The Message of the Upanishads

Swami Ranganathananda

Advaita Ashrama (A Publication House of Ramakrishna Math, Belur Math)

About this ebook

The Message of the Upanishads is a study, verse by verse, of three of the principal Upanishads, namely, Isha, Kena and Katha, in the light of modern thought and modern needs. Though constituting a small portion of the total Upanishadic literature, they yet contain a lucid exposition of all the essential ideas of this immortal literature.

The spiritual insights of the Upanishads are an exception to the tyranny of time. Subsequent scientific advances have not only affected their truth-value but have, on the contrary, only helped to reveal the rational basis of their insights and enhanced their spiritual appeal. This is no wonder, because these insights are the products of an equally scientific investigation into a different field of experience, namely, the world of man’s inner life.

Published by Advaita Ashrama, a publication house of Ramakrishna Math, Belur Math.

Ratings and reviews

The wording in this book is just appalling. Take the sentence below for example... "Encounters between religions are increasingly taking place today in an atmosphere of decreasing emotional tem­peratures." What in the world is the author trying to convey through this sentence?! The whole book is full of gobbledygook.

An exceedingly good collection. Seeing after one of my friend suggested it.

good

About the author

Swami Ranganathananda (1908 – 2005), the 13th President of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, was hailed as one of the greatest exponents of Vedanta in the 20th century, especially in the lines

of Ramakrishna-Vivekananda. Taking to monastic life at a very young age, the Swami was initiated into Sannyasa in 1933 by Swami Shivananda, a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna.

The Swami’s tenure as the head of Ramakrishna Math and Mission centres like New Delhi, RKM Institute of Culture, Kolkata, and Hyderabad marked the development of those centres to new heights especially for the dissemination of spiritual knowledge. His lectures were very popular among the intelligentsia, and auditoriums would be packed with the city’s elite during his brilliant and profound discourses on Vedanta.

Between 1956 and 1972 he went on several world tours as an ambassador of religion and Indian culture, travelling to over fifty countries in North and South America, Asia, Africa and Europe, including the then

Communist states of USSR, Poland and Czechoslovakia. During these government sponsored tours, he lectured regularly, tirelessly and brilliantly. Universities, colleges, schools, cultural institutions, clubs and small groups of interested people, all received something solid from him.

From 1973 to 1986, the Swami undertook annual tours to the US, Europe and Australia spreading the message of Vedanta and Ramakrishna-Vivekananda. At the Government’s urging, the Swami gave yearly talks to trainees at the National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, and the National Defence College, Delhi. Generations of administrators and bright minds destined to lead the country heard his wonderful expositions on Indian values and how they could be implemented in administrative fields.

The Swami was a constant traveller and an unrelenting karma-yogi of the highest order who never thought twice about foregoing food and sleep to help people selflessly. In appreciation of his noble contribution as an integrator of humanity, he was honoured in 1985 with the first Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration.