INTRODUCTION
(A) Upanisads and Yoga-Upanisads.
The last part of the Vedas is known as the Upansads, The Upamsad is
the path of knowledge of the Vedas. Upanisads are an important source of
Indian Philosophy. Indian philosophy, particularly. the philosophy of
Upanisads tries to transcend the world appearance as ephemeral, painful
illusory and posits something beyond becoming, beyond temporality. The
Upanisadie sages typically rejected the idea that the brahmanical rituals
inherited from Vedic and early post-Were times had the potency to lead to
enlightenment. though they generally conceded that external rites had their
proper place in religious life. They turned unanimously to meditative
practice, or inner worship (ignisand), as the chief means of obtaining
transcendental knowledge of the Self (arman), and internalized the Vedic
rituals in the form of intense contemplation, or meditation. The knowledge
of Aiman for them was the basis for becoming one or communion with the
Brahman.
The Upuntwod's express the restlessness and the striving nature of the
human mind to grasp the true nature of Reality. But Indian philosophies
often remind us that we must not judge the self merely from a logical point
of view-that is, by seeking the causes that have determined the present
state of thing. Here also lies the explanation of the paradoxical teleology
of creation, which fetters the human soul and at the same time urges it on
to liberation, We find scattered throughout the Uparigods certain hints for
the practical realization of the Self by means of Yoga. They are the,