The Sanskrit term Upaniṣad originally meant “connection” or “equivalence",[27] but came to be understood as "sitting near a teacher,"[27] from upa "by" and ni-ṣad "sit down",[28] "sitting down near", referring to the student sitting down near the teacher while receiving spiritual knowledge (Gurumukh).[29] Other dictionary meanings include "esoteric doctrine" and "secret doctrine". Monier-Williams' Sanskrit Dictionary notes – "According to native authorities, Upanishad means setting to rest ignorance by revealing the knowledge of the supreme spirit."[30]
Adi Shankaracharya explains in his commentary on the Kaṭha and Brihadaranyaka Upanishad that the word means Ātmavidyā, that is, "knowledge of the self", or Brahmavidyā "knowledge of Brahman". The word appears in the verses of many Upanishads, such as the fourth verse of the 13th volume in the first chapter of the Chandogya Upanishad. Max Müller as well as Paul Deussen translate the word Upanishad in these verses as "secret doctrine",[31][32] Robert Hume translates it as "mystic meaning",[33] while Patrick Olivelle translates it as "hidden connections".[34]
