Overview

The Atharvasira Upanisat, which is also known as Siva-Atharva-Sirsam, is one of the minor Upanishads. Though it is considered as a minor Upanishads, it undoubtedly is not trivial in its contents since it is full of Vedantic wisdom. This Upanishad glorifies Lord Rudra. Rudra is a Vedic name of Lord Shiva, and therefore, Atharvasira Upanisat comes under the category of Shaiva Upanishads. Being a Shaiva Upanishad, it is also known as Sivatharva-Sirsam. The other Shaiva Upanishads are Atharvashikha Upanishad, Neelarudra Upanishad, Kalagnirudra Upanishad, and Kaivalya Upanishad. The Shvetashvatara Upanishad, which is one of the 12 major Upanishads, may also be considered as a Shaiva Upanishad. The Atharvasira Upanisat is undoubtedly a very ancient scripture - some scholars date it to approximately the 5th century BCE.There are five Atharva-Sirsas dedicated to Hindu Deities Ganesha, Shiva, Vishnu, Goddess Durga, and Surya (Sun-god), each Deity is addressed as the Supreme Being - Brahman or the Ultimate Truth. This signifies the fact that there is only one God, but He has been given numerous names. The Rig-Veda says, 'The Truth (God) is one, but the wise describe it (Him) in various ways.' The most common Atharva-Sirsa is the Ganapati Atharva-Sirsa, which is dedicated to Lord Ganesha. All the Atharva-Sirsas have an exceptional role - on the one hand, they are Vedantic treatises in which these Deities have been identified as Brahman, and on the other hand, they are chanted as the Vedic mantras in the praise and worship of their respective Deities. Thus, they emphasize that for God-realization, Jnana (spiritual wisdom) and Bhakti (devotion) must go hand in hand, they cannot be separated. The Atharvasira Upanisat (Sivatharva-Sirsam) has one more specialty; it not only talks about the spiritual wisdom and devotion; it also explains how to perform spiritual practices - how to meditate - to attain liberation. Among all the Atharva-Sirsas, the Sivatharva-Sirsam is the longest and more detailed. The book is aimed at two kinds of readers: (1) Readers who are interested in Vedantic philosophy: The book consists of the Sanskrit text of the mantras, their English transliteration, meaning, and the commentary. It will help the spiritual seekers who are interested in learning the philosophical understanding of the mantras. (2) Devotees of Lord Shiva: Since this Upanishad is a Shaiva scripture, many Shiva devotees regularly chant these mantras during the worship of Lord Shiva. For such devotees, I have given only the Sanskrit text in two separate sections. One section gives the text in the Devanagari script, whereas the other section provides its English transliteration. This will make it easy for the devotees to chant the mantras of the Upanishad.

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9781656213013

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