Encyclopaedia of Upanishads and Their Philosophy

In the long history of man’s endeavor to grasp the fundamental truths of being, the metaphysical treatises known as the Upanisads hold an honoured place. They represent the earnest efforts of the profound thinkers of early India to solve the problems of the origin, the nature, and the destiny of man and of the universe, or more technically the meaning and value of ‘knowing’ and ‘being’. They are replete with sublime conceptions and with intuitions of universal truth. Here are found intimations of the inadequacy of mere nature-worship and of the falsity of ritualistic ceremonialism. Here are expressed the momentous discoveries that the various gods of polytheistic belief are but numerous special manifestations of the One Power of the universe, and that the supreme object of worship is this variously revealed, partially elusive, all-comprehending Reality. Here in the Upanisads are set forth, in concrete example as well as in dogmatic instruction, two opposing theories of life: an ignorant, narrow, selfish way of life which seeks temporary, unsatisfying, unreal ends; and a way of life which seeks to relate itself to the Supreme Reality of the universe, so as to escape from the needless misery of ordinary existence into undying bliss. The Upanisads attract as many devoted readers as they have for the past twenty-five centuries. The Upanisads appeal to the student of the history of philosophy who desires to know some of the earliest answers reached in India for the ever insistent problems of man and the universe and for the ideals of the higher existence; the special student of India who strives to understand the essence as well as the externals of its culture and traditions; the religious teacher and worker in East and West who seeks to apprehend the aspirations and spiritual ideals of the Hindu soul; the educated Hindu who feels a special affection for, and interest in, the sacred writings of his land; and the deep thinker who searches in arcane texts for clues to the solution of life’s mysteries all of these students will turn constantly to the Upanisads as an authoritative compendium of Indian meta-physical teachings. This pioneering reference work wishes to present a rendering of the fundamental philosophy and truths the Upanisads talk of. With contributions from some of the foremost scholars in the field of Indology and philosophical contemplation, the set should be a welcome addition to any collection on Indian studies.