Shvetashvatara Upanishad - Special Features

Special Features

1] The Supreme God or Brahman is called by various names such as Shiva, Rudra, etc. From this feature one might assume it was a Shaiva Upanishad, but such an assumption would be incorrect because, at the time of this Upanishad, Shaiva Agamas were not there. Also, at that time the Saguna Brahman, (God with attributes), used to be called by different names, each indicating a particular manifestation of Brahman. Just as the names Shiva or Rudra are used to refer to Brahman, names such as Vayu, Aditya or Agni are also used for same purpose in this Upanishad, rather than referring to the demigods of those names. Moreover, if this Upanishad is indeed a Shaiva Upanishad, other sects of Hinduism such as Vaishnavas wouldn't have quoted its verses/mantras as authority in their respective treatises.

2] A second special feature is the prominent conception of Devotion or Bhakti. In other Upanishads, the concept of Bhakti is indirectly voiced in the form of Upasana, but here, leaving no room for guesswork, it is explicitly mentioned. The word para-bhakti is explicitly used at the end of the sixth chapter. There are many words which voice submission to God or Brahman (words such as Sharanam, Prapadye, etc.). This concept of devotion later found profound expression in the Bhakti Sutras and other treatises on Bhakti.

3] A third specialty of this Upanishad lies in its giving importance to the form (fullness or murtitva) of God, where Brahman is often described as formless in other important upanishads. Since it is difficult to concentrate the mind on and/or show devotion to a formless Brahman, the Shvetashvatara Upanshad ascribes various forms to God. While expounding on devotion, it also describes various characteristics or manifestations of God, such as mentioning that he has knowledge and power. This Upanishad also presents God as the creator and sustainer of the universe and, while describing various powers of God, drives home the point with similes such as God having thousands of heads Sahasra-sheersha – to denote God's endless knowledge, thousands of eyes – to denote God as the universal witness for everything going on in the universe and God's having thousands of feet – to indicate his omnipresence. This Upanishad mentions that God or Parama Purusha is shining in his (or "its", since the Upanishads do not ascribe gender to Brahman) glory beyond the darkness of ignorance or Tamas. God controls the material energies of the universe through his characteristic Maya or illusion of the world, but God is not bound by his Maya as humans are, because he is its controller and is capable of giving salvation to human beings.

4] A fourth specialty is the use of words such as Samkhya, Kapila, yoga and Prakriti. Some scholars suggest that this indicates an assimilation of the Sankhya-Yoga-Darshana school of thought into Vedanta. If this view is right, it means that the Vedantic Upanishads originated later than the Sankhya-Yoga-Darshana school of thought. This view is unjustifiable for the following reasons:

i] Just because certain definitive words are similar, it doesn't imply that Upanishads are of later origin than Darshana schools. The definitive words like Samkhya, prakriti, etc. are also used in Vedas earlier than Darshana schools. So these specific words are taken from Vedanta and later used by proponents of Darshana schools.

ii] The proponents of Darshanas like the sage kapila describe in their treatises that they are interpreting the Vedanta, so it means Vedantic Upanishads are of earlier origin than these schools of thought.

iii] In this Upanishad there is not an assimilation of the principles of those schools, but to the contrary, the thoughts that are rejected by those schools are expounded and accepted using the same words and definitions of those schools.

The philosophical jargon of Samkhya school of thought originated in the vedas well before the birth of Samkhya. Originally, the word "samkhya" means counting or understanding. There are many verses in this Upanishad that have some counting of things in them; that is why the word "samkhya" was extended to mean knowledge. While Yoga is practical, Samkhya is intellectual. While samkhya is purely dualistic, Upanishads have a marked preference for non-dualism. In Samkhya the "Purusha" or self is different from "Prakriti" or Nature, but in Upanishadic thought Nature is a God-derived or God-dependent force. Specifically, this Upanishad refers to Prakriti as Devatma Shakti, which can be roughly translated as "God's inner force that manifests itself as nature (Prakriti)".

A possible summary of the third hymn of chapter one in this Upanishad says,

Sages engaged in deep meditation realized the secret 'Atma Shakti' of God.

It can be taken to say this Atma Shakti" or creative power of God is hidden secretly in the meditator's own inner nature.

Regarding the usage of the word "Kapila", from the context of nearby hymns to the hymn which uses the word kapila, it is clear that it does not denote the sage Kapila who is a proponent of Samkhya. The hymn 5.2 which uses word "kapila" should be seen in the context of other hymns.

The 4th hymn of the 3rd chapter says,

The all knower Rudra gave birth to Hiranyagarbha

The 12th hymn of 4th chapter says

Rudra saw the birth of Hiranyagarbha

Later, 18th hymn of 6th chapter says,

Parameshvara created Brahma

When seen in context of these hymns, the verse 5.2, which uses the word kapila, says,

God saw birth of all-knowing Kapila

In Sanskrit, the word kapila means "golden-coloured". Hiranyagarbha means "one embodying a golden core". In the Upanishads, Hiranyagarbha also has other names such as Prajapati, Brahma, etc.

The second chapter of the Upanishad explores aspects of Yoga, as verse 2.12 mentions, "When earth, water fire, air and akasa arise, when the five attributes of the elements, mentioned in the books on yoga, become manifest then the yogi's body becomes purified by the fire of yoga and he is free from illness, old age and death." More importantly in the following verse (2.13) mentions, the "precursors of perfection in yoga", namely "lightness and healthiness of the body, absence of desire, clear complexion, pleasantness of voice, sweet odour and slight excretions".