7rcTIX1xP

The Twelfth Lesson: The Vedas; and Glossary.1363
Aranyakas and the Upanishads are frequently found at the end of some of
the Brahmanas. So from the early Vedas to the latest Upanishads there is an
unbroken line of continuity and relationship. And, accordingly, the general
term “The Vedas” is applied to all of these Sacred Books or Writings. The
date of the earlier Upanishads is unknown, but it is certain that the oldest
ones antedate the Christian Era by over one thousand years—probably by
many more centuries than even that time. The older Upanishads belong
to the original Veda school, while some of the later have schools founded
upon themselves.
Perhaps the two most important of the Upanishads are the Brhadaranyaka,
and the Chandogya, respectively, both of which belong to the Vedic school.
Other important Upanishads are the following: The Aitareya, the Kausitaki;
the Taittiriya; the Kathaka, the Maitrayaniya, or Manava, the Kena, the
Talavakara; the Isa; the Svetasvetara; the Mahanara; the Prasna; the
Mandukeya; and many others of more or less importance and popularity
and authority. In fact, there are about 235 Upanishads considered to carry
authority with them and known to the Hindus to-day, besides which there
are many shorter and secret writings respected and treasured by some of
the sects and schools of India, and which never have been allowed to be
translated, and many of which are never committed to print, but are passed
along verbally, or else in private copies written by hand. The Hindus hold
that the canon of the Upanishads is not closed, and that the future may add
to the number of the admitted books.
In the Upanishads will be found the entire system of the Hindu
philosophical and religious thought, in its many forms and varieties of
interpretation. It is the largest collection of philosophical writings in the
world, ancient or modern. And moreover the subject is considered with
such wonderful subtlety of analysis and detail, that it is thought to include
every possible variation of metaphysical thought of man up to the present
time—that is, no other nation has ever been able to form a metaphysical
conception that is without its counterpart in some of the Upanishads. The