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OCTOBER, 1928]
THE HOME OF THE UPANIŞADS
185
THE HOME OF THE UPANIŞADS. BY UMESH CHANDRA BHATTACHARJEE, M.A., B.L.
(Continued from page 173.) Scholars find no difficulty in believing that the tenth mandala of the Rigveda, though, as the texts have come down to us, it is a part of the same compilation at present, was yet composed later than the other mandalas. It is also admitted that the Brahmanas were composed when the eastern districts had been explored and had begun to be colonised. We have evidence of this eastern migration in the Brahmanas themselves. Is it then too much to suppose that the later portions of these brahmanas-the Upanipads and the Aranyakasat any rate, a vast majority of them were composed after the settlements in the eastern districts had become prosperous territories with populous cities and villages ?
We find, therefore, that though some texts of the Sruti, as they are usually understood, imply a disparagement of the eastern districts, yet no such thing is found in the Upanişads proper. So it is precarious to conclude that the home of the Upanigads was in Kuru-Pañcala and not anywhere else. Besides, it must he remembered that even if the Brahmanas are definitely proved to have originated 'in Kuru-Pancala, still that does not prove that it was the home of the Upanişads also. It is conceivable that a distance of time as well as a distance of space separate the two. At any rate, the evidence of the Vedic and Bråhmaņic texts discussed above is inconclusive with regard to the contention that Kuru-Pañcala and not VidehaMagadha was the home of the Upanişads.
(ü) We turn now to the evidence of the Upanişads themselves. It has just been pointed out that in the Upanişads, there is no banter against the eastern peoples. On the contrary, the court of the king of Videha was an important resort of the teachers of Brahma-vidyd. In the Brhadaranyaka ii. 1, Ajatasatru of Kasi exclaims that poople flock to the court of Janaka in connection with Brahma-vidya. That shows that Videha had already acquired a reputation in that respect. Kasi clso appears to have been another seat of Brahma-vidyd ; but the jealousy of its king for Janaka, shews that it was less important seat.
In the Praśna panigad, we find teferences to Kosala and Vidarbha, enquirers from which countries approach a certain teacher for Brahma-vidyd (i. 1). And in the same Upani. sad (vi. 1), we find that even the princes of Kosala were interested in Brahma-vidya. This shows clearly that Brahma-vidyd had at least travelled out of Kuru-Pañcala, if that was its original home.
Among the princes of Pancala, Pravahana Jaivali is well-known. (Ch. i. 8; v. 3. Br. vi. 2). But he was a Kşatriya, and though fairly well posted in the subject, he was hardly a teacher in the real sense of the term. And as to the Brahmans of Kuru-Pañcala, Svetaketu Åruneya had to confess even before this very Jaivali that he had not been instructed into the mysteries of Deva-yana and Pitr-yana-an important branch of Brahma-vidyd; and his father too had to admit that he did not know it. Surely, this is not a compliment.
Again, in Chandogya i. 10-12, we have a reference to the Sauva Udgîtha '-' the song of the dog'as Deussen translates it ; "which ", to quote the same author again (p. 62) "seems to have been originally a satire on the greedy begging propensities of the priests." Now, if it was a satire at all, was it not a satire upon the Brahmans of Kuru-Pañcala? The story of Uşasti Cåkråyana, to which the song of the dog' is an appendix, seems to imply an adverse reflection upon the Kuru-Pañcala Brahmans and their mode of life. This Usasti Cåkråyaņa appears again in Brhadaranyaka iži. 4, where he puts questions to YAjšavalkya but is easily silenced.
In the Kausitaki (iv. 1), we find references to several places, eviden ly as seats of learning vig. Udinara, Mataya, Kuru-Paño Ala and Kasi-Videha. That was evidently a time when living in Magadha or Videha, was not only not unusual but was rather necessary completing one's education. It is the story of the proud Valaki who met Ajátasatru of Kasi (cf. Br. ii). In the Kaupitaki, we are told that this proud man had travelled in the countries
