The Shvetashvatara Upanishad (श्वेताश्वतरोपनिषद्) is an ancient Sanskrit text embedded in the Yajurveda. It is listed as number 14 in the Muktika canon of 108 Upanishads. The Upanishad contains 113 mantras or verses in six chapters. The Upanishad is one of the 33 Upanishads from Taittiriyas and is associated with the Shvetashvatara tradition within Karakas Sakha of the Yajurveda. It is a part of the “black” “Krishna” Yajurveda, with the term “black” implying “the un-arranged, motley collection” of content in Yajurveda, in contrast to the “white” (well arranged) Yajurveda where Brihadaranyaka Upanishad and Isha Upanishad are embedded. The Shvetashvatara Upanishad is commented on by many of its ancient and medieval scholars. It is a foundational text of the philosophy of Shaivism, as well as the Yoga and Vedanta schools of Hinduism. 

Shvetashvatara Upanishad Meaning

The name “Shvetashvatara” has the compound Sanskrit root Shvetashva (श्वेताश्व, Shvet + ashva), which literally means “white horse” and “drawn by white steeds”. Shvetashvatara is a bahuvrihi compound of (Śvetaśva + tara), where tara means “crossing”, or “carrying beyond”. The word Shvetashvatara translates to “the one carrying beyond on white horse” or simply “white mule that carries”.

Chronology of Shvetashvatara Upanishad

The chronology of Shvetashvatara Upanishad, like other Upanishads, is uncertain and contested. The chronology is difficult to resolve because all opinions rest on scanty evidence, an analysis of archaism, style, and repetitions across texts, driven by assumptions about the likely evolution of ideas, and on presumptions about which philosophy might have influenced which other Indian philosophies.

Ranade’s opinion

Ranade places Shvetashvatara Upanishad’s chronological composition in the fourth group of ancient Upanishads, after the Katha and Mundaka Upanishads. Deussen states that Shvetashvatara Upanishad refers to and incorporates phrases from the Katha Upanishad, and chronologically followed it.

Flood and Gorski’s opinion

Flood as well as Gorski state that the Svetasvatara Upanishad was probably composed in the 5th to 4th century BCE, contemporary with the Buddha. Paul Muller-Ortega dates the text between the 6th to 5th centuries BCE. 

Winternitz’s suggestion

Winternitz, suggests that Svetasvatara Upanishad was probably a pre-Buddhistic composition along with Katha, Isha, Mundaka, and Prasna Upanishad, but after the first phase of ancient Upanishads that were composed in prose such as Brihadaranyaka, Chandogya, Taittiriya, Aitareya, Kaushitaki, and Kena. Winternitz states that Isha was likely composed before post-Buddhist Upanishads such as Maitri and Mandukya.

Found chronologically more ancient Sanskrit texts

Some sections of the Shvetashvatara Upanishad are found, almost in its entirety, in chronologically more ancient Sanskrit texts, as attempts to support its doctrines “with Vedic-proof texts.” For example, verses 2.1 through 2.3 are also found in chapter 4.1.1 of Taittiriya Samhita as well as in chapter 6.3.1 of Shatapatha Brahmana, while verses 2.4 and 2.5 are also found as hymns in chapters 5.81 and 10.13 of Rigveda respectively. Similarly, many verses in chapters 3 through 6 are also found, in nearly identical form in the Samhitas of Rigveda, Atharvaveda, and Yajurveda.

Structure of Shvetashvatara Upanishad

The text has six Adhyaya (chapters), each with a varying number of verses. The first chapter includes 16 verses, the second has 17, the third chapter contains 21 verses, the fourth is composed of 22, the fifth has 14, and the sixth chapter has 23 verses. The last three verses of the sixth chapter are considered an epilogue. Thus, the Upanishad has 110 main verses and 3 epilogue verses. The epilogue verse 6.21 is a homage to sage Shvetashvatara for proclaiming Brahman knowledge to ascetics. 

Poetic style

The Shvetashvatara Upanishad has a poetic style and structure. However, unlike other ancient poetic Upanishads, the meter structure of the Shvetashvatara Upanishad varies significantly, is arbitrary and inconsistent within many verses in later chapters, such as verse 2.17 lack a definite poetic meter entirely, suggesting that the text congealed from the work of several authors over a period of time, or was interpolated and expanded over time.

The first chapter is the consistent one, with characteristics that make it likely to be the work of one author, probably sage Shvetashvatara.

Contents of Shvetashvatara Upanishad

First Adhyāya: The primal cause is within each individual

It is this “power of the Divine Self” (Deva Atman Shakti, देवात्मशक्तिं) within each individual that presides over all the primal causes, including time and self.

God, non-God, the Eternal is within self

Verses 1.4 through 1.12 of the Upanishad use Samkhya-style enumeration to state the subject of meditation, for those who seek the knowledge of Self. These verses use a poetic simile for a human being, with the unawakened individual Self-described as a resting swan.

Verse 1.5, for example, states, “We meditate on the river whose water consists of five streams, which is wild and winding with its five springs, whose waves are the five vital breaths, whose fountainhead is the mind, of course of the five kinds of perceptions. It has five whirlpools, its rapids are the five pains, it has fifty kinds of sufferings and five branches.” Adi Shankara and other scholars have explained, using more ancient Indian texts, what each of these numbers corresponds to. 

Self-knowledge, self-discipline, and Atman as the final goal of the Upanishad

The Shvetashvatara Upanishad, in verses 1.13 to 1.16, states that to know God, look within, and know your Atman (Self). It suggests meditating with the help of the syllable Om, where one’s perishable body is like one fuel stick and the syllable Om is the second fuel stick, which with discipline and diligent churning of the sticks unleashes the concealed fire of thought and awareness within. Such knowledge and ethics are, asserts the Upanishad, the goal of the Upanishad.

तिलेषु तैलं दधिनीव सर्पिरापः स्तस्वरणीषु चाग्निः ।
एवमात्माऽत्मनि गृह्यतेऽसौ सत्येनैनं तपसा योऽनुपश्यति ॥ १५ ॥
सर्वव्यापिनमात्मानं क्षीरे सर्पिरिवार्पितम् ।
आत्मविद्यातपोमूलं तद्ब्रह्मोपनिषत्परं तद्ब्रह्मॊपनिषत्परमिति ॥ १६ ॥

As oil in sesame seeds, as butter in milk, as water in Srota, as fire in fuel-sticks,
he finds in his own self that One (Atman), he, who sees him through Satya (truthfulness) and Tapas (austerity).
He sees the all prevading Atman, as butter lying dormant in milk,
rooted in self-knowledge and self-discipline – which is the final goal of the Upanishad, the final goal of Upanishad. – — Shvetashvatara Upanishad 1.15-1.16

Second Adhyāya: Yoga as a means for self-knowledge

The second Adhyaya of Shvetashvatara Upanishad is a motley collection of themes. It begins with prayer hymns to God Savitr, as the rising sun, the spiritual illuminator, and the deity of inspiration and self-discipline. Thereafter, the Upanishad discusses Yoga as a means of self-knowledge.

In this state of yoga, the individual then breathes gently slowly through the nose, states the Upanishad, with any physical motions subdued or the body is still, the mind calm and undistracted. Such is the state where the self-reflective meditation starts. The text recommends a place to perform such yoga exercises as follows:

In a clean level spot, free from pebbles, fire and gravel,
Delightful by its sounds, its water and bowers,
Favorable to thought, not offensive to the eye,
In a hidden retreat protected from the wind,
One should practise Yoga. — Shvetashvatara Upanishad 2.10

The Upanishad, in verse 2.13, describes the first benefits of Yoga to be agility, better health, a clear face, the sweetness of voice, sweet odor, regular body functions, steadiness, and a feeling of lightness in one’s personality. Yoga then leads to the knowledge of the essence of the Self, the nature of the Self.

Third Adhyaya: Atman as personal God

Verses 3.1 through 3.6 of the Shwetashvatara Upanishad describe the “Atman, Self” as the personal God, as the one and only Lord, that resides within, the origin of all Gods, calling it the Isha or Rudra.

This theme of Eka Deva (one God) – eternal, all-pervading, and forging the world with his heat – in Svetasvatara Upanishad, is common in more ancient Sanskrit texts such as Rigveda‘s hymns 10.72.2 and 10.81.3, Taittiriya Samhita 4.6.2.4, Taittiriya Aranyaka 10.1.3, White Yajurveda‘s Vajasaneyi Samhita 17.19, Atharvaveda 13.2.26 and others.

Fourth Adhyāya: Brahman as the individual and the highest Self

The Shvetashvatara Upanishad, in verses 4.1 through 4.8 states that everything is Brahman, in everything is Deva (God), it is the individual Self and the highest Self.

The Upanishad states that Brahman is in all Vedic deities, in all women, in all men, in all boys, in all girls, in every old man tottering on a stick, in every bee and bird, in all seasons and all seas. Out of the highest Self, comes the hymns, the Vedic teachings, the past and the future, asserts the Shvetashvatara Upanishad.

Rudra and Shiva

The Upanishad includes a motley addition of verses 4.11 through 4.22, wherein it repeats – with slight modifications – a flood of ancient Vedic Samhita benedictions and older Upanishadic hymns. The verses of the fourth chapter use an adjective repeatedly, namely Shiva (literally, kind, benign, blessed) as a designation for Rudra (a fierce, destructive, slaying Vedic deity). This adjective developed into a noun, and the Shvetashvatara Upanishad witnesses the assimilation of the non-Aryan deity Shiva, a central God in later scriptures of Hinduism, into the Vrdic fold. The abridged verses are:

विश्वस्यैकं परिवेष्टितारं ज्ञात्वा शिवं शान्तिमत्यन्तमेति ॥ १४ ॥
घृतात्परं मण्डमिवातिसूक्ष्मं ज्ञात्वा शिवं सर्वभूतेषु गूढम् ॥ १६ ॥

The one embracer of the universe, by knowing Him as “kind, benign” (śivam), one attains peace forever. 
By knowing as “kind, benign” (śivam) Him, who is hidden in all things, like subtle cream inside fine butter,  — Shvetashvatara Upanishad 4.14, 4.16

Fifth Adhyāya: Brahman is everywhere, knowledge liberates

The fifth chapter of the Upanishad shifts back to using the word Brahman, instead of Rudra, and presents a threefold Brahman-Atman, all part of the infinite highest Brahman, and contained in Oneness. The first theme is of the “default state of ignorance” in human beings, the second is the “realized state of knowledge”, and the third is of elevated eternal omnipresent Brahman that embraces both. The text states that ignorance is perishable and temporary, while knowledge is immortal and permanent. Knowledge is deliverance, knowledge liberates, asserts the Upanishad.

The fifth chapter is notable for verse 5.10, regarding the genderlessness of the Brahman-Atman (Self), that is present in every being. 

नैव स्त्री न पुमानेष न चैवायं नपुंसकः ।
यद्यच्छरीरमादत्ते तेने तेने स युज्यते ॥ १० ॥

It is not woman, it is not man, nor is it neuter;
whatever body it takes, with that it is joined. — Shvetashvatara Upanishad 5.10

Sixth Adhyāya: One Deva (God), the self within all beings

The sixth chapter of the Shvetashvatara Upanishad opens by acknowledging the existence of two competing theories: Nature as the primal cause, and Time as the primal cause. Verse 6.1 declares these two theories as “completely wrong”. It is Deva (God, Brahman) that is the primal cause, asserts the text, and then proceeds to describe what God is and what is God’s nature. 

He is the knower, the creator of time, the quality of everything, the Sarva-vidya (सर्वविद्यः, all knowledge), states Shvetashvatara Upanishad. This God asserts the text, is one, and is in each human being and in all living creatures. 

End of misery and sorrow, the joyful Deva, seeking His refuge for freedom

The Upanishad, in verses 6.14 through 6.20 discusses Deva (God), interchangeably with Brahman-Atman, and its importance in achieving moksha (liberation, freedom). The text asserts that Deva is the light of everything, and He is the “one swan” of the universe.

It is impossible to end sorrow, confusion, and consequences of evil, without knowing this joyful, blissful Deva, asserts the sixth chapter of the Shvetashvatara Upanishad. It is to this Deva (divine Self) that, states the text, “I go, being desirous of liberation, for refuge and shelter”.

Shvetashvatara Upanishad Reception

Ancient and medieval Indian scholars left many Bhasya (review, commentary) on Shvetashvatara Upanishad. These include those attributed to Adi Shankara, Vijnanatma, Shankarananda, and Narayana Tirtha. However, given the nature of open scholarship in Indian traditions, it is unclear if some of these commentaries are exclusive works of a single author, or if are they partially or completely the work of another later scholar.

Epilogue’s loving devotion to God debate

The last of three epilogue verses of the Shvetashvatara Upanishad, 6.23, uses the word Bhakti as follows:

यस्य देवे परा भक्तिः यथा देवे तथा गुरौ ।
तस्यैते कथिता ह्यर्थाः प्रकाशन्ते महात्मनः ॥ २३ ॥

He who has highest Bhakti (love, devotion) of Deva (God),
just like his Deva, so for his Guru (teacher),
To him who is high-minded,
these teachings will be illuminating. — Shvetashvatara Upanishad 6.23

Scholars have debated whether this phrase is authentic or later insertion into the Upanishad and whether the terms “Bhakti” and “God” meant the same in this ancient text as they do in the modern era Bhakti traditions found in India.

Grierson as well as Carus note that the first epilogue verse 6.21 is also notable for its use of the word Deva Prasada (देवप्रसाद, grace or gift of God), but add that Deva in the epilogue of the Shvetashvatara Upanishad refers to “pantheistic Brahman” and the closing credit to sage Shvetashvatara in verse 6.21 can mean “gift or grace of his Self”.

Shvetashvatara Upanishad Teachings

He is the One who presides over all and rules over everyone from the inside; He sows the golden seed of life when time begins, and helps us to know its unity.

The Lord of Love fills the hearts of all created beings just as the sun shines everywhere, filling all space with light.

When we live selfish lives as if hypnotized by pleasure and pain, we are not free. Although we appear the masters of ourselves, we go from birth to birth driven by our own deeds and karma.

The Self, though a very small flame in our hearts, is like the sun shining brilliantly.

When it becomes one with the ego, the self-conscious ‘I am’ and its desires, the Self appears other than what it is. It may be smaller than a hair’s breadth but it is infinite.

The Self is not male or female, but it takes the form of a body with desires, attachments, and delusions. The Self is born again and again in new bodies to work out the karma of past lives. The quality of the soul determines whether its future body will be earthly or airy, heavy or light. Its thoughts and actions can lead it to freedom or lead it to bondage, life after life.

Love the Lord and become free. He is God, the God of love, and when a person knows Him he leaves behind his past life bodies and becomes immortal.

Conclusion

Because of the above, I am confident that you have learned in-depth about Shvetashvatara Upanishad, its meaning, structure, contents, atman, brahman, teachings, etc. Now, that you have become self-sufficient in knowing the importance of Shvetashvatara Upanishad, henceforth, I believe that you will be adopting the values of such unique knowledge.

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Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shvetashvatara_Upanishad