The word Upanishad literally means 'sitting near devotedly', and brings the picture of a sincere devotee learning from his guru- or spiritual master. The great Sankaracharya would, however, describe the Upanishad as simply knowledge of God.
There are , in all, 108 Upanishads ranging in length from a few hundred to many thousands of words, some in prose and some in verse. Of these, sixteen Upanishads were recognised by Shankaracharya as authentic and authoritative. In his commentary on Vedanta Aphorisms, he included quotations from six Upanishads. On the other ten Upanishads, he wrote elaborate commentaries. It is these ten Upanishads which, partly on account of their intrinsic importance but mailnly, no doubt, because of Shankara's commentaries, have come to be regarded as principal Upanishads. These ten Upanishads that form one of the vital bases of Hinduism are Isa, Kena, Katha, Prasna, Mundaka, Mandukya, Chandogya, Brihadaranyaka, Aitareya and Taittiriya.
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