Subala Upanishad
| Subala | |
|---|---|
The text extols Narayana (Vishnu) | |
| Devanagari | सुबाल |
| IAST | Subāla |
| Title means | name of a Vedic sage |
| Date | Medieval |
| Type | Samanya (general) |
| Linked Veda | Shukla Yajurveda |
| Chapters | 16 |
| Philosophy | Vaishnavism |
The Subala Upanishad (सुबाल उपनिषत्, IAST: Subāla Upaniṣad), also called Subalopanishad (सुबालोपनिषत्), is an Upanishad written in Sanskrit. It is attached to the Shukla Yajurveda, and classified as one of the Samanya Upanishads of Hinduism.
The Subala Upanishad, together with the relatively older Mudgala Upanishad, are two Upanishads that discuss the Purusha Sukta of Rigveda, both notable for asserting that Narayana (Vishnu) is the Brahman (Highest Reality, Supreme Being). The Subala Upanishad text differs from Mudgala Upanishad in presenting more verses of the Purusha Sukta, being longer, and for declaring Narayana to be the father, the mother, the refuge, the friend and the goal of every living being.
The text is notable as the one frequently referred to by Ramanuja, the 11th-century proponent of Vishishtadvaita (qualified monism) school of Vedanta philosophy and a major influence on Vaishnavism in the 2nd millennium CE. Some modern scholars suggest that the Narayana theology of the Subala Upanishad may have been the decisive impetus to Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita philosophy.