Upanishads

Question 1

nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām
eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti kāmān
tam ātma-sthaṁ ye ’nupaśyanti dhīrās
teṣāṁ śāntiḥ śāśvatī netareṣām

Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13

Answer 1

Find

Question 2

Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (3.1.2) and Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (4.7)

samāne vṛkṣe puruṣo nimagno
’nīśayā śocati muhyamānaḥ
juṣṭaṁ yadā paśyaty anyam īśam
asya mahimānam iti vīta-śokaḥ

Answer 2

Although the two birds are in the same tree, the eating bird is fully engrossed with anxiety and moroseness as the enjoyer of the fruits of the tree. But if in some way or other he turns his face to his friend the Lord and knows His glories – at once the suffering bird becomes free from all anxieties.

Question 3

(Puruṣa-bodhinī Upaniṣad):

eko devo nitya-līlānurakto
bhakta-vyāpī hṛdy antar-ātmā

Answer 3

The one Supreme Personality of Godhead is eternally engaged in many, many transcendental forms in relationships with His unalloyed devotees.

Question 4

Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 3.8

tam eva viditvāti mṛtyum eti
nānyaḥ panthā vidyate ’yanāya

Answer 4

One can attain the perfect stage of liberation from birth and death simply by knowing the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and there is no other way to achieve this perfection

Question 5

Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.23

yasya deve parā bhaktir
yathā deve tathā gurau
tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ
prakāśante mahātmanaḥ

Answer 5

Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed

Question 6

Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad 1.15

Bhaktir asya bhajanaṁ tad ihāmutropādhi-nairāsyenāmuṣmin manaḥ-kalpanam, etad eva naiṣkarmyam

Answer 6

Bhakti means devotional service to the Lord which is free from desire for material profit, either in this life or in the next. Devoid of such inclinations, one should fully absorb the mind in the Supreme. That is the purpose of naiṣkarmya.

Question 7

Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad 1.1

Sac-cid-ānanda-rūpāya kṛṣṇāya

Answer 7

I offer my obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, who is the eternal blissful form of knowledge.

Question 8

Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad 1.38

Tam ekaṁ govindam
Sac-cid-ānanda-vigraham

Answer 8

You are Govinda, the pleasure of the senses and the cows. And Your form is transcendental, full of knowledge, bliss and eternality

Question 9

Kali-santaraṇa Upaniṣad, where it is said:

hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare
hare rāma hare rāma rāma rāma hare hare
iti ṣoḍaśakaṁ nāmnāṁ kali-kalmaṣa-nāśanaṁ
nātaḥ parataropāyaḥ sarva-vedeṣu dṛśyate

Answer 9

“After searching through all the Vedic literature, one cannot find a method of religion more sublime for this age than the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa.”