What are the Upanishads?

[Guest guest]

Here is the very next section of the article by Atmatattva Das, which

explains the purpose of the Upanishads. Since the topic was only on

what is tantra, I left out this part and the other five parts for

brevity (there are a total of seven sections to this article). I will

not post the other parts unless there is a relevant question

pertaining to those parts.

 

I think if one were to read the previous part of the article along

with this part of the article (as it is intended), there would be no

confusion as to what is the purpose of the Upanishads.

 

 

Vedanta and Six Systems of Philosophy

 

Upanishad means receiving knowledge while sitting near the teacher.

These are conversations between self realized souls and their

students on the subject matter of Absolute truth. The philosophical

aspects of all the important processes and practices of knowledge

(known as vidyas) that are given in the Vedas are discussed in the

Upanishads. Veda means knowledge and anta means end. Upanishads are

known as Vedanta, end of knowledge.

 

In the Upanishads the description is more or less negation of the

material conception of everything, up to the Supreme Lord. It is very

important to note that there is no denial of the spiritual, absolute,

transcendental conception in the Upanishads. The purpose of the

Upanishads is to philosophically establish the personal feature of

the Absolute Truth as transcendental to material names, forms,

qualities and actions.

 

There are 108 Upanishads, as accepted by disciplic succession. Among

them the following are considered as topmost:

 

 

 

1) Isa

2) Kena

3) katha

4) Prasna

5) Mundaka

6) Mandukya

7) Taittiriya

8) Aitareya

9) Chandogya

10) Brhad-aranyaka

11) Svetasvatara

 

Darshana means, sight or vision. In the Vedanta philosophy, the first

question is, what is the source of everything? There are philosophers

who saw different stages of the original source, and explained

philosophy according to their vision. These are known as darshanas.

They are also known as sad-darshanas (six systems of philosophy).

 

The six philosophical treatises are:

 

Nyaya propounded by Gautama

 

Vaisesika propounded by Kanada

 

Sankhya propounded by Kapila

 

Yoga propounded by Patanjali

 

Purva (karma) Mimamsa propounded by Jaimini

 

Uttara (brahma) Mimamsa propounded by Vyasa

 

Nyaya-darshana, the philosophy of logic, maintains that the atom is

the cause of the cosmic manifestation.

 

Vaisesika-darshana, philosophy of specialised logic, maintains that

the combination of atoms is the cause of the cosmic manifestation.

 

Sankhya-darshana, philosophy of analytical study, maintains that the

material nature is the cause of the cosmic manifestation.

 

Yoga-darshana, philosophy of mystic perfections, maintains that

universal consciousness is the cause of the cosmic manifestation.

 

Purva (karma) mimamsa-darshana, philosophy of actions and reactions,

maintains that fruitive activities are the cause of the cosmic

manifestation.

 

Uttara (brahma) mimamsa-darshana has two different categories:

 

The impersonalists maintain that the impersonal Brahman effulgence is

the cause of the cosmic manifestation.

 

After studying the six philosophical theses, Vyasadeva completely

summarized them all in his Vedanta-sutra darshana: The Absolute Truth

is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the cause of all

causes.

 

Anyone who wants to establish his own philosophy certainly cannot

explain any scripture according to the principle of direct

interpretation. Among the six kinds of philosophers up to the

impersonalist brahma-mimamsa philosophers, none really cares for the

Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the cause of all causes. They

are always busy refuting the philosophical theories of others and

establishing their own.

 

Nyaya and Vaisesika philosophers by accepting atoms as source have

rejected the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

 

The Sankhya philosophers do not accept the Supreme Personality of

Godhead, because after scrutinizingly analyzing the material

elements, they have come to the conclusion that material nature is

the cause of everything.

 

The Yoga philosophers imagine a form of the Absolute Truth within

many forms , and thus do not give any information about the

transcendental Personality of Godhead.

 

Purva (karma) mimamsa philosophers maintain that if there is a God,

He is subjected to our fruitive activities. Therefore they do not see

any need to become devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

 

The impersonalist Uttara (brahma) mimamsa philosophers say that

everything is an illusion. Headed by philosophers like Astavakra,

they stress the impersonal Brahman effulgence as the cause of

everything, rejecting the transcendental Personality of Godhead, who

is also the source of that Brahman effulgence.

 

Srila Vyasadeva wrote the Vedanta-sutras and taking the essence of

all vedic literature, established the supremacy of the Supreme

Personality of Godhead.