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The Problem in Understanding the Upanishads - 2. Swami Krishnananda

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26/08/2018 2. Ten Upanishads are the foundation. These ten are: the Isavasya Upanishad, the Kena Upanishad, the Katha Upanishad, the Prasna Upanishad, the Mundaka Upanishad, the Mandukya Upanishad, the Taittiriya Upanishad, the Aitareya Upanishad, the Chhandogya Upanishad and the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. This is the usual sequence in which these ten important Upanishads are traditionally recounted, but modern scholars have a different sequence. They consider the oldest as the best and the later ones as less important. Western scholars, especially, have introduced this new system of placing the Upanishads in a novel order, or sequence, considering the prose Upanishads as older and the versified ones as later. The thoughts of these so-called older ones are supposed to be more foundational and determinative than the later ones. Whatever it be, this aspect of the matter is not important for us. What is of consequence is that all the ten Upanishads are very important for some reason

The Problem in Understanding the Upanishads - 1. Swami Krishnananda

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03/08/2018 1. We were touching upon the subject of the Upanishads. I made reference to the Veda Samhitas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas and the Upanishads being the section-wise classification of the Vedic lore. There are supposed to be more than 1,000 editions or versions of the Vedas, with slight differences of words or letters in varying cases. If there are more than 1,000 such versions – we are told in this context that each version has its own Upanishad, so theoretically at least, traditionally, the information that has come to us is that there are more than 1,000 Upanishads – we do not find them; they are not extistent. What is available to us is only a group of about 108 Upanishads, or two or three more. 108 Upanishads are prominent and very well known. One of the Upanishads, which is known as the Muktikopanishad, gives a section-wise list of these 108 Upanishads; but ten of them are the most important. The philosophically important Upanishads are ten out of the 108

UPANISHAD MANDUKYA : Chapter-1. Agama Prakarana ( The Scriptural Treatise ) Sri Gaudapada's glossary begins : Karika Slokam-s 1 to 9. Slokam-2. Discussion-2.

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03/08/2018 Mandukya Upanishad : Chapter-1. Agama Prakarana ( The Scriptural Treatise ) Sri Gaudapada's glossary begins : Karika Slokam-s 1 to 9. Slokam-2. "Daksinaksjasahi-mukhe visvo manasy-antastu taijasah, akase ca hrdi prajnas-tridha dehe vyavasthitah." daksina aksi mukke - ( is in the  ) right eye; visvah - visva; antah manasi - ( is ) within the mind; tu - whereas; taijasah - taijasa; akase hrdi - ( is in the ) space within the heart; ca prajnah - and prajna; tridha - in three different ways; dehe - in the body; vyvasthitah - ( is ) placed. "Visva works from the right eye, Taijasa from the mind, and Prajna from the heart-space. Thus, the one Self is conceived as working from the three headquarters as three distinct entities." Discussion-2. * Fulfilling his functions as a glosser, Goudapada is giving us an additional detail about the fields of activity of the individual egos, in the three planes of Consciousness for purpose