Sanskrit Manuscripts : Vajrasūcikopaniṣad

Śaṅkara, Śaṅkara

Sanskrit Manuscripts

<p style='text-align: justify;'> An 18th-century manuscript of the little-known <i>Vajrasūcikopaniṣad</i> (also known under the title <i>Vajrasūcyupaniṣad</i>). This short text, of unknown date, is often ascribed to the famous Vedāntin Śaṅkara, and it is also vaguely related to the <i>Sāmaveda</i>. The version of the text transmitted in the manuscript is quite different from the one printed in the standard edition of 108 Upaniṣads by L.S. Panshikar (no. 38; p. 222-23). It is in three parts: the first part (in prose and verse) deals with the definition of a real brahmin (brāhmaṇa), and was sometimes read as a critique of the caste system; the second part (in prose and verse) considers various notions of liberation (<i>mokṣa</i>); the third part (prose only) deals with the interpretation of the upaniṣadic “Great Sayings” (<i>mahāvākya</i>s). The printed text of the Upaniṣad corresponds, with important textual variations, to the prose portion of the first part only, found here on <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(1);return false;'>ff. 1v1-3v4</a>. </p>