Jump to content

Yogashikha Upanishad

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Ms Sarah Welch (talk | contribs) at 00:07, 18 January 2016 (add source). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Yogashikha
Yoga is the highest of knowledge states the text[1]
Devanagariयोगशिखा
IASTYogaśikhā
Title meansPeak of Yogic meditation[1]
TypeYoga[2]
Linked VedaKrishna Yajurveda or Atharvaveda
Chaptersvaries by manuscript (1 to 6)
Versesvaries by manuscript (~10 to 390)
PhilosophyYoga, Vedanta

The Yogashikha Upanishad (Sanskrit: योगशिखा उपनिषत्, IAST: Yogaśikhā Upaniṣad) is a Sanskrit text and one of the minor Upanishads of Hinduism.[3] It is a one of twenty Yoga Upanishads in the four Vedas.[4]

Two versions of the Yogashikha Upanishad exist, one short that is attached to the Atharvaveda in some anthologies,[5] and a long version which is often found attached to the Krishna Yajurveda in Telugu language anthologies.[6][7] The long version consists of six chapters,[8] and is about forty times longer than the short version.[1] The short version appears interspersed within the first chapter of the long version.[1]

The text is composed in poetic prose style.[9] The Telugu language anthology edition of Yogashikha Upainishad is notable for its discussion of Jnana-Yoga (path of knowledge).[10] The chapter 1, the longest, includes a discussion of the role of yoga in achieving moksha while living (Jivanmukta), and contrasts it to Videhamukti (liberation in afterlife).[11] The text asserts Om to be Mula-Mantra (root mantra), and describes it to be part masculine Shiva and part feminine Shakti.[12]

Chapters 1 and 5 of the text discuss six kinds of Yoga, Kundalini and five fires within a human body.[13][14] The Upanishad calls one's Guru (teacher) as the one who is a spiritual guide and one worthy of devotion, praising the Guru as Brahman, Vishnu, Achyuta, identical to one's Atman (soul), declaring that there is no one greater in the universe than one's Guru.[15] The verse 2.22 states that those who have faith in Ishvara and Guru will become great. The variation in the manuscripts suggest corruption of the text over time, states Deussen, such as the abrupt, non-metric addition of "reciting this text thrice a day leads to liberation" in verse 8 of the short version.[16]

Atman, Brahman

There is no god higher than one's own Atman (soul), there is no worship higher than its investigation, there is no happiness higher than inner satisfaction. – Verses 2.20-2.21

The immediate cause of the phenomenal world is no other than the Brahman. Hence this phenomenal world in its entirety is the Brahman alone and nothing else. – Verses 4.3-4.4

—Yogashikha Upanishad [17][18]

The Yogashikha is an ancient text, states Mircea Eliade, who suggests a relative chronology. He dates it to the same period when the following Hindu texts were composed – Maitri Upanishad, the didactic parts of the Mahabharata, the chief Sannyasa Upanishads and along with other early Yoga Upanishads such as Brahmabindu, Brahmavidya, Tejobindu, Yogatattva, Nadabindu, Kshurika, Dhyanabindu and Amritabindu.[19] These texts along with the Yogashikha Upanishad, adds Eliade, were composed earlier than the ten or eleven later yogic Upanishads such as the Yoga-kundali, Varaha and Pashupatabrahma Upanishads.[19] Gavin Flood dates this text, along with other Yoga Upanishads, to be probably from the 100 BCE to 300 CE period.[20]

Georg Feuerstein calls the Yogashikha Upanishad as the "most comprehensive of the Yoga Upanishads".[21] The ideas found in Yogashikha are shared in many Hatha Yoga texts such as those by Gorakhnath.[22]

The text is also called as Yoga-sikhopanisad (योगशिखोपनिषत्).[23] It is listed at number 63 in the serial order of the Muktika enumerated by Rama to Hanuman in the modern era anthology of 108 Upanishads.[24]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Deussen 1997, p. 709.
  2. ^ Deussen 1997, p. 567.
  3. ^ Deussen 1997, pp. 557, 709.
  4. ^ Ayyangar 1938, p. vii.
  5. ^ Deussen 1997, pp. 567–568.
  6. ^ Ayyangar 1938, pp. 326–396.
  7. ^ Prasoon 2008, p. 82.
  8. ^ Ayyangar 1938, pp. 326–396, There are 178 verses in chapter 1 of the text, 22 in second, 25 verses in third, the fourth has 24, the fifth contains 62 while the sixth chapter has 79 verses..
  9. ^ Deussen 2010, p. 26.
  10. ^ Ayyangar 1938, pp. 326–327.
  11. ^ Ayyangar 1938, pp. 354–358.
  12. ^ Ellen Goldberg (2002), The Lord Who Is Half Woman: Ardhanarisvara in Indian and Feminist Perspective, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0791453254, pages 86-87
  13. ^ Ayyangar 1938, pp. 375–380.
  14. ^ Guy Beck (1995), Sonic Theology: Hinduism and Sacred Sound, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120812611, page 94-95
  15. ^ Ayyangar 1938, p. 382.
  16. ^ Deussen 1997, pp. 709–711.
  17. ^ Ayyangar 1938, pp. 365, 371.
  18. ^ Hattangadi 2000, p. verses 2.20-2.21, 4.3-4.4.
  19. ^ a b Mircea Eliade (1970), Yoga: Immortality and Freedom, Princeton University Press, ISBN 0-691017646, pages 128-129
  20. ^ Flood 1996, p. 96.
  21. ^ Georg Feuerstein (1989), Yoga: The Technology of Ecstasy, Sambhala, ISBN 978-0874775259, page 247
  22. ^ Akshaya Banerjea (2014), Philosophy of Gorakhnath with Goraksha-Vacana-Sangraha, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120805347, pages 184-185
  23. ^ Ayyangar 1938, p. 22.
  24. ^ Deussen 1997, pp. 556–557.

Bibliography

  • Aiyar, Narayanasvami (1914). "Thirty minor Upanishads". Archive Organization. Retrieved 16 January 2016. {{cite web}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Ayyangar, TR Srinivasa (1938). The Yoga Upanishads. The Adyar Library. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Deussen, Paul (1 January 1997). Sixty Upanishads of the Veda. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. ISBN 978-81-208-1467-7. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Deussen, Paul (2010). The Philosophy of the Upanishads. Oxford University Press (Reprinted by Cosimo). ISBN 978-1-61640-239-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Flood, Gavin D. (1996), An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0521438780 {{citation}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Hattangadi, Sunder (2000). "ब्रह्मविद्योपनिषत् (Brahmavidya Upanishad)" (PDF) (in Sanskrit). Retrieved 12 January 2016. {{cite web}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Larson, Gerald James; Bhattacharya, Ram Shankar (2008). Yoga : India's Philosophy of Meditation. Motilal Banarsidass Publishe. ISBN 978-81-208-3349-4. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Prasoon, Prof.S.K. (2008). Indian Scriptures. Pustak Mahal. ISBN 978-81-223-1007-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Yogashikha_Upanishad&oldid=700350486"