Revealed wisdom

PRASNA UPANISHAD (with the original text in Sanskrit and Roman transliteration): Swami Muni Narayana Prasad; D. K. Print World (P) Ltd., Sri Kunj, F52, Balinagar, New Delhi-110015. Rs. 150.

THE UPANISHADS are the storehouse of sacred wisdom as revealed to the Rishis in answer to their meditative search for the meaning of life.

The Muktikopanishad gives a list of 108 Upanishads, but only 10 among them are regarded as the original repository of India's ancient wisdom.

The Prasnopanishad, which belongs to the Atharva Veda, is one of the 10 major Upanishads. It is so called since it raises certain vital queries (Prasnas) and seeks answers for them.

Questions were put to Pippalada, one of the sages of ancient times, by six Sadhakas eager for answers to the questions from the text of the Upanishad.

The questions are: Wherefrom are all the beings born? How many are the gods? Who is the greatest of them? From where is the Prana born? How does he come into this body? How again does he dwell by dividing himself? How does he depart? How does he support the external things? The fourth question is about the three states - waking, sleeping and deep sleep. The fifth pertains to the meditation on the mystic syllable, ``Om'' (Pranava), while the sixth ponders over the concepts of the individual soul and the universal soul.

The interesting feature of the Upanishad is that the discussions are carried on in a step-by-step manner, from the gross to the subtle, from the known to the unknown. The discussions are not totally abstract for there are references to the origin of creation from matter and energy.

The Upanishad has been commented upon by Adi Sankara, Sri Ranga Ramanuja Mahadesika, and Madhvacharya. It has gone through a number of editions, from several institutions and publishing houses all over the world, from time to time.

The present edition follows the tradition of Sri Narayanaguru of Kerala and the editor calls his methodological device as that of dialectics, based on the Yogabuddhi (metalogic) advocated by the Bhagavad Gita. The work, according to the editor, is the result of the joint efforts of a group of research scholars and students of the Narayanagurukula.

Each stanza has been privately pondered on by each of them followed by group discussions. The ideas thus clarified were rendered in Malayalam first and then translated into English. The original Sanskrit text is rendered in Devanagari with Roman transliteration. The book is a useful addition to the Indian philosophical classics.

P. V. SIVARAMA DIKSHITAR

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