Skanda Upanishad
The god Skanda also known as Murugan, Kartikeya states all gods andAtman are the same.[1]
Devanagari	स्कंद
IAST	Skānda
Title means	The godKartikeya (Skanda)
Type	Samanya
LinkedVeda	Krishna Yajurveda
Verses	15
Philosophy	Vedanta

Skanda Upanishad orSkandopanishad (Sanskrit:स्कंदोपनिषद्) is one of the 108Upanishads ofHinduism, written inSanskrit. It is classified as aSamanya (general) Upanishad and is associated with theKrishna Yajurveda,^[2] one of the 32 listed Upanishads under it.^[3]

The Upanishad is told in first person byKartikeya (Skanda), the Hindu god of war and the son ofShiva. While the Upanishad states that Skanda is the ultimate reality calledBrahman,^[4] he is also described as consciousness, Atman (soul, self), and Shiva as well by the text.^[5][6]

The text emphasizes there is no difference betweenVishnu andShiva – the gods ofVaishnavism andShaivism respectively, that they are one, as are all gods.^[5] The ideal worship, states the Upanishad, is to see one's innermost self as not different from Skanda, Shiva, Vishnu and Brahman.^[5][6]

The author and the date of composition ofSkanda Upanishad are not known. Manuscripts of this text are also found titled asAksyupanisad.^[7][8] It is listed at number 51 in the Telugu languageanthology of 108 Upanishads of theMuktika canon, narrated byRama toHanuman.^[9]

TheSkanda Upanishad is written in the voice ofKartikeya (Skanda), theHindu god of war and the son ofShiva. The Upanishad is narrated in 15shlokas or verses.^[10] Skanda addresses his father Shiva as the Great God (Mahadeva) and says that he is a superior being due to Shiva's grace. He declares himself asvijnana (knowledge) and Shiva himself. Internal organs conceal the Truth and after their destruction, the godVishnu emerges from theSamvit (Consciousness or knowledge). Skanda declares himself as the Unborn one and part of theSamvit. All inert things, except theAtman (soul), are destroyers. The "imperishable" (Achyuta, a name of Vishnu) who discerns between consciousness and inertness is identified withjnana (knowledge), Shiva, Vishnu,Parameshvara (the Supreme God), the Light of Lights and SupremeBrahman (Absolute Reality). Skanda declares he is that Brahman.^[11][12] He says that he is indestructible.^[13]

Skanda says thatjiva (a living being) is Shiva. Just as before husking, it ispaddy and after husking, a grain isrice, similarly bound bykarma, it is ajiva and when liberated from karma, it becomes Shiva. Skanda then pays his respects to Shiva, who is a form of Vishnu and Vishnu, who is a form of Shiva. Further, Vishnu is said to dwell in the heart of Shiva and vice versa. Shiva and Vishnu are the one and the same.^[11][12]

TheSkanda Upanishad further compares the body to the temple and thejiva (life-force) to Shiva. Like old flower offerings are cast away from the temple,ajnana (ignorance, absence ofjnana) should be thrown out from the body. God be worshipped by the thought that one is same as Him, which isjnana.Dhyana (meditation) should be to rid the mind of objects. Bathing is removing the dirt in the mind. Cleanliness is control over the senses. One must consume the drink of Brahman. One must live on alms and in a solitary place alone and realize thenon-duality of the Soul and Brahman. Thus, one attains emancipation (moksha).^[11][12]

A prayer in first person follows. Obeisance is offered to the Supreme Light, wishing for prosperity and longevity. Vishnu asNarasimha and Shiva as Mahadeva are addressed. The hymn declares that by their grace, people realize the incomprehensible Brahman, which transcends thoughts, is unmanifest and infinite and indestructible, but takes the form of the deities,Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.^[14][12]

Left: Harihara, depicting Vishnu and Shiva as one.
Right: 6th-century Harihara carving in Cave 3 ofBadami cave temples.

TheSkanda Upanishad ends with the hymn:^[15]

And the highest step of Vishnu
The patrons see for ever
Like an eye, stationed in heaven.
And wondering over this highest step
Of Vishnu, the priests, wide-awake,
Enkindle the sacrificial fire.

This hymn originates from theRig Veda and appears in other Upanishadic texts likeAruneya Upanishad,Nrisimha Tapaniya Upanishad,Vasudeva Upanishad andMuktika Upanishad.^[15]

Two aphorisms from theSkanda Upanishad: "Shiva is Jiva" and "the body is said to be the temple" are quoted repeatedly.Aurobindo interprets them to convey that the unmanifested soul within a person should be united with Shiva, that is, Brahman.^[16]

The unity and sameness of Vishnu and Shiva, gods of the rival Hindu sects ofVaishnavism andShaivism respectively, in the text are also emphasized.^[12][17] This identification of the two gods is said an attempt of syncretism of the warring sects, similar to the icon ofHarihara, the combined form of Vishnu and Shiva.^[18]

• Aiyar, Narayanasvami (1914).Thirty minor Upanishads. Archive Organization.
• Ayyangar, T. R. Srinivasa (1941).The Samanya Vedanta Upanisads. Jain Publishing (Reprint 2007).ISBN 978-0895819833.OCLC 27193914.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
• Deussen, Paul (1997).Sixty Upanishads of the Veda. Motilal Banarsidass.ISBN 978-81-208-1467-7.
• Hattangadi, Sunder (2000)."स्कन्दोपनिषत् (Skanda Upanishad)"(PDF) (in Sanskrit). Retrieved7 March 2016.
• Parmeshwaranand, Swami (1 January 2000).Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Upanisads. Sarup & Sons.ISBN 978-81-7625-148-8.
• AM Sastri, ed. (1921).The Samanya Vedanta Upanishads with the commentary of Sri Upanishad-Brahma-Yogin. Adyar library seriesno. 7 (in Sanskrit). Adyar Library (Reprinted 1970).hdl:2027/mdp.39015065237664.
• Tinoco, Carlos Alberto (1996).Upanishads. IBRASA.ISBN 978-85-348-0040-2.
• Warrier, AG Krishna (1967).Sāmanya Vedānta Upaniṣads. Adyar Library and Research Center.ISBN 978-8185141077.OCLC 29564526.
• Weber, Albrecht (5 November 2013).The History of Indian Literature. Routledge.ISBN 978-1-136-38693-0.

• Skanda Upanishad in Sanskrit

• Upanishads

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