Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c9.3516

c9.3516

The meaning of the word ‘Upaniṣad’ is that which is most near. Upa = near. ni = most. sad = exist (or sit). The Upaniṣads can be called the Jñānakāṇḍa of the Vedas. They describe the nature of Brahman. The figure of the supreme Spirit (Brahman) exists in the Upaniṣads. Apparently the Upaniṣads are explanations of the mantras, but they are concerned more with the allegorical significations and the mystic meanings of the tattvas or essence, of the origin of life, the world, the soul, God etc. The Upaniṣads are the basis of the Ṣaḍ-darśanas, the six systems of philosophy. There are a large number of Upaniṣads. The most important among them are 108 in number.