Principal Upanishads, also known as Mukhya Upanishads, are the most ancient and widely studied Upanishads of Hinduism. Composed between 800 BCE to the start of common era, these texts are connected to the Vedic tradition.

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The Principal Upanishads, which were composed probably between 600 and 300 BCE, constitute the concluding portion of the Veda. According to most Hindu traditions, ten Upanishads are considered as Principal Upanishads, but some scholars include Śvetāśvatara, Kauṣītaki and Maitrāyaṇīya into the list. The founders of the major schools of Vedanta, viz., Adi Shankara and Madhvacharya wrote bhāṣyas (commentaries) on these ten Principal Upanishads. Even though Ramanuja did not write individual commentaries on Principal Upanishads, he quoted many hundreds of quotations from Upanishads in his Sri Bhasya. In the Ramanuja lineage, one of his followers, Rangaramanuja, wrote commentaries on almost all of the Principal Upanishads around the 1600s.

The ten Principal Upanishads are:

  1. Īśā (IsUp), Shukla (Light) Yajurveda
  2. Kena (KeUp), Samaveda
  3. Kaṭha (KaUp), Krishna (Dark) Yajurveda
  4. Praśna (PrUp), Atharvaveda
  5. Muṇḍaka (MuUp), Atharvaveda
  6. Māṇḍūkya (MaUp), Atharvaveda
  7. Taittirīya (TaiUp), Krishna (Dark) Yajurveda
  8. Aitareya, (AiUp), Rigveda
  9. Chāndogya (ChhUp), Samaveda
  10. Bṛhadāraṇyaka (BṛUp), Shukla (Light) Yajurveda

The Principal Upanishads are accepted as śruti by all Hindus, or the most important scriptures of Hinduism. The Principal Upanishads are separated into three categories: prose (Taittirīya, Aitareya, Chāndogya, Bṛhadāraṇyaka), verse (Īśā, Kaṭha, Muṇḍaka), and prose (classical Sanskrit) (Māṇḍūkya).

Further reading

  • Deussen, Paul (1897). . Motilal Banarsidass Publications. ISBN 9788120814684. {{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  • Edgerton, Franklin (1965). . Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674064003.
  • Hume, Robert Ernest (1921). . Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195637434. {{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  • Johnston, Charles (2014) [1920-1931]. . Kshetra Books. ISBN 9780195637434.
  • Olivelle, Patrick. Upaniṣads. Oxford University Press, 1996.
  • Olivelle, Patrick. The Early Upaniṣads: Annotated Text and Translation. Oxford University Press, 1998.
  • Olivelle, Patrick. The Saṃnyāsa Upaniṣads: Hindu Scriptures on Asceticism and Renunciation. Oxford University Press, 1992.
  • Radhakrishnan, Sarvapalli (1994) [1953]. . New Delhi: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 9788172231248.
  • Swami Gambhirananda (1957). . Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata. ISBN 8175050152. {{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  • Yeats, William Butler; Shri Purohit Swami (1938). . Repro Books Limited. ISBN 9788129100740. {{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)