A Constructive Survey of Upanishadic Philosophy c13.s5: V. References
A Constructive Survey of Upanishadic Philosophy c13.s5
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V. References
c13.s5.1
The references to Upanishadic literature are vast and various. We can tabulate here only the principal among them under three different heads, references in the Histories of Literature, references in the Histories of Religion, and references in the Histories of Philosophy. Weber's *Indische Studien* Vols. I. and II. contain series of articles on almost all of the Upanishads in this volume, with the exception of the Aitareya and the Bṛihadāraṇyaka. We have also a treatment of the Upanishads in his *History of Indian Literature*, as well as in Monier Williams's *Indian Wisdom*. Other references to the philosophy of the Upanishads are to be found in Leopold von Schroeder's *Indiens Literatur und Cultur*, 1887, in Prof. Macdonell's *History of Sanskrit Literature*, pp. 218-243, as well as in Winternitz's *Geschichte der indischen Literatur* Vol. I., pp. 210-229. All these try to sum up concisely the teachings of the Upanishads, and indicate their general place in the history of Sanskrit Literature.
c13.s5.2
So far as the Histories of Religion are concerned, we may mention Hopkins's *Religions of India*, and Geden's *Studies in Eastern Religions*, as well as his later *Studies in the Religions of the East*. These indicate the religious place of the Upanishads in Indian thought.
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Among Histories of Indian Philosophy we might make special mention of Prof. Radhakrishnan's *Indian Philosophy* Volume I., and Das Gupta's *History of Indian Philosophy* Vol. I., which contain recent pronouncements on the philosophy of the Upanishads. Strauss's *Indische Philosophie* contains a treatment of the philosophy of the Old Upanishads at pp. 42-61, and of the New Upanishads at pp. 62-85, which would amply repay perusal.
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Among other references to Upanishadic literature, we might make mention of Prof. Keith's chapter on the Upanishadic Period in the *Cambridge History of India* Vol. I, chapter 5, wherein he points out that the theory of Transmigration was a new theory in the Upanishadic days, having been entirely absent in the Brāhmaṇa period. He also suggests that it would not be correct to suppose that the Brahman Doctrine was the reaction of the noble class against the devotion of the priests to the ritual. On the other hand, he points out that it must have been through policy that the Brahmins ascribed the Brahman doctrine to the noble class (pp. 142-144). We have pointed out in the third chapter of this book how the idea of Transmigration could be traced even to the Vedic days; hence it was not entirely new to the Upanishads. Also, we have suggested at the end of the first chapter that the doctrine of Brahman could be regarded neither as Brahmanic nor as Kshatriyan, and that anybody, who came to "know", to whatever class he might have belonged, was regarded as a Sage. To attribute policy to the Brahmins would not be a satisfactory solution.
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A last reference to Upanishadic literature we should make mention of is an Article on the Upanishads in the *Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics* by the Rev. A. S. Geden, the Translator of Deussen's *Philosophy of the Upanishads*. The editor of the Encyclopaedia could not have pitched upon a more suitable person to write the article on the "Upanishads." The article also contains a useful little Bibliography at the end of it.