The Philosophy of the Upanishads c6.s1.26

c6.s1.26

In these and similar ways the secret doctrines, *i.e.* the vidyâs, arose, of which mention is so frequently made in the Upanishads. Their authors or exclusive possessors were renowned in the land. Pilgrims sought them, pupils served them for many years,⁴ and rich gifts were offered to them⁵ in order thereby to gain the communication of the *vidyâ*. In the case of some of these *vidyâs* the name of the author is preserved. Several of them, in fact, are equipped with a formal genealogy, which recounts the original author and his successors, and usually closes with the injunction to communicate the doctrine only to a son or trusted pupil.