Five Upanisads

The Upani?ads are an integral part of Vedas, they represent a branch of the primordial Tradition and constitute the essence of Ved?nta itself. The expression Ved?nta (end of the Vedas) should be understood in the double meaning of 'conclusion', as the Upani?ads are the last part of the Vedic texts, and of 'purpose', because what is being taught is the ultimate goal of Traditional Knowledge. The central theme of the Upani?ads is the quest for the Ultimate Reality, they therefore represent Metaphysics in its real sense. This type of research is not an end to itself, for the Upani?ads represent ways of contact and tools of realization. To this end they indicate a concise and complete sequence that concedes little or nothing to the analytical mind.[Five are the Upani?ads presented in this text.] The ??a is one of the oldest Upani?ads. Its simple and masterful language has not failed to arouse commentaries, exegesis and doctrinal ideas. In it ?a?kara, the codifier of the Advaita Ved?nta, found the concise formulation of his teaching. The Kaivalya teaches how by means of intuitive discernment (viveka) and detachment (vair?gya) one attains the state of "Isolation" (kaivalya) or "total Abstraction" from the world of becoming (sa?s?ra). The Sarvas?ra reflects the fundamental theme of the older Upani?ads. The most ardent philosophical questions that the human mind can formulate are entertained here. The Sarvas?ra is often cited for its importance. The Am?tabindu contains a purely metaphysical and resolving teaching that allows the being or j?va to recognize its deepest and true nature and to realize the identity with the Absolute or nirgu?a Brahman. The Atharva?ira, which is of monistic leaning and therefore Shaiva, contains a dialogue propounding a teaching that presents some very precise sequences for the realizational opus. The five Upani?ads presented in this text - ??a, Kaivalya, Sarvas?ra, Am?tabindu, and Atharva?ira - are commented extensively by Raphael. In his commentary, Raphael frames and broadens all the various points in the context of the traditional Advaita (Non-duality) teaching, and thus provides the western mind with the key to the comprehension of their symbolic, figurative, and analogical language.