The Vedas and Upanishads: what they teach and which editions to read

Everything in Hindu thought points back to the Vedas, yet very few people have read one, and that is not a failing: the Vedas were composed to be recited, not read, and their most studied portion, the Upanishads, has always been approached through a teacher and a commentary. This guide explains what the Vedas are, how they are organised, what the principal Upanishads ask, and which of our editions to start with. Every book below is in the Puranas and Upanishads collection.

The four Vedas

The word veda means knowledge. The tradition holds the Vedas to be shruti, "what was heard" by the rishis rather than composed by anyone, which is why they stand above every other text. There are four:

• Rigveda: 1,028 hymns to Agni, Indra, Varuna, Soma and the other devas, the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature.
• Yajurveda: the formulas recited by the priest who performs the yajna. Its Shukla (white) recension is the one most used in North Indian ritual, and it contains the Rudri chanted in Shiva worship.
• Samaveda: Rigvedic verses set to melody for singing at the sacrifice, the root of Indian music.
• Atharvaveda: hymns and charms for daily life, healing, marriage, protection of the home.

Each Veda has four parts: the Samhita (the hymns themselves), the Brahmana (instructions for ritual), the Aranyaka (the "forest" texts, contemplation on ritual), and the Upanishad (philosophy). The first three are karma kanda, the portion dealing with action; the Upanishads are jnana kanda, the portion dealing with knowledge, and they are the part read today.

We do not stock the full Samhitas, which are specialist multi volume works. What most homes want from the Vedas is the hymns that are actually used in worship, and those are collected in the Vedic Sukta Sangrah: Purusha Sukta, Shri Sukta, Rudra Sukta, Nasadiya Sukta and the other suktas recited at pooja, with Hindi meaning.

Gayatri and Sandhya

The one Vedic verse every Hindu knows is the Gayatri mantra (Rigveda 3.62.10), recited at the three sandhyas, dawn, noon and dusk, as the core of the daily sandhya vandana. Sandhya, Gayatri ka Mahatva explains the practice and its meaning; the pocket Sandhya gives the procedure alone, and the Gayatri Sahasranama collects the thousand names of the Goddess Gayatri for those who take her as their ishta.

The Upanishads

Upanishad means "sitting near": the teaching received at the feet of a guru. The Upanishads are the dialogues at the end of each Veda that ask the questions ritual cannot answer. What is the self (atman)? What is the ground of everything (Brahman)? Are they the same? Their answers, in the mahavakyas "tat tvam asi" (you are that) and "aham brahmasmi" (I am Brahman), are the foundation of Vedanta.

There are more than a hundred Upanishads, but ten are treated as principal because Adi Shankaracharya wrote commentaries on them, and those ten are where every student begins.

The principal Upanishads, one by one

• Isha (Yajurveda): eighteen verses on seeing the Lord in everything and acting without clinging. The shortest and the one most often memorised.
• Katha (Yajurveda): the boy Nachiketa questions Yama, the god of death, about what survives death. Source of the image of the body as a chariot with the self as its rider.
• Prashna (Atharvaveda): six seekers put six questions to the sage Pippalada, on prana, sleep, Om and the self.
• Mundaka (Atharvaveda): the distinction between lower knowledge (the sciences, even the Vedas) and higher knowledge of Brahman; the two birds on one tree. India's motto, satyameva jayate, is from here.
• Mandukya (Atharvaveda): twelve verses on Om and the four states of consciousness (waking, dream, deep sleep and turiya). Shankaracharya's tradition treats it as the essence of all Vedanta; this edition includes Gaudapada's Karika.
• Taittiriya (Yajurveda): the five sheaths (koshas) of the person, and the famous instruction to the departing student: speak the truth, practise dharma, treat your mother and father as gods.
• Aitareya (Rigveda): creation from the self, and the mahavakya "prajnanam brahma", consciousness is Brahman.
• Chhandogya (Samaveda): the long Upanishad of Uddalaka and Shvetaketu, source of "tat tvam asi", and of the teaching on the space within the heart.
• Brihadaranyaka (Yajurveda): the largest and oldest, containing the dialogues of Yajnavalkya with Maitreyi and with King Janaka's court, and the prayer "lead me from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light".
• Shvetashvatara (Yajurveda): the most theistic of the group, presenting Brahman as Rudra Shiva, and an early account of yoga practice.

Which edition to choose

The Ishadi Nau Upanishad collects nine of the principal Upanishads in one volume with the Sanskrit text and a plain Hindi meaning, the best first purchase. The large edition adds Shankaracharya's commentary in full, at 1,360 pages. The individual volumes linked above each carry the Sanskrit, a word by word meaning and the Shankara bhashya, and the Upanishad set brings the single volumes together at a set price.

Brahma Sutra: Vedanta in aphorisms

The Brahma Sutra (Vedanta Darshan) of Vedavyasa condenses the teaching of the Upanishads into 555 short sutras, and every school of Vedanta (Shankara's Advaita, Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita, Madhva's Dvaita) defined itself by writing a commentary on it. With the Upanishads and the Gita it forms the prasthana trayi, the three foundations of Vedanta. It is a study text, best taken up after the Gita and a few Upanishads.

How to read the Upanishads

1. Start with Isha, Katha and Mandukya; they are short and self contained.
2. Read the Sanskrit aloud even if you do not understand it; the sound is part of the text.
3. Take one section at a time with its commentary. The Upanishads were never meant to be read straight through.
4. Keep the Gita alongside; it applies the same ideas to action and devotion, and each makes the other clearer.

Frequently asked questions

Are the Vedas and the Upanishads different books?

No. The Upanishads are the final section of each Veda, which is why Vedanta means "end of the Veda". When people say they are reading "the Vedas" they usually mean the Upanishads.

Do I need to know Sanskrit?

No. Every edition here gives a Hindi translation with the Sanskrit, and the commentary explains each term. Learning to read Devanagari well enough to chant the verses is a good goal, and takes a few weeks.

Which Upanishad is the most important?

Tradition gives that place to the Mandukya for philosophy and the Brihadaranyaka and Chhandogya for depth. For a first reader, the Katha is the most loved.

Descriptions of traditional or spiritual use reflect Vedic belief and are shared for cultural context. They are not medical or professional advice.