Ten Upanishads Of Four Vedas

Ten Upanishads Of Four Vedas,Ram K.Piparaiya:A contemporary treatise that contains unabridged texts,numerous commentaries,simplified synopses, and inspirational highlights.The book is a useful compendium of original Upanishadic texts and commentaries. Interfaith classics that contemplate on..What is God?Where from came the cosmos?Who am I?Why am I here? Upanishads are a record of human mind's earliest contemplatives flights to the unknown.Many of the anonymous seekers proceeded great masters and prophets like Lao-Tzu,Comfucius,Socrates,Zoroaster,Buddha,Mahavira,Abraham and Jesus,by at least a few centuries. Upanishads use many captivating,stories and metaphors to bring out the relationship between man,God and world.Timeless truths are condensed in profound aphorisms.After a few glimpses of Upanishads texts, their mere presence on a bookshelf inspires thoughts of wisdom.

The Upanishads are a group of texts in Hindu sacred literature that are considered to reveal the ultimate truth and whose knowledge is considered to lead to spiritual emancipation. In the Upanishads, we find the finest flowering of the Indian metaphysical and speculative thought. They are utterances of seers who spoke out of the fullness of their illumined experience. Upanishad is derived from upa (near), ni (down) and sad (to sit). Hence, the term implies the pupils, intent on learning, sitting near the teacher to acquire knowledge and truth. There are over 200 Upanishads but the traditional number is 108. Of them, only 10 are the principal Upanishads: Isha, Kena, Katha, Prashan, Mundaka, Mandukya, Tattiriya, Aitareya, Chhandogya and Brihadaranyaka. This book is a forerunner in introducing these primary Upanishads to the uninitiated.

The Vedas are the most ancient and sacred scriptures of the Hindu religion. The Upanishads form a very important part of the Vedas, called the 'jnanakanda, ' which means the portion containing the sacred knowledge. That sacred knowledge' is the knowledge of Brahman, the Supreme God. The nature of Brahman or Atman, though very difficult to describe in words, is the theme of the Upanishads. The Upanishads expound the vedantic philosophy according to which the inner self or Atman within a person is immortal, blissful and divine. Once a person realizes Brahman, he becomes Brahman him/herself. This is not just a theory but a reality. Through thousands of years sages of India have experienced it themselves and have taught their students how to realize Brahman. There are more than two hundred Upanishads in the Vedas. Shankaracharya, the eighth century vedantic philosopher and scholar, recommended that out of these only ten Upanishads are most important. He called them 'Principal Upanishads.' He wrote his commentaries on those and established a sequential order in which they should be studied. The present book brings forth that sacred knowledge of the Supreme God in simple English for anybody who is willing to study it. In this book the Principal Upanishads are arranged in the traditional sequence. In the beginning of each Upanishad the author discusses its content in brief and presents his own commentary where necessary.

Short treatises on Hindu Advaita (non-dualistic) Vedanta philosophy, yoga, and self-realization.

The Upanishads, which form a part of the Vedas, are the basic scriptures of Hinduism and the basis of Vedanta. This book aims to equip an average student of religion and philosophy with a basic knowledge of the Upanishads in general and the ten in particular. It contains a brief study of the ten cardinal Upanishads, with an elaborate introduction giving an overall view of the Upanishads—their composition, philosophy and culture. The author, Swami Harshananda, was a scholarly monk of the Ramakrishna Order who had written many books on Hinduism. Readers are sure to be inspired to aspire for the life of the spirit.