The History of Indian Literature c8.520

c8.520

At the head of the Upanishads belonging to the *Śiva*-sects stands, according to the use that has been made of it, the *Śatarudriya*. I have already remarked, however, that this is nothing but an abuse. In its germs the worship of Śiva may be traced even in the later portions of the Yajus.cont‡ He appears very prominently as Mahádeva in a portion of the Nárāyaṇíyopanishad, and here he is already associated with his spouse. The Śvetáśvataropanishad also pays homage to him. Among the Atharvopanishads the most ancient in this regard is the *Kaivalyopanishad* (77), a mixture of prose and *ślokas*, in which *bhagaván mahádevaḥ* himself instructs Áśvaláyana concerning his own majesty; in a similar way he acts as his own herald [§] in the *Atharvaśiras* (78), in prose. The latter Upanishad has been expounded by Śaṃkara. Under the same title, "head of Atharvan,"—a name that is also borne by Brahman himself, although in a different relation,—there exists a second Upanishad, itself a conglomeration of five different Upanishads referring to the five principal deities, Gaṇapati (79), Náráyaṇa, Rudra, Súrya (80), and Deví (81).cont Its Náráyaṇa-portion is a later recension of the Náráyaṇopanishad (64, see above, p. 166), and the Rudra-portion follows the first chapter of the Atharvaśiras proper. All five have been translated by Vans Kennedy. In the Mahá-Bhárata (i. 2882), and the Code of Vishṇu, where the Atharvaśiras is mentioned along with the *Bháruṇḍáni sámáni*, and in Vishṇu also, where it appears beside the Śatarudriya (as the principal means of expiation), the reference probably is to the Upanishad explained by Śamkara (?).—The *Rudrop.* and *Átharvaṇíya-Rudrop.* are known to me only through the Catalogue of the India Office Library. Possibly they are identical with those already named; I therefore exclude them from my list. The *Mṛityulaṅghanopanishad* (82)† is quite modern, and with it is worthily associated the *Kálágnirudropanishad* (83),¹⁹³ in prose, of which there are no less than three different recensions, one of which belongs to the Nandikeśvara-Upapuráṇa. The *Tripuropanishad* (84) also appears from its name—otherwise it is unknown to me—to belong to this division;¹⁹⁴ it has been interpreted by Bhaṭṭa Bháskara Miśra. The *Skandopanishad* (85), in fifteen ślokas, is also Śiva-itic¹⁹⁵ (likewise the *Amṛitanádopanishad*). The adoration of Śiva's spouse, his Śakti,—the origin of which may be traced back to the Kenopanishad and the Náráyaṇíyopanishad,—is the subject of the *Sundarítápaníyopanishad* (known to me by name only), in five parts (86–90), as well as of the *Deví-Upanishad* (79), which has already been mentioned. The *Kaulopanishad* (91), in prose, also belongs to a Śákta sectary.∗