Mundaka
Upanishad
Om ! O gods, may we hear auspicious words
with the ears;
While engaged in sacrifices,
May we see auspicious things with the eyes;
While praising the gods with steady limbs,
May we enjoy a life that is beneficial to the gods.
May Indra of ancient fame be auspicious to us;
May the supremely rich (or all-knowing) Pusa (god of the earth)
Be propitious to us;
May Garuda, the destroyer of evil,
Be well disposed towards us;
May Brihaspati ensure our welfare.
Om ! Peace ! Peace ! Peace !
I-i-1: Om ! Brahma, the creator of the Universe and the protector of the
world, was the first among the gods to manifest Himself. To His eldest
son Atharva He imparted that knowledge of Brahman that is the basis of
all knowledge.
I-i-2: The Knowledge of Brahman that Brahma imparted to Atharva, Atharva
transmitted to Angir in days of yore. He (Angir) passed it on to
Satyavaha of the line of Bharadvaja. He of the line of Bharadvaja handed
down to Angiras this knowledge that had been received in succession from
the higher by the lower ones.
I-i-3: Saunaka, well known as a great householder, having approached
Angiras duly, asked, ‘O adorable sir, (which is that thing) which having
been known, all this becomes known ?’
I-i-4: To him he said, ‘"There are two kinds of knowledge to be acquired
– the higher and the lower"; this is what, as tradition runs, the
knowers of the import of the Vedas say.’
I-i-5: Of these, the lower comprises the Rig-Veda, Yajur-Veda,
Sama-Veda, Atharva-Veda, the science of pronunciation etc., the code of
rituals, grammar, etymology, metre and astrology. Then there is the
higher (knowledge) by which is attained that Imperishable.
I-i-6: (By the higher knowledge) the wise realize everywhere that which
cannot be perceived and grasped, which is without source, features,
eyes, and ears, which has neither hands nor feet, which is eternal,
multiformed, all-pervasive, extremely subtle, and undiminishing and
which is the source of all.
I-i-7: As a spider spreads out and withdraws (its thread), as on the
earth grow the herbs (and trees), and as from a living man issues out
hair (on the head and body), so out of the Imperishable does the
Universe emerge here (in this phenomenal creation).
I-i-8: Through knowledge Brahman increases in size. From that is born
food (the Unmanifested). From food evolves Prana (Hiranyagarbha);
(thence the cosmic) mind; (thence) the five elements; (thence) the
worlds; (thence) the immortality that is in karmas.
I-i-9: From Him, who is omniscient in general and all-knowing in detail
and whose austerity is constituted by knowledge, evolve this
(derivative) Brahman, name, colour and food.
I-ii-1:That thing that is such, is true.
The karmas that the wise discovered in the mantras are accomplished
variously (in the context of the sacrifice) where the three Vedic duties
get united. You perform them for ever with desire for the true results.
This is your path leading to the fruits of karma acquired by yourselves.
I-ii-2: When, the fire being set ablaze, the flame shoots up, one should
offer the oblations into that part that is in between the right and the
left.
I-ii-3: It (i.e. the Agnihotra) destroys the seven worlds of that man
whose Agnihotra (sacrifice) is without Darsa and Paurnamasa (rites),
devoid of Chaturmasya, bereft of Agrayana, unblest with guests, goes
unperformed, is unaccompanied by Vaisvadeva (rite) and is performed
perfunctorily.
I-ii-4: Kali, Karali, Manojava and Sulohita and that which is
Sudhumravarna, as also Sphulingini, and the shining Visvaruchi – these
are the seven flaming tongues.
I-ii-5: These oblations turn into the rays of the sun and taking him up
they lead him, who performs the rites in these shining flames at the
proper time, to where the single lord of the gods presides over all.
I-ii-6: Saying, ‘Come, come’, uttering pleasing words such as, ‘This is
your well-earned, virtuous path which leads to heaven’, and offering him
adoration, the scintillating oblations carry the sacrificer along the
rays of the sun.
I-ii-7: Since these eighteen constituents of a sacrifice, on whom the
inferior karma has been said to rest, are perishable because of their
fragility, therefore those ignorant people who get elated with the idea
‘This is (the cause of) bliss’, undergo old age and death over again.
I-ii-8: Remaining within the fold of ignorance and thinking, ‘We are
ourselves wise and learned’, the fools, while being buffeted very much,
ramble about like the blind led by the blind alone.
I-ii-9: Continuing diversely in the midst of ignorance, the
unenlightened take airs by thinking, ‘We have attained the goal.’ Since
the men, engaged in karma, do not understand (the truth) under the
influence of attachment, thereby they become afflicted with sorrow and
are deprived of heaven on the exhaustion of the results of karma.
I-ii-10: The deluded fools, believing the rites inculcated by the Vedas
and the Smritis to be the highest, do not understand the other thing
(that leads to) liberation. They, having enjoyed (the fruits of actions)
in the abode of pleasure on the heights of heaven, enter this world or
an inferior one.
I-ii-11: Those who live in the forest, while begging for alms – viz.
those (forest-dwellers and hermits) who resort to the duties of their
respective stages of life as well as to meditation – and the learned
(householders) who have their senses under control – (they) after
becoming freed from dirt, go by the path of the sun to where lives that
Purusha, immortal and undecaying by nature.
I-ii-12: A Brahmana should resort to renunciation after examining the
worlds acquired through karma, with the help of this maxim: ‘There is
nothing (here) that is not the result of karma; so what is the need of
(performing) karma ?’ For knowing that Reality he should go, with
sacrificial faggots in hand, only to a teacher versed in the Vedas and
absorbed in Brahman.
I-ii-13: To him who has approached duly, whose heart is calm and whose
outer organs are under control, that man of enlightenment should
adequately impart that knowledge of Brahman by which one realizes the
true and imperishable Purusha.
II-i-1: That thing that is such, is true.
As from a fire fully ablaze, fly off sparks in their thousands that are
akin to the fire, similarly O good-looking one, from the Imperishable
originate different kinds of creatures and into It again they merge.
II-i-2: The Purusha is transcendental, since He is formless. And since
He is coextensive with all that is external and internal and since He is
birthless, therefore He is without vital force and without mind; He is
pure and superior to the (other) superior imperishable (Maya).
II-i-3: From Him originates the vital force as well as the mind, all the
senses, space, air, fire, water, and earth that supports everything.
II-i-4: The indwelling Self of all is surely He of whom the heaven is
the head, the moon and sun are the two eyes, the directions are the two
ears, the revealed Vedas are the speech, air is the vital force, the
whole Universe is the heart, and (It is He) from whose two feet emerged
the earth.
II-i-5: From Him emerges the fire (i.e. heaven) of which the fuel is the
sun. From the moon emerges cloud, and (from cloud) the herbs and corns
on the earth. A man sheds the semen into a woman. From the Purusha have
originated many creatures.
II-i-6: From Him (emerge) the Rik, Sama and Yajur mantras, initiation,
all the sacrifices – whether with or without the sacrificial stake –
offerings to Brahmanas, the year, the sacrificer, and the worlds where
the moon sacrifices (all) and where the sun (shines).
II-i-7: And from Him duly emerged the gods in various groups, the
Sadhyas, human beings, beasts, birds, life, rice and barley, as well as
austerity, faith, truth, continence and dutifulness.
II-i-8: From Him emerge the seven sense-organs, the seven flames, the
seven kinds of fuel, the seven oblations, and these seven seats where
move the sense-organs that sleep in the cavity, (and) have been
deposited (by God) in groups of seven.
II-i-9: From Him emerge all the oceans and all the mountains. From Him
flow out the rivers of various forms. And from Him issue all the corns
as well as the juice, by virtue of which the internal self verily exists
in the midst of the elements.
II-i-10: The Purusha alone is all this – (comprising) karma and
knowledge. He who knows this supreme, immortal Brahman, existing in the
heart, destroys here the knot of ignorance, O good-looking one !
II-ii-1: (It is) effulgent, near at hand, and well known as moving in
the heart, and (It is) the great goal. On It are fixed all these that
move, breathe, and wink or do not wink. Know this One which comprises
the gross and the subtle, which is beyond the ordinary knowledge of
creatures, and which is the most desirable and the highest of all.
II-ii-2: That which is bright and is subtler than the subtle, and that
on which are fixed all the worlds as well as the dwellers of the worlds,
is this immutable Brahman; It is this vital force; It, again, is speech
and mind. This Entity, that is such, is true. It is immortal. It is to
be penetrated, O good-looking one, shoot (at It).
II-ii-3: Taking hold of the bow, the great weapon familiar in the
Upanishads, one should fix on it an arrow sharpened with meditation.
Drawing the string, O good-looking one, hit that very target that is the
Imperishable, with the mind absorbed in Its thought.
II-ii-4: Om is the bow; the soul is the arrow; and Brahman is called its
target. It is to be hit by an unerring man. One should become one with
It just like an arrow.
II-ii-5: Know that Self alone that is one without a second, on which are
strung heaven, the earth and the inter-space, the mind and the vital
forces together with all the other organs; and give up all other talks.
This is the bridge leading to immortality.
II-ii-6: Within that (heart) in which are fixed the nerves like the
spokes on the hub of a chariot wheel, moves this aforesaid Self by
becoming multiformed. Meditate on the Self thus with the help of Om. May
you be free from hindrances in going to the other shore beyond darkness.
II-ii-7: That Self which is omniscient in general and all-knowing in
detail and which has such glory in this world – that Self, which is of
this kind – is seated in the space within the luminous city of Brahman.
It is conditioned by the mind, It is the carrier of the vital forces and
the body, It is seated in food by placing the intellect (in the cavity
of the heart). Through their knowledge, the discriminating people
realize that Self as existing in Its fullness everywhere – the Self that
shines surpassingly as blissfulness and immortality.
II-ii-8: When that Self, which is both the high and the low, is
realized, the knot of the heart gets united, all doubts become solved,
and all one’s actions become dissipated.
II-ii-9: In the supreme, bright sheath is Brahman, free from taints and
without parts. It is pure, and is the Light of lights. It is that which
the knowers of the Self realize.
II-ii-10: There the sun does not shine, nor the moon or the stars; nor
do these flashes of lightning shine there. How can this fire do so ?
Everything shines according as He does so; by His light all this shines
diversely.
II-ii-11: All this that is in front is but Brahman, the immortal.
Brahman is at the back, as also on the right and the left. It is
extended above and below, too. This world is nothing but Brahman, the
highest.
III-i-1: Two birds that are ever associated and have similar names,
cling to the same tree. Of these, one eats the fruit of divergent
tastes, and the other looks on without eating.
III-i-2: On the same tree, the individual soul remains drowned (i.e.
stuck), as it were; and so it moans, being worried by its impotence.
When it sees thus the other, the adored Lord, and His glory, then it
becomes liberated from sorrow.
III-i-3: When the seer sees the Purusha – the golden-hued, creator,
lord, and the source of the inferior Brahman – then the illumined one
completely shakes off both merit and demerit, becomes taintless, and
attains absolute equality.
III-i-4: This one is verily the Vital Force which shines divergently
through all beings. Knowing this, the illumined man has no (further)
occasion to go beyond anything in his talk. He disports in the Self,
delights in the Self, and is engrossed in (spiritual) effort. This one
is the chief among the knowers of Brahman.
III-i-5: The bright and pure Self within the body, that the monks with
(habitual effort and) attenuated blemishes see, is attainable verily
through truth, concentration, complete knowledge, and continence,
practised constantly.
III-i-6: Truth alone wins, and not untruth. By truth is laid the path
called Devayana, by which the desireless seers ascend to where exists
the supreme treasure attainable through truth.
III-i-7: It is great and self-effulgent; and Its form is unthinkable. It
is subtler than the subtle. It shines diversely. It is farther away than
the far-off, and It is near at hand in this body. Among sentient beings
It is (perceived as) seated in this very body, in the cavity of the
heart.
III-i-8: It is not comprehended through the eye, nor through speech, nor
through the other senses; nor is It attained through austerity or karma.
Since one becomes purified in mind through the favourableness of the
intellect, therefore can one see that indivisible Self through
meditation.
III-i-9: Within (the heart in) the body, where the vital force has
entered in five forms, is this subtle Self to be realized through that
intelligence by which is pervaded the entire mind as well as the motor
and sensory organs of all creatures. And It is to be known in the mind,
which having become purified, this Self reveals Itself distinctly.
III-i-10: The man of pure mind wins those worlds which he mentally
wishes for and those enjoyable things which he covets. Therefore one,
desirous of prosperity, should adore the knower of the Self.
III-ii-1: He knows this supreme abode, this Brahman, in which is placed
the Universe and which shines holy. Those wise ones indeed, who having
become desireless, worship this (enlightened) person, transcend this
human seed.
III-ii-2: He who covets the desirable things, while brooding (on the
virtues), is born amidst those very surroundings along with the desires.
But for one who has got his wishes fulfilled and who is Self-poised, all
the longings vanish even here.
III-ii-3: This Self is not attained through study, nor through the
intellect, nor through much hearing. The very Self which this one (i.e.
the aspirant) seeks is attainable through that fact of seeking; this
Self of his reveals Its own nature.
III-ii-4: This Self is not attained by one devoid of strength, nor
through delusion, nor through knowledge unassociated with monasticism.
But the Self of that knower, who strives through these means, enters
into the abode that is Brahman.
III-ii-5: Having attained this, the seers become contented with their
knowledge, established in the Self, freed from attachment, and composed.
Having realized the all-pervasive One everywhere, these discriminating
people, ever merged in contemplation, enter into the All.
III-ii-6: Those to whom the entity presented by the Vedantic knowledge
has become fully ascertained, who are assiduous and have become pure in
mind through the Yoga of monasticism – all of them, at the supreme
moment of final departure, become identified with the supreme
Immortality in the worlds that are Brahman, and they become freed on
every side.
III-ii-7: To their sources repair the fifteen constituents (of the body)
and to their respective gods go all the gods (of the senses). The karmas
and the soul appearing like the intellect, all become unified with the
supreme Undecaying.
III-ii-8: As rivers, flowing down, become indistinguishable on reaching
the sea by giving up their names and forms, so also the illumined soul,
having become freed from name and form, reaches the self-effulgent
Purusha that is higher than the higher (Maya).
III-ii-9: Anyone who knows that supreme Brahman becomes Brahman indeed.
In his line is not born anyone who does not know Brahman. He overcomes
grief, and rises above aberrations; and becoming freed from the knots of
the heart, he attains immortality.
III-ii-10: This (rule) has been revealed by the mantra (which runs
thus): ‘To them alone should one expound this knowledge of b who are
engaged in the practice of disciplines, versed in the Vedas, and indeed
devoted to Brahman, who personally sacrifice to the fire called Ekarsi
with faith, and by whom has been duly accomplished the vow of holding
fire on the head.’
III-ii-11: The seer Angiras spoke of this Truth in the days of yore. One
that has not fulfilled the vow does not read this. Salutation to the
great seers. Salutation to the great seers.
Om ! O gods, may we hear auspicious words with the ears;
While engaged in sacrifices,
May we see auspicious things with the eyes;
While praising the gods with steady limbs,
May we enjoy a life that is beneficial to the gods.
May Indra of ancient fame be auspicious to us;
May the supremely rich (or all-knowing) Pusa (god of the earth)
Be propitious to us;
May Garuda, the destroyer of evil,
Be well disposed towards us;
May Brihaspati ensure our welfare.
Om ! Peace ! Peace ! Peace !
Here ends the Mundakopanishad, included in the Atharva-Veda. |