Translated by F Max-Muller revised & with an Introduction by Suren Navlakha Upanishads are mankind's oldest works of philosophy predating the earliest Greek philosophy They are the concluding part of the Vedas the ancient Indian sacred literature & mark the culmination of a tradition of speculative thought first expressed in the Rig-Veda more than 4000 years ago Remarkable for their meditative depth spirit of doubt & intellectual honesty the Upanishads are concerned with the knowledge of the Brahman the Ultimate Reality & Man's relationship with it The name Upanishad is derived from the face-to-face mode of imparting knowledge
- in the utmost sanctity & secrecy to prevent its trivialisation or perversion Composed in Sanskrit between 900 & 600 BC the Upanishads presented here are by far the oldest & most important of those that exist Twelve were first translated more than a hundred years ago & have been extensively revised & edited The thirteenth is an entirely new translation by Suren Navlakha