The translation process occurred between the two authors throughout the 1930s and the book was published in 1938; it is one of the final works of W. B. Yeats.

The translations Yeats read (probably those by Anquetil-Duperron, themselves based on the Sirr-i-Akbar, a Persian version by the Mughal-mystic Dara Shukoh) left him incredulous, so upon meeting Shri Purohit Swami he proposed that the two of them of them translate the ancient text as though the original was written in common English,[1] quoting the following line from Aristotle as part of his motivation: To write well, express yourself like the common people, but think like a wise man.W.B.

Yeats could not travel to India as planned, so the bulk of translation took place on the Western Mediterranean island of Majorca between the years 1935-1936, with the book finally being published in 1938.

Yeats also inquired about Shree Purohit Swami's life (including his nine-year pilgrimage across India) and the two shared conversation on many other topics, exhibiting a fond friendship cemented together by their mutual interests in mystical principles.

[3] On 28 January 1939, Yeats passed away in Menton, France, less than a year after the publication of his and Shri Purohit Swami's translation of the Upanishads.