The word ‘Upanishat’ has several meanings. ‘Upa’ means that which elevates us and takes us higher. ‘Upa’ also means near, nishat means ‘sitting down’. upanishat is learnt at the feet of a Guru. The conclusion portion of Veda is called upanishat. Veda can be classified in different ways from different perspectives. Physical divisions of Veda into rig-yajus-sAma-atharva and divisions by content as mantra-brAhmaNa-AraNyaka-upanishat, and upanishat is also called ‘vedAnta’ since it is the final portion. To give an analogy, it is like divisions in a pizza. We can physically divide a Pizza into 4 slices and give it to four people. This is what Sri VedavyAsa did, he recompartmentalized the already divided Veda into four – rig-yajus-sAma-atharva and gave it to four of his students.
A pizza can also be divided by its content as layer of crust-cheese-sauce-toppings. Just as a slice of pizza would have all the four layers, so also, there are sAma-veda upanishats such as chAndOgya and kEna, yajur-vEda upanishats such as brihadAraNyaka, IshAvAsya, kaTOpanisht and taittareeya, atharva-vEda upanishats such as munDaka, mAnDooka, shat-prashna and rig-vEda upanishat such as AitarEya. Upanishat also means ‘secret science’. It is brahma-vidya, or the science of Brahman. VedAnta, as the name suggests, is the final meaning that comes out of a study of Veda and that meaning is given by none other than Sri VedavyAsa. He wrote what are called brahma-sootras in order to fix the meaning of Veda. He gave us bhagavad-geetA as part of mahAbhArata containing the gist of all upanishats.
Veda is one. Its object is one. Veda is the language of Brahman (ब्रह्मन्). It is therefore present in every idea of Brahman. Knowledge is expressed by speech. The knowledge of Brahman also has its own expression. That expression is Shruti (श्रुति) or Veda (वॆद). Shruti does not limit Brahman by speech. It is rather the process of finding out the expression for presenting the notion of the absolute completeness of Brahman. As stated earlier, from different perspectives, such a Shruti may be divided as rig-yajus-sAma-atharva (ऋग्-यजुस्-साम-अथर्व) or as prose-poetry-intonation (गद्य-पद्य-साम) or as mantra-brAhmaNa-AraNyaka-upanishat (मन्त्र-ब्राह्मण-आरण्यक-उपनिषत्). The entire Veda is there for one purpose which is to teach the God that is the Supreme Most. Parabrahman (परब्रह्मन्) is eternal, The Veda which reveals Him, is also eternal. Veda as an expression of Brahman is present, because Brahman is present. In this sense Shruti is nitya (नित्य). The Veda which is always present is reinstalled the same way it was before. Rig-vEda says, soorya chandramasou dhAtA yathA poorvam akalpayat. (सूर्यचन्द्रमसौ धाता यथापूर्वम् अकल्पयत्) To the extent that it is indispensable it is the expression of the fullness of Brahman. So, even by implication it does not modify Brahman. Hence it is defectless, nirdOsha (निर्दॊष). Because Shruti is nitya (नित्य )and निर्दॊष nirdOsha, it is its own standard. It is all comprehensive. Its truth is self-established (svatah pramANa स्वतःप्रमाण). That which is a generator of knowledge is called pramANa. The truth that Shruti is eternal i.e., nitya, defectless i.e., nirdOsha and self-evident i.e., svatah-pramANa, implies that it is free from all personal elements. All this has to be found out through an inquiry into Veda consisting of shravaNa-manana-nidhidhyAsanA ( श्रवण-मनन-निधिध्यासना ) i.e vEda-vicAra-jignyAsA (., वॆद-विचार-जिज्ञासा) or inquiry in short. ShravaNa is the study of Veda by listening, Manana is contemplating on what is heard, and finally nidhidhyAsanA is the application and leading the life of what is heard and contemplated upon. Unless and until there is this inquiry, the nature of Veda remains unknown. What is the nature of Veda? Veda itself has to teach it. It is not something that others can enforce on Veda.
So, while understanding Veda or upanishats, it is mandatory that the principles laid out by Sri VedavyAsa in the brahma-sootras have to be adhered to. For this reason, brahma-sootras (also known as Uttara-mImAmsA) has the name VedAnta. Again, the father of Vedaanta is Sri VedavyAsa. Only when this method is followed, Veda is pramANa. Till then, it stays merely as textual authority. Authority and pramANa can be quite opposed to each other. One need not be the other. Knowing the difference between Veda as authority and Veda as pramANa, is the first step in understanding upanishats. From this perspective, there are only two schools of thought – Those that followed Brahma-sootras in understanding Veda and those that did not.
Upanishat poses the question and also answers the question as to what the purpose of all of Veda is. The nature of Veda is to reveal Parabrahman. SriKrishNa in the fifteenth chapter of the GeetA, answers it as “vedaisca sarvaihi ahamEva vedyo” – From all of Veda, only Me i.e., SriKrishNa must be understood. Just as eye is the pramANa for the color green, so also Veda is the pramANa for the knowledge of Parabrahman. So, there are two things to be discovered: Veda and what is revealed by Veda. The knowledge generated by perception is definite and clear. This is why, a blue pen is a blue pen to all, irrespective of one’s faith, background and fittedness for knowledge. On the other hand, what is revealed by Agama such as Veda is very vague to begin with. Inquiry brings definiteness in the knowledge generated by Agama.
In conclusion, we observe that consistency is a primary feature of true knowledge, whereas internal inconsistencies point to the fact that, after all, that knowledge was never true knowledge. The fact that different thinkers gave as different ideas starting from the same Veda, is an indicator to the richness of content in the Veda. Although one may start anywhere in the quest for upanishadic knowledge, one should not end where one started. We don’t let a child be in first grade forever, but we don’t mind being stuck in a certain faith forever !!. The medicine for all such bane is a proper study of Veda in the light of brahma-sootras. There is no alternative to vedOpanishats.
Harihi Om tatsat,
JayakrishNa Nelamangala
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