The metaphysical treatises known as the Upanishads represent the efforts of the major thinkers of early India, from around the sixth century B.C., to solve the problems of the origin, the nature, and the destiny of man and the universe. These texts, translated by Hume who faithfully rendered the original Sanskrit, include an appendix of recurrent and parallel passages in the principal Upanishads and the Bhagavad-Gita, full annotations, a bibliography, and a helpful exposition of the methods of translation.