| The word Upanishad literally means "sitting down near" | | | | order of Dara Shakoh. |
| and implies studying with a spiritual teacher. The | | | | The philosopher and commentator Shankara is thought |
| Upanishads were written by sages of India between | | | | to have composed commentaries on eleven mukhya |
| the eighth and fourth centuries BC,The seven | | | | or principal Upanishads, those that are generally |
| Upanishads presented complete in this collection are | | | | regarded as the oldest, spanning the late Vedic and |
| drawn from the twelve principal Upanishads and | | | | Mauryan periods. The Muktika Upanishad (predates |
| appear in what is considered their chronological order, | | | | 1656) contains a list of 108 canonical Upanishads and |
| the KENA, KATHA, and ISHA being considered | | | | lists itself as the final one. Although there are a wide |
| pre-Buddhist and thus from the eighth or seventh | | | | variety of philosophical positions propounded in the |
| centuries BC. The name KENA comes from the first | | | | Upanishads, commentators since Shankara have |
| word which means "By whom." ISHA comes from the | | | | usually followed him in seeing idealist monism as the |
| first word meaning "Lord." PRASHNA comes from the | | | | dominant one |
| word for "question." | | | | The following list includes the eleven "principal" |
| The gods referred to in these Upanishads are Agni the | | | | (mukhya) Upanishads commented by Shankara, and |
| god of fire, Vayu the god of air or wind, Indra the god | | | | accepted as shruti by most Hindus. Each is associated |
| of heroic power and storms, Rudra a god of | | | | with one of the four Vedas (Rigveda (?V), Samaveda |
| destruction and of healing, Savitri a sun god or | | | | (SV), White Yajurveda (?YV), Black Yajurveda (KYV), |
| goddess, Brahma the creator, and Vishnu the | | | | and Atharvaveda (AV)) |
| preserver. | | | | 1. Aitareya (?V) |
| In the KATHA UPANISHAD 5 the city of eleven gates | | | | 2. Brhadaranyaka (SYV) |
| refers to the nine openings in the body, the navel, and | | | | 3. Taittir?ya (KYV) |
| the sagittal suture on top of the head and in the | | | | 4. Ch?ndogya (SV) |
| SHVETASHVATARA UPANISHAD 3 the nine-gated | | | | 5. Kena (SV) |
| city refers merely to the body's nine openings. The | | | | 6. ?sa (SYV) |
| triad in MUNDAKA 1 refers to the first three Vedas, | | | | 7. Svetasvatara (KYV) |
| while the triad in SHVETASHVATARA 1 seems to | | | | 8. Katha (KYV) |
| refer to three aspects of God. In MUNDAKA 3 | | | | 9. Mundak (AV) |
| Vedanta means the end of the Vedas. | | | | 10. Mandukya (AV) |
| Different Upanishads serve as commentaries or | | | | 11. Prasna (AV) |
| extensions of each of the four Vedas (Rig Veda, | | | | These philosophical and meditative tracts form the |
| Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and Atharva Veda). The | | | | backbone of Hindu thought. Of the early Upanishads, |
| oldest and longest of the Upanishads are the | | | | the Aiterya and Kaushitaki belong to the Rig Veda, |
| Brihad-Aranyaka and the Chandogya; scholars vary | | | | Kena and Chandogya to the Sama, Isha and |
| on when they first were written and estimates range | | | | Taittereya and Brihadaranyaka to the Yajur, and |
| the 16th to 7th century BCE. There is great scholarly | | | | Prasna and Mundaka to the Atharva. (Associated |
| consensus that many of the early Upanishads are | | | | Upanishad and Vedic book taken from Radhakrishnan |
| pre-Buddhist. Initially there were over two hundred | | | | Indian Philosophy, Vol.1). In addition, the Mandukya, |
| Upanishads but only fifteen or so were considered to | | | | Katha, Svetashvatara are very important. Others also |
| be primary by the philosopher Shankara. The | | | | include Mahanarayana and Maitri Upanishads as key. |
| Upanishads were not fully recorded until 1656, at the | | | | |