Early Theistic Vedantic Manifestation in the Classical Upanisads
By Vijay Pandya
Summary
Vijay Pandya's article, "Early Theistic Vedantic Manifestation in the Classical Upanisads," argues that while devotionalism originates in the Rgveda, it undergoes a radical conceptual transformation in the Upanisadic age. The author contends that the Classical Upanisads exhibit a gradual evolution from the monism of the Rgvedic past toward a monotheism and theism that ultimately made the sprout of Bhakti possible. In the Upanisads, the robust Vedic deities like Varuna and Indra are marginalized, becoming pale shadows before the all-powerful Brahman. This conceptual shift replaces the term deva with the epithet Isa, I$ana, or Isvara, signifying a ruler or Lord. The article's evidence is drawn from specific Upanisadic texts. In the Kena Upanisad 14-28, Agni and Vayu are depicted as powerless, while the Chandogya Upanisad 8-7 shows the gods sending Indra to seek knowledge of the dtman from Prajapati. The Taittitiya Upanisad 3-1 presents Varuna as a symbolic representation or an entity possessing knowledge of the dtman. The Kausitaki Upanisad 3-8 further illustrates this theistic trend by casting the dtman as a dispenser of good and bad deeds, endowed with the attributes of a personal god. Pandya also examines the dualistic reality occasionally postulated in the Upanisads, citing the Kathopanisad 3-1 and 1-3-1. The Kathopanisad 2-23 is highlighted for mentioning the principle of grace, which later theologians like Vallabhacarya utilized. The author identifies the $vetasvatara Upanisad as the site where theistic tendency fully blooms, noting the explicit mention of the word Bhakti in 6-23. Despite contradictions, the Svetasvatara Upanisad 4-67 and 6-4, 6-6, and 6-12 are presented as having an unmistakable bright hue of theism, describing a one God who directs creation and is the utmost soul of all. The sources discussed include Peter Peterson's *A Second Selection of the Hymns From the Rgveda*, S. K. Belvalkar and R. D. Ranade's *History of Indian Philosophy Vol If*, and Paul Deussen's *Fundamentals of Philosophy of Upanishads* and *Sixty Upanishads of the Veda*. Pandya concludes that theistic longings in the Upanisads did not shed the philosophical ground-support of monism but rather yielded to it, allowing the imperceptible flowering of Bhakti.
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Conclusion
The article demonstrates that early theistic Vedantic manifestations in the Classical Upanisads represent a gradual, imperceptible evolution from monism to monotheism and ultimately to theism. While the Vedic gods of the Rgveda, such as Varuna and Indra, were marginalized in the Upanisadic age, their devotional tendencies were not lost but transformed. The relentless pursuit of absolute monism yielded ground to the concept of a singular, personal Lord (Isvara), who was cast as the controller and dispenser of the universe. This conceptual shift from *deva* to *Isa* created the philosophical foundation for Bhakti. The theistic tendencies, which completely disappeared in the ritualistic Brahmanas, re-emerged in the Upanisads, occasionally escaping monistic constraints to embrace dualistic views. The culmination of this evolution is explicitly seen in the Svatasvatara Upanisad, which features the word *Bhakti* and a distinct yearning soul, thereby fully blooming the theistic flower that was nurtured by the Upanisadic philosophical ground-support.