Upanishads form a part of the Vedas, the Authority for Hinduism and Indian Thought.
There are Four Vedas,
Rik,
Yajur,
Sama and
Rik Veda is the most ancient literature known to Man.
It contains Hymns .
It is called Rik as it is composed in a particular and format. tune,.
Yajur Veda deals with the Duties of Man mainly with Knowledge portion also provided.
There are two kinds in Yajur Veda.
Shukla Yajur and Krishna Yajur.
Shukla Yajur was complied by Sage Yagnyavalkya.
Krishna Yajur and the entire Vedas were complied by Veda Vyasa.
Sama Veda is set to tune.
It is Rik Veda, with minor differences.
While these three Vedas deal with Superior Knowledge,(para), the Atharva handles day to day knowledge like science, technology and the like,warfare, magic.
The Vedas are recommendatory in nature; they do not force any one to follow them.
Some methods have been found, they are useful, if you ant to , you follow them,that’s all.
Each Veda has four parts,
Samhitas, which contain Hymns,
Brahmanas, Rules for Living,
Aranyakas,rules for the semi-detached and,
Upanishads, the final portions that handle exclusively the Science of Self Realization.
For more on The Vedas, please read my posts under Hinduism,Indian Philosophy.
Upanishad, mean, ‘sitting nearby’ meaning that it is taught by a Preceptor personally.
Vedas were not transmitted by written word.
It is called Sruthi , to be heard and practiced.
Despite being not in written form for the past 5000 years, you can see that The Vedas intoned in the same way all across India!
Originally there were 108 Upanishads in number.
Please refer Wiki for details.
Eleven Upanishads have been commented upon By Shankaracharya which includes The Isa Upanishad or Isopanishad.
A commentary is being attempted here on Isa, Isha Upanishad.
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