Context:

Indian Prime Minister in his state visit to the US gifted the US President Yeats’ ‘Ten Principal Upanishads’.

About Ten Principal Upanishad:

• The Ten Principal Upanishads is translated from Sanskrit by Shri Purohit Swami, a scholar of Hindu scripture, and Irish poet WB Yeats.
• The book is considered to be one of the best translations of the original late-Vedic texts that are central to modern Hinduism.
• Written in the mid-1930s, the book was a product of Yeats’ desire to create a translation which is true to the original text while still being accessible for the layperson.

Categories of Hindu scriptures:

• There are broadly two categories of Hindu sacred texts: Shruti (loosely translated as “the revealed”) and smriti (“the remembered”). 
• Shruti:
  • It is considered to be the most authoritative and consists of the four Vedas (Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva) and accompanying texts. 
  • These include Brahmanas (ritual texts), Aranyakas (“forest” or “wilderness” texts), and Upanishads (philosophical texts).
• Smriti:
  • This second category of Hindu scriptures is less authoritative – in many ways they are considered to be derived from the first – but more popularly known. 
  • These include the great epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata, Dharmashastras, Puranas and all other post-Vedic scriptures.

What are the Upanishads?

• The Upanishads, also known as the Vedanta – as they signal the end of the total Veda – speculate about the ontological connection between humanity and the cosmos. 
• They serve as foundational texts in many traditions of Hindu theology and have hence attracted far more attention than the Vedas themselves.
• Dated to roughly 800-500 BC, the Upanishads discuss concepts such as transmigration, which have today become central to Hindu tradition.
• The Upanishads were given particular importance in Hindu theology by eighth century scholar Adi Shankara, whose interpretations synthesised the Advaita Vedanta tradition.
• Much of the Upanishads are concerned with the relationship between the atman, or the distinct, unchanging self of an individual, and the brahman, the ultimate reality in the universe.
• Ten main (or principal) Upanishads:
  1. Esha
  2. Kena
  3. Katha
  4. Prashna
  5. Mundaka
  6. Mandukya
  7. Taittiriya
  8. Aitareya
  9. Chandogya
  10. Brihadaranyaka

News Source: Indian Express