The Upanis.ads
The Upanis.ads (Up.) contain the secret teaching, by a variety of late Vedic teach-
ers, of early philosophical speculation about the nature of the world and of
humans and their fate after death, as well as the earliest discussion of the work-
ings of rebirth and karma. Various small heterogeneous sections have subse-
quently been added, such as last admonitions of the teacher to his “graduating,”
departing students (Witzel 1980, Thieme 1989). The texts were often called
Rahasya“secret,” as they were supposed to be learned only by specially selected
students, which explains their often less well preserved state of transmission.
Tradition, indeed, sees the Up.s as the end of the Veda (veda ̄nta), that is of the
four “historical” levels of the Sam.hita ̄s, Br.s, A ̄r.s, and Up.s, while in fact, the late
Vedic Su ̄tras (see below) still are an integral part of the Vedic canon.
It is from the background of the Bra ̄hman.a style texts that the thinking of the
Upanis.ads emerges. If not radically new, it still involves a thorough rethinking
of the existing correlative premises, in part influenced by late Vedic social con-
ditions of the eastern territories of North India (Kosala, Videha). Here, a thor-
ough reorganization of the bra ̄hman.astyle texts (in S ́B) took place, including a
rethinking of many of the earlier “theological” positions. Further, the increas-
ing Sanskritization of the area along western (Kuru) models brought about the
formation of canonical texts, a general ordering of S ́rauta procedure, and new
deliberations of its inherent meaning (Witzel 1997a,b).
Thus, the Upanis.ads do not break with tradition but rather continue it, influ-
enced by the current and local religious background (Renou 1953). While they
are often treated as the beginning of philosophical tradition in India (or as a pre-
cursor to early Buddhist and Jain thought) they are in fact the almost inevitable
outcome of the intellectual development of the Bra ̄hman.a period, when such
questioning was prominent both inside and between the Vedic schools (s ́a ̄kha ̄).
However, it was expressed differently, not in Upanis.adic dialogue form, but by
statements such as “some say.. .” or by the frequent quotations of divergent
views in the bra ̄hman.atype texts, especially in S ́B where various “solutions” to a
problem are habitually discussed and still presented as authoritative, positive
statements of truths. The Up.s, however, contain discussions in the form of real
dialogues, involving severe questioning and reluctant admission of innocence or
boastful claims of knowledge.
The Up.s deal with the eternal problems of humankind, that is: where do we
come from, why we are here, where go? In other words, with the nature of body
and soul, their fate after a death, and their position in the Universe. Additionally,
following the trend towards larger scale correlations, the ritual itself increasingly
becomes the subject of cosmic identifications (e.g. the horse of the As ́vamedha
in BA ̄UK 1.1). But, ritual also is interiorized and can be performed entirely men-
tally (Bodewitz 1973). Both positions are signs of the intense contemporaneous
intellectual activity that apparently included also some Ks.atriyas and women
(Oldenberg 1915, Renou 1953, Horsch 1966, Witzel 1989a).
vedas and upanis.ads 83