Sariraka

The Sariraka Upanishad is one of the minor Upanishads and is listed at 62 (in the serial order in the Muktika enumerated by Rama to Hanuman) in the modern era anthology of 108 Upanishads. Composed in Sanskrit, it is one of the 32 Upanishads that belongs to the Krishna Yajurveda, and is classified as one of the Samanya (general), and is one of several dedicated mystical physiology Upanishads. The Upanishad, along with Garbha Upanishad, focuses on what is the relation between human body and human soul, where and how one relates to the other, and what happens to each at birth and after death. These questions and various theories are mentioned in the earliest Upanishads, the theories evolve, but Sariraka and other mystical physiology Upanishads are dedicated to this discussion. The text asserts that the human body is a composite of elements from earth, water, air, space (akash), and energy (agni, fire); and that the human soul (jīva) is "the lord of the [human] body". It then describes how human sensory organs arise from these, how functions such as human will, doubt, memory, intellect, copulation, speech, anger, fear, delusion, right conduct, compassion, modesty, non-violence, dharma and other aspects of life arise. The Sariraka Upanishad states that Prakriti (inert but always changing nature) consists of eight native forms, fifteen functional modifications, for a total of twenty-three tattva. It adds that the twenty fourth tattva in human body is avyakta (undifferentiated cosmic matter), asserting the individual soul functions as Kshetrajna ("the lord of the body") and the Purusha (indestructible universal principle, unchanging cosmic soul) is different and greater than the twenty-four tattvas. Structure The text consists of one chapter, which begins with a long prose prologue presenting a theory of human physiology, followed by eight verses. Verses 1 through 4, as well as 6 through 7 are metric, while the 5th verse is longer and presents the theory of three Guṇas and four states of consciousness. The last verse asserts that Purusha is supreme.

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