The philosophy of Upanishads is absolute unity which means ‘Oneness’ of Parmatma and his creation. The Upanishads have been source of strength and solace for mankind. They are not books of science or arts. They enlighten us to lead life by which we can attain liberation. To understand the vision of its eternal unity through the Supreme Being. Soul is no different from the Supreme Being. ‘Tat Tvam Asi’, Thou art that. Upanishads want us to rise above this turmoil of transiency of life and move to the real which his indicated faintly in our personal lives.
The illusion theory or ‘Maya’ in Upanishads is a puzzle to many who find contradiction in the philosophy of Upanishads. However it is not the fault of Upanishads but is the cause of limited knowledge human beings have about the absolute. It is not renunciation of the world or indifference to the call of duty. The objects of attachment in common life are wealth and family connections but the object of the spiritual life is absolutely different. One has to saturate one’s self to spirit and substance of the Upanishads. Therefore, to understand Upanishads it is necessary to familiarise with the principle of ‘Advait’ (non-duality) and the noble practices and virtues which remove separateness of all kinds. All are merged in the unity of the absolute.
Knowledge of Upanishads is not expected to be a means of material gains. The central theme of Upanishads is solidarity of the universe represented by God who is the absolute. The thought of unity of the universe supports unity of all that exists in this world. The Upanishads point out the superfluous from the real. It is for us to locate the real and leave the superfluous. Swami Vivekananda spoke on the strength that Upanishads give to society and said :
“Strength is what Upanishads speak to me from every page. They will with trumpet voice of the weak, the miserable and the downtrodden of all races, all creeds, all sects, to stand on their own feet and to be free. Freedom-physical, mental freedom and spiritual freedom-are the watch word of the Upanishads.”
The process of ascent of the soul to the absolute is to attain immortality. Today the world is full of darkness which can be removed from the light of the Upanishads. Upanishad’s call, Lead me from the unreal to real, Lead me from darkness to light, Lead me from death to immortality and Lead me from falsehood to truth, also contains the desire to become immortal.
This article has been taken from the book Soul Of India by Dr H R Bhardwaj