{"id":3190,"date":"2013-07-13T01:46:34","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:46:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=3190"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:46:34","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:46:34","slug":"09-the-upanishads-vol-writings-in-bengali-translation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/02-other-editions\/writings-in-bengali-translation\/09-the-upanishads-vol-writings-in-bengali-translation","title":{"rendered":"-09_The Upanishads.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nIV. THE UPANISHADS<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

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\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

\nThe Upanishads<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nOur dharma is like a giant tree adorned with innumerable
\nbranches and twigs. Its roots plunge down into the deepest
\nknowledge; its branches spread out far into the field of
\naction. Like the Ashwattha tree mentioned in the Gita,
\nwhich has its roots above and its branches below, this
\ndharma is based on knowledge and exhorts one to action.
\nFreedom from attachment is the foundation of this vast tree-
\nmansion, dynamism is its walls and roof, and liberation its
\ntower and summit. The whole life of humanity is sheltered by
\nthis immense tree-mansion of the Hindu dharma. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nEvery one says that the Veda is the basis of the Hindu
\ndharma, but very few know the real form and the fundamental truth of that basis. Often, seated among the topmost
\nbranches, we remain lost in ecstasy over the taste of one or
\nmore of the savoury and transient fruits, never caring to find
\nout anything about the roots. True, we have heard that the
\nVeda is divided into two sections: the one part dealing with
\naction and the other dealing with .knowledge. We may have
\nread the commentaries on the Rigveda by Max Muller or its
\nBengali translation by Romesh Dutt but we have no acquaintance with the Rigveda itself. We have received the knowledge from Max Muller and Romesh Dutt that the Rishis of
\nthe Rigveda worshipped external objects and beings; the
\nincantations and hymns to the Sun, the Moon, the Winds and
\nthe Fire constituted the ancient Hindu dharma’s eternal
\nfundamental knowledge above the human. By assuming
\ntheir view to be true and thus belittling the Veda, the Rishis
\nand the Hindu dharma, we consider ourselves highly learned
\nand ‘enlightened,’. We make no effort to find out what is <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-57<\/font><\/p>\n

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\ntruly there in the authentic Veda or why the sages and great
\nsouls like Shankaracharya and others revered these eternal
\ninvocations and hymns as the complete and infallible Knowledge. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nFew people are acquainted with even the Upanishads.
\nWhen we speak of the Upanishads, we are reminded of the
\nMonism of Shankaracharya, the Qualified Dualism of
\nRamanuja, the Dualism of Madhwa and similar philosophical expositions. We do not even dream of studying the
\nUpanishads in the original, or finding out their true significance, or asking ourselves how six schools of contradictory
\nphilosophies could have grown from the same root, or
\nwhether any hidden meaning surpassing those six philosophies could be obtained from this treasure-house of knowledge. For a thousand years we have accepted the meaning
\ngiven by Shankara; the commentary of Shankara has become
\nbur Veda, our Upanishad. Why should we take the trouble
\nof studying the Upanishads in the original? Even when we
\ndo so, if ever we come across any commentary which
\ncontradicts Shankara, we immediately reject it as false. Yet
\nnot only the knowledge gained by Shankara but the spiritual
\nknowledge or truth which has been acquired in the past or
\nwill be in the present and the future has been concealed in
\nthese profound and significant ślokas by the Aryan Rishis
\nand the great Yogis. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nWhat are the Upanishads ? They are the treasure-house of
\nthe deepest eternal Knowledge without beginning or end
\nwhich is the root and foundation of the eternal dharma. We
\nfind the same knowledge in the Suktas of the four Vedas but
\ncovered over with metaphors which give an exoteric meaning
\nto the hymns like that of the descriptive image of the ideal
\nman. The Upanishads unveil for us the supreme Knowledge,
\nthe naked limbs of the real man. The poets of the Rigveda,
\nthe Rishis, expressed spiritual knowledge in divinely inspired <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-58<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nwords and rhythms; the Rishis of the Upanishads had direct
\nvision of the true form of that Knowledge and expressed it in
\na few profound words. Not only Monism, but all the
\nphilosophical thoughts and doctrines that have come into
\nbeing in Europe and Asia\u2014Rationalism, Realism, Nihilism,
\nthe Darwinian theory of evolution, the Positivism of Comte,
\nthe philosophy of Hegel, Kant, Spinoza and Schopenhauer,
\nUtilitarianism, Hedonism, all were seen and expressed by
\nthe Rishis endowed with the direct vision. But what has been
\nelsewhere partially glimpsed, proclaimed as the integral
\ntruth\u2014in spite of its being only a fragment of the Truth\u2014
\nand given a distorted description with a mixture of truth and falsehood, has
\nbeen recorded in its fullness and right perspective, in a pure and unmistakable manner. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nTherefore we should endeavour to find the true deep
\nmeaning of the Upanishads without being bound by the
\nexposition of Shankara or anyone else. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe word ‘Upanishad’ means to enter into a secret place.
\nThe Rishis did not obtain the knowledge mentioned in the
\nUpanishads by force of argument, extensive learning or from
\nthe flow of inspiration, but earned by Yoga the right of entry
\ninto the secrecy of the mind where hangs the key to the
\nintegral Knowledge, penetrated into the hidden chamber,
\ntook down the key and became sovereigns of vast realms of
\nthat infallible Knowledge. Unless the key can be secured, it
\nis not possible to have access to the true significance of the
\nUpanishads. Any attempt to discover the meaning of the
\nUpanishads by argument alone is equivalent to investigating
\na dense forest with a lighted candle from high tree-tops.
\nDirect vision is the sun-light which illumines the entire forest
\nmaking it visible to the seeker. Direct vision can be attained
\nonly by Yoga. <\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage-59<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

IV. THE UPANISHADS The Upanishads   Our dharma is like a giant tree adorned with innumerable branches and twigs. Its roots plunge down into the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writings-in-bengali-translation","wpcat-64-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3190\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}