A General Introduction to Upanishads with a Special Chapter Ramanuja on Upanishads

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There is a well-meaning criticism from Vedantic scholars from time to time that the majority of our people are nointerested to familiarise themselves with our fundamental philosophy and culture. At the same time, it should also be observed that efforts to popularise our Vedantic philosophy in a manner intelligible to a large number of people are not forth-coming. One could well ask which should precede, the interest or the response to it? The uniqueness of human birth and its evolution after a mind-boggling cycle of births and deaths (evolution of human life is said to take place after undergoing 8,400,000 lives of various types of species) needs to be understood, besides the fact that if one does not utilise this life to overcome further births, one will slide back requiring millenniums for one to come back to human life. Kenopanishad puts it succinctly (2.5) that a havoc befalls those who do not make efforts to realise Brahman in this life itself (Mahatii Vinashatthi) .

present effort is, at best, meant to create an awareness and interest in the subject. It is not from a scholar to a layman - it is from one aspirant to another. All the same, efforts have been made to bring together all the salient aspects of Upanishads in a condensed manner in this small pocket edition - size is very important in keeping reader's interest alive right through.

The special feature in this book is an effort to highlight Sri Ramanuja's vast use of Upanishads for writing Sri Bhashya, Gita Bhashya and Vedartha Sangraha. It is hoped that at least a handful of readers will get interested to study bigger treatises on Upanishads with original in the language of their choice. In fact readers can choose anyone Upanishad for detailed study, if possible, with the help of a teacher, and move in the direction of the 'realisation of Brahman'.