The Upanishads are the last part in the larger structure of the Vedas and their knowledge is often referred to as Vedanta. Each Upanishad is attached to a particular Veda and puts together a coherent stream of thought from the Samhita, Brahmana and Aranyaka sections of the Veda. Since each Veda encompasses many streams of thought several Upanishads are attached to each Veda. Many etymologies have been proposed for the word Upanishad, but the most common is “sitting down near”. This is because the Upanishads are in the form of a dialogue between guru and disciple, with the disciple sitting down at the feet of the guru.
The Upanishads provide an intuitive first sketch of a philosophy rather than a formalized system expressed with logical rigor. The six formal schools of Hindu philosophy are later works but based on the knowledge of the Upanishads. Hinduism is a continuous distillation of thought and we can clearly see this process from the Samhitas to the Upanishads and from the Upanishads to the schools of philosophy.
108 Upanishads are known to us. Out of these about 12 are considered important. The rest either repeat the substance of these 12 or take up not so important issues. The Upanishads were written over a large period of time. This can be divided into three sections. In the earlier period the Upanishads were written in prose. The important Upanishads from this period are the Aitereya, Kausitaki, Taittiriya, Chandogya and Brihadaranyaka Upanishads. In the middle period the Upanishads were written in Verse form. The Kena Upanishad spans the transition because it starts off in prose and ends in verse. The Isa, Mundaka, Katha and Svetasvatara Upanishads are from the middle period. In the final period the Upanishads were again written in prose, the Prasna and Maitrayani being the important ones.
The Upanishads are a process of enquiry into the ultimate truth. Some of the issues addressed are the prime cause of the universe, the reason for existence, the nature of reality and the nature of experience. In the Upanishads one can see the focus shifting from the external universe to the inner soul. The enquiry is not a scientific one that seeks objective reality or a philosophical one that has knowledge as its goal. The purpose of the enquiry is to liberate the spirit from the flesh through right living.
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