Muktika Upanishad is one of the 108
Upanishads and is appended to the
Shukla-Yajurveda. This text codifies the teaching of
Lord Ram to his devotee
Lord Hanuman. Muktika Upanishad defines the purpose in studying the Upanishads as being to escape from the miseries of earthly life and attain
Mukti. On the request of Hanuman, Lord Ram also elaborates on the shanti mantras of the different Vedas. The necessity of overpowering the impressions created by senses, in order to achieve liberation is also emphasized.
According to the Muktika Upanishad, there are in all 1180 upanishads, one for each branch of the four Vedas - that is 21 for the Rig Veda, 109 for the Yajur, 1000 for the Sama and 50 for the Atharva. Out of these, however, only 108 are listed in the Muktika as being the essence of the Upanishads. Muktika Upanishad must have been the latest written from its being able to give the list at all.
