Principal Upanishads, also known as Mukhya Upanishads, are the most ancient and widely studied
Upanishads
The Upanishads (; sa, उपनिषद् ) are late Vedic Sanskrit texts that supplied the basis of later Hindu philosophy.Wendy Doniger (1990), ''Textual Sources for the Study of Hinduism'', 1st Edition, University of Chicago Press, , ...
of
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
. Composed between 800 BCE to the start of common era, these texts are connected to the
Vedic
upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...
tradition.
Content
The Principal Upanishads, which were composed probably between 600 and 300 BCE, constitute the concluding portion of the Veda.
According to most Hinduism traditions, ten Upanishads are considered as Principal Upanishads, but some scholars now are including
,
and
into the list. The founders of the major schools of
Vedanta
''Vedanta'' (; sa, वेदान्त, ), also ''Uttara Mīmāṃsā'', is one of the six (''āstika'') schools of Hindu philosophy. Literally meaning "end of the Vedas", Vedanta reflects ideas that emerged from, or were aligned with, t ...
, viz,
Adi Shankara
Adi Shankara ("first Shankara," to distinguish him from other Shankaras)(8th cent. CE), also called Adi Shankaracharya ( sa, आदि शङ्कर, आदि शङ्कराचार्य, Ādi Śaṅkarācāryaḥ, lit=First Shanka ...
and
Madhvacharya
Madhvacharya (; ; CE 1199-1278 or CE 1238–1317), sometimes anglicised as Madhva Acharya, and also known as Purna Prajna () and Ānanda Tīrtha, was an Indian philosopher, theologian and the chief proponent of the '' Dvaita'' (dualism) sch ...
wrote (''commentaries'') on these ten Principal Upanishads. Even though
Ramanuja
Ramanuja ( Middle Tamil: Rāmāṉujam; Classical Sanskrit: Rāmanuja; 1017 CE – 1137 CE; ; ), also known as Ramanujacharya, was an Indian Hindu philosopher, guru and a social reformer. He is noted to be one of the most important exponents ...
did not write individual commentaries on Principal Upanishads, he quoted many hundreds of quotations from Upanishads in his
Sri Bhasya
The Sri Bhasya is the most famous work of Sri Ramanuja, (1017–1137). It is his commentary on Sri Badarayana's Vedanta/Brahma Sutra. It was completed when he was around a hundred years old. In his commentary, Ramanuja presents the fundamental ph ...
. In the Ramanuja lineage, one of his followers, Rangaramanuja, wrote commentaries on almost all of the Principal Upanishads around the 1600s.
The ten Principal Upanishads are:
#
(IsUp), Yajurveda
#
(KeUp), Samaveda
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(KaUp), Yajurveda
#
(PrUp), Atharvaveda
#
(MuUp), Atharvaveda
#
(MaUp), Atharvaveda
#
(TaiUp), Yajurveda
#
, (AiUp), Rigveda
#
(ChhUp), Samaveda
#
(BṛUp), Yajurveda
The Principal Upanishads are accepted as
śruti
''Shruti'' ( sa, श्रुति, , ) in Sanskrit means "that which is heard" and refers to the body of most authoritative, ancient religious texts comprising the central canon of Hinduism. Manusmriti states: ''Śrutistu vedo vijñeyaḥ'' ( ...
by all Hindus, or the most important scriptures of Hinduism.
The Principal Upanishads are separated into three categories: prose (, , , ), verse (, , ), and prose (classical
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
) ().
Translations and works
Here is a list of works on the Upanishads:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
References
External links
* Holybooks.com has a book containing the 10 principal Upanishads here: https://holybooks-lichtenbergpress.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Ten-Principal-Upanishads.pdf
{{Indian Philosophy
Upanishads