लुल्ला परिवारLulla Family
हिन्दी
UpanishadsThe silence inside the question

The Upanishads

॥
The Upanishads
The philosophical root of Vedanta
The final part of the Vedas, and their deepest. The dialogues of the sages, the questions of their students, where the question “Who am I” first found a direct answer.

The seed-verse of the whole Upanishadic tradition

“सत्यं ज्ञानम् अनन्तं ब्रह्म।” Brahman itself is truth, is knowledge, and is the infinite.

This saying from the Taittiriya gathers into itself the gist of all those Upanishads, which circle a single question: what is the nature of that truth which, once known, makes everything else known.

Taittiriya 2.1.1

Introduction

An old sage seated under a banyan tree on a small earth-mound, teaching a young student who sits a little distance away; a small sacrificial fire smolders between them, a deer at the edge
Upanishad. The word itself means to sit close to the guru. Beneath the banyan, before the fire, it begins with a question.

The Upanishads are the knowledge-section of the Vedas, their philosophical summit. Rising above the fire-rites and rituals of the karma-section, here the sages raise the question directly: what is Brahman, what is the atman, what remains beyond death. These very questions would in time become the whole edifice of Vedanta.

Tradition counts one hundred and eight Upanishads, though ten among them are held to be the principal ones, the ten on which Shankaracharya wrote his commentaries: Ishavasya, Kena, Katha, Prashna, Mundaka, Mandukya, Aitareya, Taittiriya, Chandogya, and Brihadaranyaka. Within these lie the four great sayings, the mahavakyas, that ground all of Advaita: the Chandogya’s “तत्त्वमसि”, the Brihadaranyaka’s “अहं ब्रह्मास्मि”, the Aitareya’s “प्रज्ञानं ब्रह्म”, and the Mandukya’s “अयमात्मा ब्रह्म”.

This collection links to twelve Upanishads and, alongside them, the Bhagavad Gita. The introductions and reading pages offer Sanskrit passages, meanings, and commentary; the scope and format vary by work. Ishavasya offers an inviting beginning. Its original text has eighteen mantras; this site presents selected thematic commentary. Kena is another possible starting point. The scope note on each reading explains what is included.

The Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita

Twelve Upanishads, followed by the Bhagavad Gita. Choose a work to see its introduction and reading sequence.

01
Ishavasya Upanishad
Eighteen mantras. The Lord pervades this entire universe: that is the core teaching.
 02
Kenopanishad
“By whose impulse does the mind move toward its objects?”
 03
Kathopanishad
The dialogue of Nachiketa and Yama. What lies beyond death?
 04
Prashnopanishad
Six students, six questions, the answers of the sage Pippalada.
 05
Mundaka Upanishad
The distinction between the higher knowledge and the lower.
 06
Mandukya Upanishad
Twelve mantras. Om, and the four states of consciousness.
 07
Taittiriya Upanishad
The discernment of the five sheaths, from the food-sheath to the sheath of bliss.
 08
Aitareya Upanishad
Creation, birth, and the great saying “प्रज्ञानं ब्रह्म”.
 09
Chandogya Upanishad
The vast Upanishad of the Sama Veda. Satyakama, Shvetaketu, and the great saying तत्त्वमसि, that essence is your very self.
 10
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
The dialogues of Yajnavalkya, Maitreyi, and Gargi. The origin of अहं ब्रह्मास्मि and नेति नेति.
11
Shvetashvatara Upanishad
The search for a single cause, and the first note of bhakti. The worship of Rudra as the Lord.
12
Kaivalya Upanishad
Kaivalya, the freedom of aloneness. The path of meditation on Maheshvara.
 13
Bhagavad Gita
Eighteen chapters, seven hundred shlokas. The synthesis of karma, knowledge, and bhakti.
॥ शिवमस्तु सर्वजगताम् ॥

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