Versatile Genius

IV. The Upanishads

It is customary to find in many books on Indian philosophy the statement that the authors of the Upanishads opposed the Vedas on the grounds of ritualism and developed alternate intellectual theories detailed in the Upanishads. There are several inconsistencies in this statement. First of all, Upanishads are not philosophic texts involving metaphysical speculations. They are basically texts describing Darshana, the variety of spiritual experiences of various sages. There are no speculations in these texts. Secondly, the sages of the Upanishads did not reject the Veda Samhitas as such; they only claim that they have either discovered new truths fully compatible with the Samhitas or they are amplifications and generalizations of some of the seed ideas in the Rig Veda. To substantiate their viewpoints, they often quote some mantras of the Rig Veda. One of the great contributions of Sri Kapali Sastry is to delineate the precise connection between the Rig Veda and the Upanishads.

The Upanishads, besides delineating various spiritual experiences, also give a few hints on Sadhana, i.e., paths of spiritual realization. These methods of Sadhana are called Vidyas. The Upanishad does not give much detail about the Vidyas because such details cannot be conveyed in print. Typically, a teacher transmits these truths to the students, often in silence. There are more than a dozen Vidyas mentioned in the Upanishads. Sri Kapali Sastry's book [Vol. 1 of his collected works] is the only one, as far as the author is aware, to discuss these Vidyas in some detail. Madhu Vidya of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad and the Vaishwanara Vidya of the Chandogya Upanishad are taken up here to relate their connection to appropriate passages in the Rig Veda Samhita.

The Madhu Vidya or the doctrine of mystic honey is found in the 5th chapter of the second book of the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad ²⁸ which is itself part of the Shatapatha Brahmana. Often this Upanishad is quoted ²⁹ by some monists to demonstrate this world to be an "utter illusion" and that it is irrelevant to the attainment of the highest spiritual experience called as Nirguna Brahman. Such passages upholding the "lofty illusionism" are found in the Maitreyi Brahmana of the same Upanishad which precedes the Madhu Vidya chapter. Madhu Vidya provides the required corrective and teaches us that the "diversity in creation is the manifestation of a secret delight, that all things, however heterogeneous and warring they may appear, are held together by a secret harmony effected in them by the hidden creative self delight of the Supreme who is the effulgent self, Immortal." The Upanishad states "This earth is honey for all beings and all beings are honey for this earth—and he who is in this earth the effulgent, immortal Purusha and he who is within one's being, in the body, the effulgent, immortal Purusha are indeed the same—He who is this Self, this Immortal, this Brahman, this All." It gives fourteen illustrations to reinforce the above statement. It further adds that "this Self does not merely represent the basic principle of Madhu, the Bliss that abides in the heart of things but he is the. Master of all things and beings and holds together all beings, all gods, all worlds, all selves and all lives." Next the Upanishad quotes three verses of the Rig Veda Samhita (I.116,12; I.117.22, VI.47.18) stating that the doctrine of mystic Honey given here is not new, but was already revealed to the sages of the Rig Veda, specifically Dadhyan Atharvan by Ashwins, the twin powers. Sri Sayanacharya explains these verses by using a legend in the Shatapata Brahmana involving the god Indra, Dadhyan, son of Atharvan, and the twin powers Ashwins. Sri Kapali Sastry explains that these verses make much more sense if they are interpreted along esoteric lines, using the clues supplied by the meanings of names of personages like Dadhyan Atharvan. The two parts of the word Dadhyan, dadhi and anc, give us the meaning that "it is a distinct lustrous power moving in the Yield of Light fixed in the intellectual mind." Dadhyan, like the Atharvan or the Angirasa, is either a deified sage or humanized god. Ashwins are an inseparable dual godhead who always appear together. The Ashwins embody the twin forces of harmony and beauty, health and joy. Their own archetypical interdependence and harmony in the cosmic functioning brings to bear on us the necessity of realizing the interdependence of things and beings, the balance and harmony that is preserved by a great unifying principle referred to as the Madhu. It is the Delight of Being in all existence which explains and unfolds the necessity of diverse forms in the manifest existence and gives them their value. The particular chapter in the Upanishad closes with the following Rig Vedic verse due to the Sage Bharadwaja (VI.47.18) "To every form he has remained the counterform: that is his Form for us to face and see. Indra by his creative conscious powers (Maya powers) moves on endowed with many forms; for yoked are his thousand steeds."

The next example is from the Vaishwanara Vidya of the Chandogya Upanishad ³⁰ and its connection to the Vaishwanara Agni mentioned in numerous hymns of the Rig Veda. Even though all Sadhanas of the Upanishads lead to the attainment of Brahmic realization, their starting points, their approaches, and the results experienced on the way to realization may differ. Sadhanas may differ from one another in their emphasis on different aspects of Brahman. The Vaishvanara Vidya mentioned in the 5th book of Chandogya begins with the question "what do you worship as the Atman" posed by the teacher, the king Aswapathy Kaikeya to eager students who approached him for the elucidation of the supreme realization. The teacher shows the limitations of various answers and teaches them about the Universal person, Vaishwanara, who is adored as "In all worlds, in all beings, in all selves, he eats the food." The teacher exhorts the students in the art of living in accord with the truths of Vaishwanara, the universal person. He enjoins them "not to eat the food and live as if the Vaishwanara Atman were something separate, but to live—and eat for living—with the knowledge of Him as the One Fire who lives aglow in all creatures." Such a person lives also for other souls, for other beings around, for the rest of the whole universe. His living is a source of joy and power to all living beings at all levels. He radiates wisdom and life-giving strength. The food he takes is an offering to the Universal Fire. This is the real meaning of the Fire ritual. The text says that whosoever performs the Fire ritual without knowing its meaning is wasting his efforts like pouring his offering on ashes after removing the burning charcoal. As mentioned earlier, the Vaishwanara Vidya directly draws its inspiration from the numerous hymns on the Vaishwanara Agni in the Rig Veda. Sri Kapali Sastry gives a detailed discussion on this topic. We will content ourselves by giving references to some of the relevent hymns: Rig Veda, X.88; I.59; I.98.1; III.3.2.; III.3.4.; III.26.7.