The Central Message of the Upanishads
UGED 1400/CURE 1123 World Religions
Essay: The Central Message of the Upanishad
Lee Gordon (SID: 1155003686)
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Introduction
“The king of Ayodhya is childless, but makes a sacrifice from which are born three sons, each to a different wife.”[1]
The above is an excerpt from one of Hinduism oldest epic stories called the Ramayana. It illustrates how the ancient Indian people fulfill or satisfy their desires by the practice of rituals. Yet, as many traditions went in the past, after a long time of development, the practice of rituals was formalized and people started to question its significance. People started to search for the way to transcend worldly matters and recover the real cosmological truth. New practices emerged in response to the trend. New discoveries and practices were passed from time to time, and eventually this led to the compilation of different thoughts following the Vedic traditions into the Upanishads. This marked the beginning of the Sharmanical movement in the India where knowledge(jñāna) replaced sacrifice as the means to the highest goal[2].
New goals, new practices, new sects and even new religions emerged during the Sharmanical period. In order not to confuse you, this essay will base only on Katha Upanishad, one of the best written and consistent Upanishads to see how a new path, namely jñāna mārga, was developed under this Upanishad.
First, let’s see the new interpretation of the cosmology in the Katha Upanishad (Katha).
The formation of the world
The Rig Veda (RV) suggested many different possibilities for how the world is formed.[3] The one suggested by the Katha Upanishad is probably developed from one of them. It is suggested that Viśvakarman (means the ‘All-maker’) established all things[4]. In RV 10. 120. I, 2, the Creation Hymn, ‘There was then neither being nor non-being…Without breath breathed by its own power That One.[5]’ These are
Essay: The Central Message of the Upanishad
Lee Gordon (SID: 1155003686)
____________________________________________________________
_________
Introduction
“The king of Ayodhya is childless, but makes a sacrifice from which are born three sons, each to a different wife.”[1]
The above is an excerpt from one of Hinduism oldest epic stories called the Ramayana. It illustrates how the ancient Indian people fulfill or satisfy their desires by the practice of rituals. Yet, as many traditions went in the past, after a long time of development, the practice of rituals was formalized and people started to question its significance. People started to search for the way to transcend worldly matters and recover the real cosmological truth. New practices emerged in response to the trend. New discoveries and practices were passed from time to time, and eventually this led to the compilation of different thoughts following the Vedic traditions into the Upanishads. This marked the beginning of the Sharmanical movement in the India where knowledge(jñāna) replaced sacrifice as the means to the highest goal[2].
New goals, new practices, new sects and even new religions emerged during the Sharmanical period. In order not to confuse you, this essay will base only on Katha Upanishad, one of the best written and consistent Upanishads to see how a new path, namely jñāna mārga, was developed under this Upanishad.
First, let’s see the new interpretation of the cosmology in the Katha Upanishad (Katha).
The formation of the world
The Rig Veda (RV) suggested many different possibilities for how the world is formed.[3] The one suggested by the Katha Upanishad is probably developed from one of them. It is suggested that Viśvakarman (means the ‘All-maker’) established all things[4]. In RV 10. 120. I, 2, the Creation Hymn, ‘There was then neither being nor non-being…Without breath breathed by its own power That One.[5]’ These are