Thirty Minor Upanishads - Ebook

Number of pages 144. Dimensions: 8.5" and 11". Format: PDF files. This eBook, created in PDF format, contains translations of 30 minor Upanishads into English by K. Narayanasvami Aiyar. The translations are based on the more reliable south Indian editions and are part of the 108 Upanishads. The list contains important Upanishads like Muktikopanishad, Maitreya Upanishad, Tejobindu Upanishad, Yogatattva Upanishad, Dhyanabindu and Yoga Kundali Upanishads. The text is well formatted and in readable form and the verses from the Upanishads are useful in meditation and contemplation to probe into the deeper aspects of life and yourself. An Excerpt From the Introduction The Upanishaḍs translated have been classified under the headings of (1) Veḍāná¹­a, (2) Physiology, (3) Maná¹­ra, (4) Sannyāsa and (5) Yoga. But these are not hard and fast divisions. For instance in the Sannyāsa and Yoga Upanishaḍs, maná¹­ras also are given. But in the Maná¹­ric Upanishaḍs, Maná¹­ras alone are given. Veḍāná¹­a and Yoga Upanishads: The Upanishaḍs that come under the headings of Veḍāná¹­a and Yoga are the most important. But it is the latter Upanishaḍs that are most occult in their character, since it is they that give clues to the mysterious forces located in nature and man, as well as to the ways by which they maybe conquered. With reference to Veḍāná¹­a, the ancient teachers thereof have rightly ordained that none has the right to enter upon a study of it, unless he has mastered to a slight degree at least the Sāḍhana-Chaá¹­ushtaya, or four means of salvation. He should not, only be convinced in theory of the fact that Āá¹­mā is the only Reality, and all else are but the ephemeral things of the world, but he should also have outgrown in practice the craving for such transitory worldly things: besides he should have developed a fair mastery over the body and the mind. A non-compliance with these precedent conditions leads men into many anomalies. The orthodox and the clever without any practice are placed in a bad predicament through a study of these Upanishaḍs. In such Upanishaḍs as Maiá¹­reya and others, pilgrimages to holy places, the rituals of the HinḍÅ«s, ceremonial impurities at the time of birth and death, Maná¹­ras, etc., are made light of. To the orthodox that are blind and strict observers of rites and ceremonies, statements like these give a rude shock. Hence Upanishaḍs are not meant for persons of this stamp. Nor are they intended tor mere intellectual people who have no knowledge of practice about them, and are immersed in the things of the world. Some of us are aware of the manner in which men with brains alone have made a travesty of the doctrine of Māyā. Not a few clever but unprincipled persons actually endeavour to justify arguments of all kinds of dissipations and wrong conduct by the assertion that it is all Māyā. The old Ṛshis were fully aware of the fact that Veḍāná¹­a would be desecrated by those that had not complied with its precedent conditions. Only when the desires and the self are overcome and the heart is made pure, or as Upanishaḍic writers put it, the heart-knot is broken, only then the Āá¹­mā in the heart will be truly realised: and then it is that the Āá¹­mā in all universe is realised also, the universe being then seen as Māyā. But so long as the Āá¹­mā in the heart is not realised through living the life, the universe will not be realised as Māyā, and "God everywhere" will be but in words. Excerpts From Muktikopanishad Lord Rama on the Upanishads: Through the divisions of Ṛgveḍa and others, the Veḍas are said to be four in number. Their branches are many. So also the Upanishaḍs. In Ṛgveḍa, there are branches, 21 in number. O son of Vāyu, there are 109 branches in Yajurveḍa. O conqueror of enemies, there are 1,000 branches in Sāmaveḍa. O best of Monkeys, there are 50 branches in Aá¹­harvaṇaveḍa. In each branch, there is one Upanishaḍ. Whoever with devotion to Me studies even one of the Ṛks (hymns) in these, attains the state of absorption, rare for the Munis to attain. The names of important Upanishads in the words of Lord Rama: "The only means by which the final emancipation is attained is through MāṇdÅ«kya-Upanishaḍ alone, which is enough for the salvation of all aspirants. If Jñāna is not attained thereby, study the 10 Upanishaḍs; thou shalt soon attain Jñāna , and then My Seat. O son of Añjanā, if thy Jñāna is not made firm, practise (study) well the 32 Upanishaḍs. Thou shalt get release. If thou longest after Viḍehamuká¹­i (or disembodied salvation), study the 108 Upanishaḍs. I will truly state in order the (names of the) Upanishaḍs with their ŚÄná¹­i (purificatory Maná¹­ras). Hearken to them. (They are:) Īśa, Kena, Katha, Praśna, Muṇda, MāṇdÅ«kya, Ṭiṭá¹­iri, Aiá¹­areya, Chhānḍogya, Bṛhaḍāraṇyaka, Brahma, Kaivalya, Jābāla, Śweṭāśwaá¹­ara, Hamsa, Āruṇi, Garbha, Nārāyaṇa, (Parama)-Hamsa, (Amṛá¹­a)-Binḍu, (Amṛá¹­a)-Nāḍa, (Aá¹­harva)-Śira, (Aá¹­harva)-Śikhā, Maiá¹­rāyaṇÄ«, Kaushīá¹­aki, (Bṛhaá¹­)-Jābāla, (Narasihma)-ṬāpanÄ«, Kālāgniruḍra, Maiá¹­reyÄ«, Subāla, Kshurikā, Maná¹­rikā, Sarvasāra, Nirālamba, (Śuka)-Rahasya, VajrasÅ«chikā, Ṭejo-(Binḍu), Nāḍa-(Binḍu), Ḍhyāna-(Binḍu), (Brahma)-Viḍyā, Yoga-Ṭaṭá¹­wa, Āá¹­maboḍhaka, Parivrāt (Nāraḍa-Parivrājaka), (Ṭri)-ŚikhÄ«, Sīṭā, (Yoga)-ChÅ«dā-(Maṇi) Nirvāṇa, Maṇdala-(Brāhmaṇa), Ḍakshiṇā-(MÅ«rá¹­i), Śarabha, Skanḍa, (Tripāḍvibhūá¹­i)-Mahā-Nārāyaṇa, Aḍwaya-(Ṭāraka), (Rāma)-Rahasya, (Rāma)-ṬāpanÄ«, Vāsuḍeva, Muḍgala, ŚÄÃ¡¹‡dilya, Paiṅgala, Bhikshu, Mahaá¹­-ŚÄriraka, (Yoga)-Śikhā, ṬurÄ«yāṭīá¹­a, Sannyāsa, (Paramahamsa)-Parivrājaka, Akshamālikā, Avyaká¹­a, Ekākshara, (Anna)-PÅ«rṇā, SÅ«rya, Akshi, Aḍhyāá¹­ma, Kuṇdikā, Sāviá¹­rÄ«, Āá¹­mā, Pāśupaá¹­a, Parabrahma, Avaḍhūá¹­a, ṬripuraṭāpanÄ«, ḌevÄ«, Ṭripurā, Kara, Bhāvanā, (Ruḍra)-Hṛḍaya, (Yoga)-KuṇdalinÄ«, Bhasma-(Jābāla) Ruḍrāksha, Gaṇapaá¹­i, Ḍarśana, Tārasāra, Mahāvākya, Pañchabrahma, (Prāṇa)-Agnihoá¹­ra, Gopāla-ṬāpanÄ«, Kṛshṇa, Yājñavalkya, Varāha, ŚÄtyāyanÄ«, HayagrÄ«va, Ḍaṭṭāá¹­reya, Gāruda, Kali-(Sanṭāraṇa), Jābāla, Soubhāgya, SaraswaṭÄ«rahasya, Bahvricha, and Muká¹­ika. These 108 (Upanishaḍs) are able to do away with the three Bhāvanās [of doubt, vain thought, and false thought], conferring Jñāna and Vairāgya, and destroying the three Vāsanās [of book-lore, world and body]. Excerpts From Niralamba Upanishad 37. What is Ṭapas? Ṭapas is the act of burning—through the fire of direct cognition of the knowledge that Brahman is the truth and the universe, a myth—the seed of the deep-rooted desire to attain the powers of Brahma, etc. 38. What is Paramapaḍa [the supreme abode]? It is the seat of the eternal and emancipated Brahman which is far superior to Prāṇas (the vital airs), the organs of sense and actions, the internal organs (of thought), the Guṇas and others, which is of the nature of Sachchiḍānanḍa and which is the witness to all. 39. What is Grāhya [or fit to be taken in]? Only that Reality of Absolute Consciousness which is not conditioned by space, time or substance. 40. What is Agrāhya? The thought that this universe is truth—this universe which is different from one's Self and which being subject to Māyā (or illusion) forms the object of (cognition of) Buḍḍhi and the organs. 41. Who is the Sannyāsi [ascetic]? A Sannyāsi is an ascetic who having given up all the duties of caste and orders of life, good and bad actions, etc., being freed from [the conceptions of] "I" and "mine" and having taken his refuge in Brahman alone, roams at large practising Nirvikalpa Samāḍhi and being firmly convinced of "I am Brahman" through the realisation of the meaning of such sacred (Vedic) sentences as "Thou art That" "All this is verily Brahman" and "Here there is no manyness in the least". He only is an emancipated person. He only is fit to be adored. He only is a Yogin. He only is a Paramahamsa. He only is an Avaḍhūá¹­a. He only is a Brahman. Whoever studies the Nirālamba-Upanishaḍ becomes, through the grace of Guru, pure like fire. Ho becomes pure like Vāyu (air). He does not return. He is not born again: nay he is not born again.