Author: Vyasji

On Upanishads

By Major General (Ret’d) V S Karnik, PhD

Its generally true, that if we are scared of something, we keep that object or issue, away from us. We secretly fear that we will not understand the basics of Upanishads (it is “too difficult” a subject.). Therefore, we do not even attempt to learn a little bit of it.

Do you know the difference between Ved, Upanishad and Vedanta? I bet 90 % of the educated Hindus do not know. Do you challenge the figure? In that case, let me tell you that, 95 % of the MBA students, whom I was teaching “Business Ethics with Indian Values” were not aware of it. Is it not a matter of worry that our present generation is not aware of these basic things of our scripture? The foundation on which, the cultural and spiritual heritage of the present India is based, is Vedas and Upanishads. Therefore, lets learn the basics of certain important Upanishads.

(There are more than 1600 Upanishads, of which 108 are most important. – Suresh Vyas) What is given at the end of the Vedas is known as Vedanta, and Vedanta is also known as Upanishad. The Upanishads contain the essential principles of the ageless philosophy of deep and serious inquiry into the very nature of life itself. The Upanishad cannot be described as religious in character. The following issues are worth remembering: –

(a)        The entire teaching of the Upanishad centers on a teacher or a guru.

(b)        The subject matter of almost all the Upanishads is Brahma, (the Ultimate Reality) and Aatma, (the individual self). (Brahma, means, Braha-tam that is Very Big. Brahma is, Infinite Eternal Absolute. One should not get confused Brahma with Brahmadev—the one who is borne from the naval of Shri Vishnu)

(c)        The Upanishads are concerned with the process of thinking and not with conclusion of thought (therefore, the Upanishads have been interpreted in different ways by different people. Two persons may not agree on the same issue or they may interpret same Shloka in different way.)

(d)        The contents of the Upanishads are timeless, universal, applies to all ages and all countries. It is all about spiritual perspective of the life.

(e)        The possible easy essence of only few Upanishads has been given here .Some individuals may not agree what is given here.

Isavasya Upanishad

This Upanishad starts from the word “Isa” ,hence the name.

The main points are as under: —

(a) The innovation associated with this Upanishad is intriguing and significant. It says “That is Whole; this is Whole. The Whole comes out of the Whole. Taking the Whole from the Whole, the Whole remains”. The essence is that quality is indivisible. Quality of an atom of diamond will be same that of a big dimond. The theme is, Brahma and Aatma are same, of same quality—they are identical and we all are part of Brahma, or Brahma is residing in us.

(b) The universe is filled with Isa (God). God has given everyone some- thing. Accept and enjoy that which is given to you. (Enjoy the role given to you by the God) Do not covet the wealth of others.

(c) Whosoever neglects the Sprit (The Brahma) goes to the region of darkeness. Brahma or the Reality is in front of us but it is covered with the golden veil. We are unwilling to remove this golden veil, because it is attractive to us. If we remove this veil, we will realize the Reality

Kena Upanishad

The Upanishad represents a deep inquiry into the fundamental problems of existananc.

In this Upanishad the main issue under discussion is – What is it that impels and motivates the particular pattern of actions?

Katha Upanishad

In this Upanishad the theme of death is dissuced. Yama (as a teacher), the lord of death discusses the secret of death with the Nachiket (the disciple). Nachiket asks Yama,”What happens in the actual moment of death” His question is what happens in the moment of death itself. (When a man dies, not after a man dies)

The main points are:–

(a)        The importance of the word “OM”, which is equated with Brahma.

(b)        Brahma can be known only through Aatma.

(c)        Aatma is, “beyond, sound and form, without touch or taste and smell. It is eternal, unchangeable and without beginning or end”.

(d)        One’s own life can be considerate as a chariot. This chariot has several horses tied to it–& these are the sences. The mind which constitutes the reins, controls, the horses. The reins are held by intelligence or Buddhi, for that is the charioter Inside the chariot, sits the master of the chariot, the Aatma.

(e)        The wise should restrain speech in mind, and the mind in the intelligence.

(f)        When all desires that cling the heart, disappear, then the mortals become immortals.

(g)        If one finds the Aatma, one will know the secret of death.

Prasna Upanishad

In this, six students (highly learned rishis) ask questions to Pippalada rishi. The students are engaged in truly scientific inquiry into the nature of things. This Upanishad leads the students from the known to the unknown.

Mundaka Upanishad

(a)It begins with the importance of listening and seeing, without which no integration of man is possible. Learning requires total listening and a total seeing.

(b) There are two kinds of knowledge, — higher and lower. (“Para” is higher and “Apara “is lower. Para is wisdom and apara is knowledge. Knowledge is indirect and wisdom is direct. All knowledge gathered through external sources, is lower, because it is indirect. The higher knowledge is that by which the Immutable is known. By means of higher knowledge the wise behold Brahma everywhere.

Mandukya Upanishad

This is the shortest of all Upnishads, and is named after its teacher.

This Upanishad discusses about sub conscious, unconscious and super-conscious of mind.

Taittiriya Upanishad

Named after the teacher, Taittiri.

(a) Deals with social, intellictual and spiritual education of the students.

(b)This Upanishad tells the fundamantal principle of the science of education.

(c )It explains the science of communicating (Speaking and listening and effective communication).It emphasizes that effective communication is based on relationship (communication is most effective, only when it takes place at the same time, at the same level and with the same intensity between two people.

(d) This Upanishad is also concerned with relationship amongst people.

(e) In this the teacher is advising the students, who are about to leave the Gurukul. It is a sort of convocation address. The last teaching of the teacher is that, Brahma is Bliss.

Aitareya Upanishad

The main issues are:–

(a)`This gives the story of creation or beginning of the universe.

(b) It also gives a statement of the functions of the mind. These are consciousness, perception, discrimanation, intelligence, wisdom, insight, impulse, thought, memory conception, life desire and will.

(c) This Upanishad sums up its entire teaching as thus: —

“ He is Brahama, he is Indra ,he is prajapati, he is all these gods and the five elements, earth, air, space, water, light, these things and those which are mingled of the fine, as it were; origin of one sort of another, those born from an egg, and those borne from a womb, and those born from the sweat, and those borne from the sprout; horses, cows, persons, whatever breathing thing there is here—whether moving or flying and also what is stationary. All this is guided by Intelligence. The world is guided by Intelligence. Brahma is Intelligence.

Chandogya Upanishad

This constitute the dialogue between Narada and Sanatkumara.Narada requests Sanatjumara, to show him the path of real knowledge—the path of wisdom.

Brahadaranyaka Upanishad

The main issues are:–

(a)This Upanishad tells the way to spiritual mutation. In this Upanishad, the teaching is imparted by Yajnavalkya to his wife Maitreyi.

(b)The famous “Neti,  Neti”—“Not this, not this “ is in this Upanishad.The flame and the spark are identical in nature—for the spark emanates from the fire and shares all the qualities of the fire. Similarly, the man is a part of Brahma. In Aatma resides the Brahma. Brahma’s forms are so numerous, that no one form, can convey its true meaning. Therefore, indication of Brahma is” Neti, Neti,” for, beyond saying” Neti Neti”, there is nothing possible—for it is Truth beyond Truth.

Svetasvatara Upanishad

This is not included in the ten major Upanishads. But it has been commented upon by many. This Upanishad indicates, students discussing among themselves, subject matters such as — What is the Cause? Is it Brahma? Whence are we borne? What sustains us? Where we are going? Who distributes pleasure and pain in the differing condition of life?

Conclusion

The above is to give an idea of the major (important) Upanishads. Not difficult, as you must have imagined. The teaching and contains of these Upanishad are immense, and cannot be explained or justified in this short article. The purpose of this article is to awaken the interest in Upanishads. Last and the most important thing is, whatever we are trying to learn from the western world, is already given in our Shastras, in our Smrities and Sruties.—– Now, come on, are you asking  me, what are Smrities and Sruties ?

(written during 2002)

From: Vinod Karnik < >

On the Shudra Varna

The Shudras were the class of people in Indian society who were involved in various occupations such as:

• Engineering (nagaravAstushilpi) — civil works such building roads, bridges, dams, reservoirs, wells, etc
• Metal works (karmakAra orkarmAra) — ore-smelting, smithy, forging, manufacturing of weapons, agricultural implements, vessels, etc
• Pottery (kumbhakAra orkulAla) — all kinds of vessels and containers as well as other public monuments
• Carpentry (takShaka, sthapati)
• Weaving (paTakAra orsUtrakAra or tantuvAya) — all kinds of clothing manufacture
• Construction (gRhavAstushilpi) — houses, temples, and other buildings
• Cart-building & chariot-building (rathakAra)

So, you can clearly see that civilized urban life would not have been possible in ancient India without the irreplaceable contribution of Shudras. Every other community in society, including Brahmins, depended on Shudras for basics of everyday life.

So, it is illogical and unimaginable that Shudras would be actually oppressed because it is much easier for Shudras to boycott the rest of society if they thought they were being oppressed. Besides, Shudras always formed more than 75% of the population at any time in history, whereas Brahmins formed 5% or less. So, it is much easier for Brahmins to face actual oppression even though it may appear that they had all the power just because they wrote all the books that have come down to us.

It has become a common theme in modern times to selectively read through different kinds of traditional scriptures, and come to grossly erroneous and ill-informed conclusions about alleged atrocities or discrimination or denigration such as the question frames it.

The fundamental categorization of Hindu scriptures is in terms of shruti and smRti. The shruti texts are the Vedas, which are descriptive texts. This means they describe things as they really were. So they describe society and the different classes of people and their interactions as it really was. The smRti texts are prescriptive texts. This means these are various texts of individual authors who wrote their personal opinion of how things should be in their time. These are framed as “laws” and the texts can be called “law books” in modern parlance.

So, with this fundamental definition in mind, it is highly unintelligent to imagine that every single “law” written in these “law books” were actually implemented in practice without knowledge of how ancient Indian society was organized.

Caste-level organization had more power over people of the caste than the king or the theoretical law books written by Brahmins. More often than not, the caste elders were the representatives and spokespeople for the caste, and they negotiated power and influence with other communities and the state. This dynamic is seen throughout history as different castes rise and fall in their social status and power depending on changing conditions and needs of society.

Often, in the case of various Shudra communities, new technological developments changed the landscape of occupations, where one community’s traditional occupation is lost or taken over by another, thus causing a fall in the status of the first community and a rise in the status of the second.

For example, when earthenware was in high demand, potter community was highly respected. In fact, many of the Vedic metaphors use a potter’s wheel as the imagery for Brahman creating the world just as a potter creates pots from clay. When metallurgy began to advance, and more metal products began to be used, potters became secondary, and blacksmiths and smelters rose up in social status and importance. Clothes were always in demand, and so weavers were always held in high esteem.

First, let us look at how the Shudras are described in the shruti. In the Taittiriya Samhita 4.5 (which is famously known as Rudradhyaya or Rudra Namakam), the various Shudra occupations are mentioned as being forms of the supreme god Shiva himself:

(4.11) नमः क्षत्तृभ्यः संग्रहीतृभ्यश्च वो नमः — namah kShattRbhyah samgrahItRbhyashca vo namah — obeisance to teachers of charioteers and to charioteers.

(4.12) नमस्तक्षभ्यो रथकारेभ्यश्च वो नमः — namah takShabhyo rathakArebhyashca vo namah — obeisance to carpenters and cart-makers

(4.13) नमः कुलालेभ्यः कर्मारेभ्यश्च वो नमः — namah kulAlebhyashca karmArebhyashca vo namah — obeisance to potters and blacksmiths

(4.14) नमः पुञ्जिष्टेभ्यो निषादेभ्यश्च वो नमः — namah puñjiShTebhyah niShAdebhyashca vo namah — obeisance to bird-catchers and bird-hunters

(4.15) नम इषुकृद्भ्यो धन्वकृद्भ्यश्च वो नमः — namah iShukRdbhyo dhanvakRdbhyashca vo namah — obeisance to arrow-makers and now-makers

(4.16) नमो मृगयुभ्यः श्वनिभ्यश्च वो नमः — namo mRgayubhyah shvanibhyashca vo namah — obeisance to hunters and dog-owners (i.e. chandalas)

(4.17) नमः श्वभ्यश्च श्वपतिभ्यश्च वो नमः — namah shvabhyashca shvapatibhyashca vo namah — obeisance to dogs and to dog-keepers (i.e. chandalas)

So the Vedas (given to mankind by God,) and have such high respect for Shudras. Tradition says that in any matter if there is a difference of opinion between shruti and smRti, the former overrules the latter. Besides as mentioned above, shruti describes the thing as it really was, whereas smRti prescribes things according to an individual author.

So in reality, on the ground, it is unfair and incorrect to say that “Brahmins used Manusmriti as a tool to against Dalits”. The Manusmriti is a theoretical text book. There are many rules in it that are astounding and nobody would believe that anyone actually did what it prescribed. The rules for Brahmins in Manusmriti are hundred times more strict and severe than those for Shudras. For example, there is no punishment if a Shudra gets drunk, but if a Brahmin gets drunk his punishment is to insert a heated sword down his throat as far as the liquor has gone down.

Now let us look at actual history and see where the Shudras have been — at the “lowest position” as the question says or not.

Here’s a fact — more than 90% of the kings of India were Shudras. Here’s a list of Shudra kings:

• Maurya dynasty
  • Chandragupta Maurya — the Brahmin Chanakya actually selected him to become king by destroying the Nanda dynasty which was Kshatriya!!!
  • Bimbisara (son of Chandragupta Maurya)
  • Ashoka (son of Bimbisara)
• Chalukya dynasty of Badami — ruled Deccan and south India for 700 years (6th-12th centuries)
  • The kings of this dynasty such as Pulakeshi II were great patrons of Vedic religion and the mainstream Hindu culture, art, literature and architecture
• Rashtrakuta dynasty — ruled Deccan and south India for nearly 300 years between 8th and 11th centuries
  • Once again, the great kings of this dynasty promoted and nurtured classical Hinduism and was also responsible for the exquisitely beautiful cave temples in Ellora (e.g. Kailasanatha Temple)
• Chola dynasty — ruled the Tamil country for nearly 350 years (10th-13th centuries)
  • Rajaraja and his son Rajendra were great patrons of Hinduism and Vedic religion, and their trade relations with southeast Asia also carried Hinduism and Buddhism to that region.
• Vijayanagara empire —
  • Famously the Brahmin Svami Vidyaranya chose the Shudras Harihara and Bukkaraya to lead an organized revival of a Hindu empire to thwart the incursion of Islam in south India.
  • The second generation king Kumara Kampana rescued the Tamil region from Muslim rule
  • Krishnadevaraya continued to strengthen the empire and it became a bastion of classical Hinduism all across India, and attracted scholars, musicians, artists from all over India. Temple architecture developed a new style with the tall imposing “Raya Gopurams” named for the Vijayanagara Kings (“Rayas”).
• Chandela dynasty — ruled central India between 9th and 13th centuries
  • These kings were of tribalorigin, but established a strong Hindu kingdom and patronized the Vedic religion and all-rounded Hindu culture, arts, music, philosophy, etc
  • They built the legendary Khajuraho temple complex
  • They were a major resistance against early Muslim invasions of Ghaznavi and Ghori
• Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty — ruled over western India between 8th and 12th centuries
• Rajput kingdoms — famously valiant and fierce defenders of the western frontier of India and followers and patrons of Hinduism
• Maratha empire — Shivaji was a Shudra and he was educated by Samarth Ramdas. Shivaji is famous for a second revival of Hinduism after the fall of Vijayanagara and for bringing the downfall of the Mughal empire and resisting the British takeover of vast parts of India for nearly a century.

Also, until the 18th century, when the traditional education system of India was mostly undisturbed, every village in India had its own public-funded schools, and all children of the village received education. The composition of the children in these schools was 85% Shudras, 5% Brahmins and 10% remaining communities, and equal numbers of boys and girls. For a detailed study of this, please read the Beautiful Tree by Dharam Pal.

The present-day downfall of some Shudra communities can be traced back to the British policies of destroying indigenous industries so that British-produced goods could be sold back to Indians at exorbitant prices after stealing raw materials from India at dirt-cheap prices. This was also why Gandhiji started the Swadeshi Movement of making goods in India and wearing only Khadi.

The British census created a huge turmoil in the way Indians saw themselves. Prior to the first British census, various communities did not see themselves in a hierarchy. The British actually forced different communities into a strict hierarchy based on their utter misunderstanding of the complex Indian society, and thus forcefully placed Shudra communities at the bottom of the hierarchy, despite protests from those communities who saw themselves much higher in social status.

Indian Caste System and The British

So please understand the complex effect of foreign interference on “caste discrimination” instead of ignorantly blaming Brahmins for everything.

Viewpoint: How the British reshaped India’s caste system

“WR Cornish, who supervised census operations in the Madras Presidency in 1871, wrote that “… regarding the origin of caste we can place no reliance upon the statements made in the Hindu sacred writings. Whether there was ever a period in which the Hindus were composed of four classes is exceedingly doubtful”.

Similarly, CF Magrath, leader and author of a monograph on the 1871 Bihar census, wrote, “that the now meaningless division into the four castes alleged to have been made by Manu should be put aside”.

Anthropologist Susan Bayly writes that “until well into the colonial period, much of the subcontinent was still populated by people for whom the formal distinctions of caste were of only limited importance, even in parts of the so-called Hindu heartland… The institutions and beliefs which are now often described as the elements of traditional caste were only just taking shape as recently as the early 18th Century”.

In fact, it is doubtful that caste had much significance or virulence in society before the British made it India’s defining social feature.”

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