Synopsis The svetasvatara Upanisad, belonging to the Black Yajur-veda, takes its name from the sage Svetasvatara who first revealed it to others, as mentioned in verse 6.21 of this Upanisad. The name Svetasvatara is derived thus: One whose organs of sense are very pure. The time of the promulgation of this Upanisad is not known. It quotes from the Samhita portion of the Vedas, and some of its verse are common with the Katha and the Mundaka Upanisads. Although some modern scholars hold that Sankaracarya is not the author of the commentary on the Svetasvatara Upanisad attributed to him, here is a long and strong tradition handed down to us that it is really his. Following this tradition, the translator undertook the task of giving the benefit of his versatile scholarship in the Vedantic lore to the English-knowing students of Sri Sankara.