Maha Upanishad

Maha Upanishad
The text discusses Narayana (Vishnu)
Devanagariमहा
IASTMahā
Title meansGreat[1]
TypeVaishnava[1]
Linked VedaSamaveda[2]
Chapters6
Verses549[3]
PhilosophyVaishnavism

The Maha Upanishad (Sanskrit: महा उपनिषद्, IAST: Mahā Upaniṣad) is a Sanskrit text and is one of the minor Upanishads of Hinduism.[4][5] The text is classified as a Samanya Upanishad.

The text exists in two versions, one attached to the Atharvaveda in some anthologies,[6] and another attached to the Samaveda.[5] The Atharvaveda version is shorter, and in prose.[7][8] The Samaveda version is partly in poetic verses.[9]

The Vaishnava Upanishad describes Vishnu as the highest being, and above Brahma.[1] [10] Both groups of texts, however, use reverential words of all Hindu gods, and assert them to be the same Atman-Brahman.[10] The Upanishad presents a syncretism of Vaishnava and Vedanta ideas, and is notable for its teaching of "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam", or "the world is one family".[11][12][13]

  1. ^ a b c Deussen 1997, p. 799.
  2. ^ Tinoco 1996, p. 89.
  3. ^ AG Krishna Warrier (1953), Maha Upanishad, Theosophical Society, Madras, Online
  4. ^ Deussen 1997, pp. 557, 561–567.
  5. ^ a b Tinoco 1996, pp. 87–89.
  6. ^ Deussen 1997, pp. 566–567.
  7. ^ Deussen 1997, pp. 799–801.
  8. ^ Max Muller, Alphabetisches Verzeichniss der Upanishads at Google Books, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft: ZDMG, Volume 19, page 151
  9. ^ Hattangadi 2000.
  10. ^ a b Deussen 1997, pp. 779–782, 799–801.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference jeffreymoses12 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference robinseelan143 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ BP Singh and Dalai Lama XIV Bstan-ʼdzin-rgya-mtsho (2008), Bahudhā and the Post 9/11 World, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195693553, page 51