Muktikā

The Muktikā (Sanskrit: "deliverance") refers to the canon of 108 Upaniṣads. The date of composition of each is unknown, with the oldest dated to be before 500 BC and the youngest composed sometime in the medieval era. The older texts were transmitted orally, from generation to generation, in ancient India. The written form of the canon predates the 1656 record of the canon by Dara Shikoh.

The Canon

The canon is part of a dialogue between Rama and Hanuman. Rama proposes to teach Vedanta, saying "Even by reading one verse of them [any Upanishad] with devotion, one gets the status of union with me, hard to get even by sages." Hanuman enquires about the different kinds of "liberation" (Mukti, hence the name of the Upanishad), to which Rama answers that "the only real type [of liberation] is Kaivalya".

The list of 108 Upanishads is introduced in verses 26-29:

But by what means is the Kaivalya kind of Moksha got? The Mandukya is enough; if knowledge is not got from it, then study the Ten Upanishads. Getting knowledge very soon, you will reach my abode. If certainty is not got even then, study the 32 Upanishads and stop. If desiring Moksha without the body, read the 108 Upanishads. Hear their order. (trans. Warrier)

Some scholars list ten as principal – the Mukhya Upanishads, while most consider twelve or thirteen as principal, most important Upanishads (highlighted).

The list of 108 names is given in verses 30-39. They are as follows:

1. Isha Upanishad
2. Kena Upanishad
3. Katha Upanishad
4. Prashna Upanishad
5. Mundaka Upanishad
6. Mandukya Upanishad
7. Taittiriya Upanishad
8. Aitareya Upanishad
9. Chandogya Upanishad
10. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
11. Brahma Upanishad
12. Kaivalya Upanishad
13. Jabalopanishad
14. Shvetashvatara Upanishad
15. Hamsopanishad
16. Aruneya Upanishad
17. Garbhopanishad
18. Narayanopanishad
19. Paramahamsopanishad
20. Amritabindu Upanishad
21. Nada Bindu Upanishad
22. Siropanishad
23. Atharvashikha Upanishad
24. Maitrayaniya Upanishad
25. Kaushitaki Upanishad
26. Brihajjabala Upanishad
27. Nrisimha Tapaniya Upanishad
28. Kalagni Rudra Upanishad
29. Maitreya-upanishad
30. Subalopanishad
31. Kshurikopanishad
32. Mantrikopanishad
33. Sarva-saropanishad
34. Niralambopanishad
35. Suka-rahasyopanishad
36. Vajra-sucikopanishad
37. Tejobindu Upanishad
38. Nada-bindupanishad
39. Dhyana-bindupanishad
40. Brahmavidya Upanishad
41. Yogatattva Upanishad
42. Atmabodha Upanishad
43. Narada-parivrajakopanishad
44. Trisikhy-upanishad
45. Sita Upanishad
46. Yoga-cudamany-upanishad
47. Nirvanopanishad
48. Mandala-brahmanopanishad
49. Dakshina-murty-upanishad
50. Sarabhopanishad
51. Skanda Upanishad
52. Mahanarayana Upanishad
53. Advayataraka Upanishad
54. Rama-rahasyopanishad
55. Rama-tapany-upanishad
56. Vasudeva Upanishad
57. Mudgalopanishad
58. Sandilyopanishad
59. Paingalopanishad
60. Bhikshuka Upanishad
61. Mahad-upanishad
62. Sariraka Upanishad
63. Yoga-sikhopanishad
64. Turiyatitopanishad
65. Sannyasopanishad
66. Paramahamsa Parivrajaka Upanishad
67. Malika Upanishad
68. Avyaktopanishad
69. Ekakshara Upanishad
70. Purnopanishad
71. Surya Upanishad
72. Akshi Upanishad
73. Adhyatmopanishad
74. Kundikopanishad
75. Savitri Upanishad
76. Atma Upanishad
77. Pasupatopanishad
78. Param-brahmopanishad
79. Avadhutaka Upanishad
80. Tripuratapanopanishad
81. Devi Upanishad
82. Tripuropanishad
83. Katha-rudropanishad
84. Bhavanopanishad
85. Hridayopanishad
86. Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad
87. Bhasma Upanishad
88. Rudraksha Upanishad
89. Ganapati Upanishad
90. Darsanopanishad
91. Tara-saropanishad
92. Maha-vakyopanishad
93. Panca-brahmopanishad
94. Pranagni-hotropanishad
95. Gopala Tapani Upanishad
96. Krishna Upanishad
97. Yajnavalkyopanishad
98. Varaha Upanishad
99. Satyayany-upanishad
100. Hayagriva Upanishad
101. Dattatreya Upanishad
102. Garuda Upanishad
103. Kali-Santarana Upanishad
104. Jabali Upanishad
105. Saubhagyopanishad
106. Sarasvati-rahasyopanishad
107. Bahvricopanishad
108. Muktikā Upanishad (this text)

Transmission

Almost all printed editions of ancient Vedas and Upanishads depend on the late manuscripts that are hardly older than 500 years, not on the still-extant and superior oral tradition. Michael Witzel explains this oral tradition as follows:

The Vedic texts were orally composed and transmitted, without the use of script, in an unbroken line of transmission from teacher to student that was formalized early on. This ensured an impeccable textual transmission superior to the classical texts of other cultures; it is, in fact, something like a tape-recording.... Not just the actual words, but even the long-lost musical (tonal) accent (as in old Greek or in Japanese) has been preserved up to the present.

Categories

In this canon,

• 10 upaniṣads are associated with the Rigveda and have the śānti beginning vaṇme-manasi.
• 16 upaniṣads are associated with the Samaveda and have the śānti beginning āpyāyantu.
• 19 upaniṣads are associated with the Shukla Yajurveda and have the śānti beginning pūrṇamada.
• 32 upaniṣads are associated with the Krishna Yajurveda and have the śānti beginning sahanāvavatu.
• 31 upaniṣads are associated with the Atharvaveda and have the śānti beginning bhadram-karṇebhiḥ.

The first 13 are grouped as mukhya ("principal"). 21 are grouped as Sāmānya Vedānta ("common Vedanta"), The remainder are associated with five different schools or sects within Hinduism, 20 with Sannyāsa (asceticism), 8 with Shaktism, 14 with Vaishnavism, 12 with Shaivism and 20 with Yoga.

	Shukla Yajurveda	Krishna Yajurveda	Atharvaveda	Samaveda	Ṛgveda
Mukhya; these form the core of ancient texts, predating classical Hinduism; they span the 1st millennium BC and reflect the emergence of Vedanta from Vedic religion.	Īṣa Bṛhadāraṇyaka	Kaṭha Taittirīya Śvetāśvatara	Praśna Muṇḍaka Māṇḍūkya	Kena Chāndogya Maitrāyaṇi	Kauśītāki Aitareya
Sāmānya; These are general Vedantic Upanishads, and do not focus on any specific post-classical Hindu tradition.	Subāla Mantrikā Nirālamba Paiṅgala Adhyātmā Muktikā	Garbha Sarvasāra Śukarahasya Skanda Śārīraka Ekākṣara Akṣi Prāṇāgnihotra	Sūrya Ātmā	Vajrasūchi Mahad Sāvitrī	Ātmabodha Mudgala
Sannyāsa These are Upanishads that focus on asceticism and renunciation	Jābāla Paramahaṃsa Advayatāraka Bhikṣu Turīyātīta Yājñavalkya Śāṭyāyani	Brahma Tejobindu Avadhūta Kaṭharudra	Parivrāt (Nāradaparivrājaka) Paramahaṃsaparivrājaka Parabrahma	Āruṇeya Maitreyi Sannyāsa Kuṇḍika	Nirvāṇa
Śākta These are Upanishads that focus on goddess Devi-related themes		Sarasvatīrahasya	Sītā Annapūrṇa Devī Tripurātapani Bhāvana		Tripura Saubhāgya Bahvṛca
Vaiṣṇava These are Upanishads that focus on god Vishnu-related themes	Tārasāra	Nārāyaṇa Kali-Saṇṭāraṇa (Kali)	Nṛsiṃhatāpanī Mahānārāyaṇa (Tripād vibhuti) Rāmarahasya Rāmatāpaṇi Gopālatāpani Kṛṣṇa Hayagrīva Dattātreya Gāruḍa	Vāsudeva Avyakta
Śaiva These are Upanishads that focus on god Shiva-related themes		Kaivalya Kālāgnirudra Dakṣiṇāmūrti Rudrahṛdaya Pañcabrahma	Atharvaśikha Bṛhajjābāla Śarabha Bhasma Gaṇapati	Rudrākṣa Jābāla	Akṣamālika (Mālika)
Yoga These are Upanishads that focus on Yoga-related themes	Haṃsa Triśikhi Maṇḍalabrāhmaṇa	Amṛtabindu Amṛtanāda Kṣurika Dhyānabindu Brahmavidyā Yogatattva Yogaśikhā Yogakuṇḍalinī Varāha	Śāṇḍilya Pāśupata Mahāvākya	Yogachūḍāmaṇi Darśana	Nādabindu

References

• Muktika Upanishad, Translated by Dr. A. G. Krishna Warrier, Published by The Theosophical Publishing House, Chennai,

External links

• Muktika Upanishad - Translated by: Dr. A. G. Krishna Warrier The Theosophical Publishing House, Chennai
• 108 Upanishads of the Muktika