7.1.2 Upanishads, Upavedas, Vedangas and the 14 vidyas

Explained

What the Upanishads teach. They turn away from outer rites and sacrifices and hold that moksha comes through inner knowledge, meditation and self-enquiry (atma-vichara). Their theme is Brahman (Paramatma), Atman (jivatma) and the relation between the two. Because Adi Shankaracharya wrote bhashyas on the ten principal ones, they gained lasting authority. The Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and Badarayana's Brahma Sutras form the Prasthana Traya, the three sources every Vedanta acharya comments on (Shankara, Ramanuja, Madhva).

The ten Upanishads, one story or idea each.

• Isha (Isavasya): 18 verses; opens "all this is pervaded by the Lord", so "enjoy by renouncing; do not covet anyone's wealth" (tena tyaktena bhunjithah); teaches doing one's work without attachment. First in the Muktika list.
• Kena: named from its first word, "by whom?" are the mind, breath, speech, eye and ear moved. The gods, proud of a victory, fail to know a Yaksha; Uma Haimavati tells Indra it was Brahman. It is part of the Talavakara (Jaiminiya) Brahmana of the Samaveda, so it is also called the Talavakara Upanishad.
• Katha (Kathopanishad): Vajashravasa (Uddalaka Aruni, called Auddalaki) performs the Vishvajit yagna, giving away all he owns. His son Nachiketa is "given to Death", waits three nights unfed at Yama's door and gets three boons: his father's peace of mind, knowledge of the fire sacrifice (named Nachiketa agni after him), and the secret of what lies after death. Image of the chariot: the Self is the master, the body the chariot, the intellect the charioteer, the mind the reins, the senses the horses.
• Prashna: six seekers (including Sukesha and Kabandhi Katyayana) come to sage Pippalada, who makes them live one year with him in austerity before they ask their six questions on prana, Om and the self.
• Mundaka: Angiras teaches Shaunaka the higher (para) and lower (apara) vidya; the lower includes the four Vedas and the six Vedangas. Image of two birds on one tree (3.1.1): one eats the fruit, the other only watches. India's motto Satyameva jayate comes from it.
• Mandukya: the shortest (12 verses). Om (A-U-M) and the four states: waking (jagrat), dream (svapna), deep sleep (sushupti) and the fourth (turiya). Gaudapada, Shankara's grand-guru, wrote the Karika on it.
• Taittiriya: part of the Taittiriya Aranyaka; three vallis: Shiksha, Brahmananda (Ananda) and Bhrigu. In the Shiksha Valli the teacher gives pupils finishing their study the parting advice Satyam vada, dharmam chara and Matru devo bhava, Pitru devo bhava, Acharya devo bhava, Atithi devo bhava. The five koshas (annamaya, pranamaya, manomaya, vijnanamaya, anandamaya). Bhrigu learns from his father Varuna that Brahman is bliss.
• Aitareya: the Self alone existed and created the worlds and man; ends with Prajnanam Brahma.
• Chandogya: Uddalaka Aruni teaches his son Shvetaketu Tat Tvam Asi (chapter 6, nine times, with the salt-in-water and the banyan-seed examples). Also the Udgitha (Om in the saman); Satyakama Jabala, accepted as a pupil by sage Gautama because he told the truth about not knowing his father; and Narada learning from Sanatkumara.
• Brihadaranyaka: the largest; the closing part of the Shatapatha Brahmana, so it is both an Aranyaka and an Upanishad. Yajnavalkya in Janaka's court, his dialogues with Gargi and his wife Maitreyi, neti neti, and the prayer Asato ma sad gamaya.
• Two more often added: Shvetashvatara (Krishna Yajur, devoted to Rudra-Shiva) and Kaushitaki (Rig).
• Veda count among the ten: Atharva 3 (Prashna, Mundaka, Mandukya), Krishna Yajur 2 (Katha, Taittiriya), Shukla Yajur 2 (Isha, Brihadaranyaka), Sama 2 (Kena, Chandogya), Rig 1 (Aitareya).

Upavedas: Vedic knowledge put to practical use. The Upavedas apply the Veda to worldly life (health, war, music, building); the Vedangas are tools to preserve, pronounce and use the Veda itself.

• Ayurveda ("science of life"): two aims, prevention (svasthasya svasthya-rakshanam, keeping the healthy healthy) and cure (vyadhi-parimoksha, freeing the sick from disease). Dhanvantari, who rose from the churning of the ocean with the pot of amrita and is counted an avatar of Vishnu, is its originator. Punarvasu Atreya taught Agnivesha, whose treatise Charaka revised into the Charaka Samhita; Kashyapa is another early sage.
• Brihat-trayi and their fields:

• The later Laghu-trayi ("lesser three"): Madhava Nidana (diagnosis), Sharngadhara Samhita and Bhavaprakasha.
• Ashtanga Ayurveda (8 branches): kaya (general medicine), bala (children), graha (mental illness), urdhvanga or shalakya (eye, ear, nose, throat), shalya (surgery), damshtra or agada (poisons and antidotes), jara or rasayana (rejuvenation, longevity), vrisha or vajikarana (virility).
• Dhanurveda is the whole science of war, not only archery: civil and military defence, battle formations and statecraft. Vedic texts already name weapons such as Ashti, Vajri and Shataghni. The old texts are lost; known later works are Dhanurvidhi, Drona Vidya, Kodanda Mandana and Dhanurveda Samhita.
• Gandharvaveda (music, poetry, dance) grew from the Samaveda, because Samaveda mantras are sung. The Yamalashtaka Tantra speaks of a Gandharvaveda of 36,000 shlokas, now lost; today it is studied as part of the 64 arts. It is the root of Bharata's Natyashastra, itself called the Natyaveda.
• Sthapatya (Shilpa) Veda: architecture and sculpture; it plans temples, aramas (rest houses, gardens) and tatakas (tanks, reservoirs). Founded by Vishwakarma; today known as Vastu. Classic texts: Mayamata, Manasara.

Vedangas: the six limbs. They arose to preserve the Vedic text, pronounce it correctly and use it properly in the yagna. The Paniniya Shiksha pictures the Veda as a person (Veda Purusha):

• Shiksha holds the first place in preserving the Veda: a mantra's power depends on pronouncing it with the right svara and without a slip. The Paniniya Shiksha is a Shiksha work even though Panini is best known for grammar.
• Jyotisha fixes the muhurta; a rite at the wrong time is held to be fruitless.
• Pratishakhyas, one per Shakha: Rik Pratishakhya (attributed to Shaunaka), Vajasaneyi Pratishakhya (Katyayana), Taittiriya Pratishakhya, Atharva Pratishakhya. They belong to the Shiksha discipline.
• *Vyakarana's three sages (Trimuni):* Panini (Ashtadhyayi), Katyayana (Vartikas), Patanjali (Mahabhashya).

Sutra literature. Sutras put long rules into very brief prose so they could be learnt by heart and taught orally. The Kalpa sutras were the most used:

• Baudhayana's Sulba Sutra is the oldest; it states the rule now called the Pythagorean theorem. Apastamba, Katyayana and Manava Sulba sutras came later.

Smritis and the 14 vidyas.

• Smritis are man-made codes based on the Veda, ranking next after Shruti. Because their aim is to set out dharma (duties and prohibitions), they are also called Dharmashastras; Manusmriti is the best known.
• 14 vidyas (Chaturdasha vidya): 4 Vedas + 6 Vedangas + Purana, Nyaya, Mimamsa, Dharmashastra. With the four Upavedas they become the 18 vidyas (Ashtadasha vidya), as the Vishnu Purana lists them. Ayurveda is an Upaveda, so it is in the 18, not the 14.
• Mimamsa Sutras are by Jaimini: they interpret the Vedic injunctions on ritual action (Karma kanda). Nyaya Sutras are by Gautama.