Svetaketu
Part of a series on the Upanishads | |
Rigveda | |
---|---|
Aitareya | |
Yajurveda | |
Bṛhadāraṇyaka · Īṣa | |
Taittirīya · Kaṭha | |
Samaveda | |
Chāndogya · Kena | |
Atharvaveda | |
Muṇḍaka ·Māṇḍūkya ·Praśna | |
Other Major Upanishads | |
Shvetashvatara ·Kaushitaki ·Maitrayaniya |
Svetaketu, also spelled Shvetaketu (Sanskrit: श्वेतकेतु, IAST:Śvetaketu), is the Upanishadic young man who is said now to reside in Tuṣita, he is the son of sage Uddalaka, the grandson of sage Aruni, and represents the quintessential seeker of knowledge. The Upanishads entail the journey of Svetaketu from ignorance to knowledge of the self and truth (sat).
In the Mahabharata, Svetaketu is credited for creating the "Woman being confined to one husband for life" practice after observing a brahmana catching his mother's hand (unintentionally) in front of his father.
The case of Svetaketu appears in three principal (mukhya) Upanishads, namely, the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad S. 6.2.1 to 6.2.8, Chandogya Upanishad S.5.3 and in the Kausitaki S.1. Svetaketu is the recipient of the knowledge enshrined in the mahavakya which appears in the sixteen chapters of the 6th section (Prapathaka) of the Chandogya Upanishad.
References
- Young Svetaketu: A Literary Study of an Upanisadic Story by Patrick Olivelle; The Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 119, 1999
- The Mahabharata of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, by Kisari Mohan Ganguli Volume 1, location 5060
- S. Radhakrishnan, The Principal Upanishads
- Sri Aurobindo, The Upanishads . Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry. 1972.