The Hindu scriptures the Upanishads are, according to German scholar PAUL DEUSSEN (1845-1919), the culminating point of the Indian doctrine of the universe, an achievement that had been reached even before the arrival of the Buddha. In this work-originally published in German in 1906 and translated into English two years later-Deussen explores the place of the Upanishads in the literature of the Veda and explains the theology, cosmology, and psychology of that holy book. A landmark for East-West cross-cultural scholarship, The Philosophy of the Upanishads helped create the European understanding of the mind and heart of India, a philosophical and cultural endeavor that consumed both academics and armchair truth-seekers of the day. Today, it is still essential reading for anyone wishing to obtain a deeper knowledge of Indian spiritual wisdom.

The seers and sages of Ancient India revealed fundamental principles of perennial philosophy. The Upanishads contain the essential principles of this perennial-this ageless philosophy. They contain a large number of inspiring and instructive passages and verses. It has not been possible to include all of them in this book. For the purposes of this book the author has taken those verses and passages that have a bearing on the mystical teaching of the Upanishads. It is mysticism which is the very core of the Upanishads-and so in understanding its mysticism one comes to the heart of the sublime and magnificent teaching of the Upanishads. In this age, where science and technology may lead us into a world devoid of meaning and significance. Modern man needs today a meaningful philosophy if the achievements of science are not to lead him to greater and greater destruction-but to sublime and majestic heights of creative living. It is in the Vision of Life given by the Upanishads that man can find the fundamental philosophy of Creative Living-a philosophy that can serve as a Beacon Light even in the midst of surrounding darkness, a philosophy that can lead him from the unreal to the Real, from darkness to Light, from death to Immortality.

Breaks through the cultural barriers between Western, Indian, and Chinese philosophy and demonstrates that despite considerable differences between these three great philosophical traditions, there are fundamental resemblances in their abstract principles.

The Upanishads (teaching) form a series of discussions between teacher and pupil. They are philosophical and religious texts of Hinduism which put forth the essential tenets which form the foundation for the religion, making them perhaps the most important ancient Indian literature. There are around two hundred Upanishads, and they were translated into English in the 19th century. The Upanishads deal with the individual's place in the universe, the meaning of life, and other central doctrines. They represent humanity's desire for truth and understanding in plain, unvarnished prose or lucid rhyme by developing the concept of Brahman, the Supreme Soul (God) and the Atman (the individual's higher self). The Upanishads recognize the atman, a part of the divine Brahman that each individual carries. The goal of life was to be completely in touch with that higher self and, after death, be completely in unity with Brahman. Each individual has a specific dharma (duty) for which they existed, and it must be performed with the correct karma (action). Evil is caused by failure to perform that dharma through the right karma.

Description: The Upanisads which contain lofty philosophical teachings of the great seers constitute the most authoritative sourcebook for the Vedanta system of philosophy. However, there is no unanimity among the ancient exponents of Vedanta regarding the nature of the philosophy adumbrated in the Upanisads. Dr. Chari's scholarly work attempts to make a dispassionate study of the philosophical passages of the fourteen Principal Upanisads by giving due consideration to not only the comments of Samkara, Ramanuja and Madhva, but more importantly, the authoritative views of Badarayana as enshrined in his classic Vedantasutras. In the first part of the book, he presents the important passages of the Upanisads along with English rendering indicating the variations in the interpretation by the three commentators and also discusses their philosophical implications with reference to the Vedanta doctrines developed in the post Upanisadic period. In the second part he has attempted to consolidate the variety of philosophical thoughts scattered all over the Upanisads into coherent doctrines under five broad subjects: Brahman, jivatman, jagat, sadhana, and parama-purusartha. In the final chapter he conclusively establishes on the basis of an objective evaluation of the views of the commentators that the Upanisads do not support the main tenets of Advaita such as the concept of Nirvisesa Brahman, the identity of jivatman and Brahman, the phenomenal character of the jagat and the doctrine of maya. The author maintains with sufficient textual support that the nature of the philosophy advocated by the Upanisads is Theistic Monism (savisesadvaita). This book, which is the first of its kind, presents an authentic and comprehensive exposition of the philosophy of the Upanisads.

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