The Mandukya Upanishad is attributed to the revelation of a great sage called Manduka. That which pertains to Manduka is Mandukya. The Upanishad or the secret teaching revealed to the sage Manduka is the Mandukya Upanishad. It commences with a solemn declaration:
Om ityetadaksharam idam sarvam, tasyopavyakhyanam bhutam bhavat bhavishyaditi sarvam omkara eva.
The Imperishable is OM, [...]
Isavasya Upanishad is one of the ten primary upanishads that are considered most important of all upanishads. In a sense, this Isavasya Upanishad gives us four important instructions. Four types of knowledge are imparted to us by this Upanishad.
Firstly, the Creator pervades the whole of creation.
Secondly, everyone is to do one’s duty.
Thirdly, knowledge and action [...]
The Upanishads are the doctrine of the lifting of your own self to the Self of the universe, the Spirit which you are. It is not merely the Spirit inside you - you yourself are the Spirit. Why do you say “inside” - because when the outer cloth of this body and even the mind [...]
The Upanishads are the concluding portions of the Vedas and the basis for the Vedanta philosophy, “a system in which human speculation seems to have reached its very acme,” according to Max Muller. The Upanisads have dominated Indian philosophy, religion, and life for nearly three thousand years.
The ideal of man’s ultimate beatitude, the perfection of [...]
One day a young boy came to the ashrama of Sage Gautama and said: “Holy Sire, I want to get the sacred knowledge by serving you. Please accept me as your student.”
The sage asked: “Child, What is your gotra?” (Gotra is one’s family name).
The boy replied: “Sire, I asked it of my mother. She said: [...]
Uddalaka was a great rishi. He had a son by name Svetaketu.
After giving him the sacred thread at the proper age, the rishi called him one day and said, “Svetaketu, proceed to the house of a guru and living there as a student, learn the Vedas well; for, there is none in our family who [...]
The Kena Upanishad (kenopanishad), is one of the older, “primary” Upanishads commented upon by Adi Shankara. It is associated with the Samaveda. It figures as number 2 in the Muktika canon of 108 Upanishads.
Kenopanishad derives its name from the first word Kena , meaning ‘by whom’. It belongs to the Talavakara Brahmana of Sama Veda [...]
Prashna Upanishad is one of the older, “primary” Upanishads commented upon by Adi Shankara. It is a Mukhya Upanishad, associated with the Atharvaveda. It figures as number 4 in the Muktika canon of 108 Upanishads.
In Sanskrit, “Prashna” means question. This book consists of six questions and their answers, hence the name. It is in the [...]
The Shvetashvatara Upanishad is one of the older, “primary” Upanishads. It is associated with the Black Yajurveda. It figures as number 14 in the Muktika canon of 108 Upanishads. Adi Shankara has called it the “Mantra Upanishad” of the Vedic Shvetashvatara school in his commentary on Brahma sutras.
Three mātrās
There are three mātrās in the word aum : ‘a’ as the ‘u’ in ‘but’; ‘u’ as the ‘u’ in ‘put’; and the ‘m’. The term mātrā is used for the upper limb of Nagari characters and a syllabic instant in prosody. Esoterically, the ‘a’ stands for the first stage of wakefulness, where we [...]