A History of Sanskrit Literature c11.98

c11.98

The oldest and most important of these Atharvan Upanishads, as representing the Vedānta doctrine most faithfully, are the *Muṇḍaka*, the *Praçna*, and to a less degree the *Māṇḍūkya*. The first two come nearest to the Upanishads of the older Vedas, and are much quoted by Bādarāyaṇa and Çaṅkara, the great authorities of the later Vedānta philosophy. They are the only original and legitimate Upanishads of the *Atharva*. The *Muṇḍaka* derives its name from being the Upanishad of the tonsured (*muṇḍa*), an association of ascetics who shaved their heads, as the Buddhist monks did later. It is one of the most popular of the Upanishads, not owing to the originality of its contents, which are for the most part derived from older texts, but owing to the purity with which it reproduces the old Vedānta doctrine, and the beauty of the stanzas in which it is composed. It presupposes, above all, the *Chhāndogya Upanishad*, and in all probability the *Bṛihadāraṇyaka*, the *Taittirīya*, and the *Kāṭhaka*. Having several important passages in common with the *Çvetāçvatara* and the *Bṛihannārāyaṇa* of the *Black Yajurveda*, it probably belongs to the same epoch, coming between the two in order of time. It consists of three parts, which, speaking generally, deal respectively with the preparations for the knowledge of Brahma, the doctrine of Brahma, and the way to Brahma.