The Upanishads

The Upanishads are the philosophical heart of the ancient Vedas: dialogues and meditations, composed in India over many centuries from around the eighth century BC, on the nature of the self and of ultimate reality. Their central teaching is that the innermost self of each person, Atman, is one with Brahman, the reality behind the whole universe. This volume presents the Isha, Kena and Katha Upanishads; in the Katha, the boy Nachiketas goes to Yama, the god of death, and asks him what happens after we die.

The translation, with a commentary, is by Swami Paramananda (1884–1940), an Indian monk of the Ramakrishna order who taught in the United States and founded the Vedanta Centre in Boston, where these translations began as classes. The Upanishads deeply influenced thinkers from Schopenhauer to Tagore. Compare The Song Celestial and Sadhana.