Appears as a teacher in the older Upanishads.2
Uddalaka Aruni Sage
Appears as a teacher in the Upanishads.2
Maitreyi Sage
A woman philosopher named in the texts.2
Gargi Sage
A woman philosopher named in the texts.2
Adi Shankaracharya Commentator
Wrote commentaries on the principal Upanishads.2
Dara Shukoh Prince
Had fifty Upanishads rendered into Persian in 1656.2
Arthur Schopenhauer Philosopher
Was deeply impressed by the Upanishads.2
What it is about
The good and the pleasant
Yama tells Nachiketas that these two bind a person differently and that the wise choose the good.1
The charioteer
A person with a trained mind drives the senses like horses to the end of the journey.1
Truth alone remains
Nachiketas wins his father over by saying that all things perish and truth stays.1
Beyond the senses
The deepest reality is described as soundless, touchless and formless.1
In its own words
The good is one thing and the pleasant another. These two, having different ends, bind a man. It is well with him who chooses the good. He who chooses the pleasant misses the true end.
The man who has a discriminative intellect for the driver, and a controlled mind for the reins, reaches the end of the journey, the highest place of Vishnu (the All-pervading and Unchangeable One). A driver must possess first a thorough knowledge of the road; next he must understand how to handle the reins and control his horses. Then will he drive safely to his destination.
Knowing That which is soundless, touchless, formless, undecaying; also tasteless, odorless, and eternal; beginningless, endless and immutable; beyond the Unmanifested: (knowing That) man escapes from the mouth of death. The Ruler of Death defines here the innermost essence of our being.
Thou art That (the invisible), and Thou art all that is beyond," he declares. The ordinary idea of knowledge is that which is based on sense preceptions; but the knowledge of an illumined Sage is not confined to his senses. He has all the knowledge that comes from the senses and all that comes from Spirit.
All things perish, Truth alone remains. Why then fear to sacrifice me also; Thus Nachiketas convinced his father that he should remain true to his word and send him to Yama, the Ruler of Death. Then Nachiketas went to the abode of Death, but Yama was absent and the boy waited without food or drink for three days.
The shape of the book
12 chapters, 17,618 words. Point at a bar.
How it came to be here
The Upanishads are Sanskrit texts of the late Vedic period. About 108 are known and about a dozen count as principal. Olivelle places the Brihadaranyaka and Chandogya in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE. Sages such as Yajnavalkya, Uddalaka Aruni, Maitreyi and Gargi appear in them, and Adi Shankaracharya wrote commentaries. Dara Shukoh had fifty of them translated into Persian in 1656. Schopenhauer was deeply impressed by them.
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Sources
Text: PG 3283 | translator: Swami Paramananda. US public domain (Project Gutenberg licence).