Part 2

It is a series of eight chapters. Chapter 1 General Introduction Chapter 2 Eight Upanishads- Introduction Chapter 3 Jagat Jiva Isvara Chapter 4 Bandha Chapter 5 Preparation Chapter 6 Jnana and Moksha Chapter 7 Vedic Practices Chapter 8 Brahma Sutra Bhasya

Chapter 1 General Introduction
1-1    Why should Upanishad be studied?                                                                      A brief answer should suffice at this stage. The Upanishads, also called Vedanta, form the end parts of Vedas and contain Vedantic teaching. The Upanishads are one of the Trai-Prasthanas, the other two are Bhagavad Gita and Brahma Sutra. Trai means three and Prasthana means to go. It is held that to know the truth, one must take recourse to the said three scriptures. Upanishad is Sruti (revealed) Prasthana, Gita is Smriti (remembered) Prasthana and Brahma Sutra is logic (Nyaya) Prasthana. Brahma-sutra provides the logical foundation for Upanishadic teachings. Shankaracharya has written a commentary (Bhasya) on Brahma Sutra.

A person has material, emotional, and intellectual needs. He is curious to know about worldly objects and phenomena and above all about creation. How has life come into existence and where does he stand in relation to the world. No doubt, science has a theory of creation though incomplete. It deals with physical objects, and phenomena. Vedantic inquiry is deeper as it is about the nature of objects and phenomena. It accommodates the scientific theory and has much more.

There are ups and downs in life. Vedanta provides a different perspective of the world and a human being. A person considers himself a Body-Mind System (in short, BMS). According to Vedanta, It is half truth. BMS is limited. As a limited BMS, a person suffers. Vedanta says that the real nature of a person is not BMS. It is consciousness which is unbounded. It also claims that the reality behind a Jiva is not different from the reality behind the Universe. Vedanta uses many techniques for this purpose. Once a person is convinced that he is infinite and unbounded, he claims a position of strength to face the vagaries of life like a shock absorber. He is free from suffering. It is freedom.

Desire is the motivating force of life because a person thinks that by satisfying it, he will be happy and indeed he is happy. So far so good. There is a downside. The happiness is not permanent. Even the best food, house, jewellery, relations, etc, do not ensure permanent happiness. It is a vicious circle in which life moves. A few fortunate ones take a pause and look at this trap but are clueless because the best of intentions fail to find a solution. Here comes the necessity of knowledge. Knowledge is gained by inquiry. An experience itself may not give correct knowledge. Sunrise is experienced though the sun does not rise. Inquiry about life, the world, and above all about oneself is required. Advaita Vedanta says that what I assume about myself is erroneous and it advises to do self-inquiry. Unless I know myself, it is not possible to lead a meaningful and complete life.
There is a misconception that Vedanta necessarily requires a life of a renunciate. Vedanta acknowledges four human goals, namely, Artha (wealth), Kama (desire), Dharma (righteousness), and Moksha (liberation). It does not shun material needs. It gives a different perspective. A person fulfills his desires by acquiring wealth in a righteous manner in such a way that there is no suffering due to non-fulfilment of desires.

Eight Upanishads, namely, Aitareya, Isa, Kaivalya, Katha, Kena, Mundaka, Prasna, and Taittiriya will be discussed topic-wise. The idea is that a reader gets a comprehensive view of each topic in one place. There may be overlapping among the topics resulting in repetition. Repetition is not a defect if the subject matter is complex. Shankaracharya has written commentaries on seven, i.e., except Kaivalya. He has written commentaries on three more Upanishads, namely, Mandukya together with Gaudapada’s Karika, Chandogya, and Brihadarnyaka. They are not included here as they need separate and detailed treatment.
Along with the main subject of Self-knowledge or Brahm-knowledge, the Upanishads also discuss preliminary but related topics, namely, Jiva, Jagat, Isvara, Bondage, and Preparation for Self-knowledge. Upanishads mention Vedic rituals and meditations as preparatory disciplines to get qualification for pursuing knowledge. Some are archaic and hardly practiced nowadays. They are of academic interest and are in a separate chapter 7.
Reference to Brahma Sutra Bhasya is also made, mainly in chapter 6, regarding some Upanishadic texts. In addition, there is chapter 8 covering some topics of interest discussed in Brahma Sutra Bhasya.

This work draws from transcripts of talks of Swami Parmarthananda available on the website of Arsha Avinash Foundation, Eight Upanishads with Bhasya published by Advaita Ashrama, and my understanding of Advaita from other sources, e.g., talks of Swami Sarvapriyananda of Ramakrishna Mission and Swami Tadatmanand of Arsha Bodh Center, books authored by Dennis Waite and www.advaita-vision.org. If there is any mistake, it is solely on account of error in my understanding.

Contd Part 2