The Kenopanishad derives its name from the opening word of the text, Kena-ishitam, “by whom directed.” It has four sections, the first two in verse form and the other two in prose. The verse form deals with the Supreme Unqualified Brahman, the absolute principle underlying the phenomenal world and the prose form deals with the Supreme as God, Isvara. The knowledge of the Absolute is possible only for those who are able to withdraw their thoughts from the worldly objects and concentrate on the ultimate fact of the universe.

Among the Upanishads it is one of the most analytical and metaphysical, its purpose being to lead the mind from the gross to the subtle, from the effect to the cause. By a series of profound questions and answers, it seeks to locate the source of man’s being; and to expand his self-consciousness until it has become identical with God-Consciousness, Brahman.