UPANISHADS

The knowledge was taught to students who sat near the master at a lower level or at his feet while the master sat on a higher seat. His teachings were called Upnishads.

The upanishads are a collection of text of religious and
philosophical nature.

The total number of Upanishads are 1180 but 200 are left and 13 are main.                 

The names of 13 upanishads are Brihadaranyaka,Chandogya,Taittiriya,Aitariya,Kaushitaki,Kena,Katha,Isa,Svetasvatara,Mundaka,Prasana,Mandukya and maitri. The upanishads are probably  written in India in 800-400 B.C.

The upanishads are the end part of the four vedas  Rigveda ,Yajurved, Samaved and Atharvaveda.  
       

The vedas on which sanatana dharma is based has three sections karma kanda(ritualistic section),upasana kanda(worship section) and jnana kand(knowledge section).the jnana kanda is called an upanishads.

The upanishads are also known as Vedanta, which means the end of the vedas.

The knowledge of the upanishads were confined to a few teachers who were either Kshatriya or Brahmanas.        
 

The upanishads teach us the knowledge of Moksha,they contain the knowledge of god leading to freedom.  
        

The upanishads are a part of the Mahabharata.