The Philosophy of the Upanishads c9.s1.22

c9.s1.22

This attitude of aloofness towards the Vedic knowledge is altered at first gradually and in general, as the texts of the Upanishads gain fixity, and become the Vedânta.¹ Henceforth they, and the Veda with them, are regarded as sources of the highest knowledge. A first trace of this change is shown in Bṛih. 3. 9. 26, where Yâjñavalkhya inquires after the purusha of the upanishad doctrine (*aupanishada purusha*); this Ś’akalya does not know, and thereupon acknowledges defeat. Further, in Chând. 3. 5. 4, where the Veda is explained to be nectar, the Upanishads, the *guhyâ’ âdes’âḥ*, are the nectar of nectar. In Kena 33 the Upanishads are apparently attached to the Veda, or more precisely comprise a brief summary of the entire Vedic material of instruction under the Veda; for there the Vedas are explained to be “the sum of the parts” (*vedâḥ sarvângâni*), the “secret doctrine of Brahman” (*brâhmî upanishad*, in contrast with other unrecognised Upanishads, such as the *asurâṇâm upanishad* referred to above). With the adoption of the name Vedânta the Upanishads are seen to be completely naturalised in the Veda. The term first occurs in S’vet. 6. 22:—“From of old was the deepest secret disclosed in the Vedânta.” This transfer of the Vedânta to antiquity (*purâkalpa*) seems to show that the author looks back to the Bṛih., Chând., and other Upanishads of which he makes use from a certain distance. It might, however, be understood as a mere expression of the high value attached to them, a value that increases with the lapse of time. The Vedânta texts appear completely established in their later position as sources of the knowledge of Brahman, which is to be gained through the interpretation they offer, in the verse which occurs Muṇḍ. 3. 2. 6:²—*vedânta-vijñâna-sunis’cita-arthâḥ*, etc., “they who have correctly (*su*) penetrated the meaning of the Vedânta knowledge.” With this Muṇḍ. 2. 2. 3-4 agrees, where the Upanishads, and the syllable *Om* as their most essential element, are described as the bow, with which men shoot at Brahman as the mark. It is otherwise, however, in Muṇḍ. 1. 1. 5, where all the four Vedas are rejected. The latter passage seems therefore to be derived from an earlier period.