Shvetashvatara Upanishad

The Shvetashvatara Upanishad (Sanskrit in Devanagari: श्वेताश्वतर उपनिषद; IAST: Śvetāśvatara) (400 – 200 BCE) is one of the older, "primary" Upanishads. It is associated with the Krishna Yajurveda. It figures as number 14 in the Muktika canon of 108 Upanishads. Adi Shankara called it the "Mantra Upanishad" of the Vedic Shvetashvatara school in his commentary on Brahma sutras.

This Upanishad contains 113 mantras or verses in six chapters. In the last chapter, a possible translation for the verse (3rd from last) is found.

The Sage Shvetashvatara got this knowledge of Brahman, which is very sacred and revered by many great sages, through his penance and through God's grace, and he taught it very well to his disciples.

This verse attributes this Upanishad to a sage called "Shvetashvatara" or to his line of ancient spiritual teachers. The name "Shvetashvatara" is not uncommon in Vedic literature. It means "white mule". The mule was a prized animal in ancient Vedic India. A person who owns a white horse is called "Shvetashva" and one who owns a white mule can be called "Shvetashvatara". One of Arjuna's names in the epic Mahabharata is "Shvetashva." The Rigveda refers to "Shyavashva," meaning "One who owns a black horse."

The Shvetashvatara Upanishad is the earliest textual exposition of a systematic philosophy of Shaivism. As explained by Gavin Flood, the text proposes:

... a theology which elevates Rudra to the status of supreme being, the Lord (Sanskrit: Īśa) who is transcendent yet also has cosmological functions, as does Śiva in later traditions.