Bahvricha Upanishad
The Upanishad states the universe began from the feminine
Devanagari	बह्वृच
IAST	Bahvṛca
Title means	One conversant withRigveda[1]
Date	12th- to 15th-century CE[2]
Type	Shakta[3]
LinkedVeda	Rigveda[4]
Chapters	1
Verses	9[5]
Philosophy	Shaktism,Vedanta[6]

TheBahvricha Upanishad (Sanskrit:बह्वृच उपनिषद्,IAST: Bahvṛca Upaniṣad) is a medieval era Sanskrit text and one of the minorUpanishads ofHinduism.^[7] It is classified as one of the eightShakta Upanishads and attached to theRigveda.^[4]

The Upanishad is notable for asserting that the Self (soul, Atman) is a Goddess who alone existed before the creation of the universe.^[8][9] She is the supreme power, asserts the text, she is the ultimate reality (Brahman), from her being and because of her the universe was born, she is the knowledge, the consciousness and the soul (Atman) of every being.^[8][10][11]

The philosophical premises ofBahvricha Upanishad assert the feminine as non-different, non-dual (Advaita) from transcendent reality, she is the primary and the material cause of all existence,^[8] and the text belongs to theShaktadavaitavada tradition (literally, the path of nondualistic Shakti).^[12][13]

Neither the author nor the composition date ofBahvricha Upanishad is known. The text was likely composed, in the same period as other Shakta Upanishads, between the 12th- and 15th-centuryCE.^[2] The text existed before the 14th-century, statesMax Muller, as it was referenced by the 13th/14th-century Dvaita Vedanta scholarMadhvacharya.^[14]

In 19th-century compilations of the Upanishads, a part of the AitareyaAranyakas from theRigveda was sometimes calledAitareya Upanishad,Atmasatka Upanishad and alsoBahvricha Upanishad.^[15] The Devi-related medieval eraBahvricha Upanishad is different from the ancient BCE era Aitareya Upanishad, but both discuss the nature of Atman (soul, Self).^[16][17]

Manuscripts of this text are also found titled as Bahvrcopanisad.^[5][18] In the Telugu languageanthology of 108 Upanishads of theMuktika canon, narrated byRama toHanuman, it is listed at number 107.^[19]

The text consists of 9 verses.^[5] Some manuscripts include a prelude in the form of an invocation asserting that the Vedas must be imbibed in one's mind, thoughts and speech, and through truth only is peace assured.^[3]

The Upanishad opens with the assertion "Devi is one and she alone existed in the beginning",^[10] she isKama (love),^[3] and she isAtman (soul, Self),^[8][9] The second verse of the Upanishad states that not only Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra are her progeny but every being in the universe is her creation.^[3]

The Upanishad describes Devi as identical to all truth and reality, and whatever is not she as unreal, non-truth and non-self.^[8] She is the ultimate unchanging reality (Brahman), the consciousness, the bliss who shines by herself. She is everywhere, within and without, asserts the Upanishad.^[8] She is pure, she is love and she symbolized as theTripurasundari goddess is the form of all.^[8][10] She is the ardha matra, last half syllable, of theOm syllable. HerShakti is in Om.^[3]

She alone is Atman. Other than She is untruth, non-self. She is Brahman-Consciousness. She is theVidya of Consciousness,nondual Brahman Consciousness, a wave of Truth-Consciousness-Bliss. The Beauty of the three-great-cities, penetrating without and within, is resplendent, nondual, self-subsisting. What is, is pure Truth; what shines, is pure Consciousness; what is dear, is Bliss. So here is the Maha-Tripura-sundari who assumes all forms. You and I and all the world and all divinities and all besides are the Maha-Tripura-sundari. The sole Truth is the thing named "the Beautiful". It is the nondual, integral, supreme Brahman.

The closing verses of the text asserts that she should be contemplated as "That which I am", asSodasi and fifteen syllabledSri Vidya, the power ofSavitur,Sarasvati, andGayatri, the sacred, the mother, the auspicious who chooses her own partner, the mistress, the dark, the light, theBrahmic bliss.^[3]

• Atharvashiras Upanishad
• Devi
• Devi Upanishad
• Mahanarayana Upanishad

• Brooks, Douglas Renfrew (1990).The Secret of the Three Cities. University of Chicago Press.ISBN 978-0226075693.
• Brooks, Douglas Renfrew (1992).Auspicious Wisdom. State University of New York Press.ISBN 978-0791411452.
• Cush, Denise; et al. (2007).Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Routledge.ISBN 978-0700712670.
• Deussen, Paul (1997).Sixty Upanishads of the Veda. Motilal Banarsidass.ISBN 978-81-208-1467-7.
• Narayanaswami, PP (1999)."बह्वृचोपनिषत् (Bahvricha Upanishad)"(PDF) (in Sanskrit). Retrieved27 January 2016.
• Mahadevan, T. M. P. (1975).Upaniṣads: Selections from 108 Upaniṣads. Motilal Banarsidass.ISBN 978-81-208-1611-4.
• Mahony, William (1997).The Artful Universe: An Introduction to the Vedic Religious Imagination. State University of New York Press.ISBN 978-0791435809.
• McDaniel, June (2004).Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls. Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-534713-5.
• Muller, Max (1860).A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, 2nd Edition. Oxford University Press.ISBN 9781981766918.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
• Nair, Shantha (2008).Echoes of Ancient Indian Wisdom. Pustak Mahal.ISBN 978-81-223-1020-7.
• Tinoco, Carlos Alberto (1996).Upanishads. IBRASA.ISBN 978-85-348-0040-2.
• Warrier, AG Krishna (1967).Śākta Upaniṣads. Adyar Library and Research Center.ISBN 978-0835673181.OCLC 2606086.

• Upanishads

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