Upanishads are prime portions of the Vedas, They are the foundational theological discourses of Hindu traditions called Vedanta or the conclusion of the Vedas. Upanishad 11 in English rhyme comprises of the Sandilya Upanishad, Sannyasa Upanishad, Para-Brahma Upanishad, Paramahamsa Upanishad, Pranagnihotra Upanishad, Paramahamsa Parivrajaka Upanishad, Turiyatita Avadhuta Upanishad, Sarasvati-Rahasya Upanishad, Satyayaniya Upanishad, Savitri Upanishad Sita Upanishad, Skanda Upanishad, and the Subala Upanishad written in English rhyme with the original Sanskrit text.
The Upanishads has now been expanded and brought out in two volumes, with much new material published for the first time in book form. The single volume The Upanishads has been discontinued, with all its content included in the two new volumes, each available as an independent book. The Kena Upanishad is concerned with the relation of mind-consciousness to Brahman-consciousness , writes Sri Aurobindo in his commentary on this work. The material world and the physical life exist for us only by virtue of our internal self and our internal life. According as our mental instruments represent to us the external world, according as our vital force in obedience to the mind deals with its impacts and objects, so will be our outward life and existence. Along with Sri Aurobindo's final translation of and commentary on the Kena, this book includes his translations of six other Upanishads as well as several other translations and commentaries, and essays such as 'The Philosophy of the Upanishads'.
The ancient Vedic literature, the foundation of the whole literature of India, which has been handed down in that country in an unbroken succession from the earliest times within the recollection of man to the present day, became known for the first time beyond the frontiers of India through the Upanishads. The Upanishads were translated from Sanskrit into Persian by, or, it may be, for Dârâ Shukoh, the eldest son of Shâh Jehân, an enlightened prince, who openly professed the liberal religious tenets of the great Emperor Akbar, and even wrote a book intended to reconcile the religious doctrines of Hindus and Mohammedans. He seems first to have heard of the Upanishads during his stay in Kashmir in 1640. He afterwards invited several Pandits from Benares to Delhi, who were to assist him in the work of translation. The translation was finished in 1657. Three years after the accomplishment of this work, in 1659, the prince was put to death by his brother Aurangzib1, in reality, no doubt, because he was the eldest son and legitimate successor of Shâh Jehân, but under the pretext that he was an infidel, and dangerous to the established religion of the empire. When the Upanishads had once been translated from Sanskrit into Persian, at that time the most widely read language of the East and understood likewise by many European scholars, they became generally accessible to all who took an interest in the religious literature of India. It is true that under Akbar's reign (1556-1586) similar translations had been prepared1, but neither those nor the translations of Dârâ Shukoh attracted the attention of European scholars till the year 1775. In that year Anquetil Duperron, the famous traveller and discoverer of the Zend-avesta, received one MS. of the Persian translation of the Upanishads, sent to him by M. Gentil, the French resident at the court of Shuja ud daula, and brought to France by M. Bernier. After receiving another MS., Anquetil Duperron collated the two, and translated the Persian translation into French (not published), and into Latin.
