Vedanta, also known as Upanishads, belongs to which of the following periods?

Option 1 -> This period marks the early Vedic age when Samhitas (like Rigveda) were composed, not the Upanishads.

Option 2 -> This later Vedic period saw the composition of Upanishads, marking a shift from ritualism to philosophical thought.

Option 3 -> This falls within the middle Vedic period, primarily associated with Brahmanas and early Aranyakas.

Option 4 -> This is the early Common Era, far too late for Upanishadic composition.

Hence, Option 2 (800-500 BCE) -> The Upanishads, meaning "sitting down near" (a teacher), represent Vedanta or the "end/culmination of the Vedas" and were composed during the later Vedic period when Indian philosophy shifted from ritual sacrifice to metaphysical speculation about Brahman, Atman, and the nature of reality -> correct