Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s4.139

v1.c3.s4.139

Upa-niṣad in the Brāhmaṇas¹ normally denotes the ‘secret sense’ of some word or text, sometimes the ‘secret rule’ of the mendicant. But in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad² it is already used in the plural as the designation of a class of writings, no doubt actually existing and similar to the Upaniṣads in the nature of their subject-matter and its treatment. Similarly the sections of the Taittirīya Upaniṣad end with the words ity upaniṣad. The Aitareya Āraṇyaka³ commences its third part with the title ‘The Upaniṣad of the Saṃhitā,’ and the title occurs also in the Śāṅkhāyana Āraṇyaka.⁴ The exact primary sense of the expression is doubtful. The natural derivation, adopted by Max Müller⁵ and usual ever since, makes the word mean firstly a session of pupils, hence secret doctrine, and secondly the title of a work on secret doctrine. Oldenberg,⁶ however, traces the use of the word to the earlier sense of ‘worship’ (*cf. upāsana*). Deussen⁷ considers the original sense to have been ‘secret word,’ next ‘secret text,’ and then ‘secret import,’ but this order of meaning is improbable. Hopkins⁸ suggests that Upaniṣad denotes a subsidiary treatise, but this sense does not account naturally for the common use as ‘secret meaning,’ which is far more frequent than any other.