Etymology
''Taittiriya'' is a Sanskrit word that means "from Tittiri". The root of this name has been interpreted in two ways: "from Vedic sage Tittiri", who was the student of Yāska; or alternatively, it being a collection of verses from mythical students who became " partridges" (birds) in order to gain knowledge.A Weber, , Trubner & Co, pages 87-91 The later root of the title comes from the nature of Taittriya Upanishad which, like the rest of "dark or black Yajur Veda", is a motley, confusing collection of unrelated but individually meaningful verses. Each chapter of the Taittiriya Upanishad is called a ''Valli'' (वल्ली), which literally means a medicinal vine-like climbing plant that grows independently yet is attached to a main tree. Paul Deussen states that this symbolic terminology is apt and likely reflects the root and nature of the Taittiriya Upanishad, which too is largely independent of the liturgical Yajur Veda, and is attached to the main text.Chronology
The chronology of Taittiriya Upanishad, along with other Vedic era literature, is unclear.Stephen Phillips (2009), Yoga, Karma, and Rebirth: A Brief History and Philosophy, Columbia University Press, , Chapter 1 All opinions rest on scanty evidence, assumptions about likely evolution of ideas, and on presumptions about which philosophy might have influenced which other Indian philosophies. Stephen Phillips suggests that Taittiriya Upanishad was likely one of the early Upanishads, composed in the 1st half of 1st millennium BCE, after Brihadaranyaka, Chandogya, and Isha, but before Aitareya, Kaushitaki, Kena, Katha, Manduka, Prasna, Svetasvatara and Maitri Upanishads, as well as before the earliest Buddhist Pali and Jaina canons. Ranade shares the view of Phillips in chronologically sequencing Taittiriya Upanishad with respect to other Upanishads. Paul Deussen and Winternitz, hold a similar view as that of Phillips, but place Taittiriya before Isha Upanishad, but after Brihadaranyaka Upanishad and Chandogya Upanishad. According to a 1998 review by Patrick Olivelle, the Taittiriya Upanishad was composed in a pre-Buddhist period, possibly 6th to 5th century BCE.Structure
The Taittiriya Upanishad has three chapters: the ''Siksha Valli'', the ''Ananda Valli'' and the ''Bhrigu Valli''. The first chapter Siksha Valli includes twelve ''Anuvaka'' (lessons). The second chapter ''Ananda Valli'', sometimes called ''Brahmananda Valli'' includes nine verses.Max Muller, The Sacred Books of the East, Volume 15, Oxford University Press, Chapter 3: Taittiriya UpanishadContent
Shiksha Valli
The Siksha Valli chapter of Taittiriya Upanishad derives its name from Shiksha (Sanskrit: शिक्षा), which literally means "instruction, education". The various lessons of this first chapter are related to education of students in ancient Vedic era of India, their initiation into a school and their responsibilities after graduation. It mentions lifelong "pursuit of knowledge", includes hints of "Self-knowledge", but is largely independent of the second and third chapter of the Upanishad which discussA student's promise - First Anuvāka
The first ''anuvaka'' (lesson) of Taittiriya Upanishad starts with benedictions, wherein states Adi Shankara, major Vedic deities are proclaimed to be manifestations of Brahman (Cosmic Self, the constant Universal Principle, Unchanging Reality).Aitareya and Taittiriya Upanishads with Shankara BhashyaPhonetics and the theory of connecting links - Second and Third Anuvāka
The second anuvaka highlights phonetics as an element of the Vedic instruction. The verse asserts that the student must master the principles of sound as it is created and as perceived, in terms of the structure of linguistics, vowels, consonants, balancing, accentuation (stress, meter), speaking correctly, and the connection of sounds in a word from articulatory and auditory perspectives.Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 222-223 Taittirĩya Upanishad's emphasizes, in its later anuvakas, ', a practice that served as the principal tool for the oral preservation of the Vedas in their original form for over two millennia. Svādhyāya as a part of student's instruction, involved understanding the linguistic principles coupled with recitation practice of Indian scriptures, which enabled the mastering of entire chapters and books with accurate pronunciation. The ancient Indian studies of linguistics and recitation tradition, as mentioned in the second anuvaka of Taittiriya Upanishad, helped transmit and preserve the extensive Vedic literature from 2nd millennium BCE onwards, long before the methods of mass printing and book preservation were developed. Michael Witzel explains it as follows,The Vedic texts were orally composed and transmitted, without the use of script, in an unbroken line of transmission from teacher to student that was formalized early on. This ensured an impeccable textual transmission superior to the classical texts of other cultures; it is, in fact, something like a ''tape-recording''.... Not just the actual words, but even the long-lost musical (tonal) accent (as in old Greek or in Japanese) has been preserved up to the present.The third anuvaka of ''Shiksha Valli'' asserts that everything in the universe is connected. In its theory of "connecting links", it states that letters are joined to form words and words are joined to express ideas, just like earth and heavens are forms causally joined by space through the medium of ''Vayu'' (air), and just like the fire and the sun are forms causally connected through lightning with the medium of clouds. It asserts that it is knowledge that connects the teacher and the student through the medium of exposition, while the child is the connecting link between the father and the mother through the medium of procreation. Speech (expression) is the joining link between upper and lower jaw, and it is speech which connects people.
A teacher's prayer - Fourth Anuvāka
The fourth anuvaka of Shiksha Valli is a prayer of the teacher,Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 223-224 The structure of the fourth anuvaka is unusual because it starts as a metered verse but slowly metamorphoses into a rhythmic Sanskrit prose. Additionally, the construction of the verse has creative elements that permits multiple translations. The fourth anuvaka is also structured as a liturgical text, with many parts rhythmically ending in Svāhā, a term used when oblations are offered during yajna rituals.Taittiriya UpanishadA theory of Oneness and holy exclamations - Fifth and Sixth Anuvāka
The fifth anuvaka declares that "Bhūr! Bhuvaḥ! Svar!" are three holy exclamations, then adds that ''Bhur'' is the breathing out, ''Bhuvah'' is the breathing in, while ''Svar'' is the intermediate step between those two. It also states that "Brahman is Atman (Self), and all deities and divinities are its limbs", that "Self-knowledge is the Eternal Principle", and the human beings who have this Oneness and Self-knowledge are served by the gods. The second part of the sixth anuvaka of ''Shiksha Valli'' asserts that the "Atman (Self) exists" and when an individual Self attains certain characteristics, it becomes one with Brahman (Cosmic Self, Eternal Reality). These characteristics are listed as follows in verse 1.6.2 : The sixth anuvaka ends with exhortation to meditate on this Oneness principle, during ''Pracina yogya'' (प्राचीन योग्य, ancient yoga), making it one of the earliest mentions of the practice of meditative Yoga as existent in ancient India.Parallelism in knowledge and what is Om - Seventh and Eighth Anuvāka
The seventh anuvaka of Shiksha Valli is an unconnected lesson asserting that "everything in this whole world is fivefold" - sensory organs, human anatomy (skin, flesh, sinews, bones, marrow), breathing, energy (fire, wind, sun, moon, stars), space (earth, aerial space, heavens, poles, intermediate poles).Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, , page 227 This section does not contextually fit with the sixth or eighth lesson. It is the concluding words of the seventh anuvaka that makes it relevant to the Taittiriya Upanishad, by asserting the idea of fractal nature of existence where the same hidden principles of nature and reality are present in macro and micro forms, there is parallelism in all knowledge. Paul Deussen states that these concluding words of the seventh lesson of Shiksha Valli assert, "there is parallelism between man and the world, microcosm and macrocosm, and he who understands this idea of parallelism becomes there through the macrocosm itself".Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, , page 226 What is ? The eighth anuvaka, similarly, is another seemingly unconnected lesson. It includes an exposition of the syllable word Om (ॐ, sometimes spelled ''Aum''), stating that this word is inner part of the word Brahman, it signifies the Brahman, it is this whole world states the eight lesson in the first section of the Taittiriya Upanishad. The verse asserts that this syllable word is used often and for diverse purposes, to remind and celebrate that Brahman. It lists the diverse uses of ''Om'' in ancient India, at invocations, at ''Agnidhra'', in songs of the ''Samans'', in prayers, in ''Sastras'', during sacrifices, during rituals, during meditation, and during recitation of the Vedas.Ethical duties of human beings - Ninth Anuvāka
The ninth anuvaka of Shiksha Valli is a rhythmic recitation of ethical duties of all human beings, where '' svādhyāya'' is the "perusal of oneself" (study yourself), and the ''pravacana'' (प्रवचन, exposition and discussion of Vedas) is emphasized.Tenth Anuvāka
The tenth anuvaka is obscure, unrelated lesson, likely a corrupted or incomplete surviving version of the original, according to Paul Deussen. It is rhythmic with ''Mahabrihati Yavamadhya'' meter, a mathematical "8+8+12+8+8" structure. Max Muller translates it as an affirmation of one's Self as a capable, empowered blissful being. The tenth anuvaka asserts, "I am he who shakes the tree. I am glorious like the top of a mountain. I, whose pure light (of knowledge) has risen, am that which is truly immortal, as it resides in the sun. I (Self) am the treasure, wise, immortal, imperishable. This is the teaching of the Veda, by sage Trisanku."Max Muller, The Sacred Books of the East, Volume 15, Oxford University Press, Chapter 3: Taittiriya Upanishad, see Siksha Valli - Tenth Anuvaka Shankara states that the tree is a metaphor for the empirical world, which is shaken by knowledge and realization of Atman-Brahman (Self, eternal reality and hidden invisible principles).Convocation address to graduating students, living ethically - Eleventh Anuvāka
The eleventh anuvaka of Shiksha Valli is a list of golden rules which the Vedic era teacher imparted to the graduating students as the ethical way of life. The verses ask the graduate to take care of themselves and pursue Dharma,Graduating student's acknowledgment - Twelfth Anuvāka
The last ''anuvaka'' (lesson) of Taittiriya Upanishad, just like the first anuvaka, starts with benedictions, wherein Vedic deities are once again proclaimed to be manifestations of Brahman (Cosmic Self, Unchanging Reality).Aitareya and Taittiriya Upanishads with Shankara BhashyaAnanda Valli
The second chapter of Taittiriya Upanishad, namely Ananda Valli and sometimes called ''Brahmananda Valli'', focuses like other ancient Upanishads on the theme ofAnnamaya - First and Second Anuvāka
The first anuvaka commences by stating the premise and a summary of the entire Ananda Valli. Paul Deussen notes that the word ''Ananta'' in verse 1 may be vulgate, and a related term ''Ananda'', similarly pronounced, is more consistent with the teachings of other Upanishads of Hinduism, particularly one of its central premise of Atman being ''sat-chit-ananda''. In Deussen's review and translation, instead of "Brahman is infinite", an alternate expression would read "Brahman is bliss". The second anuvaka of Ananda Valli then proceeds to explain the first layer of man's nature and knowledge-seeking to be about "material man and material nature", with the metaphor of food.Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 234-236 The Taittiriya Upanishad asserts that both "material man and material nature" are caused by Brahman, are manifestations of Brahman, are Brahman, but only the outermost shell or sheath of existence. The verse offers relational connection between natural elements, asserting that everything is food to something else in universe at the empirical level of existence, either at a given time, or over time. All creatures are born out of this "food provided by nature and food provided by life with time". All creatures grow due to food, and thus are interdependent. All creatures, upon their death, become food in this food-chain, states Ananda Valli's second verse. Learning, knowing and understanding this "food chain" material nature of existence and the interdependence is the first essential, yet outermost incomplete knowledge.Pranamaya - Third Anuvāka
The second inner level of nature and knowledge-seeking is about life-force, asserts Ananda Valli's third anuvaka. This life-force is identified by and dependent on breathing. Gods breathe, human beings breathe, animals breathe, as do all beings that exist. Life-force is more than material universe, it includes animating processes inside the being, particularly breathing, and this layer of nature and knowledge is ''Pranamaya kosha''.Manomaya - Fourth Anuvāka
The next inner, deeper layer of nature and knowledge-seeking relates to ''Manas'' (mind, thought, will, wish), or ''Manomaya kosha''. ''Manas'', asserts the fourth anuvaka of Ananda Valli, exists only in individual forms of beings. It is characterized by the power to will, the ability to wish, and the striving for prosperity through actions on the empirical nature, knowledge and beings.Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 233-237 The verse of fourth anuvaka add that this knowledge is essential yet incomplete, that it the knowledge of Brahman that truly liberates, and one who knows Atman-Brahman "dreads nothing, now and never" and "lives contently, in bliss".Vijñãnamaya - Fifth Anuvāka
The fifth anuvaka of Ananda Valli states that the "manomaya kosha" (thought, will, wish) envelops a deeper more profound layer of existence, which is the "vijnana-maya kosha" (knowledge, ethics, reason). This is the realm of knowledge observed in all human beings. The vijnana-maya is characterized by faith, justice, truth, yoga and ''mahas'' (power to perceive and reason). The individual who is aware of vijnana-maya, asserts the verses of Ananda Valli, offers knowledge as the work to others.Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, , page 237Anandamaya - Sixth, Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Anuvāka
The sixth, seventh and eighth anuvaka of Ananda Valli states that the "vijnanamaya kosha" (knowledge, ethics, reason) envelops the deepest, hidden layer of existence, which is the "ananda-maya kosha" (bliss, tranquility, contentness). This is the inner most is the realm of Atman-Brahman (Self, spirituality). The ananda-maya is characterized by love, joy, cheerfulness, bliss and Brahman. The individuals who are aware of ananda-maya, assert the sixth to eighth verses of Ananda Valli, are those who simultaneously realize the empirical and the spiritual, the conscious and unconscious, the changing and the eternal, the time and the timeless.Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 237-240 These last anuvakas of the second Valli of Tattiriya Upanishad assert that he who has Self-knowledge is well constituted, he realizes the essence, he is full of bliss. He exists in peace within and without, his is a state of calm joy irrespective of circumstances, he is One with everything and everyone. He fears nothing, he fears no one, he lives his true nature, he is free from pride, he is free from guilt, he is beyond good and evil, he is free from craving desires and thus all the universe is in him and is his. His blissful being is Atman-Brahman, and Atman-Brahman is the bliss that is he.Bhṛgu Vallī
The third Valli of Tattiriya Upanishad repeats the ideas of Ananda Valli, through a story about sage Bhrigu. The chapter is also similar in its themes and focus to those found in chapter 3 of Kausitaki Upanishad and chapter 8 of Chandogya Upanishad.Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 241-246 The Bhrigu Valli's theme is the exposition of the concept of Atman-Brahman (Self) and what it means to be a self-realized, free, liberated human being.Taittiriya UpanishadTranslations
A number of commentaries were published on the Taittiriya Upanishad in Sanskrit and Indian languages through the years, including popular ones by Shankara, Sayanana and Ramanuja. Though, the first European translations of the work began to appear in 1805, up to the early 1900s some information on vedas were known to Europeans before. They began to appear in English, German and French, primarily by Max Muller, Griffith, Muir, and Wilson, all of whom were either western academics based in Europe or in colonial India. The Taittiriya Upanishad was first translated in Non Indian languages Jacqueline Hirst, in her analysis of Adi Shankara's works, states that Taittiriya Upanishad Bhasya provides one of his key exegesis. Shankara presents Knowledge and Truth as different, non-superimposable but interrelated. Knowledge can be right or wrong, correct or incorrect, a distinction that principles of Truth and Truthfulness help distinguish. Truth cleanses knowledge, helping man understand the nature of empirical truths and hidden truths (invisible laws and principles, Self). Together states Shankara in his Taittiriya Upanishad Bhasya, Knowledge and Truth point to Oneness of all, Brahman as nothing other than Self in every human being. Paul Horsch, in his review of the historical development of Dharma concept and ethics in Indian philosophies, includes Taittiriya Upanishad as among the ancient influential texts. Kirkwood makes a similar observation. Bhatta states that Taittiriya Upanishad is one of earliest expositions of education system in ancient Indian culture. Paul Deussen, in his preface to Taittiriya Upanishad's translation, states that Ananda Valli chapter of Taittiriya Upanishad is "one of the most beautiful evidences of the ancient Indian's deep absorption in the mystery of nature and of the inmost part of the human being". The Taittiriya Upanishad has been translated into a number of Indian languages as well, by a large number of scholars including Dayanand Saraswati, Bhandarkar, and in more recent years, by organisations such as the Chinmayananda mission.See also
*References
Further reading
# ''Outlines Of Indian Philosophy'' by M.Hiriyanna. Motilal Banarasidas Publishers. # Kannada Translation of Taittireeya Upanishad by ''Swami Adidevananda'' Ramakrishna Mission Publishers.External links