Choosing Upanishad?

[Soul of Light]

Namaste all!
First of all sorry as I am posting this message before doing research, so I don't know if the answer is already here somewhere in old threads..

I read mandukya upanishad long ago
In which I found information on Brahman, Pranav (sacred sound-syllable-AUM) and 4 States of mind (waking, dreaming, deep sleep n turiya)

Currently I am reading Taitriya upanishad, I will finish it soon as I have so much free time now.
In this I found some portion of karma kānda n gyan kānda in Veda.. I found 5 koshās (Sheaths) annāmaya kosha, pranmaya kosha. Manomaya kosha, vigyānmaya kosha and ānandmaya kosha.

Now I am confuse that which upanishad I should take for study after completing Taitriya?
So can members please tell me what I will find in other? Can someone give me what content other upanishad can have so I can choose one for me..! So I need some suggestions
Also I am downloading PDF files from internet, I am not sure about its translation so if there is any online source which have better translation so please tell me about that also if one knows..
Pranam..!! :)

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté

you may find this of use: http://hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?4617-10-upani%E1%B9%A3ad-s-worth-studying

इतिशिवं
iti śivaṁ

[Soul of Light]

Namaste!
Thank you for your reply.
Pranam

[devotee]

Namaste SOL,

Whatever Yajvan ji has advised are all the important Upanishads that one must go through. However, for a beginner, if you want to choose even among them, my suggestion is :

a) MAndukya Upanishad - This small Upanishad is the essence of all Upanishads. It is very important to understand each and every word of this Upanishad.It is very short one but tightly packed with the highest wisdom.
b) Taittriya Upanishad - This is somewhat bigger. My advice would have been to read it a little later. However if you have read it, it is OK.
c) Katha Upanishad : This Upanishad is very simple to understand and is full of wisdom for the begiiners. It is written in story-form and is easier and straight in style.
d) After you have read Katha Upanishad, I would advise you to read "SvetAshwatar Upanishad". This Upanishad too is straight in its meaning and thus easy to understand.
e) After you have read SvetAshvatar Upanishad, I would advise you to read Mundak Upanishad.


While you are reading these Upanishads, I would advise you to keep reading Bhagwad Gita side-by-side repeatedly. You will find new meaning to Bhagwad Gota slowly and that is very enlightening.

My advice is that instead of reading too many Upanishads, one should read these Upanishads again and again ... get to know the exact meaning of the verses ... the various terms used so that you grasp the core meaning very well. Some Upanishads like IshA Upanishad are not easy to understand in the beginning unless you have prior understanding of core teachings of VedAnta. Even MAndukya is difficult to understand as the Rishi has tried to put entire Ocean into a drinking glass.

OM

[Soul of Light]

Namaste devotee ji...
Thanks for simplifying the list..
I think I will choose katha upanishad next, first I will read Upanishads carefully and once I will finish some then I will re-read them..
Pranam

[harih]

Namaste

Tradition suggests that certain upanishads are studied in a prescribed sequence.

For example : One is strongly advised to study Mundaka before Prashna and Mandookya after that. Shankaarcharyaa in his commentary to Mundaka refers to Prashna as the “next book“ and vice versa. As you have been studying Taittiriya Up of Rig sakha͵ I would suggest taking up BrhadAranyaka or Isha.