Kaivalya Upanisad

by Swami Chinmayananda

Upanisads are the philosophical portion of the Vedas. Its poetic diction, systematic development of thought-at once clear, concise and scientific in arrangement of highly philosophical ideas make Kaivalya Upanisad one the most striking minor Upanisads.

The great commentator Narayana calls the Kaivalya Upanisad as the Brahma-Satarudriya i e the Satarudriya which glorifies the unconditioned Brahma-Satarudriya i e the Satarudriya which glorifies the unconditioned Brahman as opposed to the Personal God, Lord Siva of the original Satarudriya.

True to the Upanisad style where story form is considered as the most apt devise to make the subject easily intelligible to the readers, in this Upanisad Asvalayana, the great teacher of Rg Veda is a disciple and Lord Brahma, the Creator Himself is the teacher, which makes this as the most valuable amongst the minor Upanisads.

About the Author:

H.H. Swami Chinmayananda is a world renowned authority of the scriptures of India, especially Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads. He was born in 1916 and attained mahasamadhi in 1993. He worked relentlessly for about 40 years to bring about spiritual revival in India and abroad. His unique style and logical approach is appealing to all young and old.

His was the life of selfless service to others. He is the author of more than thirty books - each one is a masterpiece, dealing with the philosophical principles behind the religion. He made mysterious and elusive vedantic principles easily understandable for common people. He is the founder of Chinmaya Mission, through which the work that he initiated and was so dear to him, is carried out in the form of spreading the message of vedanta, overseeing numerous cultural, educational and social service activities. A biography of this great spiritual master, entitled Journey of a Master: Swami Chinmayananda, is available through Chinmaya Publications.

Swami Chinmayananda was selected by the Hindu Host Committee to be the President of Hindu Religion, representing Hinduism worldwide at the Meeting of the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago (during August 28 - September 4, 1993), an honor bestowed on the great Swami Vivekananda a century ago. The Parliament had selected fourteen eminent religious leaders around the world to form a council to guide the world into the next century. At "World Vision 2000," a conference of religious leaders sponsored by Hindu Vishwa Parishad during August 6-8, 1993, H.H. Swami Chinmayanandji was to be honored for his lifetime of selfless service to humanity and his extraordinary achievements in creating a renaissance of spiritual and cultural values in India and abroad. However, on August 3, 1993, Swami Chinmayanandji attained Mahasamadhi in SanDiego, California, after suffering a massive heart attack as the equipment became too worn out due to the ceaseless Seva of the Master to humanity for over 42 years.