The Svetasvatara Upanishad belongs
the Krishna Yajur
Veda and is
regarded as an important
source of the Vedanta
Philosophy. Its
verses are quoted profusely
in Vedantic treatises.
Its fundamental
teachings are identical with
those of the other
Upanishads. The
unity and spirituality of
the Ultimate Reality
behind the
universe are declared with
great emphasis. It says:
"He who protects
and controls the worlds by
His own powers,
He- Rudra -
is indeed one only. There
is no one beside Him
who can make
Him the second. O men,
He is present inside
the heart of
all beings. After projecting
and maintaining all the
worlds, He
finally withdraws them into
Himself" (III-2).
The one Ultimate Reality
is declared to be the
in-dwelling spirit
pervading the entire universe.
"Salutations to that
Divinity who is in
the fire, who is in
the water, who is in the
plants and trees, who
pervades the whole universe"(II-17)
.
The Svetasvatara Upanishad contains ideas,
which in
later speculations,
were formulated in the
Sankhya and Yoga
systems of philosophy.
The word Yoga and its
derivatives are of
frequent occurrence throughout
the Upanishad. Detailed instructions
for the practice
of Yoga are also found
in the text.
The Svetasvatara Upanishad is
of a later date than
the ten principal
Upanishads. Here the emphasis
is no longer
on free inquiry
but on systematisation and
harmonisation of
diverse ideas.
The Upanishad tries to harmonise
the ideasscattered
among the various schools
of thought that were prevalent
at the
time of its composition.
The well-known idea of God as
the One
in-dwelling Presence has
been kept intact. But God
has become
more personal in this
Upanishad. The term frequently used
with
reference to the Ultimate
Reality is "Deva". Other terms used such
as Rudra and Hara were
to come into vogue in a later
stage of
development of Hindu thought and
are not found in the
other
Upanishads. There is also
increasing emphasis on devotion to God
and the need for His
grace for man's emancipation.