UPSC Prelims 2024 Q58: Upanishads and Puranas — Explained
Consider the following statements:
1. There are no parables in Upanishads.
2. Upanishads were composed earlier than the Puranas.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- 1 only
- 2 only
- Both 1 and 2
- Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: (b) 2 only
Statement-wise explanation
- 1: incorrect — The Upanishads are full of parables and teaching stories. In the Chandogya Upanishad, the boy Satyakama Jabala admits that he does not know who his father is, and his teacher accepts him as a pupil because he told the truth. In the same text Uddalaka teaches his son Svetaketu by dissolving salt in water: the salt cannot be seen but can be tasted everywhere, which ends in the teaching 'Tat tvam asi' (That thou art). The Katha Upanishad is built on the story of young Nachiketa questioning Yama, the god of death, about what happens after death.
- 2: correct — The Upanishads are the last layer of Vedic literature. IGNCA dates the principal Upanishads to about 800–500 BCE, and the Chandogya to about the 6th century BCE. Britannica dates the earliest Puranas (Vishnu, Vayu, Matsya, Markandeya and others) to about 350–750 CE, from the Gupta period onward. That means the Upanishads came roughly a thousand years before the Puranas.
How to eliminate
Statement 1 contains an absolute claim: 'no parables' in a body of texts that numbers 108 by tradition. A sweeping negative like this about a large, mostly dialogue-based literature is usually false. Ask whether you remember even one Upanishadic story, such as Nachiketa and Yama, Satyakama Jabala, or Svetaketu and the salt. If you do, Statement 1 is out. That leaves only the options in which Statement 1 is not counted as correct. Statement 2 follows from the basic order of Indian texts: Vedas → Brahmanas → Aranyakas → Upanishads (Vedic period, before 500 BCE), then the Epics, then the Puranas (Gupta period onward). The facts to remember: the Upanishads teach through dialogues and stories, and the Puranas are post-Vedic, written down from about the 4th century CE.
Know more
Upanishads vs Puranas: what each is and when it was written
The Upanishads ("sitting down near" a teacher) come at the end of each Veda, so they are called Vedanta. They move away from sacrificial ritual and ask questions: what is the Self (atman), what is ultimate reality (Brahman), and what happens after death. They teach mostly through dialogues and stories: Yajnavalkya and Maitreyi (Brihadaranyaka), Uddalaka and Svetaketu (Chandogya), Nachiketa and Yama (Katha). The Mundaka gives the image of two birds on one tree, and gives India its motto Satyameva Jayate.
The Puranas ("old narratives") are post-Vedic. They are encyclopaedic collections of myth, devotion, ritual and royal genealogy. By tradition there are 18 Mahapuranas. Each is supposed to cover five topics (pancha-lakshana): creation, re-creation after dissolution, genealogies of gods and sages, the ages of the Manus, and the histories of the solar and lunar dynasties.
| Feature | Upanishads | Puranas |
|---|---|---|
| Class of text | Shruti ("heard", part of the Veda) | Smriti ("remembered") |
| Approx. date | c. 800–500 BCE (principal ones) | Earliest c. 350–750 CE, later ones to c. 1500s CE |
| Language/form | Vedic Sanskrit; prose and verse dialogues | Classical Sanskrit verse |
| Focus | Atman, Brahman, karma, rebirth, moksha | Myths of Vishnu, Shiva and Devi; bhakti; dynasties |
| Examples | Brihadaranyaka, Chandogya, Katha, Mundaka | Vishnu, Bhagavata, Matsya, Vayu, Skanda |
Order to memorise: Samhitas → Brahmanas → Aranyakas → Upanishads → Sutras/Epics → Puranas. The oldest Upanishads (Brihadaranyaka, Chandogya) are in prose and are older than the Buddha. Later ones such as the Katha and Shvetashvatara are in verse and add early Yoga and Samkhya ideas.
NCERT Concepts to Revise
- Upanishads: Both statements are about the Upanishads: their style of teaching and their place at the end of Vedic literature.
- Puranas: Statement 2 compares the Upanishads with the Puranas, so you need to know what the Puranas are and roughly when they were compiled.
- Chandogya Upanishad: The Chandogya is one of the oldest Upanishads and holds well-known teaching stories that bear on Statement 1.
- Mundaka Upanishad: The Mundaka Upanishad's verse imagery, including the two birds on one tree, shows how Upanishads teach through figurative stories.
- Vishnu Purana: The Vishnu Purana is one of the earliest Puranas, a useful anchor for dating the genre in Statement 2.
- Atman: Many Upanishadic stories, such as Svetaketu's lesson, exist to teach the idea of atman, the inner Self.