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152 tears asunder the veil of ignorance and makes one realise and approach Brahman." It also means "esoteric knowledge or esoteric doctrine" as we find in the Taittiriya Upanishad, Chapter 1, 3, "We shall now explain the Upanishad of the Samhita" meaning its esoteric meaning. In the Mahabharata, the word Upanishad is used for secret or essence, for when Vyasa speaks of "truth being the Upanishad of the Veda, subjigation of sense, the Upanishad of truth, and charity the Upanishad of the control of the senses," he means that the essence of the Vedas lies in the practice of the influences and that without the latter a knowledge of the Vedas is of no use. Primarily, the word Upanishad therefore means secret knowledge and secondly the books containing that knowledge.

The Upanishads are many in number but the authoritative Upanishads are the Isa, Kena, Katha, Prasna, Munda, Mandukya, Aitreya, Taittireya, Chandogya, Brihadaranyaka and Swetaswatara. The Upanishads are mainly dialogues between teachers and pupils or discussions between sages at king’s courts or in the forest. In some cases the gods are declared as imparting knowledge of Brahman to men.

Upanayana.—The performance of Upanayana entitles the Brahmans, the Kshatriyas and Vaisyas to the application of dvija twice-born. The ceremony is known as the Upanayana because of the child