The Shvetashvatara Upanishad is one of the 33 Upanishads of Krishna Yajurveda or Black Yajurveda . Adi Shankara has called it as Mantra Upanishad of Shvetashvatara branch of vedic followers in his commentary on Brahma Sutras . Adi Shankara (Śaṅkara, Shri Shankaracharya, Adhi Shankaracharya, Ādi Śaṅkarācārya; the first Shankara in his lineage), reverentially called Bhagavatpada Acharya (the teacher at the feet of Lord) (very approximately 788–820 C.E., but see below) was the most famous advaita philosopher, who had a profound influence... The Brahma sutra is the nyaya prasthana, the logical text that sets forth the philosophy systematically (nyaya - logic/order). ...

This Upanishad contains 113 mantras or verses in six chapters. In the last chapter we find the following verse.

" Sage Shvetashvatara got this knowledge of Brahman which is very sacred and revered by many great sages by his penance and gods grace and taught it very well to his desciples" Here the underlined vowels carry the Vedic Sanskrit udātta pitch accent. ...

By this verse we can make out that this Upanishad was due to a sage called "Shvetashvatara" or his line of ancient spiritual teachers. The name "Shvetashvatara" is not uncommon in vedic literature. It means "White Mule". Mule was a prized animal in ancient vedic india. The person who owns white horse is called "Shvetashva" and the one who owns white mule can be called "Shvetashvatara". We can notice that Arjuna is called as "Shvetashva" in epic Mahabharata . In RigVeda we find a sage's name as "shyavashva" meaning "One who owns a black horse". This Upanishad has acquired a high place among the Hindu shrutis . The Upanishad (उपनिषद्, Upaniá¹£ad) are part of the Hindu Shruti scriptures which primarily discuss meditation and philosophy and are seen as religious instructions by most schools of Hinduism. ... In Hindu mythology, Arjuna is one of the heroes of the epic Mahabharata. ... The Mahabharata (Devanagari: महाभारत, phonetically Mahābhārata - see note), sometimes just called Bharata, is one of the two major ancient Sanskrit epics of India, the other being the Ramayana. ... The Rig Veda ऋग्वेद (Sanskrit ṛc praise + veda knowledge) is the earliest of the four Hindu religious scriptures known as the Vedas. ... A Hindu is an adherent of Hinduism, the predominant religious, philosophical and cultural systems of Bharat (India) and Nepal. ...

Time of this Upanishad

Deciding time of the origin of this Upanishad in not easy because, apart from very ancient content, we can also see other verses which look like added in a later point of time. Many Mantras in this upanishad can also be seen in RigVeda , black yajurveda , white yajurveda . Though it may not be as old as liturgic Upanishads like Chandogya or Brhadaranyaka Upanishad , we can say it belongs to time line of poetic group of Upanishads like Katha Upanishad, Eshavasya or Mandukya Upanishad . In Tibet, many Buddhists carve mantras into rocks as a form of devotion. ... The Rig Veda ऋग्वेद (Sanskrit ṛc praise + veda knowledge) is the earliest of the four Hindu religious scriptures known as the Vedas. ... The Chandogya Upanishad belongs to the Sama Veda. ... The prime Upanishad among the many Upanishads written in ancient India, known very widely for its profound philosophical statements. ... MāndÅ«kya Upanishad is one of the shortest Upanishads, that form the speculative metaphysical parts of the Hindu texts, the Vedas. ...

Specialities

This Upanishad is just as much tough to understand as much it is wonderful. It has following specialities which arouse curiosity in the reader of vedic literature.

1] The Supreme God or Brahman is called by various names such as Shiva , Rudra etc. This feature may give rise to an assumption that it may be a Shaiva Upanishad. But such an assumption is not right because, at the time of this Upanishad, Shaiva Agamas weren't there. Also, at that time the supreme God head or Brahman used be called by different names each indicating a particular manifestation of Brahman . Just as names Shiva or Rudra are used to refer Brahman , names such as Vayu , Aditya or Agni are also used for same purpose in this Upanishad. More over, if this Upanishad is indeed a Shaiva Upanishad, other sects of Hinduism such as Vaishnavas wouldn't have quoted its verses/mantras as authority in their respective treatises. Here the underlined vowels carry the Vedic Sanskrit udātta pitch accent. ... Lord Śiva. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Śaivism, also transliterated Shaivism and Saivism, is a branch of Hinduism that worships Siva as the Supreme God. ... Genera Many: see text Agamas or Agamids are the Agamidae family of lizards, containing more than 300 species in Africa, Asia, Australia, and a few in Southern Europe. ... Here the underlined vowels carry the Vedic Sanskrit udātta pitch accent. ... Here the underlined vowels carry the Vedic Sanskrit udātta pitch accent. ... Here the underlined vowels carry the Vedic Sanskrit udātta pitch accent. ... In Hinduism, Vayu is a primary god, father of Bhima and Hanuman. ... Who dare interfer in my wrk# In Hinduism, the Adityas are a group of solar deities, sons of Aditi and Kasyapa. ... The word Agni can have these meanings:- A fire-god in three religions: described below. ... Basic beliefs What can be said to be common to all Hindus is the belief in Dharma (duties and obligations), Reincarnation (rebirth), Karma (actions, leading to a cause and effect relationship), and Moksha (salvation) of every soul through a variety of paths, such as Bhakti (devotion), Karma (action) and Jnana... Vaishnavism is the branch of Hinduism in which Vishnu or one of his avatars (Catursana, Narad, Varaha, Matsya, Yajna, Nara-Narayana, Kapila, Dattatreya, Hayasirsa, Hamsa, Prsnigarbha, Rsabha, Prithu, Narasimha , Kurma, Dhanvantari, Mohini, Vamana, Parasurama, Raghavendra, Vyasa, Balarama, Krishna, Buddha, Kalki) is worshipped as the supreme God and is a monotheistic... In Tibet, many Buddhists carve mantras into rocks as a form of devotion. ...

2]Second speciality is concept of "Devotion" or Bhakti. In other Upanishads, the concept of devotion (or Bhakti) is indirectly voiced in the form of " Upasana". But here, without leaving any room for guesswork, it is explicitly mentioned. The word "ParaBhakti" is explicitly used at the end of sixth chapter. There are many words which voice submission to God or Brahman ( words such as "Sharanam", "Prapadye"). This concept of devotion at later times found profound and wide meanings in Bhakti Sutras and other treatises on Bhakti or devotion. Bhakti is a Tamil or Sanskrit term from Hinduism that means intense devotion expressed by action (service). ... Bhakti is a Tamil or Sanskrit term from Hinduism that means intense devotion expressed by action (service). ...

3]Third speciality of this upanishad lies in its giving importance to the form fullness (or Moortitva) of God or Brahman which is usually described as formless in other important upanishads. Since it is difficult to concentrate mind on and/or show devotion on formless Brahman, it is only natural that this book goes ahead and tries to ascribe various forms to God. While expounding on devotion, it also ascribes various characteristics or manifestations to God, such as, mentioning God has knowledge and power. This upanishad also presents that God or Brahman is creator and sustainer of the universe , and while trying to describe various powers of God, to drive home the point, makes use of similes such as God having thousands of heads - to denote endless knowledge of God, thousands of eyes - to denote God as universal witness for everything that is going on in the universe and God having thousands or simply innumerable number of feet - to indicate Gods omnipresence. This Upanishad mentions that, God or " Parama Purusha" is shining in his (or "its" since upanishads do not ascibe gender to Brahman) glory beyond the darkness of ignorance or " Tamas ". Gods characteristic is " Maya" or illusion of the world. But God is not bound by his Maya as humans are, because he has conquered it and became "Maheshvara", and he (or it) is capable of giving salvation to human beings. The deepest visible-light image of the cosmos. ... The word Maya or maya can refer to: The Maya – a Native American people of southern Mexico and northern Central America the modern Maya people the pre-Columbian Maya civilization the Maya language Maya – a concept in Hindu/Vedic philosophy a state of misperception of reality the inherent force of...

4] fourth speciality is use of words such as "Samkhya ","Kapila ", "yoga ", "Prakriti". Some scholars debate that this indicates assimilation of Saankhya-Yoga-Darshana school of thought into Vedanta happened at some point of time. If this view is right, it means that Vedantic Upanishads were originated later than Saankhya-Yoga-Darshana school of thought. This view is not right because of following reasons. Samkhya, also Sankhya, (Sanskrit: सांख्य) is a school of Indian philosophy, and is one of the six astika or Hindu philosophical schools of India. ... Categories: Wikipedia cleanup | Indian people stubs | Indian philosophers ... Yoga (from Sanskrit yuj, meaning yoke) is a family of ancient spiritual practices that originated in India. ... Prakrti or Prakriti (from Sanskrit language) is, according to samkhya philosophy the basic matter of which the universe consists. ... Vedanta (Vedānta, वेदान्त, pronounced as ) is a principle branch of Hindu philosophy and is a form of Jnana Yoga (one of the four basic yoga practices in Hinduism; the others are: Raja Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga), a form of yoga which involves an individual seeking the path of intellectual...

i] Just because certain definitive words are similar, it doesn't imply Upanishads are of later origin than Darshana schools. The definitive words like "Samkhya, prakriti etc are always used in Vedas earlier than Darshana schools. So, these specific words are taken from Vedanta and later used by proponents of Darshana schools. The Sanskrit word darshana means view or viewpoint. ... Samkhya, also Sankhya, (Sanskrit: सांख्य) is a school of Indian philosophy, and is one of the six astika or Hindu philosophical schools of India. ... Prakrti or Prakriti (from Sanskrit language) is, according to samkhya philosophy the basic matter of which the universe consists. ... The Sanskrit word darshana means view or viewpoint. ... Vedanta (Vedānta, वेदान्त, pronounced as ) is a principle branch of Hindu philosophy and is a form of Jnana Yoga (one of the four basic yoga practices in Hinduism; the others are: Raja Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga), a form of yoga which involves an individual seeking the path of intellectual...

ii] In this Upanishad, we don't see any assimilation of principles of those schools but to contrary, the thoughts that are rejected by those schools are expounded and accepted using the same words and definitions of those schools.

iii] The proponents of Darshanas like sage kapila describe in their treatises that they are interpreting the Vedanta, so it means Vedantic Upanishads are of earlier origin than these schools of thought. Categories: Wikipedia cleanup | Indian people stubs | Indian philosophers ...