Ritual, Self and Yoga

On the Ways and Goals of Salvation in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad

Dados Bibliográficos

ID10126423
AutoresDominik Haas (0000-0002-8505-6112, University of Vienna, autor correspondente)
Ano2019
Volume47
Fascículo5
Páginas1019-1052
Data de publicação2019-08-05
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournal of Indian Philosophy (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0022-1791 • E-ISSN: 1573-0395
EditoraSpringer Nature (PUBLISHER • SG)
DOI10.1007/s10781-019-09408-y
OpenAlexW2965451976
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas3
Referências citadas23

Throughout its history, the renowned Kaṭha Upaniṣad has often been described as being both incoherent and contradictory. The aim of this paper is to show to what purpose the text was created. To this end, it discusses the connection of the three paths to salvation depicted in the text, viz. the Agnicayana (a powerful Vedic fire-ritual), the Upaniṣadic method of self-knowledge, and yoga. The first part retraces how in the Upaniṣads, the Agnicayana was transformed into a non-material or mental ritual and linked with self-knowledge. The second part analyses how the various salvation goals (heaven, the World of Brahman, liberation from rebirth) could be related to each other. First, the authors redefined the Agnicayana’s salvation goal, heaven, to make it identical with liberation. Secondly, they introduced self-knowledge and yoga as alternative and equally powerful means to the same end. In practice, however, the new and world-negating methods were implied to be superior to the costly ritual from which they had drawn their authority. Thus, the authors of the Upaniṣad were more concerned with showing continuity between different religious approaches than upholding consistency of content

Aesthetics · Art · Consistency (knowledge bases · Epistemology · Heaven · Indian philosophy · Literature · Philosophy of religion · Self-knowledge · Artificial Intelligence · Chinese history and philosophy · Computer Science · History · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions · Philosophy