Witnessing such a situation the guru was so charmed that he had asked his other disciples to acquire the knowledge produced by Yajnavalkya as much as they could. It was said that Yajnavalkya was such a genius that he was not only able to produce the teachings of the Guru but had also added his originality and insight into the knowledge acquired. Instead of being repulsive, the story has been given a completely different implication. It is said that for this particular reason this Upanishad has been called the Taittiriya Upanishad. On such an occasion the guru asked his other disciples to take the form of partridges (Taittiriya birds) and consume the leavings. Being ordered in such a manner from the guru, Yajnavalkya vomited the entire knowledge which he had imbibed from the guru. As the guru had got angry with his disciple he demanded that his disciple should give back all the knowledge which he has acquired from the guru. The legend goes that once saint Vaisampayana got angry with one of his prominent disciples called Yajnavalkya. An interesting legend is closely associated with the Taittiriya Upanishad. The topics covered are presented very methodically which are enlightened further by Adi Sankaracharya’s commentary thereon. It is regarded as a source-book of the Vedanta philosophy. This Upanishad, like most other Vedic chantings, has a particular accent, mode of recitation,(svara) which has come down from generation to generation, by tradition (which also varies slightly from region to region).
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Though comparatively short, the Taittiriya Upanishad is one of the important Upanishads and is recited in many parts of India with proper accent, intonation and dedication. In the Taittiriya Upanishad, Brahman is introduced by both types of indicators, namely tatastha lakshanam and svaroopa lakshanam which is the extraordinary feature in the mode of communication or dissemination used in this Upanishad. In this way, we gain knowledge of both satyam and mithya and their relationships. Even though we do not talk about creation as such, Brahman being anantam - Limitlessness Itself, there can be nothing independent of Brahman which means all names and forms in this creation are non-separate from Brahman even though Brahman Itself remains independent of this creation which is subject to change from time to time. In this method of indication, we do not talk about creation at all. Here the Upanishad indicates Brahman Itself, as It is, and this method of indication is called svaroopa lakshanam. All these three indicators point to the same ONE BRAHMAN. For example, when the Upanishad says: satyam jnanam anantam brahma, Brahman is satyam - that which is never subject to change, is jnanam - that which is all knowledge Itself, is anantam -that which is Limitlessness Itself. On the other hand, in svaroopa lakshanam one indicates Brahman as It is. Such method of indicating Brahman is called tatastha lakshanam, (tatastha means standing apart). Here again, we must understand that this creation is not an attribute of Brahman and Brahman stands independent of creation. It only tells that there is something called Brahman and That is the cause for this creation. For example, when we say "I do namaskar to That Brahman from which this entire creation is born", this statement does not tell what Brahman is.
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In the tatastha lakshanam Brahman is indicated not by what It is, but how It is related to the things that we know. They are tatastha lakshanam and svaroopa lakshanam. The only way knowledge about Brahman can be communicated is through lakshana vritti, by indication through appropriate pointers. Simply trying to use many words to define Brahman does not really help. Therefore, a word defining Brahman is not there. It is not comparable to anything that we know. This word is not available as the meaning of any other known word. There are two types of such pointers: they are tatastha lakshanam and svaroopa lakshanam.
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In the field of Upanishad knowledge, the mode of communication is through lakshana vritti where communication is accomplished by indication through different pointers. Let us see what we mean by direct and indirect way of explaining. This Upanishad occupies a unique place in Indian Philosophy because it explains the Reality both in direct as well as indirect terms. The Taittiriya Upanishad is a part of the Krishna Yajur Veda and forms a part of the seventh, eighth and ninth chapters of the Taittiriya Aranyaka. Taittiriya Upanishad: Petal 1 A Bird’s Eye View T.N.Sethumadhavan INTRODUCTION
TAITTIRIYA UPANISHAD ABOUT HAPPINESS FREE
Taittiriya Upanishad Transliterated Sanskrit Text Free Translation & Brief Explanation By T.N.Sethumadhavan Published In 27th October, 2011 Kartika Shukla Pratipada (Bali Pratipada) Nagpur