The ancient philosophical literature of India generally known as Vedas is an invaluable wealth of recorded thoughts unparalleled in human intelligence and intellect. These include Vedasamhitas, Pramanas, Aranyakas and Upanishads. The Upanishads are the latest and most sophisticated of the collection of these thoughts of philosophers over a long period of time. Rishis (great thinkers) of several generations have added to the collections and some must have been lost with passage of time. What we have today are 108 Upanishads listed in the Mukthikopanishad. The Upanishads are philosophical texts considered to be an early source of Hindu religion. More than 200 are known, of which the first dozen or so, the oldest and most important, are variously referred to as the principal, main (mukhya) or old Upanishads. They are the Chandogya, Kena, Aitareya, Kaushitaki, Katha, Mundaka, Taittriyaka, Brihadaranyaka, Svetasvatara, Isa, Prasna, Mandukya and the Maitri Upanishads. One of the oldest and longest of the Upanishads, the Brihadaranyaka says: From the unreal lead me to the real! From darkness lead me to light! From death lead me to immortality!" The crux of the Upanishads is that this can be achieved by meditating with the awareness that one's soul ('atman') is one with all things, and that 'one' is 'Brahman', which becomes the 'all'. The oldest of these, the Brihadaranyaka, Jaiminiya Upanisadbrahmana and the Chandogya Upanishads, were composed during the pre-Buddhist era of India, while the Taittiriya, Aitareya and Kausitaki, which show Buddhist influence, must have been composed after the 5th century BCE. The remainder of the mukhya Upanishads are dated to the last few centuries BCE. The Upanishads have been attributed to several authors: Yajnavalkya and Uddalaka Aruni feature prominently in the early Upanishads. Other important writers include Shvetaketu, Shandilya, Aitareya, Pippalada and Sanatkumara. Important women discussants include Yajnavalkya's wife Maitreyi, and Gargi. The Mukhya Upanishads can themselves be stratified into periods. Of the early periods are the Brihadaranyaka, Jaiminiya Upanisadbrahmana and the Chandogya, the most important and the oldest. It is alleged that the Aitareya, Taittiriya, Kausitaki, Mundaka, Prasna, and Kathaka Upanishads show Buddha's influence, and must have been composed after the 5th century BCE. It is also alleged that in the first two centuries CE, they were followed by the Kena, Mandukya and Isa Upanishads. Not much is known about the authors except for those, like Yajnavalkayva and Uddalaka, mentioned in the texts. The authors of the Upanishads were many, but they were not solely from the priestly caste. They were poets prone to flashes of spiritual wisdom, and their aim was to guide a few chosen pupils to the point of liberation, which they themselves had attained. According to some scholars, the main figure in the Upanishads is the great sage Yajnavalkya. Other important Upanishadic sages are Uddalaka Aruni, Shwetaketu, Shandilya, Aitareya, Pippalada, Sanat Kumara. Many earlier Vedic teachers like Manu, Brihaspati, Ayasya and Narada are also found in the Upanishads. Each of the principal Upanishads can be associated with one of the schools of exegesis of the four Vedas (shakhas). Many Shakhas are said to have existed, of which only a few remain. The new Upanishads often have little relation to the Vedic corpus and have not been cited or commented upon by any great Vedanta philosopher: their language differs from that of the classic Upanishads, being less subtle and more formalized. As a result, they are not difficult to comprehend for the modern reader. The Kauóītāki and Maitrāyani Upanishads are sometimes added to the list of the mukhya Upanishads. There is no fixed list of the Upanishads as newer ones have continued to be composed. On many occasions, when older Upanishads have not suited the founders of new sects, they have composed new ones of their own. New Upanishads were still composed in the medieval and early modern period: discoveries of newer Upanishads were being reported as late as 1926. One, the Muktika Upanishad, predates 1656 and contains a list of 108 canonical Upanishads, including itself as the last. However, several texts under the title of "Upanishads" originated right up to the first half of the 20th century, some of which did not deal with subjects of Vedic philosophy. The newer Upanishads are known to be imitations of the mukhya Upanishads. Out of the large number of Upanishads, Western scholars have selected a few according to their choice of importance and translated them. In Paul Denson's translation 63 Upanishads are included. Max Muller has translated 12 and Robert Earnest Hume 13. The new Upanishads recorded in the Muktikā probably originated in southern India.
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