Isa Upanishad (A Study of the Universal Law Dharma from the Karma Mimamsa Perspective)

Shuddhananda Sarma is a registered practitioner of Ayurvedic and Unani systems of Indian medicine. Since 1966 he has been living in Australia, where he has founded his School of Oriental Studies, dedicated to dissemination of Hindu Vidya of its philosophical and socio-cultural tradition and the Hindu Way of Life. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science in 1988 and is now completing his Master of Social Science (Honours) studies in World Political and International Relations. He is 73, married and has three children.

From the Jacket

The work consists in three essays being studies of Karma, of Work and Play, and of Death, the themes considered here as central to Isa Upanishad’s original intentions. The work in its gestalt mainly addresses the raison d’etre of the Dharma, Sastras, their rationale for the Hindu varnashrama dharma informed social organization in the context of ‘modern’ Indian society. Thus, Meaning of Karma defines State’s sovereignty as deriving from this Universal Law, Dharma, and therefore, its moral imperative to conform to its dictates; Work and Play gallantly endeavours to restate in modern terms the concept of Lila Vibhuti - that all is God’s Play. The essay on Death delineates Isa’s view on ‘transmigration’ and expatiates on the specific technique instructed upon in the Upanishad as the most rational course to follow, which requires the practice of Sadachara as an imperative.