Knowledge of Brahman as a solution to fear in the Śatapatha Brāhmaa/Brhadārayaka Upaniad

Author: Geen, Jonathan

Source: Journal of Indian Philosophy, Volume 35, Number 1, February 2007 , pp. 33-102(70)

Publisher: Springer

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Abstract:

In The Varieties of Religious Experience, William James suggests that the human experience of a fundamental and existential uneasiness can be found at the core of most religious traditions, and that these traditions constiute essentially a proposed solution to this uneasiness. The present investigation focuses upon the notion of uneasiness, particularly fear, and its solution in the early Hindu tradition. Through a close examination of textual expressions of both desire and fear from the Rgveda, the Śatapatha Brāhmaa, and the Brhadārayaka Upaniad, it is proposed that “liberation” in the early Upaniadic period, or at least the precursor to the traditional notion of liberation, actually meant freedom from fear, rather than freedom from karma or sasra. The Brhadārayaka Upaniad suggests that the origin of duality is desire, and duality necessarily results in fear. By relinquishing the sorts of desires so frequently expressed in the earlier vedic literature, together with an understanding of the essentially non-dual relationship between the ātman and brahman, a state of complete freedom from fear (abhaya) may be achieved.

Keywords: Śatapatha Brāhmaa; Brhadārayaka Upaniad; Fear Desire; William James

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10781-007-9012-x

Affiliations: 1: Email: geenj@univmail.cis.mcmaster.ca

Publication date: 2007-02-01