A History of Indian Literature v1.c8.s8.62

v1.c8.s8.62

the Garbha-Upaniṣad,¹) part of which reads like a treatise on embryology, but which is obviously a meditation on the embryo with the aim of preventing rebirth in a new womb; and the Śivaite Atharvaśiras-Upaniṣad,²) which is already mentioned in the Dharmasūtras³ as a sacred text, and by virtue of which sins can be washed away. (The Vajrasūcikā-Upaniṣad,⁴) which teaches that only he who knows the Brahman as the One without a second, is a Brahmin, is not of very late origin. Another factor which makes it difficult to determine the date of these Upaniṣads is the fact that they are often to be found in various recensions of very uneven bulk.⁵)