Upanishads

The concluding teachings of the Vedas — the mystical-philosophical source of Vedanta.

Overview

The Upanishads form the concluding section of the Vedas — the end of the Vedas, which is what Vedanta means. They are the highest teachings of the Vedic corpus: mystical, poetical, profound, and notoriously dense.

Role in Vedanta. Swami cites the classical definition Vedanta nama upanishad pramanam — Vedanta is the teaching of the Upanishads. In the prasthanatraya (triple canon of Vedanta), the Upanishads are the shruti prasthana: the revealed root (see shruti).

Relation to the Gita. The Gita is described as the essence of the Upanishads. A traditional verse of praise calls the Upanishads cows, Krishna the milkman, Arjuna the thirsty calf, and the Gita the milk of the cows. To study the Gita is to drink the essence of the Upanishads. When Krishna teaches from 2.11 onward, he is teaching Upanishadic content — often almost quoting.

Texts cited in Ep 2–5.

• Satyam jnanam anantam brahma — the Taittiriya Upanishad‘s three-doorway definition of brahman; skeleton of sat-chit-ananda. Surfaces in Swami’s commentary on 02-11-12.
• Om shanti shanti shanti — the threefold peace invocation closing many Upanishads, addressed against dukkha-traya.
• The Mandukya Upanishad — source of Gaudapada‘s mandukya-karika, whose deva esha svabhava ayam closes the “why maya?” question in Ep 5.

Related entities and concepts

• One of the prasthanatraya
• Alongside bhagavad-gita and brahma-sutras as root texts of vedanta, advaita-vedanta
• Classification: shruti
• Belong to the broader corpus of the vedas
• Named Upanishads in the vault: taittiriya-upanishad
• Commentary tradition: shankaracharya, gaudapada

Lecture evidence

• Ep. 1 [22:41]: Vedanta nama upanishad pramanam — Vedanta is the teachings of the Upanishads.
• Ep. 1 [23:04]: Upanishads are Vedanta — the end/highest teachings of the Vedas.
• Ep. 1 [24:32]: Upanishads the cow, Krishna the milkman, Arjuna the thirsty calf, Gita the milk.
• Ep. 3 [~48:00]: Satyam jnanam anantam brahma — Taittiriya’s definition, unpacked as sat-chit-ananda.
• Ep. 5 [75:57]: Gaudapada’s Mandukya Karika — deva esha svabhava ayam.