Triśikhabrāhmaṇopaniṣad
From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia
By Swami Harshananda
Significance of Triśikhabrāhmaṇopaniṣad[edit]
Triśikhabrāhmaṇopaniṣad, though classed among the minor Upaniṣads, is fairly long. Since a greater part of the text deals with Yoga, it is included among the Yoga-Upaniṣads. It is assigned to the Śukla Yajurveda.
Sections of Triśikhabrāhmaṇopaniṣad[edit]
Triśikhabrāhmaṇopaniṣad is in two sections. They are:
- Brāhmanabhāga - It is in prose and has nine passages. The first section deals with the process of creation from Brahman in a general way, as is found in other Upaniṣads and the Sāṅkhya system.
- Mantrabhāga - It has 165 verses in the anuṣṭubh meter.
Topics of Triśikhabrāhmaṇopaniṣad[edit]
The topics delineated in the second section may be summarized as follows:
- Four states of consciousness
- Turīya[1] being the ātman
- Two paths Devayāna or Uttarāyaṇa and Pitṛyāna or Dakṣiṇāyana
- Karmayoga as niṣkāmakarma - desireless action
- Aṣṭāṅgayoga or yoga of eight limbs described from the standpoint of Advaita Vedanta
- Some aspects of Haṭhayoga such as yama, niyama prāṇāyāma, nāḍis and kuṇḍalinī
- Meditation on Vāsudeva as Paramātman
- Mukti or liberation
References[edit]
- ↑ It means the fourth.
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore