Upanishads (history) they represent a spirit different from anyone hostile to ritual. The rituals included animal sacrifices.

There is reconciliation clearly traceable in the later Upanishads as the doctrine more and more triumphed. There is prominence in the Upanishads of ascribing in their characteristic doctrines to royal personages, rather than priests (Brahmins). The Upanishads came to signify the secret instruction imported orally at private sittings. The Hindu tradition places the Upanishads in the same species as other of the Vedic literature; as coming from divine revelation. The Upanishads were originally an oral teaching. They contain the thoughts of many teachers. Upanishads came to be known as Vedanta , the end of the Veda. The date of the Upanishads is unknown but they predate Buddhism. One of the most important systems of Indian philosophy is that the Vedanta, which controls at the present time nearly all the higher thought of Brahmin India. Several of the works of the Upanishads were translated into Persian in Mogul times and were rendered into Latin at about the beginning of the last century. It was through the Latin translation that Schopenhauer learnt to admire them. One of the best translations of the Upanishads is Deussen. p.53 1 Although of the traditional view is that the Upanishads is all one teaching the diversity of opinions has been long-standing. Such divergences leads one to believe the Upanishads do not embody a single doctrine. The doubt is confirmed by independent study. A modern student would find several views in the Upanishads. The most prominent and best develop teaching may, if we overlook the minor details, be described as modernistic and idealistic. If the universe is not entirely mental, then it does presuppose mind. Upanishads terminology for ultimate reality are 2 fold Brahman and Atman. The word Brahman seems to have at 1st meant prayer. Brahman as prayer is what manifests itself in audible speech. Later in the Upanishads it came to mean the primary cause of the universe. In all probability Atman originally meant breath.