Kshurika Upanishad
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| Kshurika | |
|---|---|
 Cut away the outer world in meditation, states the text | |
| Devanagari | क्षुरिका |
| IAST | Kṣurikā |
| Title means | Mind as a Razor[1] |
| Type | Yoga[2] |
| Linked Veda | Krishna Yajurveda or Atharvaveda |
| Chapters | 1 |
| Verses | 25 |
The Kshurika Upanishad (Sanskrit: क्षुरिका उपनिषत्, IAST: Kṣurikā Upaniṣad) is an ancient Sanskrit text and one of the minor Upanishads of Hinduism.[3] It is one of twenty Yoga Upanishads in the four Vedas.[4]
Its manuscripts are either attached to the Atharvaveda,[5] or to the Krishna Yajurveda.[6][7]
The text includes sections on Yoga postures, breath exercises and withdrawal of senses from outside to inside as a means to cleanse the body and mind.[7] The aim of Yoga, states the Upanishad, is to know and liberate one's soul.[8] The text is also called Kṣurikopanishad.[9]
The Sanskrit word Kshurika means "razor", and in this Upanishad, it metaphorically signifies yoga being a tool to cut oneself away from Maya (illusion) and errors.[1][10] A similar meaning to Kshurika is attributed in the Mundaka Upanishad.[11]
Chronology
The text is ancient, states Mircea Eliade, who places its relative chronology to the same period when the following Hindu texts were composed - Maitri Upanishad, the didactic parts of the Mahabharata, the chief Sannyasa Upanishads and along with other early Yoga Upanishads such as Brahmabindu, Brahmavidya, Tejobindu, Yogatattva, Nadabindu, Yogashikha, Dhyanabindu and Amritabindu.[12] These and the Kshurika text, adds Eliade, were composed earlier than the ten or eleven later yogic Upanishads such as the Yoga-kundali, Varaha and Pashupatabrahma Upanishads.[12]
Gavin Flood dates this text, along with other Yoga Upanishads, to be probably from the 100 BCE to 300 CE period.[13]
Anthology
Kshurika Upanishadis listed at number 31 in the serial order of the Muktika enumerated by Rama to Hanuman in the modern era anthology of 108 Upanishads.[14] Colebrooke's version of 52 Upanishads, popular in north India, lists this Upanishad's text at number 4 [15] The Narayana anthology also includes this Upanishad at number 4 in Bibliothica Indica.[16] In the collection of Upanishads under the title "Oupanekhat", put together by Sultan Mohammed Dara Shikhoh in 1656, consisting of a Persian translation of 50 Upanishads and who prefaced it as the best book on religion, the Kshurika is listed at number 33 and is named Tschchourka[17] According to Alain Daniélou, this Upanishad is one of the 10 Raja Yoga Upanishads, seven of which are under the Krishna Yajurveda and the balance 3 under the Shukla Yajurveda.[18]
