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Upanishads

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"Access to the Vedas is the greatest privilege this century (19th) may claim over all previous centuries. In the whole world there is no study so beneficial and so elevating as that of the Upanishads. It has been the solace of my life and it will be the solace of my death." - Arthur Schopenhauer

There are very many translations and commentaries on these, either singly or in groups. There are not very many versions of the 'Complete' Upanishads, if it could be agreed what this means exactly, since there are certainly more than 100 separate ones. Upanishads such as the Brihadaranyaka (bRRihadAraNyaka) or Chandogya (ChAndogya) can run to as many as 1000 pages, including commentary, while some like the Tejabindu are only a few pages. Because there are so many, it is difficult to recommend specific ones. The best thing to do is to visit a specialised bookshop and browse. See Buying Books.

   

There are a number of collected works of the major Upanishads:

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A version, with no Sanskrit, no literal translation and no commentary is 'The Ten Principal Upanishads' put into English by Shree Purohit Swami and W. B. Yeats. This can definitely be recommended but should be read as poetry rather than as an aid to finding out about Advaita. (Buy US or UK)

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The best value for money I have discovered is a little book 'Four Upanishads' by Swami Paramananda. It covers four of the principal Upanishads - Isa, Katha, Kena and Mundaka. There is no Sanskrit and not all verses are commented but the commentary that is provided goes straight to the heart of the matter.

The definitive version of eight of the major Upanishads is probably that translated by Swami Gambhirananda and with the commentary by Shankara. It comes in two volumes. The publisher's comment reads:
'Study of these commentaries by such an ingenious philosopher-saint like Shankara is indispensable for the proper evaluation of the Vedanta philosophy. With the text of the Upanishads in Devanagari, a lucid and faithful translation of the text and commentary, relevant notes, reference to quotations, and index to texts, this volume proves to be a vade mecum for all students of Vedanta.'
(Buy US or UK) Both volumes available as a set from Vedic Books for normal price $7.22).

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'The Message of the Upanishads' contains a series of lectures given by Swami Ranganathananda, of the Ramakrishna Order in the 1960's. They are based upon the Isha, Kena and Katha Upanishads but contain quotations from many other sources, east and west, philosophic, scientific, mystical and poetic. A very substantial read! Also available from the Vedanta Society of Providence.

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If you enjoy a rigorous, philosophical presentation, which is nevertheless still approachable by the non-academic, 'Studies in the Upanishads' by Govindagopal Mukhopadhyaya is excellent. If you enjoyed Eliot Deutsch's western treatment of Advaita (as I did), then this might be considered to be the eastern version (though western philosophers are also quoted). It is divided into three sections: the goal, the way and the attainment and is packed with erudite references. The chapter on 'The problem of reality' is excellent. At the time of writing, this is only available in very expensive second-hand copies from Amazon.com but may be purchased from the publishers, Pilgrims Books, in India.
(Buy US or UK)

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The Principal Upanishads by Alan Jacobs is what he calls a 'poetic transcreation'. It covers twelve of the most well known, with abridged versions of the Brihadaranyaka and Chandogya Upanishads. As with the Bhagavad Gita below, it is not a literal translation but a modern, free verse interpretation, interspersed with informative comments and quotations from other sources. For those who find the traditional versions difficult, this is much more approachable. Read an excerpt here from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad on the subject of karma. (Buy US or UK)

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Ananda Wood's complementary books 'From the Upanishads' and 'Interpreting the Upanishads' have been mentioned and recommended elsewhere on this site. Both are available from Vedic Books.

 

If you want to look at individual upanishads, the major ones are the Kena, Katha, Isa or Isavasya, Mundaka, Mandukya, Prasna, Taitiriya, Aitareya, Chandogya and Brihadaranyaka. Of these, I would recommend the first 3 to begin with. The last 2 are very long. The Mandukya is possibly the most important, with its commentary (karika) by Gaudapada, but it is quite difficult so should not be attempted straight away.

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There is a particularly good version of the Kenopanishad (Kena) with commentary by Swami Muni Narayana Prasad. It is not examined verse by verse as most treatments are. Instead there are many topics, such as “What is Mind?”, “The Unknowability of Truth”, and the meaning of the text is unfolded in a wider context. Although the correct Sanskrit terminology is used, it is a more modern interpretation. (Buy US or UK)

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Swami Chinmayananda has commentaries on most of the Upanishads, and all can be recommended as reliable, traditionally presented resources. The books are usually transcriptions of his discourses but are authoritative and fairly readable, with Devanagari and word by word translations followed by extensive interpretation. They are published by Chinmaya Publications. The one shown is the Kathopanishad (Katha).

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The Ishavasya or Isha Upanishad is one of the more popular and is available from Amazon. (Buy from US)

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The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad with the Commentary of Shankaracharya translated by Swami Madhavananda, Advaita Ashrama 1965, ISBN 81-7505-102-7. I have yet to read this but have had cause to refer to it for extracts and it is surprisingly readable for a translation of Shankara. I can definitely recommend it! (Buy from Amazon US or UK)

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The Mandukya and its karika by Gaudapada are essential if you want to learn about OM, states of consciousness or the ajati theory of creation.This one has Shankara's commentary (on Gaudapada's commentary), and is translated and commented by Swami Nikhilananda (available from Advaita Ashrama). It is very good but really only for the serious student. If you wanted to read only one book to discover the “bottom line” on Advaita philosophy, this would probably be it.

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A much more approachable version is the one commented by Swami Chinmayananda.

Asparsha-Yoga: A Study of Gaudapada's Mandukya Karika by Colin A. Cole does not examine the kArikA on a verse by verse basis. He is particularly concerned with looking at the practical aspects of Gaudapada's teaching rather than its purely metaphysical ones. In the author's words, he is 'investigating the nature of the soteriology of Advaita Vedanta'. [i.e. the teaching of the way to salvation or mokSha.] And it succeeds very well, providing a very readable account of the essence of the teaching and relegating the references to footnotes. It is academic in tone but this does not detract from the value of this excellent interpretation. (Buy US or UK)

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The book 'Dispelling Illusion' by Douglas Fox is a more general look at Gaudapada and his ideas as presented in the karika of the Mandukya. (Buy US or UK)

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Finally, this version of the Mandukyakarika by Raphael is now available in English. I must admit I found it hard going at times but it is ultimately worthwhile and I expect to re-read it in the future. Overall, I was certainly convinced that he knows what he is talking about, though I did feel that somethimes he does not try hard enough to convey that understanding with sufficient clarity. But, given that all the commentaries that I have so far seen are difficult to understand, this is one of the better ones and worthy of note.
(Buy US or UK)

 

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Page last updated: 09-Jul-2012