Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

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The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad ( Sanskrit : बृहदारण्यक उपनिषद् bṛhadāraṇyaka upaniṣad f. ) Is one of the earliest (mukhya) Upanishads . The name means "Great Upanishad of the Āranyakas ", which indicates the intermediate position of the work between Upanishad and Āranyaka. The Upanishad is part of the White Yajurveda . It consists of three parts called Madhukandam, Yajnavalkyam Kandam and Khilakandam . There are two versions of this Upanishad that are slightly different from each other. They are called Mâdhyandina and Kânva reviews.

Structure & content

The Upanishad is a long Upanishad written in both verse and prose. The first two parts must originally have passed independently of each other. Yajnavalkya's teachings to his wife Maitreyi can be found almost word for word both in Madhukandam (2,4) and in Yajnavalkyam Kandam (4,5).

Madhukandam

One of the most famous mantras can be found in this part of the Upanishad:

ॐ असतोमा सद्गमय।
तमसोमा ज्योतिर् गमय।
मृत्योर्मामृतं गमय॥
ॐ शान्ति शान्ति शान्तिः ।।
oṁ asato mā sad gamaya
tamaso mā jyotir gamaya
mṛtyor mā amṛtaṁ gamaya
oṁ śānti śānti śāntiḥ 1.3.28

Lead me from what is not to what is;
Lead me out of the darkness to the light;
Lead me from death to immortality
Om peace, peace, peace

Yajnavalkyam Kandam

The Yajnavalkyam Kandam is divided into two sections, Adhyaja 3 and 4. In Adhyaya 3 a large speech tournament is reported at the court of Janaka of Videha , in the course of which Yājñavalkya proves his superiority over nine opponents one after the other. In Adhyaya 4 three conversations between the wise man and King Janaka are recorded.

Third Adhyaya

In the disputation at Janaka's court, Yājñavalkya are asked questions about ritual , psychology , metaphysics and spirituality by nine opponents , which he can answer convincingly. Some examples:

“You cannot see the seer of seeing, you cannot hear the listener of hearing, you cannot understand the understanding of understanding, you cannot recognize the knower of knowing. He is your soul that is inside everything. Anything different from him is painful. "

- Paul Deussen : Upanishads

“Therefore, after the brahmin has given up learning; so let him remain childish; after having done away with childliness and learning, he becomes a silent man (muni); after having done away with non-silence and silence, he becomes a Brāhamana. What does this Brāhmana live in? In what he lives in, how it comes. Anything different from him is painful. "

- Paul Deussen : Upanishads

Fourth Adhyaya

In Brāhmanam 4.1, Yājñavalkya asks King Janaka to tell him what he has heard from other Brahmins about the nature of Brahman . Yajnayalkya describes the explanations that the king gives about the essence of the Atman - there are six different doctrines - as one-sided. Because the principles mentioned (speech, breath, eye, ear, mind, heart) are only the ayatam (base) of the Brahman and not the Brahman itself. The common location of these principles is space and thus these explanations are only given like the Brahman appear or work in space and not what it is essentially.

In Brahmanam 4.2, Yājñavalkya explains Atman and Brahman to the king by naming various physical aspects as a starting point and relating them to the regions of heaven. But then he breaks off these speculations and says: “But he, the Atman, is not like that and is not like that ( neti neti ). It is intangible because it will not be grasped, indestructible because it will not be destroyed; unreliable, because nothing sticks to him; he is not bound, he does not waver, he suffers no harm ”.

In Brāhmanam 4.3, the last conversation between Janaka and Yājñavalkya, the following topics are addressed:

4.3.2 The dream sleep
4.3.3 Deep sleep
4.3.4 The dying of the unsaved
4.3.5 The unredeemed soul after death
4.3.6 Salvation

In this last section the sage reveals to the king his knowledge of Atman and Brahman:

“A path stretches hard to see, an old one, it reaches into me, it was found by me; On him the wise ones go, the Brahman knowledges, To the world of heaven upwards, to salvation "

- Paul Deussen : Upanishads

"But whoever looked at the Atman As God directly in himself, Lord of the past and future, is no longer afraid of anyone."

- Paul Deussen : Upanishads

Khilakandam

This part of the Upanshad is already referred to as an appendix by the old commentaries.

meaning

The great importance of this Upanishad lies in the statements made by the sage Yājñavalkya on Atman and Brahman . The Brahmin Yājñavalkya lays out his knowledge of the Atman with all determination and clarity in the traditional speeches. Yājñavalkya says that Atman and Brahman are identical and that in death Atman goes into Brahman and that a person can be reborn from Brahman. Brahman is for him the highest being; no one can cross it. According to the Indologist Paul Deussen , the third conversation between Janaka and Yājñavalkya represents the climax of this and perhaps all of the Upanishads. Shankara has written a commentary on this Upanishad.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Paul Deussen : Upanishads. The Secret Doctrine of the Veda . Ed .: Peter Michel . Marix Verlag, Wiesbaden 2006, p. 469 .
  2. ^ Paul Deussen: Upanishads. The Secret Doctrine of the Veda . Ed .: Peter Michel. Marix Verlag, Wiesbaden 2006, p. 536-538 .
  3. ^ Paul Deussen: Upanishads. The Secret Doctrine of the Veda . Ed .: Peter Michel. Marix Verlag, Wiesbaden 2006, p. 537 f .
  4. ^ Paul Deussen: Upanishads. The Secret Doctrine of the Veda . Ed .: Peter Michel. Marix Verlag, Wiesbaden 2006, p. 566 .
  5. ^ Paul Deussen: Upanishads. The Secret Doctrine of the Veda . Ed .: Peter Michel. Marix Verlag, Wiesbaden 2006, p. 583, verse 8 (Kânva review) .
  6. ^ Paul Deussen: Upanishads. The Secret Doctrine of the Veda . Ed .: Peter Michel. Marix Verlag, Wiesbaden 2006, p. 584, verse 15 (Kanva review) .
  7. ^ Paul Deussen: Upanishads. The Secret Doctrine of the Veda . Ed .: Peter Michel. Marix Verlag, Wiesbaden 2006, p. 525 .

literature

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