Did you know that "Oupanekhat", also titled “Sirr-i-Akbar” (The Great Secret), is a collection of 50 Upanishads in Persian language commissioned by Sultan Mohammed Dara Shikoh, eldest son and heir apparent of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan?
The Oupanekhat is collection of Upanishads, put together by Sultan Mohammed Dara Shikoh (also spelled Dara Shukoh) in 1656 (1657 is also mentioned). It consists of a Persian translation of 50 Upanishads; a book prefaced as the best book on religion; Upanishads bring out esoteric wisdom of Hindu metaphysics (derived from the Vedas. This collection was in the same order as found in Upanishad anthologies in Sanskrit, popular in north India. The collection is often called Sirr-i-Akbar ("The Greatest Mystery"), where he states boldly, in the introduction, his speculative hypothesis that the work referred to in the Qur'an as the "Kitab al-maknun" or the hidden scripture” alluded to in Quran 56:78., is none other than the Upanishads.
Dara Shikoh was proficient in Sanskrit and the technical terminology of the Vedic schools because he himself had translated a work titled as Samudrasangama. He was a follower of the Persian "perennialist" (perennial wisdom) mystic Sarmad Kashani. In the year 1656, he invited selected Pandits from Benares to Delhi and commissioned them to translate into Persian a collection of 50 Upanishads under the title Oupanekhat (in Persian) from their original Sanskrit so that they could be studied by Muslim scholars. His most famous work, Majma-ul-Bahrain ("The Confluence of the Two Seas"), was also devoted to a revelation of the mystical and pluralistic affinities between Sufic and Vedantic speculation. This book was authored by him as a short treatise in Persian in 1654-55. It is also said that Dara Shikoh's interests not only extended to the local mystical thought of the Vedantic tradition but also his befriending Hindus, Christians, and Sikhs, including the seventh Sikh Guru, Guru Har Rai, and the Armenian-born mystic-atheist poet, Sarmad Kashan
In the preface to the Persian translation of "Oupanekhat" it is said: “…and the Prophets of that time when they had made that book (Upanishads) separate (separate from the four Vedas) wrote commentaries and complete explanations on it and they are reading it always knowing it to be the best book on religion”. The Persian translators preface prove that they have not themselves introduced the arrangement of the collection of the 50 Upanishads but that it was already ready (an accomplished thing) before them, it being even considered as originating in a period going far back.
Abraham Hyacinthe Anquetil-Duperron, a French Indologist and Orientalist and scholar, received a manuscript of the Oupanekhat and translated the Persian version into French and Latin, publishing the Latin translation in two volumes in 1801–1802 as Oupnek'hat or the Upanischada. While the French translation was never published, the Latin version was the initial introduction of Upanishadic thought to Western scholars.
Dara Shikoh, now a forgotten character in medieval Indian history, was symbol of the composite culture and liberal thought of the Indian subcontinent. He was tried as an apostate from Islam and killed unjustly by his younger brother Aurangzeb in a bitter struggle for the imperial throne, before he could stake his rightful claim to the Mughal throne.
The collection of the Upanishads in the Oupanekhat, as in the original arrangement, are:
1).Tschehandouk (Chandogya Upanishad); 2). Brehadarand (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad); 3). Mitri (Maitrayiniya Upanishad); 4). Mandata (Mandukya Upanishad); 5). Eischavasich (Isha Upanishad); 6). Sarb (Sarbo Upanishad); 7). Narain (Narayana Upanishad); 8). Tadiw (Tadev Vaj Samhita); 32); 9). Athrabsar (Atharvashiras Upanishad), 10). Hensnad (Hamsanada Upanishad or Hamsa Upanishad); 11). Sarbsar (Sarvasara Upanishad including the Aitrareya Upanishad) part 2; 12). Kok’henk (Kaushitaki Upanishad); 13). Satster (Shvetashvatara Upanishad); 14). Porsch (Prashna Upanishad); 15.) Dehian bandh (Dhyanabindu Upanishad); 16). Maha Oupanekhat (Maha Upanishad); 17). Aatma pra boudah (Atma Prabhod Upanishad); 18). Kioul (Kaivalya Upanishad); 19). Schat roundri ( Śatarudrīya =Vaj Samhita abridged as Nila Rudra Upanishad); 20), Djog Sank’ha (Yogashikha Upanishad); 21). Djogtat (Yogatatva Upanishad); 22). Shiw Sanklap (Shiva sankalpa =Vaj Samhit; 23). Abrat Sakha (Atharvashikha Upanishad); 24). Atma (Atma Upanishad); 25) .Brahm badia (Brahmvidya Upanishad); 26). Anbrt bandeh (Amritabindhu or Brahmabindhu Upanishad); 27). Tidj bandeh (Tejobindhu Upanishad); 28). Karbheh (Garbha Upanishad); 29). Djabal (Jabala Upanishad); 30). Maha Narain (Mahanarayana Upanishad); 31). Mandouk (Mandukya Upanishad); 32). Pank (Paingala Upanishad), 33). Tschchourka (Kshurika Upanishad); 34). Pram hens (Paramahamsa Upanishad), 35). Arank (Aruneya Upanishad); 36). Kena (Kena Upanishad); 37). Kiouni (Katha Upanishad); 38). Anandbli (Anandavalli Upanishad - Taittariya (part 2) Upanishad); 39). Bharkbli (Bhriguvalli Upanishad – Tattariya part 3 Upanishad); 40). Bark’he Soukt (Purusha sukta - Rigveda 10.90 besides Uttaranarayanam. Vaj. Samhita); 41). Djounka (Culika Upanishad or Mantrika Upanishad), 42). Mrat lankoul (Mrtyu langala Upanishad); 43). Anbratnad (Amrata Nanad or Amritabindu Upanishad); 44). Baschkl (Vaaskala Upanishad); 45).Taschhakli (Chagaley Upanishad); 46). Tark (Tarasara 2 Upanishad and Ramottaratapaniya Upanishad); 47). Ark’hi (Arseya Upanishad); 48). Pranou (Pranva Upanishad); 49). Schavank (Saunaka Upanishad); 50) .Nersingh’heb atma (Nrisimha Tapaniya Upanishad).
Twelve of the above are made up by the eleven Principal Upanishads of the three Vedas, which have been totally included with the exception of Taittariya part 1, while Taittariya part 2 and 3 are reckoned as two Upanishads.
Twenty six Upanishads of the above list, recognized in other chief collections, include collections from Vajrasenyi Samhita 16, 31, 32, 34 of which Shatarudriyam appears among other collections of the Atharva Upanishads in an abridged form as Nilarudra Upanishad. It has eight works which are not included in the older Vedas and which accordingly have not been included in the chief collections.
In the spring of 1814, the Latin translation by Anquetil-Duperron caught the eye of German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, who heralded the ancient text in two of his books, The World as Will and Representation (1819) and Parerga and Paralipomena (1851), stating:
"From every sentence deep original and sublime thoughts arise, and a high and holy and earnest spirit pervades the whole. In the whole world there is no study so beneficial and so elevating as that of the Upanishads. It has been the solace of my life. It will be the solace of my death. [...] They are destined sooner or later to become the faith of the people."
Source: Extracts from various sources including Wikipedia article titled "Sirr-i-Akbar"
Narasipur Char
