The Taittirīya Upanishad (तैत्तिरीय उपनिषद्) is a Vedic era Sanskrit text, embedded as three chapters (adhyāya) of the Yajurveda. It is a mukhya (primary, principal) Upanishad, and likely composed about the 6th century BC. The Taittirīya Upanishad is associated with the Taittirīya school of the Yajurveda, attributed to the pupils of sage Vaishampayana. It lists as number 7 in the Muktika canon of 108 Upanishads. The Upanishad includes verses that are partly prayers and benedictions, partly instruction on phonetics and praxis, partly advice on ethics and morals given to graduating students from ancient Vedic Gurukula-s (schools), partly a treatise on allegory, and partly philosophical instruction.

Taittirīya Upanishad Meaning

Taittiriya is a Sanskrit word that means “from Tittiri”. The root of this name has been interpreted in two ways: “from Vedic sage Tittiri”, who was the student of Yāska; or alternatively, it being a collection of verses from mythical students who became “partridges” (birds) in order to gain knowledge. The later root of the title comes from the nature of Taittriya Upanishad which, like the rest of “dark or black Yajurveda“, is a motley, confusing collection of unrelated but individually meaningful verses.

Taittirīya Upanishad Chronology

The chronology of Taittiriya Upanishad, along with other Vedic-era literature, is unclear. All opinions rest on scanty evidence, assumptions about the likely evolution of ideas, and presumptions about which philosophy might have influenced which other Indian philosophies.

Stephen Phillips suggests that Taittiriya Upanishad was likely one of the early Upanishads, composed in the 1st half of the 1st millennium BCE, after Brihadaranyaka, Chandogya, and Isha, but before Aitareya, Kaushitaki, Kena, Katha, Manduka, Prasna, Svetasvatara, and Maitri Upanishads, as well as before the earliest Buddhist Pali and Jaina canons.

Structure of Taittirīya Upanishad

Three chapters

The Taittiriya Upanishad has three chapters: the Siksha Valli, the Ananda Valli, and the Bhrigu Valli. The first chapter of Siksha Valli includes twelve Anuvaka (lessons). The second chapter Ananda Valli, sometimes called Brahmananda Valli includes nine verses. The third chapter Bhrigu Valli consists of ten verses.

Shiksha Valli

Some ancient and medieval Hindu scholars have classified the Taittiriya Upanishad differently, based on its structure. For example, Sâyana in his Bhasya (review and commentary) calls the Shiksha Valli (seventh chapter of the Aranyaka) as Sâmhitî-Upanishad, and he prefers to treat the Ananda Valli and Bhrigu Valli (eighth and ninth Prapâthakas) as a separate Upanishad and calls it the Vāruny Upanishad.

Index at the end of each section

At the end of each Vallĩ in Taittiriya Upanishad manuscripts, there is an index of the Anuvakas which it contains. The index includes the initial words and final words of each Anuvaka, as well as the number of sections in that Anuvaka. 

For example, the first and second Anuvakas of Shiksha Valli state in their indices that there are five sections each in them, the fourth Anuvaka asserts there are three sections and one paragraph in it, while the twelfth Anuvaka states it has one section and five paragraphs. 

Anuvaka

The Ananda Valli, according to the embedded index, states each chapter to be much larger than currently surviving texts. For example, the 1st Anuvaka lists pratika words in its index as brahmavid, idam, and ayam, and states the number of sections to be twenty-one.

The 2nd Anuvaka asserts it has twenty-six sections, the 3rd claims twenty-two, the 4th has eighteen, the 5th has twenty-two, the 6th Anuvaka asserts in its index that it has twenty-eight sections, 7th claims sixteen, 8th states it includes fifty-one sections, while the 9th asserts it has eleven. Similarly, the third Valli lists the pratika and anukramani in the index for each of the ten Anuvakas.

Taittirīya Upanishad Content

Shiksha Valli

The Siksha Valli chapter of Taittiriya Upanishad derives its name from Shiksha (Sanskrit: शिक्षा), which literally means “instruction, education”. The various lessons of this first chapter are related to the education of students in the ancient Vedic era of India, their initiation into a school, and their responsibilities after graduation. It mentions the lifelong “pursuit of knowledge”, and includes hints of “Self-knowledge”, but is largely independent of the second and third chapters of the Upanishad which discuss Atman and Self-knowledge. Paul Deussen states that the Shiksha Valli was likely the earliest chapter composed of this Upanishad, and the text grew over time with additional chapters.

The Siksha Valli includes promises by students entering the Vedic school, an outline of basic course content, the nature of advanced courses and creative work from human relationships, ethical and social responsibilities of the teacher and the students, the role of breathing and proper pronunciation of Vedic literature, the duties and ethical precepts that the graduate must live up to post-graduation.

A student’s promise – First Anuvāka

The first anuvaka (lesson) of Taittiriya Upanishad starts with benedictions, wherein states Adi Shankara, major Vedic deities are proclaimed to be manifestations of Brahman (Cosmic Self, the constant Universal Principle, Unchanging Reality). Along with the benedictions, the first anuvaka includes a prayer and promise that a student in the Vedic age of India was supposed to recite. Along with benedictions to Vedic deities, the recitation stated,

The right will I will speak,
and I will speak the true,
May That (Brahman) protect me; may That protect the teacher.
Om! Peace! Peace! Peace! — Taittiriya Upanishad, Translated by Swami Sharvananda

Adi Shankara comments that the “Peace” phrase is repeated thrice because there are three potential obstacles to the gain of Self-knowledge by a student: one’s own behavior, other people’s behavior, and the devas; these sources are exhorted to peace.

Phonetics and the theory of connecting links – Second and Third Anuvāka

The second anuvaka highlights phonetics as an element of Vedic instruction. The verse asserts that the student must master the principles of sound as it is created and as perceived, in terms of the structure of linguistics, vowels, consonants, balancing, accentuation (stress, meter), speaking correctly, and the connection of sounds in a word from articulatory and auditory perspectives.

Taittirĩya Upanishad emphasizes, in its later anuvakas, svādhyāya, a practice that served as the principal tool for the oral preservation of the Vedas in their original form for over two millennia. Svādhyāya as a part of the student’s instruction, involved understanding the linguistic principles coupled with recitation practice of Indian scriptures, which enabled the mastering of entire chapters and books with accurate pronunciation. The ancient Indian studies of linguistics and recitation tradition, as mentioned in the second anuvaka of Taittiriya Upanishad, helped transmit and preserve the extensive Vedic literature from the 2nd millennium BCE onwards, long before the methods of mass printing and book preservation were developed. 

A teacher’s prayer – Fourth Anuvāka

The fourth anuvaka of Shiksha Valli is a prayer of the teacher,

Students, may they come to me! Svaha! (liturgy exclamation)
Students, may they flock to me! Svaha!
Students, may they rush to me! Svaha!
Students, may they be controlled! Svaha!
Students, may they be tranquil! Svaha!
(…)
As waters flow down the slope;
And the months with the passing of the days;
So, O Creator, from everywhere,
May students come to me! Svaha!
You are a neighbor!
Shine on me!
Come to me! — Taittirĩya Upanishad, I.4.2

The structure of the fourth anuvaka is unusual because it starts as a metered verse but slowly metamorphoses into rhythmic Sanskrit prose. Additionally, the construction of the verse has creative elements that permit multiple translations. The fourth anuvaka is also structured as a liturgical text, with many parts rhythmically ending in Svāhā, a term used when oblations are offered during yajna rituals.

A Theory of Oneness and holy exclamations – Fifth and Sixth Anuvāka

The fifth anuvaka declares that “Bhūr! Bhuvaḥ! Svar!” are three holy exclamations, then adds that Bhur is the breathing out, Bhuvah is the breathing in, while Svar is the intermediate step between those two. It also states that “Brahman is Atman (Self), and all deities and divinities are its limbs”, that “Self-knowledge is the Eternal Principle”, and the human beings who have this Oneness and Self-knowledge are served by the Gods.

The sixth anuvaka ends with an exhortation to meditate on this Oneness principle, during Pracina yogya (प्राचीन योग्य, ancient yoga), making it one of the earliest mentions of the practice of meditative Yoga as existent in ancient India.

Parallelism in knowledge and what is Om – Seventh and Eighth Anuvāka

The seventh anuvaka of Shiksha Valli is an unconnected lesson asserting that “everything in this whole world is fivefold” – sensory organs, human anatomy (skin, flesh, sinews, bones, marrow), breathing, energy (fire, wind, sun, moon, stars), space (earth, aerial space, heavens, poles, intermediate poles). This section does not contextually fit with the sixth or eighth lesson.

It is the concluding words of the seventh anuvaka that makes it relevant to the Taittiriya Upanishad, by asserting the idea of the fractal nature of existence where the same hidden principles of nature and reality are present in macro and micro forms, there is parallelism in all knowledge. Paul Deussen states that these concluding words of the seventh lesson of Shiksha Valli assert, “There is parallelism between man and the world, microcosm, and macrocosm, and he who understands this idea of parallelism becomes there through the macrocosm itself”.

What is ॐ?

It includes an exposition of the syllable word Om (ॐ, sometimes spelled Aum), stating that this word is the inner part of the word Brahman, it signifies the Brahman, it is this whole world states the eighth lesson in the first section of the Taittiriya Upanishad.

The verse asserts that this syllable word is used often and for diverse purposes, to remind and celebrate that Brahman. It lists the diverse uses of Om in ancient India, at invocations, at Agnidhra, in songs of the Samans, in prayers, in Sastras, during sacrifices, during rituals, during meditation, and during the recitation of the Vedas.

Ethical duties of human beings – Ninth Anuvāka

The ninth anuvaka of Shiksha Valli is a rhythmic recitation of the ethical duties of all human beings, where svādhyāya is the “perusal of oneself” (study yourself), and the pravachana (प्रवचन, exposition and discussion of Vedas) is emphasized.

ऋतं च स्वाध्यायप्रवचने च । सत्यं च स्वाध्यायप्रवचने च । तपश्च स्वाध्यायप्रवचने च । दमश्च स्वाध्यायप्रवचने च । शमश्च स्वाध्यायप्रवचने च । अग्नयश्च स्वाध्यायप्रवचने च । अग्निहोत्रं च स्वाध्यायप्रवचने च । अतिथयश्च स्वाध्यायप्रवचने च । मानुषं च स्वाध्यायप्रवचने च । प्रजा च स्वाध्यायप्रवचने च । प्रजनश्च स्वाध्यायप्रवचने च । प्रजातिश्च स्वाध्यायप्रवचने च । सत्यमिति सत्यवचा राथीतरः । तप इति तपोनित्यः पौरुशिष्टिः । स्वाध्यायप्रवचने एवेति नाको मौद्गल्यः । तद्धि तपस्तद्धि तपः ॥

Justice with svādhyāya and pravacana (must be practiced),
Truth with svādhyāya and pravacana,
Tapas with svādhyāya and pravacana,
Damah with svādhyāya and pravacana,
Tranquility and forgiveness with svādhyāya and pravacana,
Fire rituals with svādhyāya and pravacana,
Oblations during fire rituals with svādhyāya and pravacana,
Hospitality to one’s guest to the best of one’s ability with svādhyāya and pravacana,
Kind affability with all human beings with svādhyāya and pravacana,
Procreation with svādhyāya and pravacana,
Sexual intercourse with svādhyāya and pravacana,
Raising children to the best of one’s ability with svādhyāya and pravacana,
Truthfulness opines (sage) Satyavacā Rāthītara,
Tapas opines (sage) Taponitya Pauruśiṣṭi,
Svādhyāya and pravacana opines (sage) Naka Maudgalya
– because that is tapas, that is tapas. — Taittirīya Upanishad, I.9.1

Tenth Anuvāka

The tenth anuvaka is an obscure, unrelated lesson, likely a corrupted or incomplete surviving version of the original, according to Paul Deussen. It is rhythmic with the Mahabrihati Yavamadhya meter, a mathematical “8+8+12+8+8” structure.

Convocation address to graduating students, living ethically – Eleventh Anuvāka

The eleventh anuvaka of Shiksha Valli lists behavioral guidelines for graduating students from a gurukul:

मातृदेवो भव । पितृदेवो भव ।
आचार्यदेवो भव । अतिथिदेवो भव ।
यान्यनवद्यानि कर्माणि तानि सेवितव्यानि । नो इतराणि ।
यान्यस्माकँ सुचरितानि तानि त्वयोपास्यानि । नो इतराणि ॥ २ ॥

Be one to whom a mother is as God, be one to whom a father is as God,
Be one to whom an Acharya (spiritual guide, scholars you learn from) is as God, be one to whom a guest is as God.
Let your actions be uncensurable, none else.
Those acts that you consider good when done to you, do those to others, none else.

— Taittirĩya Upanishad, I.11.2

The third section of the eleventh anuvaka lists charity and giving, with faith, sympathy, modesty, and cheerfulness, as ethical precepts for the graduating students.

Graduating student’s acknowledgment – Twelfth Anuvāka

The last anuvaka (lesson) of Taittiriya Upanishad, just like the first anuvaka, starts with benedictions, wherein Vedic deities are once again proclaimed to be manifestations of Brahman (Cosmic Self, Unchanging Reality). Along with the benedictions, the last anuvaka includes an acknowledgment that mirrors the promise in the first anuvaka:

I have proclaimed you,
And you alone as the visible Brahman!
I have proclaimed you as the right!
I have proclaimed you as the true!
It has helped me.
It has helped the teacher.
Yes, it has helped me.
And it has helped the teacher.
Om, Peace! Peace! Peace! — Taittirĩya Upanishad, I.12.1, Translated by Patrick Olivelle

Ananda Valli

The second chapter of Taittiriya Upanishad, namely Ananda Valli and sometimes called Brahmananda Valli, focuses like other ancient Upanishads on the theme of Atman (Self). It asserts that “Atman exists”, it is Brahman, and realizing it is the highest, empowering, liberating knowledge. Ananda Valli asserts that knowing one’s Self is the path to freedom from all concerns, and fears and to a positive state of blissful living.

The Ananda Valli is remarkable for its Kosha (Sanskrit: कोष) theory (or Layered Maya theory), expressing that man reaches his highest potential and understands the deepest knowledge through a process of learning the right and unlearning the wrong. Real deeper knowledge is hidden in layers of superficial knowledge, but superficial knowledge is easier and more simplistic. The Ananda Valli classifies these as concentric layers (sheaths) of knowledge-seeking. The outermost layer is called Annamaya which envelops and hides Pranamaya, which in turn envelops Manomaya, inside which is Vijnanamaya, and finally, the Anandamaya which the Upanishad states is the innermost, deepest layer.

Annamaya Kosha- First and Second Anuvāka

The first anuvaka commences by stating the premise and a summary of the entire Ananda Valli.

ब्रह्मविदाप्नोति परम् । तदेषाऽभ्युक्ता । सत्यं ज्ञानमनन्तं ब्रह्म ।

One who knows Brahman, reaches the highest. Satya (reality, truth) is Brahman, Jnana (knowledge) is Brahman, Ananta (infinite) is Brahman. — Taittiriya Upanishad, 2.1.1

The second anuvaka of Ananda Valli then proceeds to explain the first layer of man’s nature and knowledge-seeking to be about “material man and material nature”, with the metaphor of food. 

Pranamaya Kosha- Third Anuvāka

The second inner level of nature and knowledge-seeking is about life force, asserts Ananda Valli’s third anuvaka. Gods breathe, human beings breathe, and animals breathe, as do all beings that exist. Life force is more than the material universe, it includes animating processes inside the being, particularly breathing, and this layer of nature and knowledge is Pranamaya kosha.

Manomaya Kosha- Fourth Anuvāka

The next inner, deeper layer of nature and knowledge-seeking relates to Manas (mind, thought, will, wish), or Manomaya kosha. Manas, asserts the fourth anuvaka of Ananda Valli, exists only in individual forms of beings. 

The verse of the fourth anuvaka adds that this knowledge is essential yet incomplete, that it is the knowledge of Brahman that truly liberates, and one who knows Atman-Brahman “dreads nothing, now and never” and “lives contently, in bliss”.

Vijñãnamaya Kosha- Fifth Anuvāka

The fifth anuvaka of Ananda Valli states that the “manomaya kosha” (thought, will, wish) envelops a deeper more profound layer of existence, which is the “vijnana-maya kosha” (knowledge, ethics, reason).  The individual who is aware of vijnana-maya asserts the verses of Ananda Valli and offers knowledge as the work to others.

Anandamaya Kosha- Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Anuvāka

The sixth, seventh, and eighth anuvaka of Ananda Valli states that the “vijnanamaya kosha” (knowledge, ethics, reason) envelops the deepest, hidden layer of existence, which is the “ananda-maya kosha” (bliss, tranquility, contents). This is the innermost realm of Atman-Brahman (Self, spirituality). 

The individuals who are aware of ananda-maya, assert the sixth to eighth verses of Ananda Valli, are those who simultaneously realize the empirical and the spiritual, the conscious and unconscious, the changing and the eternal, the time and the timeless.

Bhṛgu Vallī

The third Valli of Tattiriya Upanishad repeats the ideas of Ananda Valli, through a story about sage Bhrigu. The chapter is also similar in its themes and focus to those found in Chapter 3 of Kausitaki Upanishad and Chapter 8 of Chandogya Upanishad. The Bhrigu Valli’s theme is the exposition of the concept of Atman-Brahman (Self) and what it means to be a self-realized, free, liberated human being.

It is in these anuvakas that sage Varuni advises Bhrigu with one of the oft-cited definitions of Brahman, as “that from which beings originate, through which they live, and in which they re-enter after death, explore that because that is Brahman”. This thematic, all-encompassing, eternal nature of reality and existence develops as the basis for Bhrigu’s emphasis on introspection and linearization, to help peel off the outer husks of knowledge, in order to reach and realize the innermost kernel of spiritual Self-knowledge.

Conclusion

Because of the above, I am confident you have learned in-depth about Tattiriya Upanishad, its chronology, structure, contents, and spiritual self-knowledge. Now, that you have become self-sufficient in knowing the importance of Tattiriya 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/Taittiriya_Upanishad