Publisher's Synopsis
The cultural and spiritual legacy of India is vast as well as rich. There is nothing sectarian or regional about it. It is so universal in its appeal and so catholic in its approach that it belongs to the whole world. This legacy is derived from the Vedas. They include all schools of Indian thought except that of the Lokāyata, Buddhists and Jains. Each of them is subdivided into Samhitā (collections), Brāhmaṇa (dealing with Vedic rituals, sacrificial rites), Āraṇyaka (sacrificial rites) and Upaniṣads. Homogeneity can be found in all the Upaniṣads. They deal ith the topics of supreme reality (Brahman), individual soul (Ātman), world (jagat) and their inter - relationships. These concepts are in the form of an enchanting dialogue between a teacher and a student, father and son, mother and son and so on. In the Upaniṣads, we get an intelligible body of verified and verifiable spiritual insights mixed with a mass of myths and legends, cosmological speculation relating to the nature and origin of the universe. While the former has universal validity, and has a claim on human intelligence in all ages, the latter forewarns all such claims. All positivistic knowledge contained in any literature, including religious literature, is limited and conditioned by the level of contemporary scientific knowledge. Among the ten Upaniṣads, Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad is taken for an analysis here.