Age of the Upanishads - e.g.Aitreya

[Guest guest]

In the interest of renewing scholarly discourse in this list, let me

start of by asking some questions (they will reveal the fact that I

have no pretentions to being a scholar in this field)

 

What is the age of the upanishads .Let us take the Aitreya as an ex.

What Veda is this attached to ? Who was the author of this upanishad ?

When was this first composed ? What is the oldest palmleaf version

and the oldest commentary on the Aitreya ? Is the oldest written

version still extant, in Devanagari or some grantha script ?

 

Kaushal

Ma vidvishaavaheyii

[Guest guest]

INDOLOGY, kaushal42@n... wrote:

Who was the author of this upanishad ?

> When was this first composed ? What is the oldest palmleaf version

> and the oldest commentary on the Aitreya ?

 

Traditionally, the Upanishad is named after Aitareya Mahidasa, the

sone of Itaraa daasi. The 'Mahaitareya' Upanishads comprises

Aranyakas II-III of the Aitareya Aranyaka (which has 5 Aranyakas in

all in the vulgate version and IV in the Kerala version).

Only sections III.4-6 are traditionally commented upon and these

constitute the 'Aitareya Upanishad' as generally available in print.

The Ait. Up. is also called Atmashatakopanishad because it is often

divided into 6 khandas in traditional commentaries. Here is a list of

the commentaries - noting that only the first few are arranged

chronologically and that that the list does not include all the

modern commentaries and translations (because there are too many to

list). The oldest one is of Shankaracharya and there is no indication

that there was any older commentator.

 

1. Shankaracharya: Only the commentary on Aranyaka 3.4-6 is

normally printed. Manuscripts at Calcutta, however cover the entire

Aranyaka 2-3 and the entire commentary has actually been printed.

2. Shadagurushishya: He has written a commentary

called `Mokshaprada' on the entire Aitareya Aranyaka. The commentary

has been published only partially.

3. Madhvacharya: This Bhashya is on entire Aranyakas 2-3. From

Dvaita Vedanta perspective.

4. Anandagiri: Tika on the Bhashya of Sri Shankaracharya

5. Anantandagiri: Tika

6. Shankarananda: Advaitic commentary on the entire Aranyakas 2-3

7. Balakrishnananda: Bhashya from an Advaita Vedanta perspective

8. Sayanacharya: Dipika on the Aitareya Upanishad and

also `Vedartha Prakasha' on the entire Aitareya Aranyaka

9. Swami Vidyaranya: Bhashya on Aitareya Upanishad

10. Vyasatirtha : Tika on the Bhashya of Madhvacharya

11. Vedeshatirtha, the disciple of Vyasatirtha: Commentary from a

Dvaita Vedanta perspective.

12. Vishveshvara Tirtha, the 14th Pontiff of Pejawar Matha: Tika

on the Upanishad from a Dvaita Vedanta perspective

13. Shrinivasathirtha: Khandarthaprakashika on the Upanishad

14. Shrinivasatirtha, son of Vitthala: Ratnamala on the Upanishad

15. Shrinivasatirtha, pupil of Vedesha and Yadavarya:

Bhavapradipa on the Upanishad

16. Shrivnivasacharya: Bhashyartha Vichara on the Upanishad from

a Dvaita Vedanta perspective

17. Narasimhabhikshu, pupil of Vidyatirtha: Khandarthaprakashika

on the Upanishad from a Dvaita Vedanta perspective

18. Krishnacharya, pupil of Raghavendrayati: Khandarthasamgraha,

from a Dvaita Vedanta perspective

19. Pupil of Venkatavarahacharya: Khandartha, from a Dvaita

Vedanta perspective

20. Gopala Yati: Bhashya on Aitareya Upanishad

21. Bhaskarananda Saraswati: Bhashya on Aitareya Upanishad

22. Jnanamrta Yati, the disciple of Uttamamrta - Tippana on

Bhashya of Shankaracharya

23. Ramanuja, son of Jagannatha: Vivarana on Aitareya Upanishad

24. Narsimhacharya: Bhashya on Aitareya Upanishad

25. Abhinava Narayanendra Saravati, the disciple of Jnanendra

Sarasvati and grand disciple of Kaivalyendra Sarasvati (Manuscript at

RAS, Calcutta #214): Vivarana on Shankaracharya's Bhashya from an

Advaita Vedanta perspective

26. Appaya Dikshita: Vivarana on the Upanishad from an Advaita

Vedanta perspective

27. Narayana: Bhashya on Aitareya Upanishad

28. Bhagavantaraja: Bhashya on Aitareya Upanishad

29. A Disciple of Tirtharaja: Tippani on Aitareya Upanishad

30. Vasudeva: Prameyavyakhyasamgraha on Aitareya Upanishad

31. Nrsimhacharya: Bhashya on the Upanishad

32. Damodara Sastri: Manuscript of `Nigudarthaprakashanam' at

RAS, Calcutta

33. Amaradasa Udasin: Commentary called Maniprabha

34. Arthur B. Kieth: English translation, a part of the entire

translation of the Aitareya Aranyaka (1905)

35. Damodara Satavalekara: Commentary in Hindi

36. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan: English translation with notes from

various traditiona commentaries

37. Swami Gambhirananda: Translation and notes in English based

on the commentary of Shankaracharya. The Swami belongs to the

Ramakrishna Mission

38. Swami Chinmayananda: Text and word for word translation and

commentary in English

39. Patrick Olivelle: Text and English translation, with notes on

and a mention of the relevant Indological publications on various

passages of the Upanishad.