Question

The Upanishads are a series of books devoted to ___________.
A. Yoga
B. Social law
C. Religious rituals
D. Philosophy

Answer 1

Hint: The name ‘Upanishada’ is translated as “sit down closely” because one would listen attentively to the authority figure. Upanishad has also been deciphered as “secret teaching” or “revealing underlying truth”.

Complete answer: The Upanishads are considered as major philosophical-religious texts of Hinduism. Hinduism is often addressed as Sanatana Dharma, which means "eternal order" or "eternal path". These are said to develop and explain the basic tenets of a religion. The truths of life that it addresses are concepts that are expressed in religious scriptures called the Vedas. The orthodox Hindus consider Vedas to be the knowledge of creation and the operation of the universe. The word Veda means "knowledge" and it is believed that the four Vedas express basic knowledge about human existence. These works are considered harmonic in Hinduism, meaning that they are "audible" which means they originated from the vibrations of the universe and are heard orally composed before writing. Upanishads are considered the "end of the Vedas" (Vedanta), in which they expand, explain and develop the concepts of the Vedas through narrative dialogue and therefore promote the floating of the concepts on a personal as well as spiritual level.
Therefore, the correct answer is “D”.

Note: There are almost 180-200 Upanishads. However, the best acknowledged are the 13 which are mentioned in the four Vedas. The four Vedas are called Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda.