A body of texts written in Sanskrit and considered to be the latter part of the Vedas. They cover issues and details around meditative practice, philosophy and ontological knowledge. Collectively referred to as Vedanta, there are 108 known Upanishadic texts. The oldest texts from the canon are dated to the sixth century BCE, while most others are dated between the third century BCE and the fifteenth century CE. From the Sanskrit word upanishad, meaning “sitting down near,” referring to a student sitting near a teacher while receiving spiritual knowledge.