Upanishads: Santonu Kumar Dhar

This book contains 7 primary Upanishads such as - Isha, Kena, Katha, Prashna, Mundaka, Mandukya and Aitareya,

Upanishads are also known as Vedanta in Vedic philosophy. According to the Upanishads, the universe and human experience are intertwined through the Purusha principle (the eternal, unchanging principles, consciousness).

Upanishad also spelled Upanisat, is one of the four types of texts that make up each of the Vedas, which are the sacred scriptures of most Hindu traditions. Upanishad means "union." There are four Vedas: the Rig Veda is the oldest, the Yajur Vedic Veda is the middle, and the Samaveda and the Atharvaveda are the newest.

The Upanishads are the last parts of the Vedas, they are called Vedanta, which means "the end of the Vedas." They are used as the foundation for many Hindu traditions that also call themselves Vedanta. There is more interest in the Upanishads than there is in any of the other Vedic texts.

There are 108 Upanishads, of which 13 are Vedic Primary Upanishads: Isha, Kena, Katha, Prashna, Mundaka, Mandukya, Taittiriya, Aitareya, Chandogya, Brihadaranyaka, Shwetasvatara, Kaushitaki, and Maitrayaniya. Some are exclusively in poems, while others are in prose. The Upanishads are the foundational texts of Indian philosophy.

The Upanishads explain the essence of the Supreme Self, or Brahman, and the path to moksha, or the spiritual realm. According to the Upanishads, there is one Brahman in control of everything in the universe; He is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. The soul and Brahman are identical; there is no distinction between them.

The only objective of a living creature is to attain Brahman. In the traditional guru-disciple system, these Upanishads were passed down orally.