Yajur Veda · Krishna Yajur Veda (Vaishnava Upanishad group) · 263 mantras
Varaha Upanishad
Varāhopaniṣad
Central theme: The dialogue of Lord Varaha with the sage Ribhu — the most complete Vaishnava-Advaita synthesis among the minor Upanishads
A five-chapter Vaishnava Upanishad of 263 mantras structured as the upadesha of the boar-incarnation Vishnu to the sage Ribhu. Uniquely synthesises three streams: (1) Sri Vidya-influenced Vaishnava tantric meditation (Vishnu as the bindu within the heart-lotus); (2) Patanjala yoga (the full eight limbs and the seven stages of jnana — shubhechha, vicharana, tanumanasa, sattvapatti, asamsakti, padarthabhavini, turyaga); and (3) classical Advaita ("Brahman alone is real, world is mithya, the jiva is Brahman itself"). Chapter 4 contains the famous "jivanmukta-gita" describing the marks of the liberated-while-living. Chapter 5 ends with Ribhu attaining sayujya-mukti directly in Varaha's presence — held by the Sri Vaishnava tradition as proof that bhakti and jnana converge at the summit.
Varaha Upanishad 4.39
जीवन्मुक्तपदं त्यक्त्वा स्वदेहे कालसात्कृते । विशत्यदेहमुक्तत्वं पवनोऽस्पन्दतामिव
Jīvan-mukta-padaṁ tyaktvā sva-dehe kāla-sāt-kṛte, viśaty adeha-muktatvaṁ pavano 'spandatām iva
Leaving behind even the state of liberation-while-living when his body falls in due course, he enters bodiless liberation — as the wind enters stillness.
Bhakti to Vishnu and jnana of Brahman are the same path seen from two faces — both end in Ribhu's silence.