The Shvetashvatara Upanishad is a shaivasiam Upanishad of Hinduism, commented by many of its ancient and medieval scholars. It is a foundational text of the philosophy of Shaivism, as well as the Yoga and Vedanta schools of Hinduism. Some 19th century scholars initially suggested that Shvetashvatara Upanishad is sectarian or possibly influenced by Christianity, hypotheses that were disputed, later discarded by scholars. The name "Shvetashvatara" has the compound Sanskrit root "Shvetashva" (श्वेताश्व, Shvet + ashva), which literally means "white horse" and "drawn by white steeds". "Shvetashvatara" is a bahuvrihi compound of (""), where "tara" means "crossing", "carrying beyond". The word "Shvetashvatara" translates to "the one carrying beyond on white horse" or simply "white mule that carries". The text is sometimes spelled as Svetasvatara Upanishad. It is also known as Shvetashvataropanishad or Svetasvataropanishad, and as Shvetashvataranam Mantropanishad. In ancient and medieval literature, the text is frequently referred to in the plural, that is as "Svetasvataropanishadah". Some metric poetic verses, such as "Vakaspatyam" simply refer to the text as "Shvetashva". Flood as well as Gorski state that the Svetasvatara Upanishad was probably composed in the 5th to 4th century BCE. Paul Muller-Ortega dates the text between 6th to 5th century BCE. The chronology of Shvetashvatara Upanishad, like other Upanishads, is uncertain and contested. The chronology is difficult to resolve because all opinions rest on scanty evidence, an analysis of archaism, style and repetitions across texts, driven by assumptions about likely evolution of ideas, and on presumptions about which philosophy might have influenced which other Indian philosophies. Phillips chronologically lists Shvetashvatara Upanishad after Mandukya Upanishad, but before and about the time the Maitri Upanishad, the first Buddhist Pali and Jaina canonical texts were composed. Ranade places Shvetashvatara Upanishad's chronological composition in the fourth group of ancient Upanishads, after Katha and Mundaka Upanishads.