The Book of Knowledge : Upanishads  

Upanishad means the inner or mystic teaching. The Upanishads more clearly set forth the prime Vedic doctrines like Self-realization, yoga and meditation, karma and reincarnation, which were hidden or kept veiled under the symbols of the older mystery religion. The older Upanishads are usually affixed to a particularly Veda, through a Brahmana or Aranyaka (see below). The more recent ones are not. The Upanishads became prevalent some centuries before the time of Krishna and Buddha. The classical Upanishadic age was in the reign of the Kuru kings of north India, of which the Puranas list twenty kings before the time of Krishna (c. 1500 B.C.).  

The main figure in the Upanishads, though not present in many of them, is the sage Yajnavalkya. Most of the great teachings of later Hindu and Buddhist philosophy derive from him. He taught the great doctrine of "neti-neti", the view that truth can be found only through the negation of all thoughts about it. He looks back some generations to Tura Kavasheya, the main priest of Janamejaya, the second of the Kuru kings (not to be confused with the later Janamejaya who followed a few generations after Krishna). 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.

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