Excerpt from The Upanishads, Vol. 2: The Katha-Upanishad; The Mundaka-Upanishad; The Taittiriyaka-Upanishad; The Brihadaranyaka-Upanishad; The Svetasvatara-Upanishad; The Prasna-Upanishad; The Maitrayana-Brahmana-Upanishad These eleven have sometimes 2 been called the old and genuine Upanishads, though I should be satisfied to call them the eleven classical Upanishads, or the fundamental Upanishads Of the Vedanta philosophy. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Katha Kathopanishad comes from the Yajurveda. It is the story of Nachiketas, son of Vajashravas, discussing the important question of Death and immortality with Yama the Lord of Death. This ancient story, mentioned in various other scriptures, is discussed in the Kathopanishad in detail. Kathopanishad is one of the ten principal Upanishads. Prashna As the name indicates, it is an Upanishad that questions everything including the concept of the Guru and Disciple. A great rishi proclaims to his students that if they abide with him for sometime, at the end of that period he would teach them the Truth if he himself has understood it. Adi Shankara has written an excellent commentary on Prashna which is again one of the principal Upanishads. Mundaka The Mundaka Upanishad too is one of the principal Upanishads and derives its name from the shaven head of the renunciant. Therefore the central theme of the Upanishad is the Brahman, the Supreme Truth and the only Reality, and how to understand it. Paraa vidya or the science of Reality is discussed in contrast to Aparaa vidya, knowledge of this illusory, material world. The path to the Truth is described to be akin to walking on the razor's edge.

This is one of the "Upanishads", or the philosophical parts of the "Vedas",he central sacred texts of Hinduism. It addresses a problem of interest toll: what happens after the death of the body. The story tells how Nachiketaeets Yama, the lord of Death. During their discussion, Yama explains thathere are two paths in life. By rejecting the path of the outside world, andhoosing "the path that leads inward", it is possible to achieve immortalityhrough a merging with the Universal Self.;This translation brings out thepiritual message of the "Katha Upanishad". Swami Ambikananda Saraswati seekso weave the poetry of the Sanskrit with her interpretation to convey thishousand-year-old wisdom. The text is illustrated with Indian miniatures fromhe Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Excerpt from The Upanishads, Vol. 2 This second volume completes the translation of the principal Upanishads to which Sahkara appeals in his great commentary on the Vedanta-Sutras, viz,: 1. Khândogya-upanishad, 2. Talavakâra or Kena-upanishad, 3. Aitareya-upanishad, 4. Kaushitaki-upanishad, 5. Vagasaneyi or Isa-upanishad, 6. Katha-upanishad, 7. Mundaka-upanishad, 8. Taittiriyaka-upanishad, 9. Brihadaranyaka-upanishad, 10. Svetasvatara-upanishad, 11. Praña-upanishad. These eleven have sometimes been called the old and genuine Upanishads, though I should be satisfied to call them the eleven classical Upanishads, or the fundamental Upanishads of the Vedanta philosophy. Vidyarañya, in his 'Elucidation of the meaning of all the Upanishads,' Sarvopanishadarthanubhuti-prakaisa, confines himself likewise to those treatises, dropping, however, the Îsâ, and adding the Maitrayana-upanishad, of which I have given a translation in this volume, and the Nrisimhottara-tapanîya-upanishad, the translation of which had to be reserved for the next volume. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.