108 Upanishads and their classification.

[Guest guest]

Few days ago, when I was writing the article on Sanyasa Upanishads

for Tattvaloka, Sri Vidyasankar and myself had a discussion on the

number of Upanishads and their kinds. The material assembled in that

context is posted here for general use by the members of the Group. Among

these 108 Upaishads, there is one dedicated to Sri Hayagreeva Bhagavan,

I shall be grateful to receive a copy of that Upanishad from anyone,who

might have a text of that Upanishad.This posting is deliberately long

so that it can house at one place material related to the 108 Upanishads

for future research by the interested Members of the Prapatti Group.

 

***Upanishads and Veda Saakaas

 

Upanishads are found in the concluding sections of

the

Veda Saakaas and hence are known as Vedanta or the end of the Vedas.

There are four Veda Samhitas (Rg, Yajur, Sama and Atharva). The Yajur Vedam

has two Samhitas known as the Krishna and Sukla Yajur Vedas . Hence , One can

say that there are 5 Veda Samhitas, if we take into account the 2 Samhitas

of Yajur Veda. Each of the 4 Samhitas referred to above has several branches

or Saakaas. Each Saaka has a Karma Khanda dealing with the actions to be

performed and is made up of Mantras and Btrahmanaas. Latter deals with

Upasana or meditation and has Aranyakas inside them for the benefit of those

who have resorted to the quiet habitat of the forest to pursue their spiritual

Quest.

The Upanishads are found mostly in the Aranyaka section of the Vedas .

 

The traditional view is that Vysa Bhagavan has

classified the four

Vedas into 1180 Saakaas and each of these Saakaa is associated with an

Upanishad.

Hence , One anticipates 1180 Upanishads. According to this view, there must have

been

21 Upanishads for the 21 Rg Saakaas, 109 for Yajurveda ,1000 for Sama Veda and

50 for the Atharva Veda. Most of these Saakaas have been lost with the passage

of time and

we are left with 108 Upanishads today. The breakdown among the 108 Upanishads

according to the 5 Veda Samhitas are as follows:

 

1.Rg Veda : 10

2.Sama Veda :16

3.Atharva Veda: 31

4.Krishna Yajur Veda: 32

5.Sukla Yajur Veda: 19

 

The 10 Upanishads belonging to the Rg Veda are the following:

 

1. Aitareya* 2.Kaushitaki 3.Nadabindu 4.Atmabodha 5. Nirvana

6.Mudgala 7.Akshamala 8.Tripura 9.Saubhagyalakshmi and

10. Bahvrichi.

 

The 16 associated with the Sama Samhita are:

 

1.Kena* 2.Chhandogya* 3.Arunika 4. Maitrayani 5.Maitreyi

6.Vajrasuchi 7.Yogachudamani 8.Vasudeva 9.Mahat

10.Sanyasa 11.Avyakta 12. Kundika 13.Savitri 14.Rudrakshajabala

15.Jabaladarsana and 16.Jabali

 

The 19 Upanishads belonging to Sukla Yajur Veda are:

 

1.Isavasya* 2.Brahadaranyaka* 3.Jabala 4. Hamsa 5.ParamaHamsa

6.Subala 7.Mantrika 8.Niralamba 9.Trisikhibrahmana 10.Mandalabrahmana

11. Advayataraka 12.Paingala 13.Bhikshuka 14. Turiyatita 15.Adhyatma

16.Yajnavalkya 17.Satyayani 18.Tarasara and 19.Muktika .

 

The 32 Upanishads belonging to the Krishna Yajur Veda Samhita are:

 

1.Katha* 2.Taittiriya* 3.Brahma 4.Kaivalya 5.Svetasvatara 6.Garbha

7.Narayana 8.Amritabindhu 9.Amritanada 10.Kalagnirudra 11.Kshurika

12. Sarvasara 13.Sukharahasya 14. Tejobindhu 15. Dhyanabindhu

16.Brahmavidya 17.Yogatattva 18.Dakshinamurti 19.Skanda

20.Sariraka 21.Yogasikha 22. Ekakshara 23. Akshi 24. Avadhuta

25. Katharudra 26.Rudrahrudhaya 27.Yogakundalini 28. Panchabrahma

29.Pranaagnihotra 30.Varaha 31. Kalisantaranaand 32.Sarasvatirahasya .

 

The 31 Upanishads belonging to the AtharvaSamhita are :

 

1. Prasna* 2.Mundaka* 3.Maandukya* 4.Atharvasira 5.Atharvasikha

6. Brahajjabala 7. Nrsimhatapini 8. Narada Parivrajaka 9.Sita

10.Sarabha 11.Tribadvibhutimahanarayana 12.Ramarahasya

13. Ramatapini 14.Sandilya 15.Paramahamsaparivrajaka

16. Annapurna 17.Surya 18.Atma 19. Pasupatabrahma

20.Parabrahma 21. Tripuratapini 22. Devi 23. Bhavana

24. Bhasmajabala 25. Ganapati 26.Mahavakhya

27. Gopalatapini 28.Krishna 29. Hayagriva 30.Dattatreya

and 31. Garuda .

 

In the above list of 108, those marked with the Asterik (*) sign

are the ten Major Upanishads commented on by Acharyas.

 

Besides the major Upanishads, there are 27 Upanishads known as

Samaanya Upanishads, because they deal with teachings of general

(Saamanya) interest to all . There are 14 Saiva Upanishads dealing

with Siva ; 8 Sakta Upanishads dealing with Sakti or Devi ; 14 dealing

primarily with Vishnu and hence known as Vaishnavopanishads ; 20

Yoga Upanishads dealing with different aspects of Yoga and 17 Sanyasa

Upanishads dealing with the rules and different aspects of Sanyasa or

Renunciation.

 

The 27 Saamnaya Upanishads are: Svetasvatara(KY), Garbha(KY),

Maitrayani(S), Kaushitaki ®,Subala(SY), Mantrika(SY),Sarvasara(KY),

Niralamba (SY), Sukarahasya(KY), Vajrasuchi(S), Atmabodha ®,

Skanda(KY), Mudgala ®,Paingala(SY), Mahat(S), Sariraka(KY),

Ekakshara( KY),Annapurna (A), Surya(A), Akshi (KY), Adhyatma(SY),

Savitri(S), Atma(A), Pranaagnihotra(KY) and Muktika (SY). Thus 15 out of the

27 belong to the two Samhitas of Yajur Vedam.

 

The 14 Saiva Upanishads are : Kaivalya(KY), Atharvasira(A), Atharvasikha (A),

Brahajjabala(A), Kaalagnirudra(KY) , Dakshinamurthi (KY), Sarabha (A),

Akshamaala ®, Rudrahrudaya (S), Bhasmajabala(A) ,

Rudrakshajabala(S), Ganapati(A) ,Panchabrahma(KY), Jabali (S).

 

The 8 Sakta Upanishads are: Sita (A), Tripuratapini

Annapurna (A), Devi (A), Tripura ® , Bhavana(A),

Saubhagyalakshmi ®, Sarasvatirahasya(KY) nad Bahvrichi ®.

The Dominance of Rg Vedic connection indicates the ancient

nature of Sakti Worship.

 

The 14 Vishnava Upanishads are: Narayana(KY), Nrsimhatapini (A),

Tripadvibhutimahanarayana (A), Ramarahasya(A),

Ramatapini (A), Vasudeva(S), Avyakta(S), Tarasara(SY),

Gopalatapini (A), Krishna(A), Hayagriva(A), Dattatreya (A),

Garuda (A) and Kalisantarana (KY) . It is interesting to see 9

out of 14 belong to the Atharva Samhita.

 

Yoga Upanishads and Sanyasa Upanishads constitute 37

ofthe 108.

 

The seventeen Sanyasa Upanishads among the 37 are:

Brahma(KY), Jabala(SY), Arunika(S), Paramahamsa(SY),

Maitreyi(S), Nirvana® , Narada Parivrajaka(A),

Bhikshuka(SY), Turiyatita(SY),Sanyasa(S),

Paramahamsaparivrajaka(A), Kundika(S),

Parabrahma(A), Avadhuta(KY), Katharudra(KY) ,

Yajnavalkya(SY) and Satyayani (SY).

 

The remaining 20 belong to the Yoga Upanishads.

Fifteen of these 20 Upanishads belong to the two

Samhitas of the Yajur Vedam . Three belong to Atharva,

two to Sama and one to Rg Veda Samhita. Yoga has

been defined as Karmasu Kowsalam . One wonders about the

dominance of Yajur Veda Samhita among the Yoga Upanishads.

 

Veda Ourushaaya Nama:

 

Oppiliappankoil Varadachari Sadagopan