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108 Upanishads and their classification.

From the Bhakti List Archives

V. Sadagopan • January 31, 1996 


Few days ago, when I was writing the article on Sanyasa Upanishads
for Tattvaloka, Sri Vidyasankar and myself had a discussion on the 
number of Upanishads and their  kinds. The material assembled in that 
context is posted here for general use by the members of the Group. Among 
these 108 Upaishads, there is one dedicated to Sri Hayagreeva Bhagavan,
I shall be grateful to receive a copy of that Upanishad from anyone,who
might have a text of that Upanishad.This posting is deliberately long
so that it can house at one place material related to the 108 Upanishads
for future research  by the interested  Members of the Prapatti Group. 

***Upanishads and Veda Saakaas
 
                              Upanishads are found in the concluding sections of
the 
Veda Saakaas and hence are known as Vedanta or the end of the Vedas.
There are four Veda Samhitas (Rg, Yajur, Sama and Atharva). The Yajur Vedam 
has two Samhitas known as the Krishna and Sukla Yajur Vedas . Hence , One can 
say that there  are 5 Veda Samhitas, if we take into account the 2 Samhitas 
of Yajur Veda. Each of the 4 Samhitas referred to above has several branches 
or Saakaas. Each Saaka has a Karma Khanda dealing with the actions to be
performed and is made up of Mantras and Btrahmanaas. Latter deals with 
Upasana or meditation and has Aranyakas inside them for the benefit of those 
who have resorted to the quiet habitat of the forest to pursue their spiritual
Quest.
The Upanishads are found mostly in the Aranyaka section of the Vedas .

                               The traditional view is that Vysa Bhagavan has
classified the four
Vedas  into 1180 Saakaas and each of these Saakaa is associated with an
Upanishad.
Hence , One anticipates 1180 Upanishads. According to this view, there must have
been
21 Upanishads for the 21 Rg Saakaas, 109 for Yajurveda ,1000 for Sama Veda and 
50 for the Atharva Veda. Most of these Saakaas have been lost with the passage
of time and 
we are left with 108 Upanishads today. The breakdown among  the 108  Upanishads
according to the 5 Veda Samhitas are as  follows: 

1.Rg Veda : 10
2.Sama Veda :16
3.Atharva Veda: 31
4.Krishna Yajur Veda: 32
5.Sukla Yajur Veda: 19

The 10  Upanishads belonging to the Rg Veda are the following:

1. Aitareya* 2.Kaushitaki 3.Nadabindu 4.Atmabodha 5. Nirvana
6.Mudgala 7.Akshamala 8.Tripura 9.Saubhagyalakshmi and 
10. Bahvrichi.

The 16  associated with the Sama Samhita are:

1.Kena* 2.Chhandogya* 3.Arunika 4. Maitrayani 5.Maitreyi
6.Vajrasuchi 7.Yogachudamani 8.Vasudeva 9.Mahat 
10.Sanyasa 11.Avyakta 12. Kundika 13.Savitri 14.Rudrakshajabala
15.Jabaladarsana and 16.Jabali

The 19  Upanishads belonging to Sukla Yajur  Veda are:

1.Isavasya* 2.Brahadaranyaka* 3.Jabala 4. Hamsa 5.ParamaHamsa
6.Subala 7.Mantrika 8.Niralamba 9.Trisikhibrahmana 10.Mandalabrahmana
11. Advayataraka 12.Paingala 13.Bhikshuka 14. Turiyatita 15.Adhyatma 
16.Yajnavalkya 17.Satyayani  18.Tarasara and 19.Muktika .

The 32  Upanishads belonging to the Krishna Yajur Veda Samhita are:

1.Katha* 2.Taittiriya* 3.Brahma 4.Kaivalya 5.Svetasvatara 6.Garbha 
7.Narayana 8.Amritabindhu 9.Amritanada 10.Kalagnirudra 11.Kshurika
12. Sarvasara 13.Sukharahasya 14. Tejobindhu 15. Dhyanabindhu 
16.Brahmavidya 17.Yogatattva 18.Dakshinamurti 19.Skanda 
20.Sariraka 21.Yogasikha 22. Ekakshara 23. Akshi 24. Avadhuta 
25. Katharudra 26.Rudrahrudhaya 27.Yogakundalini 28. Panchabrahma 
29.Pranaagnihotra 30.Varaha 31. Kalisantaranaand  32.Sarasvatirahasya .

The 31 Upanishads belonging to the AtharvaSamhita are :

1. Prasna* 2.Mundaka* 3.Maandukya* 4.Atharvasira 5.Atharvasikha 
6. Brahajjabala 7. Nrsimhatapini 8. Narada Parivrajaka 9.Sita 
10.Sarabha 11.Tribadvibhutimahanarayana 12.Ramarahasya 
13. Ramatapini 14.Sandilya 15.Paramahamsaparivrajaka 
16. Annapurna 17.Surya 18.Atma 19. Pasupatabrahma 
20.Parabrahma 21. Tripuratapini 22. Devi 23. Bhavana 
24. Bhasmajabala 25. Ganapati 26.Mahavakhya 
27. Gopalatapini 28.Krishna 29. Hayagriva 30.Dattatreya
and 31. Garuda .

In the above list of 108, those marked with the Asterik (*) sign
are the ten Major Upanishads commented on by Acharyas.

Besides the major Upanishads, there  are 27 Upanishads known as
Samaanya Upanishads, because they deal with teachings of  general
(Saamanya) interest to all . There are 14 Saiva Upanishads dealing
with Siva ; 8 Sakta Upanishads dealing with Sakti or Devi ; 14 dealing
primarily with Vishnu and hence known as Vaishnavopanishads ; 20 
Yoga Upanishads dealing with different aspects of Yoga and 17 Sanyasa
Upanishads dealing with the rules and different aspects of Sanyasa or 
Renunciation.

The 27 Saamnaya Upanishads are: Svetasvatara(KY), Garbha(KY),
 Maitrayani(S), Kaushitaki (R),Subala(SY), Mantrika(SY),Sarvasara(KY),
 Niralamba (SY), Sukarahasya(KY), Vajrasuchi(S), Atmabodha (R),
Skanda(KY), Mudgala (R),Paingala(SY), Mahat(S), Sariraka(KY),
 Ekakshara( KY),Annapurna (A), Surya(A), Akshi (KY), Adhyatma(SY), 
Savitri(S), Atma(A), Pranaagnihotra(KY) and  Muktika (SY). Thus 15 out of the 
27 belong to the two Samhitas of Yajur Vedam. 

The 14 Saiva Upanishads are : Kaivalya(KY), Atharvasira(A), Atharvasikha (A), 
Brahajjabala(A), Kaalagnirudra(KY) , Dakshinamurthi (KY), Sarabha (A),
Akshamaala (R), Rudrahrudaya (S), Bhasmajabala(A) ,
Rudrakshajabala(S), Ganapati(A) ,Panchabrahma(KY), Jabali (S).

The 8 Sakta Upanishads are: Sita (A), Tripuratapini 
Annapurna (A), Devi (A), Tripura (R) , Bhavana(A), 
Saubhagyalakshmi (R), Sarasvatirahasya(KY) nad Bahvrichi (R).
The Dominance of Rg Vedic  connection indicates the ancient
nature of Sakti Worship.

The 14 Vishnava Upanishads are: Narayana(KY), Nrsimhatapini (A),
Tripadvibhutimahanarayana (A), Ramarahasya(A),
Ramatapini (A), Vasudeva(S), Avyakta(S), Tarasara(SY),
 Gopalatapini (A), Krishna(A), Hayagriva(A), Dattatreya (A), 
Garuda (A)  and Kalisantarana (KY) . It is interesting to see 9 
out of 14 belong to the Atharva Samhita. 

Yoga Upanishads and Sanyasa Upanishads constitute 37
ofthe 108.

 The seventeen Sanyasa Upanishads among the 37 are:
Brahma(KY), Jabala(SY), Arunika(S), Paramahamsa(SY),
Maitreyi(S), Nirvana(R) , Narada Parivrajaka(A),
Bhikshuka(SY), Turiyatita(SY),Sanyasa(S), 
Paramahamsaparivrajaka(A), Kundika(S), 
Parabrahma(A), Avadhuta(KY), Katharudra(KY) ,
Yajnavalkya(SY) and Satyayani (SY).

       The remaining 20 belong to the Yoga Upanishads.
 Fifteen  of these 20 Upanishads belong to the two
Samhitas of the Yajur Vedam . Three belong to Atharva,
 two to Sama and one to Rg Veda Samhita. Yoga has 
been defined as Karmasu Kowsalam . One wonders about the 
dominance of Yajur Veda Samhita among the Yoga Upanishads. 

Veda Ourushaaya Nama: 

Oppiliappankoil Varadachari Sadagopan