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Today some 200 Upanishads are known. They include 108 canonical Upanishads, and 11-13 of them are major Upanishads. The rest of the 108 are termed minor Upanishads. (WP, "Upanishads")

Upanishads - major and minor ones - contain thought that has been at the foundation of Indian traditions. What is told of in many, is Atman. The word means the inner self, the soul, the immortal spirit.

Moreover, there is no fixed list of Upanishads, and some of them are taken to be sectarian. (WP, "Upanishads")

The Upanishads (also spelled "Upanisads") are Hindu scriptures that constitute the core teachings of Vedanta. The oldest date to the 500s BCE, and the latest were composed in medieval and early modern times. The Upanishads speak of Brahman (Universal Spirit, Being) and Atman (individualised spirit, soul) as actually one and the same. John Koller elaborates:

According to Shankara, Brahman alone is real [and] because the Self, the Atman, is truly Brahman, only knowledge of Brahman can destroy ignorance . . .

Shankara expounds the advaitic teaching that Atman, which is identical to Brahman, is ultimately the only reality.

The nature and existence of Brahman cannot be proved from perception or reasoning, but is to be taken either on the basis of scriptural testimony (the Upanishads) or by direct and intuitive experience of the kind made possible by yogic concentration. Nevertheless, reason has a useful role in justifying these means of knowing Brahman. It is also important to use reason to show the incoherence and inadequacy of alternative views.

(Koller 2010, 98-99)

Shankara's view is that the pure consciousness (ciclatman) alone is ultimately real; everything else is only appearance. The Self (Atman) that I truly am, he says . . . is 'ever free, pure, transcendentally changeless, invariable, immortal, imperishable, and thus always bodiless' (Ibid. 102)

Shankara wrote commentaries on 12 of the main Upanishads.

Upanishads describe subtle experiences and perhaps parts of a handed-over faith - and hence a variety of Upanishad commentaries may be found.

Eleven Upanishads are considered part of the sacred canon of Hinduism. They are Aitareya, Brihadaranyaka, Taittiriya, Chandogya, Kena, Isa, Svetasvatara, Katha, Mundaka, Mandukya, and Prasna. Two more Upanishads are often added to that group. For example, in F. Max Müller's Upanishads translation in the "Sacred Books of the East," the extra Upanishad is called Maitrayani. However, there are many more Upanishads: Hindus reckon with 108 Upanishads. Twelve of them are commented on by Adi Shankara. [Compare]

Paul Deussen's translation of sixty Upanishads

Professor Paul Deussen (1845–1919) of Kiel University wrote Sechzig Upanishad's des Veda: Aus dem Sanskrit Übersetzt. (1897). Its third German edition is of 1921 (Leipzig: F. A. Brochhaus). In it, he writes introductions to the included Upanishads.

Deussen's name is linked to the European discovery of and translations of the wealth of Hinduism's Sanskrit documents. Deussen's scholarship has been described as immense, perceptive, and meticulous. Deussen was a pioneer in Sanskrit translations.

Swami Vivekananda comments on him:

The desire to learn Sanskrit was strong in the heart of this German student. It was long, uphill work . . . a really heroic achievement. He thus achieved success; and now – not only Europe, but all India knows this man [One may come to doubt that. - T. K.]. [G]ems of thought and spirituality to be found in the mine of our ancient scriptures. . . . Deussen . . . possessing the training of a philosopher singularly well versed in the speculations of ancient Greece and modern Germany, . . . plunged boldly into the metaphysical depths of the Upanishads. (Written for the Brahmavadin, 1896, and included in Volume 4 of the Complete Works of Vivekananda. [Link]

The professors V. M. Bedekar and G. B. Palsule have each translated a part of Deussen's book from the German into English. Their translation was first published in 1980 as the two-volumed Sixty Upanishads of the Veda. (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1980). G. B. Palsule sums up: "Deussen's translation is . . . exact and objective." (1980, vii). That does not mean he did not find room for improvements. They are in part due to better sources than Deussen had. (Ibid. vii-viii)

For notes about many of the Upanishads, Deussen's translated work may be useful.

Extracts 1

The following is extracted from the foreword of the work Thirty Minor Upanishads, which was translated by K. Narayanasvami Aiyar and published by him in 1914.

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Many years ago, the Sanskrit Scholar Sundara Sastri and K. Narayanasvami Aiyar worked together to translate Upanishads that had not been translated into English before, and Aiyar succeeded in republishing these translations in book form after he had revised them and added a few more. In their work, Sastri and Aiyar found there were many editions of the Upanishads in Calcutta, Bombay, Poona, South India and other places, but that the South Indian editions were in many cases fuller and more intelligible and significant.

The Upanishads they translated were loosely classified under the headings of (1) Vedanta, (2) Physiology, (3) Mantra, (4) Sannyasa and (5) Yoga. The Upanishads that come under the headings of Vedanta and Yoga are told to be the most important.

Aiyar teaches with general Hinduism that Atma(n) is the only Reality, and that the Upanishads are not intended for mere intellectual people and others. He teaches that the Atma in the heart may be realised, and then the Atma in all universe is realised too. However, so long as the Atma in the heart is not realised, the universe will not be realised as Maya (a God-designed, old fabric).

In modern days when a subject is taken up, all the available information is given in one place in a systematic manner. But not so in the Upanishads, Aiyar holds. "Take the subject of Pranas which refer to life itself. In one Upanishad, one piece of information is given, another in another and so on."

Upanishads on Vedanta and Yoga lay stress on certain centres [chakras] in the human body for development. The 12 major Upanishads as well as the Vedanta Upanishads in the Sastri and Aiyar book deal with the heart and the heart alone, while the Yoga Upanishads consider many centres and include the heart among them.

Yoga-Upanishads do not focus on the heart alone, or mainly the heart. In such upanishads certain subtle centres in the human body are referred to.

A fold of Hinduism says that Jivatma (the human soul) is an amsha or portion of Paramatma, or God, who is conceived of as eternal existence, infinite knowledge, and unlimited power: Being, Consciousness, and Bliss-Joy. In Sanskrit: Sat, Chit, Ananda, or Sat-Chit-Ananda. The well developed soul comes to realse it takes part of that nature. And other folds of Hinduism teach otherwise. In Vedanta there are schools of thought that differ in how "soul and God" are to be understood. [Consider WP, "Vedanta".]

Vedanta Upanishads are aimed at those who want to develop the heart mainly, by focusing attention on it all day long, and not only in a yogi manner.

Each Upanishad is said to belong to one of the Vedas. However, even among the twelve Upanishads edited by Friedrich Max Müller and others, some are found in the existing Vedas and others not, Aiyar points out. Thus, some Upanishads are found in the Vedas and others are not.

[p. i-viii}

Extracts from K. Narayanasvami Aiyar's Foreword

Some of these thirty Upanishads are culled from the Aranyaka-portions of the Vedas – so-called because they were read in the Aranya (forest). Upanishads were regarded as the crowns of the Vedas, since it was held that the knowledge embedded in them, led a searching person to Atma, the goal of life.

The translator of this collection of Minor Upanishads found the time to republish and revise Upanishad translations and add some more translations. He points out that there are many editions of the Upanishads to be found in India. His selection includes Upanishads arranged under the headings of (1) Vedanta, (2) Physiology, (3) Mantra, (4) Sannyasa and (5) Yoga. But these are not hard and fast divisions, in that some Upanishads contain material that fits into both one and two of the headings.

The translator considers the Upanishads under the headings of Vedanta and Yoga to be the most important. The twelve major Upanishads as well as the Vedanta Upanishads deal with the heart alone. In Ancient Egypt a pure heart from moral living was likewise held to be the most important. When the heart is made pure, or as Upanishadic writers suggests, "the heart-knot is broken", then the Atma in the heart can be realised. And as long as the Atma in the heart is not realised, the universe will not be realised as Ekam Sat, "Oneness Is" and "Being Beyond," Transcendent Spirit, and so on.

In the Upanishads all the knowledge bearing upon a subject is not put forward in one and the same place. Take the subject of Pranas which refer to life itself: in one Upanishad, one piece of information is given, another in another and so on, if that should help better understanding. What is prana? We may look up in big dictionaries first. That can be a good help, since fit definitions there often contain many and divergent definitions. However, they are arranged so that a reader can get a simple grip and enlarge it if it should be desired.

One definition of prana: "in Hindu philosopy: the force that keeps all life in existence." Wikipedia offers some more (WP, "Prana").

Some books describe prana at length and how to make use of it by breathing methods and regimens. [Example]

Rama: 'The efforts of man are stated to be of two kinds, those that transcend scriptures and those that are according to scriptures and tend to Reality. . . . [That is,] So long as you are without . . . great discrimination and are not a knower of the Supreme Seat . . .

"Through the force of the practice of Dhyana [meditation]: supreme bliss.

Rigvedic: 'The wise ever see the Supreme Seat of Vishnu." [In myth depictions, he sits on a large enough lotus flower on the sea. (Dimmitt and van Buitenen 197xxxxx)

There are ancient symbols here. To get through the nutshells and into essential meanings, symbols need to be cracked open. Many may be found to contain something if you have learnt to transcend scripture or recognise something essential otherwise.

From a Conference on Ramakrishna

There is a story about Sri Ramakrishna about matching descriptions and experiences. A deep experience may be told of, and there may be many signs to accompany it. However, lots of words are not the experience, and may be at fault and even misleading:

Sri Ramakrishna served as a temple priest. One day he welcomed a visiting brahmin woman and told her that people believed he might be mad. She listened to him attentively and said: "My son, everyone in this world is mad. Some are mad for money, some for creature comforts, some for name and fame; and you are mad . . ." Day after day she watched his meditation, and also recognised he was also able to transmit spirituality. She asked that a conference of scholars was to be arranged to discuss Ramakrishna.

During the meeting Sri Ramakrishna sometimes said with a nudge: "Look here. Sometimes I feel like this, too." The leader of the Vaishnava society declared that Ramakrishna had undoubtedly experienced mahabhava [Great Spirit etc.].* The people assembled were struck dumb.

Sri Ramakrishna said like a boy: "Just fancy, he too says so! Well, I am glad to learn that, after all, it is not a disease."

A few days later the pandit Gauri arrived, another meeting was held, and he agreed with the view of the Brahmani and Vaishnavacharan.

To Sri Ramakrishna's remark that Vaishnavacharan had declared him to be an Avatar, Gauri replied: "Is that all he has to say about you? . . ." And then he said Sri Ramakrishna was a Divine Incarnation.

"Ah!" said Sri Ramakrishna with a smile. "You seem to have quite outbid Vaishnavacharan [the leader of the Vaishnava society] in this matter. What have you found in me that makes you entertain such an idea?"

Gauri said: "I feel it in my heart and . . . I am ready to prove it."

"Well," Sri Ramakrishna said, "it is you who say so; but, believe me, I know nothing about it."

Thus, Ramakrishna was proclaimed a Divine Incarnation. After some time he said about two other proclaimers: "What do they know about Incarnations?" (Gupta 1942, 18-20, abr.)

Not so simple

* Mahabhava (Sanskrit: maha, great, big, huge, large, vast, lustre, + bhava: attitude, emotion, spirit, thing, prescience.) (Sanskrit Dictionary for Spoken Sanskrit). Hence alternatives like 'great emotion,' 'huge prescience (foreknowledge, foresight),' 'vast spirit,' and 'big thing' (and further). The Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon has more. Linked to bhava: coming into existence, birth, production, origin, becoming, being, turning into (origin), reality, well-being, prosperity, a god, deity, the condition of being a child, a simple or artless nature, soul, mind, the Supreme Being (and more). Thus, 'The spirit of a child' may also be tried. There is a passage where Ramakrishna tells, "The Paramahamsa is like a five year old child. He sees everything filled with consciousness." (1974, 207). A translation may not be easy if the translator has become like a child. Many Sanskrit words carry multiple meanings, and blending two or more elements from two rows of alternatives can multiply the options. The context often gives clues as to which alternative(s) to combine and settle on, at least in a tradition. But some traditions branch out from a common source - it could be a text that is not clear-cut. . . . Moreover, choosing one option among many, may limit one's view and may not be all good for all readers.