Muktikā

The Muktikā (Sanskrit: "deliverance") refers to the canon of 108 Upaniṣads found in Telugu language version of Muktika Upanishad. The date of composition of each is unknown, with the oldest probably from about 800 BCE and the youngest probably composed after the 15th-century CE.[1][2] The Principal Upanishads were composed in the 1st millennium BCE,[3] most Yoga Upanishads composed probably from the 100 BCE to 300 CE period,[4] and seven of the Sannyasa Upanishads composed before the 3rd century CE.[5][6]

The Canon

The canon is part of a dialogue between Rama and Hanuman. Rama proposes to teach Vedanta, saying "Even by reading one verse of them [any Upanishad] with devotion, one gets the status of union with me, hard to get even by sages." Hanuman enquires about the different kinds of "liberation" (Mukti, hence the name of the Upanishad), to which Rama answers that "the only real type [of liberation] is Kaivalya".

The list of 108 Upanishads is introduced in verses 26-29:

But by what means is the Kaivalya kind of Moksha got? The Mandukya is enough; if knowledge is not got from it, then study the Ten Upanishads. Getting knowledge very soon, you will reach my abode. If certainty is not got even then, study the 32 Upanishads and stop. If desiring Moksha without the body, read the 108 Upanishads. Hear their order. (trans. Warrier)

Some scholars list ten as principal – the Mukhya Upanishads, while most consider twelve or thirteen as principal, most important Upanishads (highlighted).[7][8][9]

The list of 108 names is given in verses 30-39. They are as follows:

  1. Isha Upanishad
  2. Kena Upanishad
  3. Katha Upanishad
  4. Prashna Upanishad
  5. Mundaka Upanishad
  6. Mandukya Upanishad
  7. Taittiriya Upanishad
  8. Aitareya Upanishad
  9. Chandogya Upanishad
  10. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
  11. Brahma Upanishad
  12. Kaivalya Upanishad
  13. Jabala Upanishad
  14. Shvetashvatara Upanishad
  15. Hamsopanishad
  16. Aruneya Upanishad
  17. Garbhopanishad
  18. Narayanopanishad
  19. Paramahamsopanishad
  20. Amritabindu Upanishad
  21. Nada Bindu Upanishad
  22. Atharvashiras Upanishad
  23. Atharvashikha Upanishad
  24. Maitrayaniya Upanishad
  25. Kaushitaki Upanishad
  26. Brihajjabala Upanishad
  27. Nrisimha Tapaniya Upanishad
  28. Kalagni Rudra Upanishad
  29. Maitreya Upanishad
  30. Subala Upanishad
  31. Kshurika Upanishad
  32. Mantrika Upanishad
  33. Sarvasara Upanishad
  34. Niralamba Upanishad
  35. Shukarahasya Upanishad
  36. Vajrasuchi Upanishad
  37. Tejobindu Upanishad
  38. Nada Bindu Upanishad
  39. Dhyanabindu Upanishad
  40. Brahmavidya Upanishad
  41. Yogatattva Upanishad
  42. Atmabodha Upanishad
  43. Naradaparivrajaka Upanishad
  44. Trishikhibrahmana Upanishad
  45. Sita Upanishad
  46. Yogachudamani Upanishad
  47. Nirvana Upanishad
  48. Mandala-brahmana Upanishad
  49. Dakshinamurti Upanishad
  50. Sharabha Upanishad
  51. Skanda Upanishad
  52. Mahanarayana Upanishad
  53. Advayataraka Upanishad
  54. Rama Rahasya Upanishad
  55. Rama tapaniya Upanishad
  56. Vasudeva Upanishad
  57. Mudgala Upanishad
  58. Shandilya Upanishad
  59. Paingala Upanishad
  60. Bhikshuka Upanishad
  61. Maha Upanishad
  62. Sariraka Upanishad
  63. Yogashikha Upanishad
  64. Turiyatitavadhuta Upanishad
  65. Brihat-Sannyasa Upanishad
  66. Paramahamsa Parivrajaka Upanishad
  67. Malika Upanishad
  68. Avyakta Upanishad
  69. Ekakshara Upanishad
  70. Annapurna Upanishad
  71. Surya Upanishad
  72. Akshi Upanishad
  73. Adhyatma Upanishad
  74. Kundika Upanishad
  75. Savitri Upanishad
  76. Atma Upanishad
  77. Pashupatabrahma Upanishad
  78. Parabrahma Upanishad
  79. Avadhuta Upanishad
  80. Tripuratapini Upanishad
  81. Devi Upanishad
  82. Tripura Upanishad
  83. Kathashruti Upanishad
  84. Bhavana Upanishad
  85. Rudrahridaya Upanishad
  86. Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad
  87. Bhasma Upanishad
  88. Rudraksha Upanishad
  89. Ganapati Upanishad
  90. Darshana Upanishad
  91. Tarasara Upanishad
  92. Mahavakya Upanishad
  93. Pancabrahma Upanishad
  94. Pranagnihotra Upanishad
  95. Gopala Tapani Upanishad
  96. Krishna Upanishad
  97. Yajnavalkya Upanishad
  98. Varaha Upanishad
  99. Shatyayaniya Upanishad
  100. Hayagriva Upanishad
  101. Dattatreya Upanishad
  102. Garuda Upanishad
  103. Kali-Santarana Upanishad
  104. Jabali Upanishad
  105. Saubhagyalakshmi Upanishad
  106. Sarasvati-rahasya Upanishad
  107. Bahvricha Upanishad
  108. Muktikā Upanishad (this text)

Transmission

Almost all printed editions of ancient Vedas and Upanishads depend on the late manuscripts that are hardly older than 500 years, not on the still-extant and superior oral tradition.[10] Michael Witzel explains this oral tradition as follows:

The Vedic texts were orally composed and transmitted, without the use of script, in an unbroken line of transmission from teacher to student that was formalized early on. This ensured an impeccable textual transmission superior to the classical texts of other cultures; it is, in fact, something like a tape-recording.... Not just the actual words, but even the long-lost musical (tonal) accent (as in old Greek or in Japanese) has been preserved up to the present.[11]

Categories

In this canon,

The first 13 are grouped as mukhya ("principal"). 21 are grouped as Sāmānya Vedānta ("common Vedanta"), The remainder are associated with five different schools or sects within Hinduism, 20 with Sannyāsa (asceticism), 8 with Shaktism, 14 with Vaishnavism, 12 with Shaivism and 20 with Yoga.

  Shukla Yajurveda Krishna Yajurveda Atharvaveda Samaveda Ṛgveda
Mukhya;[9]

these form the core of ancient texts, predating classical Hinduism; they span the 1st millennium BCE and reflect the emergence of Vedanta from Vedic religion.


Īṣa
Bṛhadāraṇyaka


Kaṭha
Taittirīya
Śvetāśvatara


Praśna
Muṇḍaka
Māṇḍūkya


Kena
Chāndogya
Maitrāyaṇi


Kauśītāki
Aitareya

Sāmānya;

These are general Upanishads, and do not focus on any specific post-classical Hindu tradition. Some are referred to as Vedantic Upanishads.[12]


Subāla
Mantrikā
Nirālamba
Paiṅgala
Adhyātmā
Muktikā


Sarvasāra
Śukarahasya
Skanda
Śārīraka
Garbha
Ekākṣara
Akṣi
Prāṇāgnihotra


Sūrya
Ātmā


Vajrasūchi
Maha
Sāvitrī


Ātmabodha
Mudgala

Sannyāsa[13]

These are Upanishads that focus on renunciation-related themes and the life of a sannyasi (monk)


Jābāla
Paramahaṃsa
Advayatāraka
Bhikṣuka
Turīyātīta
Yājñavalkya
Śāṭyāyaniya


Brahma
Tejobindu
Avadhūta
Kaṭharudra


Nāradaparivrājaka
Paramahaṃsa parivrājaka
Parabrahma


Āruṇeya
Maitreya
Sannyāsa
Kuṇḍika


Nirvāṇa

Śākta

These are Upanishads that focus on goddess Devi-related themes

 


Sarasvatīrahasya


Sītā
Annapūrṇa
Devī
Tripurātapini
Bhāvana

 


Tripura
Saubhāgya Lakshmi
Bahvṛca

Vaiṣṇava

These are Upanishads that focus on god Vishnu-related themes


Tārasāra


Nārāyaṇa
Kali-Saṇṭāraṇa


Nṛsiṃhatāpanī
Mahānārāyaṇa
Rāmarahasya
Rāmatāpaṇi
Gopālatāpani
Kṛṣṇa
Hayagrīva
Dattātreya
Gāruḍa


Vāsudeva
Avyakta

 
Śaiva

These are Upanishads that focus on god Shiva-related themes


Kaivalya
Kālāgnirudra
Dakṣiṇāmūrti
Rudrahṛdaya
Pañcabrahma


Atharvaśikha
Bṛhajjābāla
Śarabha
Bhasma
Gaṇapati


Rudrākṣa
Jābāla


Akṣamālika (Mālika)

Yoga[14]

These are Upanishads that focus on Yoga-related themes


Haṃsa
Triśikhi
Maṇḍalabrāhmaṇa


Amṛtabindu
Amṛtanāda
Kṣurika
Dhyānabindu
Brahmavidyā
Yogatattva
Yogaśikhā
Yogakuṇḍalinī
Varāha


Śāṇḍilya
Pāśupata
Mahāvākya


Yogachūḍāmaṇi
Darśana


Nādabindu

References

  1. Patrick Olivelle (1998), Upaniṣhads. Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0199540259, see Introduction
  2. Gudrun Buhnemann (1996), Review: The Secret of the Three Cities: An Introduction to Hindu Śakta Tantrism, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Volume 116, Number 3, page 606
  3. Stephen Phillips (2009), Yoga, Karma, and Rebirth: A Brief History and Philosophy, Columbia University Press, ISBN 978-0231144858, Chapter 1, pages 28-30
  4. Gavin Flood (1996), An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0521438780, page 96
  5. Gavin Flood (1996), An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0521438780, page 91
  6. Patrick Olivelle (1992), The Samnyasa Upanisads, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195070453, pages 5, 8-9
  7. Robert C Neville (2000), Ultimate Realities, SUNY Press, ISBN 978-0791447765, page 319
  8. Stephen Phillips (2009), Yoga, Karma, and Rebirth: A Brief History and Philosophy, Columbia University Press, ISBN 978-0231144858, pages 28-29
  9. 1 2 Peter Heehs (2002), Indian Religions, New York University Press, ISBN 978-0814736500, pages 60-88
  10. Quotation of "... almost all printed editions depend on the late manuscripts that are hardly older than 500 years, not on the still extant and superior oral tradition" is from: Witzel, M., "Vedas and Upaniṣads", in: Flood 2003, p. 69.
  11. For the quotation comparing recital to a "tape-recording" see: Witzel, M., "Vedas and Upaniṣads", in: Flood 2003, pp. 68–69.
  12. Deussen, Paul (1997). Sixty Upanishads of the Veda. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 567. ISBN 978-81-208-1467-7.
  13. Patrick Olivelle (1992), The Samnyasa Upanisads, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195070453, pages x-xi, 5
  14. The Yoga Upanishads SS Sastri, Adyar Library

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