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Among the oldest of India's spiritual texts, the Upanishads are records of intensive question-and-answer sessions given by illumined sages to their students - in ashrams, at family gatherings, in a royal court, and in the kingdom of Death. The sages share flashes of insight, extraordinary visions, the results of their investigation into consciousness itself. The Upanishads have puzzled and inspired wisdom seekers from Yeats to Schopenhauer. In this best-selling translation, Eknath Easwaran makes these challenging texts more accessible by selecting the passages most relevant to readers seeking timeless truths today. This book includes an overview of the cultural and historical setting, with chapter introductions, notes, and a Sanskrit glossary. But it is Easwaran's understanding of the wisdom of the Upanishads that makes this edition truly outstanding. Each sage, each Upanishad, appeals in a different way to the reader's head and heart. For Easwaran, the Upanishads are part of India's precious legacy, not just to Hinduism but to humanity, and in that spirit they are offered here.
List of contents
Table of Contents
Foreword 7
Introduction 13
ISHA 51
The Inner Ruler
KATHA 61
Death as Teacher
BRIHADARANYAKA 93
The Forest of Wisdom
CHANDOGYA 119
SacredSong
SHVETASHVATARA 153
The Faces of God
MUNDAKA 179
Modes of Knowing
MANDUKYA 197
Consciousness& Its Phases
KENA 207
WhoMoves the World?
PRASHNA 219
The Breathof Life
TAITTIRIYA 239
Ascentto Joy
AITAREYA 263
TheUnity of Life
MINOR UPANISHADS Beads of Wisdom
TEJOBINDU 283
ATMA 286
AMRITABINDU288
PARAMAHAMSA 291
Afterword 295
A Religionfor Modern Times
by Michael N. Nagler
Glossary 337
Notes 345
Index377
Report
"No one in modern times is more qualified - no, make that 'as qualified' - to translate the epochal Classics of Indian Spirituality than Eknath Easwaran. And the reason is clear. It is impossible to get to the heart of those classics unless you live them, and he did live them. My admiration of the man and his works is boundless." - Huston Smith, author of The World's Religions
