Concept of Oneness in the Upanishads (study)

by Chandra Shekhar Upadhyaya | 2015 | 52,584 words

This page relates ‘Position of Upanishads in Philosophical Literature’ of the study dealing with the Concept of Oneness in the Upanishads—Spiritual teachings of ancient India in the form of Sanskrit literature. The Upanisads teach us the essential oneness of humanity and guide us to the truth that the whole world is a family.This concept of oneness is the very essence of spiritualism, which constitutes the solid structure of Indian culture.

Position of Upaniṣads in Philosophical Literature

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The Upaniṣads occupy a unique place in the history of Indian Philosophy. For thousands of years of Indian philosophy, religion and life are enriched with the human spirit of knowledge where the Upaniṣads are the dominating jewels. The Upaniṣads have encouraged not only the orthodox systems of Indian Philosophy but some of the heterodox also “To think of Indian Philosophy without the Upaniṣads is to think of the Bible without the sermon on the mount.”^[1] So, Upaniṣads plays an important role in Indian Philosophy. Sāṃkhya, Yoga, Nyāya, Vaiśeṣika, Mīmāṃsā, Vedānta and even Buddhism also derive their basic doctrines from the Upaniṣads. Here effort has been made to highlight the position of Upaniṣads in Indian Philosophical systems.

1. Upaniṣads and Buddhism

Oldenberg suggests that, “Upaniṣads prepared the way for Buddhism. The principle of Karma in the Upaniṣads, became the source of inspiration for almost all the systems of Indian philosophy including Buddhism. The pessimism and the doctrine of momentariness and many other doctrines of Buddhism had their origin in the Upaniṣads.”^[2]

(i) Theory of No-soul: The doctrine of no-soul reflected in the Buddha Philosophy is found in the Upaniṣads. Its root can be found in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad, where it is said that after the completion the life’s journey of a person in this world, different opinions come from different persons about his soul. Some persons say that the self has its existence and many other say that its existence is finished with the death.^[3]

(ii) Ritualism: The idea of ritualism of Buddha philosophy has its root in Chāndogya Upaniṣad, where we find, in the beginning there was being, i.e., sat alone, some other say that in the beginning there was non being, i.e., asat alone, without a second and from that non-being, i.e., asat being, i.e., sat was produced.^[4]

(iii) Pessimism and Momentarism: The source of the pessimism and monentarism is found in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad, where Naciketa says, ‘All is misery’ and ‘All is momentary.’^[5]

(iv) Vijñānavāda: The doctrine of vijñānavāda of Buddha philosophy has its root in the Aitareya Upaniṣad, where it is said that every thing in this universe is guided by intelligence (prajñāna), everything is established in intelligence and the Ultimate Reality is nothing but intelligence itself.^[6]

(v) Rebirth: The concept of rebirth in the Buddha Philosophy has its source from Kaṭha Upaniṣad, where it is said that the soul takes the new body according to the karma and jñāna of a person.^[7]

(2) Sāṃkhya and Upaniṣad

The term ‘Sāṃkhya’ used for the first time in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad. The basic tenets of Sāṃkhya philosophy have been taken from different Upaniṣads. The following points prove the relation of Sāṃkhya philosophy with the Upaniṣads.

(i) Prakṛti: The Sāṃkhya concept of prakṛti and three guṇas, viz., sattva, rajas and tamas can be found in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad, where it is said that the original prakṛti consists of red, white and black colours.^[8]

(ii) Mahat and Puruṣa: The Sāṃkhya philosophic theory of mahat, avyakta, puruṣa, etc., can be observed in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad.^[9]

(iii) Astral Body: The Sāṃkhya Philosophical concept of astral body is a concept taken from Praśna Upaniṣad, where we have found the concept of puruṣa with sixteen parts.^[10]

(3) Yoga Philosophy and Upaniṣads

The various concepts of Yoga philosophy can be found in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad. The relation of Yoga philosophy with the Upaniṣads is mentioned as follows:

(i) Āsana, Pratyāhāra, Prāṇāyāma, Samādhi: The concept of āsana, prātyāhāra, prāṇāyāma, samādhi of Yoga philosophy can be traced in the second adhyāya, mantra no. 1-15 in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad.

(ii) Dhāraṇā: The Yoga philosophic dhāraṇā is found in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad, where it is said that one who is searching the Reality, after meditating It in his heart, realises the truth which is really hidden in his heart.^[11]

(iii) Dhyāna: Dhyāna, i.e., meditation has been described in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad, where it is suggested that one should contemplate on the thought of the Ultimate Reality in his heart by balancing his senses, mind and intelligence.^[12]

(iv) God: The concept of God of the Yoga philosophy has been described in the Kaṭhopaniṣad, where it is said that one reality exists beyond the worldly sufferings. As the sun, which is the eye of the world is not contaminated by the external corruptions of the visible things, in the same way, the Ātman which lies in all the living things, is not disturbed by the sorrow of the external world.^[13]

(v) Physical Aspect: We can observe in the Kauṣītaki Upaniṣad, and Maitrāyaṇyupaniṣad the different physical aspects, which are borrowed by Yoga philosophy for developing their basic principles.^[14]

(4) Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika and Upaniṣad

The relation of Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika philosophy with the Upaniṣads is mentioned below:

(i) Puritat: The Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika concept of puritat is nothing but the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣadic concept itself. The idea of puritat of Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika has been taken from the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad.^[15] Saṃkarācārya suggests that puritat indicates our whole body.

(ii) Categories: The categories of Vaiśeṣika philosophy, the five elements and time, mind, soul and ether are also found in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad.^[16]

(iii) Quality of Ākāśa: The quality of ākāśa of Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika is also found in the Chāndogya Upaniṣad.^[17]

(iv) Liberation: The doctrine of liberation of Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika has it root in the Upaniṣads.^[18]

(5) Mīmāṃsā and Upaniṣads

The Upaniṣads are based upon the path of knowledge, whereas the Mīmāṃsā philosophy has been founded on the basis of the concept of ritualism. Therefore, apparently we do not find any similarity between the two. But the synthesis of knowledge and action revealed in the Īśopaniṣad has a similarity with the view of Kumārila.^[19]

(6) Advaita Vedānta and the Upaniṣads

The Vedānta philosophy has been developed on the basis of the Śrimadbhagavadgītā, the Brahmasūtra and the Upaniṣads. The main teachings of the Upaniṣads have been deeply rooted in the Śrimadbhagavadgītā and Brahmasūtra. This can be clarified by analysing the Vedānta philosophy represented by Śaṃkarācārya and Rāmānuja.

The basic idea of monistic philosophy of Śaṃkarācārya is based upon the Upaniṣads. The main points of similarities between the monistic philosophy and the Upaniṣads are mentioned below:

(i) Śaṃkarācārya’s doctrine of the relation of the Brahman and Ātman has its foundation upon the Upaniṣads. Similarly the identity of Brahman and Ātman is also found in the Upaniṣads, viz., the Chāndogya Upaniṣad,^[20] the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad^[21], the Kaṭha Upaniṣad^[22] and the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad.^[23].

(ii) Śaṃkarācārya’s concept of māyā has also its origin in the Upaniṣads. Ignorance, asatya, non-existence, illusion, falsehood, reflections, etc., are some of the words used in the Upaniṣads to denote the word māyā. Even the word māyā itself has been taken from the Upaniṣads.^[24]

7. Ramānuja’s Qualified Monism and the Upaniṣads

Rāmānuja has also developed his philosophy of qualified monism on the basis of the philosophical concepts of the Upaniṣads. Both Śaṃkarācārya and Rāmānuja took the idea of their philosophies from the Upaniṣads and interpreted those from their own individual stand point. That the philosophy of Qualified-Monism is based on the Upaniṣads may be understood from the following context:

(i) Trinity: The idea of trinity of jīva, prakṛti and Īśvara as the Ultimate Reality of Qualified-Monism has its similarity in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad, where it is stated that there are three ultimate realities which are eternal and indestructible. All these three ultimate realities ultimately constitute Brahman.^[25]

(ii) Pantheism: The pantheistic idea of the philosophy of Rāmānuja which considers God as the soul of prakṛti^[26] can be traced to the conversation between Yāñavalkya and Āruṇi, found in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, where all pervading God is considered as the eternal source of the universe. The reference of the God as the soul of both the world and the jīva is also found in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad.^[27]

(iii) Liberation: Rāmānuja’s conception of liberation can be found in the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad, where it has been stated, when a person sees the puruṣa of golden complexion, who is the doer of all, controller and creator of this universe, he is united with the Ultimate Reality. When he becomes one with the Supreme Soul, he is liberated. Again we find in Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad that when a man becomes associated with the Supreme Consciousness, he becomes free from all sins and attains the knowledge of Brahman. He is mingled with the Brahman himself. Similarly, Rāmānuja has accepted gradual liberation and liberation after the attainment of Supreme Bliss.^[28]