The History of Indian Literature c8.488.2

c8.488.2

Of special importance with regard to the mode of life of the Paramahaṅsas, or religious mendicants, are also, in addition to the Upanishad just mentioned, the *Kaṭhaśruti* (39; Colebrooke gives the name incorrectly as *Kaṇṭhaśruti*), in prose, and the *Áruṇikopanishad* (40), likewise in prose;‡ both are to be regarded as supplements to the Áraṇyaka of the Black Yajus, as the Jábálopanishad is to that of the White Yajus. The *Bhállavi-Upanishad* (41) also belongs to this class, to judge by quotations from it, and so does the *Saṃvartaśruti* (42); similarly the *Saṃnyásopanishad* (43) and the *Paramahaṅsopanishad* (44), both in prose.∗ The *Haṅsopanishad* (45) I have not yet met with; but from its name it probably also belongs to this place.¹⁸⁵ The *Áśramopanishad* (46), in prose, gives a classification of the four Indian orders—the Brahmachárins, Gṛihasthas, Vánaprasthas, and Parivrájakas. It is even quoted by Śaṃkara, and the names applied in it to the several classes are now obsolete.