The word Upanishad is derived from the root upnish which means ‘to sit down near someone’ and denotes a student sitting near his guru to learn. Eventually the word began to be used for the secret knowledge imparted by the guru to his selected pupils.
A number of treatises were prepared, first orally and then in writing, and were called by the same name of Upanishad. Today Upanishads specify philosophical knowledge and spiritual learning. They are called Vedanta (the end of the Veda) firstly, because they denote the last phase of the Vedic period and secondly, because they reveal the final aim of the Veda.
The Upanishads are the culmination of ancient Indian philosophical ideas. In fact, the whole of the India’s later philosophy is rooted in the Upanishads. The philosophical principles of Shankara and Ramanuja are derived from these very Upanishads and, by and large, all the philosophical doctrines of subsequent days have borrowed something or the other from these Upanishads.
There are 108 Upanishads, classified according to the Vedas, and were composed by several learned saints between 800 and 500 BC. Twelve Upanishads are of greater importance.
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Aitareya and Kaushitaki Upanishads belong to the Rigveda; Chhandogya and Kena Upanishads belong to the Samaveda; Taittiriya, Katha and Svetasvatar Upanishads belong to the Krisna Yajurveda; Brihdaranyaka and Isa belong to the Shukla Yajurveda and Prasna, Mundaka and Mandukya belong to the Atharvaveda.
The language of these Upanishads is classical Sanskrit and not the Vedic Sanskrit. Like Aranyakas, the Upanishads also condemn the ceremonies and the sacrifices. The Upanishads are anti-ritualistic.
They discuss the various theories of creation of the universe and define the doctrine of action (Karma), God (Brahma) and Soul (Atma) as identical. The goal of life is to attain salvation (Moksha), which is possible through meditation and self-control.
All the works referred to above are also called Shrutis, which mean ‘revelation’ and these constitute the Vedic literature proper. Literally speaking, Shruti means ‘hearing’ and refers to the rhythms of the infinite hearing by the soul.
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The knowledge of the Vedas is not the outcome of logical interpretation, nor is it a historical anecdote and, therefore, it occupies a place of supreme importance. The literature is the foremost authority in all religious matters of the Hindu.