A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, so far as it illustrates the Primitive Religion of the Brahmans c9.s1.16

c9.s1.16

The root *âs*, which has the same meaning as *sad*, to sit, if joined with the preposition *upa*, expresses the same idea as *upa sad*, *i. e.* to approach respectfully, to worship (Rv. x. 153. 1). It is frequently used to express the position which the pupil occupies when listening to his teacher,¹ and it clearly expresses a position of inferiority in such passages as, Śat.-brâhmaṇa, i. 3. 4. 15: “tasmâd uparyâsînam kshatriyam adhastâd imâḥ prajâ upâsate,” “therefore those people below (the Viś or Vaiśyas) sit under, or pay respect to the Kshatriya who sits above.” Still more decisive is another passage in the same work (ix. 4. 3. 3), where upanishâdin is used in the sense of subject: “kshatrâya tad viśam adhastâd upanishâdinîm karoti,” “he thus makes the Viś below subject to the Kshatriya.” There can be little doubt therefore that Upanishad meant originally the act of sitting down near a teacher,² of submissively listening to him; and it is easy to trace the steps by which it came to mean implicit faith,³ and, at last, truth or divine revelation.