Kottarakkara, Abhiram Publications, 2014. 798 pages
The book Upanishad Darsanam, Kesaviya Bhasahaganam a simple Malayalam verse translation of the ten major Upanishads by Inchakkad K N Kesava Pillai is a priceless treasure and a boon to all seekers of Truth.
Vedic lore consists of Samhitas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas and the Upanishads. The last portion of each Veda is known as Upanishad. In Vedanta Anta means the inner secret, the final word of the Veda or the last portion of the Veda. Hence the quintessence, the final word, the last teaching of the Veda is the Upanishad, and beyond that there is nothing to say. When one knows That, one has known everything.
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Upanishad Darsanam is very lucid and poetic in style and structure and as the first ever such venture in Malayalam. It will be recorded in golden letters in the history of spiritual literature in Malayalam.
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The four Vedas altogether consist of 1180 branches and each branch contains an Upanishad at its end. So it is to be assumed that there are more than 1,000 Upanishads, but what is available to us is only 108 Upanishads, which are well known. Muktikopanishad, lists these 108 Upanishads. Among them the great philosophers and commentators consider ten as the most important.
The ten Upanishads popularly known as Dasopanishads tran created into simple and beautiful Malayalam verse in Upanishad Darsanam by Sri. K N Kesava Pillai are: Aitareya Upanishad, Taittiriya Upanishad, Isavasya Upanishad, Katha Upanishad, Kena Upanishad, Mundaka Upanishad, Mandukya Upanishad, Prasna Upanishad, Chhandogya Upanishad and Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. The above sequence followed by Sri. K N. Keasva Pillai differs from the traditional sequence. To those who learn these Upanishads the path to ultimate Knowledge becomes clear.
Among these Upanishads the Aitareya Upanishad forming part of the Aitareya Aranyaka, is intended to lead the mind of the sacrificer away from the outer ceremonial to its inner meaning. The Taittiriya Upanishad of the Yajur Veda deals with the knowledge of the Supreme Self. Isavasya Upanishad, belongs to Yajur Veda and its main purpose is to teach the essential unity of God and the world. Katha Upanishad, of Yajur Veda, uses the setting of a story that of Nachikethus found in ancient Sanskrit literature to deal with the meaning of death. The Kena Upanishad belongs to the Sama Veda and it deals with the Supreme Unqualified Brahman, the absolute principle underlying the world of phenomenon. The Mundaka Upanishad of Atharva Veda and explains clearly the distinction between the higher knowledge of the Supreme Brahman and the lower knowledge of the empirical world and states that it is by this higher wisdom and not by sacrifices or worship that one can reach Brahman. The Mandukya Upanishad of Atharva Veda is an exposition of the principle of Aum as consisting of three elements, a, u, m, which refer to the three states of walking, dream and dreamless sleep. It teaches that the Supreme Self is manifested in the universe in its gross, subtle and causal aspects. The Prasna Upanishad belonging to the Atharva Veda and deals with knowledge of the nature of the ultimate cause, the power of Aum, the relation of the Supreme to the constituents of the world. The Chandogya Upanishad of the Sama Veda. discusses the problems of liturgy and doctrine such as the genesis and significance of Aum and the meaning and names of Brahman. The Brhad-Aranyaka Upanishad which is generally recognized to be the most important of the Upanishads forming part of the Satapatha Brahmana expounds the teachings of the basic identity of the individual and the Universal Self, certain modes of worship and meditation, upasana, and answers roughly to the three stages of religious life, sravana, hearing the upadesa or the teaching, manana, logical reflection, upapatti and nididhyasana or contemplative. In addition to the above the book contains verse translations of Purushasuktham, Narayana Suktham, Samvada Suktham etc and original works of the author; Parabrahma Dhyanam and Parabrahma Stotram. The work contains the orginal Sanskirit text in Malayalam transliteration and their Malayalam verse trans creation. The book also contains a detailed study by Sri. AKB Nair an expert in Upanishads.
The ten Upanishads Trans created by the author are as mentioned above the most important ones but are also equally very difficult to understand. The difficulty arises because of the subjects they treat. They teach us knowledge of the self, which is the most difficult science or principle to understand. More than that the Upanishads are written in Sanskrit the language which is used only by a very few except scholars and men of letters. All these prevent the common man from learning the secrets of God Realization embedded in these Upanishads. From the time of Thunjath Ezhuthachan great scholars and saints have tried to translate the religious and philosophical texts to the language of the common man.
Most of the epics and Puranas have already been translated into Malayalam verse since the time of Ezhuthachan. Bhagavad Gita and a few philosophical treatises also have also been translated to into Malayalam verse. For Upanishads there are numerous classic commentaries in Malayalam like that of G Balakrishnan Nair, P K Narayana Pillai, Nitya Chaithanya Yathi, Narendra Bhushan, Siddhinathananda Swami etc. But the credit for the first successful attempt to trans create the Upanishads into Malayalam goes to Sri. K N Kesava Pillai of our generation. The work is to be compared to the verse trans creations of Puranas and other philosophical works by Thunjath Ezhuthachan. One example for the clarity and simplicity of the verse trans creation of K N Kesava Pillai is the mantra III.14.2 of Chandgyopanishad that reads as follows:
ആത്മാവുമനോമയന്, പ്രാണശരീരമുള്ളോന്
നല്പ്രകാശസ്വരൂപന്, സത്യസങ്കല്പന് പിന്നെ
ആകാശരൂപന് സര്വകര്മ്മങ്ങളെഴുന്നവന്
സര്വകാമങ്ങളോടു വാഴുവോന്, സര്വഗന്ധമുള്ളവന്
സര്വരസമൊന്നുപോലിയലുവോനിക്കാണു
മെല്ലാറ്റിനെത്തന്നെയും വ്യാപിച്ചെന്നും നില്പവന്
വാക്കില്ലാത്തോന് ചെറ്റു സംഭ്രമം പോലുമില്ലാത്തോ
നേതദ് വിശേഷങ്ങളൊക്കെയുമുള്ളോന്.
Upanishads can be tran created into other language especially in verse without loosing their meaning only by those who understood their inner meaning by lifelong study and meditation. The ease and simplicity with which the author trans creates the Upanishads into Malayalam is a clear proof of his erudition, Knowledge of the eternal truth and his saintly life.
In the forward to Upanishad Darsanam Mahakavi Akkittham Achuthan Nambudiripad a great scholar of Vedic literature who himself has translated numerous Sanskrit works into Malayalam states that the Parabrahma Stotra and Dhyanaslokas, the original works of the author provided at the beginning clearly reflect the meaning of Brahama and are notable contributions to spiritual literature. He adds that the love and care with which the author has translated the Upanishads into Malayalam makes him an adorable Guru and that these translations will remain the Upanishads for those who do not know Sanskrit. Upanishad Darsanam is very lucid and poetic in style and structure and as the first ever such venture in Malayalam. It will be marked in golden letters in the history of spiritual literature in Malayalam.
(Reviewed by Dr. L. Sulochana Devi, Principal, Sanskrit College, Tripunthura. 26.04.2015)
