THE CONTRIBUTION OF ANDHRA TO
ISAVASYA UPANISHAD
(A brief study)
Dr. Chilakamartthi Durga Prasada Rao
There are three Prasthanams - Upanishatprasthanam,
Sutraprasthanam and Gitaprasthanam. Of the three,
Upanishatprasthanam is not only the first to evolve but also enjoys the highest
philosophical status as it happens to be the essence of the Vedas.
The first part of the Vedas, the
Brahmanas, asserts the importance of Karma while the second part, the
Upanishads, stresses the need for Jnana for the purpose of emancipation. Also,
the realization of Atman becomes possible through listening to the Upanishads,
argumentation and contemplation.
आत्मा वा Sरे द्रष्टव्य: श्रोतव्यो मन्तव्यो निदिध्यासितव्य:
( बृहदारण्यक उपनिषद् २/४/५)
The word Upanishad is derived form the
root 'shad' and the two prefixes 'Upa' and 'Ni' which together mean the Guru's
proximity.
It is a curious fact that 'Upanishad' is
also derived from the root 'shad' meaning gati, the movement, as it leads the listener
to the highest goal which is realization of Almighty. उपनिषीदति
ब्रह्मविज्ञानम् अनया इत्युपनिषद् There is still another meaning for the same root 'shad' -
destruction - destruction of the innate ignorance of man and leading him to
enlightenment and the Upanishadic alvation.
उपनिषीदति गर्भजन्मजरामरणादिकं शिथिलीकरोतीत्युपनिषद्
Contrary to popular thinking that the
study of the Vedanta is unnecessary as it deals with metaphysical matters which
are of no day-to-day use, and that the Upanishadic teachings are highly
esoteric and they are beyond the pale of the common man, Upanishads are not for
the work-a-day world but they formulate a firm ground for the evolution of
humanity into divinity.
Upanishads are also intended to convey
high morals and supreme self-restraint for the purpose of achieving the highest
human goal, i.e., self-realization. In our tradition, that exercise which
ordains man to do good and to be kind is consiered to be the real sastra. The
Upanishads are the very reflection of the human mind - elevated ethically,
morally, socially and spiritually. In short, they embody practical wisdom. It
is said that man, if he assimilates the Upanishads and puts them into practice
faithfully, becomes almost a divine being.
Though there are over a hundred
Upanishads, only ten are considered highly significant as only these ten were
exhaustively discussed by Sankara who drew upon the Upan6ishads including Kaushitaki and Swetaswatara.
Scholars differ on the chronology of the
Upanishads and hence, without going into the controversies, the traditional
order is followed here. The usual order is Isa,
Kena, Katha, Prasna, Mundaka, Mandukya, Taittiriya, Aitareya, Chandogya and Brihadaranyaka.
ईश-केन-कठ-प्रश्न-मुण्ड-माण्डुक्य-तित्तिरि:
ऐतरेयं
च छान्दोग्यं बृहदारण्यकं दश In doing so, specific reference to Andhras'
contribution to Advaita Vedanta is attempted in what follows.
ISAVASYA UPANISHAD :
This Upanishad, belonging to the Yajurveda, has 18 verses and has the distinction
of being the oldest. In this Upanishad, we find a wonderful synthesis of Karma
and Jnana leading to emancipation. However, Sankara differed from this idea.
According to him, the different parts of the verses are for different
personalities - some for seekers of Atmajnana, while the rest are for the
others. As for Karma and Jnana, Sankara stresses that the two paths for
emancipation are mutually contradictory and hence cannot be practised
simultaneously. Karma is superficial and extensive, while Jnana is an in-depth
aid to Moksha.
While Sankara's idealistic thinking about
the Upanishad deserves reverence, it is not sacrilegious to look into what some
modern thinkers say about the Upanishad. For example, Mahatma Gandhi says
"I have now come to a final
conclusion that if all the other
scriptures happened all of a sudden to be reduced to ashes and if only the
first verse of the Upanishad were left intact in the memory of the Hindus,
Hinduism would be forever". The substance of the first verse of Isavasya is as follows - "All this world
consists of animate and inanimate and is encompassed by the Lord. Enjoyment
comes to you through renunciation of what you possess. Don't covet others'
riches".
The purport of this mantra is that all our
resources, whether physical or intellectual, are given by God and they are His
property. Therefore, we must enjoy whatever we have for our survival and leave
the rest for others' enjoyment. The idea of "live and let live" is
highlighted in this mantra. Isavasya further says that man should live for
his allotted span of life performing good deeds. This is the only way for man to
achieve detachment and extricate himself from the purely mundane attachments.
In addition to those ideas of Sankara,
there are inspiring commentaries on Sankara's ideas.
. Isavasya has five commentaries Deepika, Bhashya, Vivarana, Rahasya and Tika and the commentaries of them are also
named Chintamani, Deepika,
Viveka, Vivriti, and Vyakhya.
Let us now have a look at a few scholars
from Andhra who have remarkable works to their credit.
ANANDAGIRI (A.D.1260-1320) :
Anandagiri (also known as Janardana), who
became the head of the Dwaraka mutt after embracing sanyasa, wrote an
exhaustive commentary on Isavasyopanishad following in the lines of Sankara.
VIDYARANYA (A.D.1296-1386) :
Son of Mayana and Sumathi and the maternal
uncle of Lakshmidhara, author of Advitamakaranda, Vidyaranya wrote many famous works
such as Vivaranaprameyasangraha and Panchadasi. The original name of Vidyaranya
was Madhavacharya and, due to the acquisition of sanyasasrama, he came to be
known as Vidyaranya. He was the eighth head of Sringeri [ from A.D.1380-1386]
According to Guruvamsakavya of Kasi Lakshmana Sastry [court pundit
of Sri Satchidananda Bharati], a Brahmin, native of Orugallu [the present Warangal
SADASIVABRAHMENDRA YATI (A.D.1560-1750)
Sadasivabrahmendrayati was an eminent
Advaitin and a yogi of Andhradesa. He studied Vedanta under Ramabhadra Sastry
and gained profound knowledge in the Prasthanatraya and the six systems of
Indian philosophy. He wrote a very good commentary on Isavasya Upanishad.
UPANISHADBRAHMENDRA YOGI (A.D.1765-1850)
Upanishadbrahmendrayogi wrote commentaries
on as many as 108 Upanishads. His Isavasyavivaranam, a commentary on Isavasya, is on Sankara's lines, and gives a
comprehensive gist of Advaita philosophy.
ADVAITANANDA TIRTHA (A.D. 1700-1800)
Advaitanandatirtha, a disciple of
Sadanandatirtha and son of Madhavasuri and Mahalakshmi, was Kurunganti
Subrahmanya Sastry before his accepting the ascetic life. He wrote three works
among which Panchopanishattatparya
deepika is of a special genre
. He wrote commentaries on Isa,
Kena, Katha, Prasna and Mundaka Upanishads. This work was
published by Bramhavidya press,. and is also known as Advaitanandalahari.
BELLAMKONDA RAMARAYA KAVI (A.D. 1850-1915)
Among the post-Sankara Advatins,
Bellamkonda Ramarayakavi's contribution to Advaita Vedanta is most remarkable.
He was the son of Mohanaraya and Hanumayamma who were the residents of
Pamidipadu Agrahara near Narsaraopeta of Guntur district.
Ramarayakavi was also called Apara Sankara
by his contemporaries. He produced more than 100 works within his short life
time of 38 years. His works on Advaita Vedanta outnumbered those on other
branches which constitute an important contribution to Indian philosophy. He
wrote Vedantamukthavali in which he gave the essence of all
Upanishads in Sardula metre of composition. While commenting on the Upanishads
he followed the Advaita approach of Sankara. A sloka from the Isavasya written by Ramarayakavi is given here.
ईशावास्यमिदं समस्तभुवनं त्यक्त्वार्थगेहादिकं
ब्रह्मण्येन मुमुक्षुणाSनवरतं निष्ठा विधॆयाSSत्मनि |
अर्हत्वाय च तत्र कर्म विहितं कार्यं पुरा निष्फलं
विद्वानित्थमुपाचरन् हि भजते निर्लेप आत्माSश्वरम् ||
(This universe can be imagined as a
personification of the Almighty and hence it is His property. We have no
business to trespass this sacred empire. The minimum we should do to preserve
the sanctity is not to covet others' possessions. Further, we should carry out
the duties allotted to us by the Almighty without expecting any reward for it.
That, in essence, is the path to salvation.)
Having had a glance of original Sanskrit
works, let us now turn to the great works in Telugu.
Atmanandayogi, who lived in the last
quarter of the 19th century, translated Isavasya into Telugu. He brought out all
the Advaitic tenets contained in the Upanishads in lucid verses and songs and
simple language without attempting at their literal translation [which would
probably have marred the beauty of the original].
Pantula Lakshminarayana Sastry, translated Isavasya along as well as Kena, Katha and Prasna into beautiful Telugu verses. His
work is considered to be one of the outstanding works in Telugu on Advaita.
Charla Ganapathi sastry, who lived in the
20th century, has translated Isavasya and other three Upanishads, Kena, Katha and Prasna. He closely followed the original
text. His work is known as Upanishat
Sudha.
Pisupati Narayana Sastry (A.D.1900-1967)
has translated Isavasya along as also eleven other Upanishads
into Telugu. His work is called Andhradwadasopanishattulu.
V.Sundara Rama Sarma of the 20th century
wrote word-to-word meaning and paraphrase of Isavasya and two other Upanishads, Katha and Aitareya.
Nori Srinatha Venkata Somayajulu of the
20th century translated Isavasya and nine other Upanishads in chaste
Telugu in prose form. He also translated Swetaswatara and Kaivalya with explanatory notes strictly
following Advaita interpretation.
Kanuparthi Markandeya Sastry, who lived in
the 20th century, translated Isavasya into beautiful Telugu in verse format.
His work, Srimadandhropanishadjnanadipika, unfolds the very heart of Sri
Sankaracharya's conception and stands out as one of the best works in Telugu on
Advaita.
Isavasyopanishad was also translated by Kompella Dakshinamurthy Sastry and
it was published by Sri Sita Rama Adi Sankara Trust in Hyderabad
Another notable commentary of
Vithaladevuni Sundara Sarma was published by Surabharathi Samithi of Hyderabad
