Mundaka Upanishad

Verse 1

BrauMA was the first of the Devas, the maker of the universe, the preserver of the world. He told the knowledge of Brahman, the foundation of all knowledge, to his eldest son Atharva}.

Verse 2

Whatever Brahma told Atharvan, that know- ledge of Brahman Atharvan formerly told to Angir; he told it to Satyavaha Bharadvaga, and Bharadvaga told it in succession to Angiras.

Verse 3

Saunaka, the great householder, approached Angiras respectfully and asked: ‘Sir, what is that through which, if it is known, everything else becomes

Verse 4

Hesaid to him: Two kinds of knowledge must be known, this is what all who know Brahman tell us, the higher and the lower knowledge.’

Verse 5

‘The lower knowledge is the Azg-veda, Yagur- veda, Sdma-veda, Atharva-veda, Siksh4 The change between Atharva and Atharvan, like that between Nakiketas and Nafiketa, shows the freedom of the phraseology of the Upanishad, and cannot be used for fixing the date of the con- stituent elements of the Upanishad.? Other add here but the higher knowledge is that by which the Indestructible is apprehended.’

Verse 6

‘That which cannot be seen, nor seized, which has no family and no caste’, no eyes nor ears, no hands nor feet, the eternal, the omnipresent (all- infinitesimal, that which is imperishable, that it is which the wise regard as the source of

Verse 7

‘As the spider sends forth and draws in its thread, as plants grow on the earth, as from every man hairs spring forth on the head and the body, thus does everything arise here from the Indestructible.’

Verse 8

‘The Brahman swells by means of brooding hence is produced matter from matter breath mind, the true‘, the worlds and from the works (performed by men in the the immortal (the eternal effects, rewards, and punishments of? I translate vara by caste on account of its conjunction with gotra. The commentator translates, ‘without origin and without qualities.’ We should say that which belongs to no genus or? I have translated tapas by brooding, because this is the only word in English which combines the two meanings of warmth and thought. Native authorities actually admit two roots, one tap, to burn, the other tap, to meditate; see commentary on Pard- sara-smriti, Tapad krikkhrakandrayanddir- penaharavarganam. Nanu Vydsena tapo ’nyatha smaryate, tapah svadharma-vartitvam saukam sanganibarhanam iti; ndyam dosha, krikkhrader api svadharmaviseshat. Tapa samtdpa ity asmAd dhator utpannasya tapah-sabdasya dehasoshame vrettir mukhy&.... Yat tatraivoktam, ’yam moksha’ katham tena samsaram_ prati- pannavan ity dlokanam tapah samsanti pandita iti so nya eva tapahsabdaf, tapa alokana ity asmad dhator utpannad. Hiranyagarbha, the living world as a whole. Comm. Satya, if we compare and seems to mean buddhi. Here it is explained by the five elements. MUNDAKA, I KHANDA,

Verse 9

‘From him who perceives all and who knows all, whose brooding consists of knowledge, from him (the highest is born that Brah- man!, name, form?, and matter? Hiranyagarbha. Comm. Namarfipam, a very frequent concept in Buddhistic literature.

Verse 1

This is the truth!: the sacrificial works which they (the saw in the hymns (of the have been performed in many ways in the Treta age*, Practise them diligently, ye lovers of truth, this is your path that leads to the world of good

Verse 2

When the fire is lighted and the flame flickers, let a man offer his oblations between the two por- tions of melted butter, as an offering with faith.

Verse 3

If a man’s Agnihotra sacrifice is not followed 1In the beginning of the second Khazda the lower knowledge is first described, referring to the performance of sacrifices and other good deeds. The reward of them is perishable, and therefore a desire is awakened after the higher knowledge. The Treta age is frequently mentioned as the age of sacrifices. I should prefer, however, to take treté in the sense of tray? vidya, and santata as developed, because the idea that the Treta age was distinguished by its sacrifices, seems to me of later origin. Even the theory of the four ages or yugas, though known in the Ait. Brahmama, is not frequently alluded to in the older Upanishads. See Weber, Ind. Stud. I, The termination tha for looks suspiciously Buddhistic; see ‘Sanskrit Texts discovered in Japan,’ A. Svakrzta and sukrzta are constantly interchanged. They mean the same, good deeds, or deeds performed by oneself and believed to be good. At the Agnihotra, the first of all sacrifices, and the type of many others, two portions of Agya are sacrificed on the right and left side of the Ahavantya altar. The place between the two is called the Avapasthdna, and here the oblations to the gods are to be offered. There are two oblations in the morning to Sfirya and Pragapati, two in the evening to Agni and Pragdpati. Other sacri- fices, such as the Darsa and Pfrmamasa, and those mentioned in verse are connected with the Agnihotra. by the new-moon and full-moon sacrifices, by the four-months’ sacrifices, and by the harvest sacrifice, if it is unattended by guests, not offered at all, or without the Vaisvadeva ceremony, or not offered according to rule, then it destroys his seven worlds?.

Verse 4

Kali Kardli Manogava (swift as Sulohita (very Sudhtmravarmza Sphulingini and the brilliant Visvaript? (having all all these playing about are called the seven tongues (of

Verse 5

If a man performs his sacred works when these flames are shining, and the oblations follow at the right time, then they lead him as sun-rays to where the one Lord of the Devas dwells.

Verse 6

Come hither, come hither! the brilliant obla- tions say to him, and carry the sacrificer on the rays of the sun, while they utter pleasant speech and praise him, saying: ‘This is thy holy Brahma-world gained by thy good works.’

Verse 7

But frail, in truth, are those boats, the sacri- fices, the eighteen, in which this lower ceremonial has been told’. Fools who praise this as the highest good, are subject again and again to old age and The seven worlds form the rewards of a pious sacrificer, the first is BhuA, the last Satya. The seven worlds may also be plained as the worlds of the father, grandfather, and great-grand- father, of the son, the grandson, and great-grandson, and of the? Or if there is any authority for this reading in Mahi- dhara’s commentary to the Vagas. Samhita The Rajah of Besmah’s edition has visvaruki, which is also the reading adopted by Rammohun Roy, see Complete Works, vol. i, ’ The commentator takes the eighteen for the sixteen priests, the sacrificer, and his wife. But such an explanation hardly yields a satisfactory meaning, nor does plava mean perishable.

Verse 8

Fools dwelling in darkness, wise in their own conceit, and puffed up with vain knowledge, go round. and round staggering to and fro, like blind men led by the blind’.

Verse 9

Children, when they have long lived in igno- rance, consider themselves happy. Because those who depend on their good works are, owing to their passions, improvident, they fall and become miserable when their life (in the world which they had gained by their good is finished.

Verse 10

Considering sacrifice and good works as the best, these fools know no higher good, and having enjoyed (their on the height of heaven, gained by good works, they enter again this world or a lower one.

Verse 11

But those? who practise penance and faith in the forest, tranquil, wise, and living on alms, depart free from passion through the sun to where that immortal Person dwells whose nature is impe-

Verse 12

Let a Brahmava, after he has examined all these worlds which are gained by works, acquire freedom from all desires. Nothing that is eternal (not can be gained by what is not eternal Let him, in order to understand this, take Kash. Up.? According to the commentator, this verse refers to those who know the uselessness of sacrifices and have attained to a knowledge of the qualified Brahman. They live in the forest as Vanaprasthas and Samnyasins, practising tapas, whatever is proper for their state, and sraddha, a knowledge of Hiramyagarbha. The wis: are the learned Grzhasthas, while those who live on alms are those who have forsaken their family. That person is Hirazyagarbha. His immortality is relative only, it lasts no longer than the world fuel in his hand and approach a Guru who is learned and dwells entirely in Brahman.

Verse 13

To that pupil who has approached him spectfully, whose thoughts are not troubled by any desires, and who has obtained perfect peace, the wise teacher truly told that knowledge of Brah- man through which he knows the eternal and true

Verse 1

This is the truth. As from a blazing fire sparks, being like unto fire’, fly forth a thousandfold, thus are various beings brought forth from the Imperishable, my friend, and return thither also.

Verse 2

That heavenly Person is without body, he is both without and within, not produced, without breath and without mind, pure, higher than the high

Verse 3

From him (when entering on is born breath, mind, and all organs of sense, ether, air, light, water, and the earth, the support of all.

Verse 4

Fire (the is his head, his eyes the sun and the moon, the quarters his ears, his speech the Vedas disclosed, the wind his breath, his heart the universe; from his feet came the earth; he is indeed the inner Self of all things

Verse 5

From him comes Agni the sun being the fuel; from the moon comes rain from the earth herbs; and man gives seed unto the woman. Thus many beings are begotten from the

Verse 6

From him come the the SAman, the The high Imperishable is here the creative, the higher the non- Called Vishzu and Virdg by the commentators. There are five fires, those of heaven, rain, earth, man, and Yagush, the Diksha (initiatory all sacrifices and offerings of animals, and the fees bestowed on priests, the year too, the sacrificer, and the worlds, in which the moon shines brightly and the sun.

Verse 7

From him the many Devas too are begotten, the Sadhyas men, cattle, birds, the up and down breathings, rice and corn (for penance, faith, truth, abstinence, and law.

Verse 8

The seven senses also spring from him, the seven lights (acts of the seven kinds of fuel (objects by which the senses are the seven sacrifices (results of these seven worlds (the places of the senses, the worlds deter- mined by the in which the senses move, which rest in the cave (of the and are placed there seven and seven.

Verse 9

Hence come the seas and all the mountains, from him flow the rivers of every kind; hence come all herbs and the juice through which the inner Self subsists with the elements.

Verse 10

The Person is all this, sacrifice, penance, Brah- man, the highest immortal; he who knows this hidden in the cave (of the he, friend, scatters the knot of ignorance here on earth.

Verse 1

Manifest, near, moving in the cave (of the is the great Being. In it everything is centred which ye know as moving, breathing, and blinking, as being and not-being, as adorable, as the best, that is beyond the understanding of creatures.

Verse 2

That which is brilliant, smaller than small, that on which the worlds are founded and their inhabit- ants, that is the indestructible Brahman, that is the breath, speech, mind; that is the true, that is the immortal. That is to be hit. Hit it, friend!

Verse 3

Having taken the Upanishad as the bow, as the great weapon, let him place on it the arrow, sharpened by devotion! Then having drawn it with a thought directed to that which is, hit the mark, friend, viz. that which is the Indestructible!

Verse 4

Om is the bow, the Self is the arrow, Brahman is called its aim. It is to be hit by a man who is not thoughtless; and then, as the arrow (becomes one with the he will become one with Brahman.

Verse 5

In him the heaven, the earth, and the sky are woven, the mind also with all the senses. Know him alone as the Self, and leave off other words! He is the bridge of the Immortal.

Verse 6

He moves about becoming manifold within the heart where the arteries meet, like spokes fastened to the nave. Meditate on the Self as Om! Hail to you, that you may cross beyond (the sea darkness!

Verse 7

He who understands all and who knows all, he to whom all this glory in the world belongs, the Self, is placed in the ether, in the heavenly city of Brahman (the He assumes the nature of mind, and becomes the guide of the body of the senses. He subsists in food, in close proximity to the heart. The wise who understand this, behold the Immortal which shines forth full of bliss.

Verse 8

The fetter of the heart is broken, all doubts are solved, all his works (and their perish when He has been beheld who is high and low (cause

Verse 9

In the highest golden sheath there is the Brahman without passions and without parts. That is pure, that is the light of lights, that is it which they know who know the Self.

Verse 10

The? sun does not shine there, nor the moon and the stars, nor these lightnings, and much less this fire. When he shines, everything shines after him; by his light all this is lighted

Verse 11

That immortal Brahman is before, that Brah- man is behind, that Brahman is right and left. It has gone forth below and above; Brahman alone is all this, it is the best. ware. Up. "mAs Up. Svet. Up. Bhag. Gita

Verse 1

Two birds, inseparable friends, cling to the same tree. One of them eats the sweet fruit, the other looks on without eating’.

Verse 2

On the same tree man sits grieving, immersed, bewildered by his own impotence But when he sees the other lord contented and knows his glory, then his grief passes away ’.

Verse 3

When the seer sees the brilliant maker and lord (of the as the Person who has his source in Brahman, then he is wise, and shaking off good and evil, he reaches the highest oneness, free from

Verse 4

For he is the Breath shining forth in all beings, and he who understands this becomes truly wise, not a talker only. He revels in the Self, he delights in the Self, and having performed his works (truth- fulness, penance, meditation, he rests, firmly established in Brahman, the best of those who know? I, Nir. Svet. Up. Kash. Up. Svet. Up. The commentator states that, besides 4tmaratif kriyavan, there was another reading, viz. 4tmaratikriyavan. This probably owed its origin to a difficulty felt in reconciling performing acts, with the brahmavidam the best of those who know Brahman, works being utterly incompatible with a true knowledge of Brahman. however, as Sankara points out, may mean here simply, having performed meditation and other acts conducive to a knowledge of Brahman. Probably truthfulness,

Verse 5

By truthfulness, indeed, by penance, right know- ledge, and abstinence must that Self be gained; the Self whom spotless anchorites gain is pure, and like a light within the body.

Verse 6

The true prevails, not the untrue; by the true the path is laid out, the way of the gods on which the old sages, satisfied in their desires, proceed to where there is that highest place of the

Verse 7

That (true shines forth grand, divine, inconceivable, smaller than small; it is far beyond what is far and yet near here, it is hidden in the cave (of the among those who see it even

Verse 8

He is not apprehended by the eye, nor by speech, nor by the other senses, not by penance or good works?, When a man’s nature has become purified by the serene light of knowledge, then he sees him, meditating on him as without parts.

Verse 9

That subtle Self is to be known by thought there where breath has entered fivefold; for every thought of men is interwoven with the senses, and when thought is purified, then the Self

Verse 10

Whatever state a man whose nature is puri- fied imagines, and whatever desires he desires (for himself or for that state he conquers and penance, mentioned in the next following verse, are the kriyas or works intended. For grammatical reasons also this reading is preferable. But the last foot esha brahmavidam is clearly defective. If we examine the commentary, we see that Sankara read and that he did not read esha, which would give us the correct metre, brahmavidam Kath. Up. Bri. At those desires he obtains. Therefore let every man who desires happiness worship the man who knows

Verse 1

He (the knower of the knows that high- est home of Brahman?, in which all is contained and shines brightly. The wise who, without desiring happiness, worship that Person’, transcend this seed, (they are not born

Verse 2

He who forms desires in his mind, is born again through his desires here and there. But to him whose desires are fulfilled and who is conscious of the true Self (within all desires vanish, even here on earth.

Verse 3

That Self* cannot be gained by the Veda, nor by understanding, nor by much learning. He whom the Self chooses, by him the Self can be gained. The Self chooses him (his as his own.

Verse 4

Nor is that Self to be gained by one who is destitute of strength, or without earnestness, or without right meditation. But if a wise man strives after it by those means (by strength, earnestness, and right then his Self enters the home

Verse 5

When they have reached him (the the sages become satisfied through knowledge, they are conscious of their Self, their passions have passed All this is said by the commentator to refer to a knowledge of the conditioned Brahman only. See verse ‘The commentator refers purusha to the knower of the Self. Kash. Up. away, and they are tranquil. The wise, having reached Him who is omnipresent everywhere, voted to the Self, enter into him wholly.

Verse 6

Having well ascertained the object of the know- ledge of the Vedanta’, and having purified their nature by the Yoga? of renunciation, all anchorites, enjoying the highest immortality, become free at the time of the great end in the worlds of Brahma.

Verse 7

Their fifteen parts* enter into their elements, their Devas (the into their Devas‘. Their deeds and their Self with all his knowledge become all one in the highest Imperish-

Verse 8

As the flowing rivers disappear in the sea®, losing their name and their form, thus a wise man, freed from name and form, goes to the divine Person, who is greater than the great

Verse 9

He who knows that highest Brahman, becomes even Brahman. In his race no one is born ignorant of Brahman. He overcomes grief, he overcomes evil; free from the fetters of the heart, he becomes

Verse 10

And this is declared by the following verse: ‘Let a man tell this science of Brahman to those only who have performed all acts, who are versed in the Vedas, and firmly established in (the Brahman, who themselves offer as Taitt. Svet. Up. Kaiv. Upy ace Weber, Ind. Stud. I, By the Yoga system, which, through restraint leads a man to true knowledge. Prasna Up. The eye into the sun, Prasna Up. Greater than the conditioned Brahman. Comm. an oblation the one Azshi full of faith, and by whom the rite of (carrying fire the head has been performed, according to the rule (of the

Verse 11

The Azshi Angiras formerly told this true a man who has not performed the rites, does not read it. Adoration to the highest Azshis! Adoration to the highest 72zshis!