The Philosophy Of The Upanishads

The Hindu scriptures the Upanishads are, according to German scholar PAUL DEUSSEN (1845-1919), the culminating point of the Indian doctrine of the universe, an achievement that had been reached even before the arrival of the Buddha. In this work-originally published in German in 1906 and translated into English two years later-Deussen explores the place of the Upanishads in the literature of the Veda and explains the theology, cosmology, and psychology of that holy book. A landmark for East-West cross-cultural scholarship, The Philosophy of the Upanishads helped create the European understanding of the mind and heart of India, a philosophical and cultural endeavor that consumed both academics and armchair truth-seekers of the day. Today, it is still essential reading for anyone wishing to obtain a deeper knowledge of Indian spiritual wisdom.

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Description: The Upanisads which contain lofty philosophical teachings of the great seers constitute the most authoritative sourcebook for the Vedanta system of philosophy. However, there is no unanimity among the ancient exponents of Vedanta regarding the nature of the philosophy adumbrated in the Upanisads. Dr. Chari's scholarly work attempts to make a dispassionate study of the philosophical passages of the fourteen Principal Upanisads by giving due consideration to not only the comments of Samkara, Ramanuja and Madhva, but more importantly, the authoritative views of Badarayana as enshrined in his classic Vedantasutras. In the first part of the book, he presents the important passages of the Upanisads along with English rendering indicating the variations in the interpretation by the three commentators and also discusses their philosophical implications with reference to the Vedanta doctrines developed in the post Upanisadic period. In the second part he has attempted to consolidate the variety of philosophical thoughts scattered all over the Upanisads into coherent doctrines under five broad subjects: Brahman, jivatman, jagat, sadhana, and parama-purusartha. In the final chapter he conclusively establishes on the basis of an objective evaluation of the views of the commentators that the Upanisads do not support the main tenets of Advaita such as the concept of Nirvisesa Brahman, the identity of jivatman and Brahman, the phenomenal character of the jagat and the doctrine of maya. The author maintains with sufficient textual support that the nature of the philosophy advocated by the Upanisads is Theistic Monism (savisesadvaita). This book, which is the first of its kind, presents an authentic and comprehensive exposition of the philosophy of the Upanisads.

Excerpt from The Philosophy of the Upanishads Dr. Deussen's treatise on the Upanishads needs no formal introduction or commendation to students of Indian thought who are familiar with the German language. To others I would fain hope that the translation here presented, which appears with the authors sanction, may serve to make known a work of very marked ability and of surpassing interest. As far as my knowledge extends, there is no adequate exposition of the Upanishads available in English. The best was published by Messrs. Trübner more than a quarter of a century ago, and is in many I respects out of date. As traced here by the master-hand of the author, the teaching of the ancient Indian seers a presents itself in clearest light, and claims the sympathetic study of all lovers of truth. For the English rendering I am alone responsible. And where I may have failed to catch the precise meaning of the original, or adequately to represent the turn of phrase, I can only ask the indulgence of the reader. Dr. Deussen's style is not easy. And if a more capable hand than mine had been willing to essay the task of translation, I would gladly have resigned my office. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The seers and sages of Ancient India revealed fundamental principles of perennial philosophy. The Upanishads contain the essential principles of this perennial-this ageless philosophy. They contain a large number of inspiring and instructive passages and verses. It has not been possible to include all of them in this book. For the purposes of this book the author has taken those verses and passages that have a bearing on the mystical teaching of the Upanishads. It is mysticism which is the very core of the Upanishads-and so in understanding its mysticism one comes to the heart of the sublime and magnificent teaching of the Upanishads. In this age, where science and technology may lead us into a world devoid of meaning and significance. Modern man needs today a meaningful philosophy if the achievements of science are not to lead him to greater and greater destruction-but to sublime and majestic heights of creative living. It is in the Vision of Life given by the Upanishads that man can find the fundamental philosophy of Creative Living-a philosophy that can serve as a Beacon Light even in the midst of surrounding darkness, a philosophy that can lead him from the unreal to the Real, from darkness to Light, from death to Immortality.