II. The Talavakâra-Upanishad
THIS Upanishad is best known by the name of Kena-upanishad, from its
first word. The name of brâhmî-upanishad (IV, 7) can hardly be
considered as a title. It means “the teaching of Brahman,” and is used
with reference to other Upanishads also[54]. Sankara, in his
commentary, tells us that this Upanishad forms the ninth adhyâya of a
Brâhmana, or, if we take his words quite literally, he says, “the
beginning of the ninth adhyâya is ‘the Upanishad beginning with the
words Keneshitam, and treating of the Highest Brahman has to be
taught.’” In the eight preceeding adhyâyas, he tells us, all the
sacred rites or sacrifices had been fully explained, and likewise the
meditations (upâsana) on the prâna (vital breath) which belongs to all
these sacrifices, and those meditations also which have reference to
the fivefold and sevenfold Sâmans. After that followed Gâyatra-sâman
and the Vamsa, the genealogical list. All this would naturally form the
subject of a Sâma-veda-brâhmana, and we find portions corresponding to
the description given by Sankara in the Khândogya-upanishad, e.g. the
fivefold Sâman, II, 2; the sevenfold Sâman, II, 8; the Gâyatra-sâman,
III, 12, I.
Ânandagñâna tells us that our Upanishad belonged to the Sâkhâ of the
Talavakâras.
All this had formerly to be taken on trust, because no Brâhmana was
known containing the Upanishad. Dr. Burnell, however, has lately
discovered a Brâhmana of the Sâma-veda which comes very near the
description given by Sankara. In a letter dated Tanjore, 8th Dec. 1878,
he
writes:
It appears to me that you would be glad to know the
following about the Kena-upanishad, as it occurs in my MS. of the
Talavakâra-brâhmana.
The last book but one of this Brâhmana is termed
Upanishad-brâhmana. It consists of 145 khandas treating of the
Gâyatra-sâman, and the 134th is a Vamsa. The Kena-upanishad comprises
the 135-145 khandas, or the tenth anuvâka of a chapter. The 139th
section begins: âsâ vâ idam agra âsit, &c.
My MS. of the Talavakâra-brâhmana agrees, as regards the contents,
exactly with what Sankara says, but not in the,divisions. He says that
the Kena-upanishad begins the ninth adhyâya, but that is not so in my
MS. Neither the beginning nor the end of this Upanishad is noticed
particularly.
The last book of this Brâhmana is the Arsheya-brâhmana, which I
printed last February.
Among the teachers quoted in the Brâhmana I have noticed both
Tândya and Sâtyâyani. I should not be surprised to find in it the
difficult quotations which are incorrectly given in the MSS. of
Sâyana's commentary on the Rig-veda. The story of Apâlâ, quoted by
Slyana in his commentary on the Rig-veda, VIII, 80, as from the
Sâtyâyanaka, is found word for word, except some trivial var.
lectiones, in sections 220-221 of the Agnishtoma book of the
Talavakâra-brâhmana. The Sâtyâyanins seem to be closely connected with
the Talavakâra-sâkhâ.
From a communication made by Dr. Burnell to the Academy (1 Feb. 79),
I gather that this Talavakâra-brâhmana is called by those who study it
Gaiminîya-brâhmana, after the Sâkhâ of the Sâma-veda which they
follow. The account given in the Academy differs on some particulars
slightly from that given in Dr. Burnell's letter to me. He writes: “The
largest part of the Brâhmana treats of the sacrifices and the Sâmans
used at them. The first chapter is on the Agnihotra, and the Agnishtoma
and other rites follow at great length. Then comes a book termed
Upanishad-brâhmana. This contains 145 sections in four chapters. It
begins with speculations on the Gâyatra-sâman, followed by a Vamsa;
next, some similar matter and another Vamsa. Then (§§135-138) comes the
Kenaupanishad (Talavakâra). The last book is the Ârsheya. The Upanishad
forms the tenth anuvâka of the fourth chapter, not the beginning of a
ninth chapter, as Sankara remarks.”
The Kena-upanishad has been frequently published and translated. It
forms part of Dârâ Shukoh's Persian, and Anquetil Duperron's Latin
translations. It was several times published in English by Rammohun Roy
(Translations of Several Principal Books, Passages, and Texts of the
Veda, London, 1832, p. 41), in German by Windischmann, Poley, and
others. It has been more or less fully discussed by Colebrooke,
Windischmann, Poley, Weber, Röer, Gough, and Regnaud in the books
mentioned before,
Besides the text of this Upanishad contained in the Brâhmana of the
Sâma-veda, there is another text, slightly differing, belonging to the
Atharva-veda, and there are commentaries on both texts (Colebrooke,
Misc. Essays, 1873, II, p. 80).
