the mundaka upanishad
Invocation
Om! O gods, may we hear with our ears what is auspicious. May we see with our eyes what is auspicious while engaged in worship. With strong limbs and bodies, singing your praise, may we enjoy the life allotted to us by the divine. Om! Peace! Peace! Peace!
1. The Science of Knowledge
1-1-1 Brahma, the creator of the universe and protector of the world, arose as the first among the gods. To his eldest son Atharva, he imparted the Knowledge of Brahman, the foundation of all knowledge.
1-1-2 That ancient knowledge, Atharva passed to Angir; Angir passed it to Satyavaha, and he to Angiras—a chain of tradition from the higher to the lower.
1-1-3 The great householder Saunaka approached Angiras respectfully and asked: “Sir, what is that, which having been known, makes all this known?”
1-1-4 Angiras replied: “There are two kinds of knowledge to be acquired, as the knowers of Brahman say: the Higher (Para) and the Lower (Apara).”
1-1-5 The Lower knowledge consists of the Vedas (Rig, Yajur, Sama, Atharva), phonetics, rituals, grammar, etymology, metrics, and astronomy. But the Higher knowledge is that by which the Imperishable is realized.
1-1-6 That which cannot be perceived or grasped, which has no lineage or features, no eyes or ears, no hands or feet; which is eternal, subtle, undiminishing, and all-pervasive—that is what the wise perceive as the source of all beings.
1-1-7 As a spider projects and withdraws its web, as plants grow from the earth, as hair grows from a living person—so does the universe arise from the Imperishable.
1-1-8 Through deep contemplation (Tapas), Brahman expands. From this, primal matter is born; from matter comes life (Prana), mind, truth, the worlds, and the immortality of cause and effect.
1-1-9 From the All-Knowing, whose austerity consists of pure knowledge, comes this Name, Form, and Matter.
1-2-1: This is the truth: The sacrificial works which the sages saw in the hymns are true; they are performed in many ways in the confluence of the three Vedas. Perform them constantly if you desire their results. This is the path to the world of good deeds.
1-2-2: When the fire is kindled and the flame begins to move, let the sacrificer offer his oblations with faith, pouring them between the two portions of melted butter.
1-2-3: If a man’s sacrifice is not accompanied by the new moon and full moon rites, or the four-month rites, or the harvest rites; or if it is unattended by guests, or offered without faith—then his sacrifice destroys his future worlds, up to the seventh.
1-2-4: Kali (The Black), Karali (The Terrifying), Manojava (Swift as Thought), Sulohita (The Deep Red), Sudhumravarna (The Smoke-Colored), Sphulingini (The Sparkling), and Visvaruchi (The All-Gleaming)—these are the seven flickering tongues of the fire.
1-2-5: If a man performs his rites while these shining flames are active, the oblations turn into the rays of the sun and guide him to the supreme abode of the Lord of Gods.
1-2-6: The radiant offerings invite him, saying, “Come, come!” They carry the sacrificer on the rays of the sun, praising him with sweet words: “This is your holy world of Brahma, earned by your good deeds.”
1-2-7: But frail indeed are these rafts of sacrifice, with their eighteen members (the priests and the patron). Those ignorant men who praise this as the highest good fall again and again into old age and death.
1-2-8: Drowning in the midst of ignorance, but thinking themselves wise and learned, these fools wander aimlessly, suffering on the path, like the blind led by the blind.
1-2-9: Steeped in ignorance, these childish men shout, “We have achieved the goal!” But because of their desires, they do not understand the Truth. When the fruits of their karma are exhausted, they fall from heaven, wretched and sad.
1-2-10: Believing that sacrifices and charity are the highest good, these deluded fools know nothing better. Having enjoyed the high heavens earned by good works, they re-enter this world or a lower one.
1-2-11: But those wise souls who live in the forest—tranquil, practicing austerity and faith, begging for their food—they depart, free from dust, through the Path of the Sun to where the Immortal, Imperishable Person dwells.
1-2-12: A seeker of Brahman should examine the worlds gained by karma and arrive at total detachment, realizing: “The Eternal cannot be created by the transient.” To know That, let him approach a teacher who is learned in the scriptures and established in Brahman, carrying sacrificial fuel in hand.
1-2-13: To that student who has approached respectfully, whose mind is calm and senses controlled, the wise teacher truly imparts the Knowledge of Brahman, by which one realizes the true and Imperishable Person.
The Methology
2-1-1: This is the truth: As thousands of sparks, identical in nature, fly forth from a blazing fire, so do various beings originate from the Imperishable, my friend, and return to It again.
2-1-2: The Divine Person (Purusha) is formless, existing inside and out, unborn, without breath or mind, pure, and higher than the highest Imperishable (Nature).
2-1-3: From Him originate the vital force (Prana), the mind, all the senses, space, air, fire, water, and the earth that supports everything.
2-1-4: Fire is His head, the sun and moon His eyes, the directions His ears, the revealed Vedas His speech, the wind His breath, the universe His heart. From His feet came the earth. He is indeed the inner Self of all beings.
2-1-5: From Him comes the fire (the heaven) whose fuel is the sun. From the moon comes the rain; from rain, the herbs on earth grow. From herbs, the man casts seed into the woman. Thus many creatures are born from the Person.
2-1-6: From Him come the hymns (Rig), the chants (Sama), and the formulas (Yajur); the initiation rites, all the sacrifices, the fees, the year, the sacrificer, and the worlds which the moon purifies and the sun illuminates.
2-1-7: From Him the gods were born in their various groups, the celestials, men, beasts, and birds; the in-breath and out-breath, rice and barley, austerity, faith, truth, chastity, and law.
2-1-8: From Him come the seven senses, the seven flames, the seven kinds of fuel, the seven oblations, and the seven worlds in which move the life-breaths that rest in the secret place of the heart, placed there in sevens.
2-1-9: From Him come all the oceans and the mountains. From Him flow the rivers of every kind. From Him come all the herbs and the juices by which the inner Self subsists, surrounded by the elements.
2-1-10: The Purusha alone is all this—action, knowledge, and supreme immortality. He who knows this Brahman, seated in the cavity of the heart, unties the knot of ignorance even here on earth, O good-looking one.
2-2-1: It is luminous, present everywhere, and well-known as dwelling in the heart. It is the great support. On It is fixed all that moves, breathes, and blinks. Know this One as the highest goal, comprising both the gross and the subtle, beyond the ordinary knowledge of creatures, the most desirable of all.
2-2-2: That which is radiant and subtler than the subtle, that on which all the worlds and their inhabitants rest—that is the imperishable Brahman. It is the vital force; It is speech and mind. It is Truth. It is Immortal. That is the target, O friend. Shoot It!
2-2-3: Take the great bow of the Upanishads, the mighty weapon. Place upon it the arrow sharpened by meditation. Drawing it with a mind focused on That, strike the target—the Imperishable—O good-looking one.
2-2-4: Om is the bow; the Soul (Atman) is the arrow; Brahman is the target. It is to be hit by a man who is undistracted. One should become one with It, just as the arrow becomes one with the target.
2-2-5: In Him are woven the heaven, the earth, and the space between, along with the mind and all the life-breaths. Know Him alone as the one Self. Dismiss all other words. He is the bridge to immortality.
2-2-6: Within the heart, where the nerves meet like the spokes in the hub of a chariot wheel, there the Self moves, becoming manifold. Meditate on that Self as Om. May you cross safely to the other shore beyond darkness.
2-2-7: He who knows all in general and all in detail, whose glory is manifest in the universe—that Self is seated in the luminous city of Brahman (the heart). He conditions the mind and leads the life-breaths and the body. The wise, by knowledge, see Him everywhere—the One who shines as bliss and immortality.
2-2-8: When He is seen—both the higher and the lower—the knot of the heart is cut, all doubts are dispelled, and all karmas are consumed.
2-2-9: In the highest golden sheath is Brahman, stainless and indivisible. It is the pure Light of lights, which the knowers of the Self realize.
2-2-10: The sun does not shine there, nor the moon and the stars, nor these lightnings—much less this fire. When He shines, everything shines after Him. By His light, all this is illumined.
2-2-11: Brahman is before, Brahman is behind, Brahman is to the right and left. Brahman extends above and below. This whole world is nothing but Brahman, the Highest.
The Realization
3-1-1: Two birds, inseparable companions, perch on the same tree. One eats the sweet fruit; the other looks on without eating.
3-1-2: On the same tree, the individual self sits grieving, immersed in ignorance and bewildered by its own helplessness. But when he sees the Other—the Lord—and realizes His glory, his grief passes away.
3-1-3: When the seer beholds the Golden Maker, the Lord, the Source, then that wise one shakes off good and evil, becomes stainless, and reaches supreme unity.
3-1-4: This is indeed the Vital Force (Prana) that shines through all beings. Knowing this, the wise man stops his idle talk. He plays in the Self, he rejoices in the Self, and he performs his duties. He is the greatest among the knowers of Brahman.
3-1-5: This Self is attainable by truth, austerity, correct knowledge, and constant chastity. The ascetics behold Him, pure and resplendent, within the body.
3-1-6: Truth alone triumphs (Satyameva Jayate), not untruth. By truth, the path of the Divine is laid out, by which the sages, having satisfied their desires, ascend to the Supreme Abode of Truth.
3-1-7: It is vast, self-luminous, and unthinkable in form. It is subtler than the subtle. It shines forth. It is farther than the far, yet near at hand. For those who see, It is seated right here in the cavity of the heart.
3-1-8: It is not perceived by the eye, nor by speech, nor by the other senses. It is not attained by austerity or rituals. But when the mind is purified by the light of knowledge, then one sees the indivisible Self through meditation.
3-1-9: This subtle Self is to be realized within the body, where the life-breath has entered in five forms. When the mind is purified, the Self reveals Itself perfectly.
3-1-10: Whatever world a man of pure mind desires, and whatever objects he craves, he obtains those worlds and those objects. Therefore, let the man who desires prosperity worship the knower of the Self.
3-2-1: He knows that Supreme Abode of Brahman, where the universe rests and shines brightly. Those wise ones who, without desire, worship the Person, transcend the seed of human birth.
3-2-2: He who covets desirable things, while brooding on them, is born again amidst those desires. But for one whose longings are fulfilled and who is established in the Self, all desires vanish even here on earth.
3-2-3: This Self cannot be attained by instruction, nor by intellect, nor by much hearing. It is attained only by the one whom the Self chooses. To such a one, the Self reveals Its own nature.
3-2-4: This Self cannot be attained by the weak, nor by the careless, nor by meditation without renunciation. But if a wise man strives with these means, his soul enters the abode of Brahman.
3-2-5: Having attained this, the seers become satisfied with knowledge, established in the Self, free from passion, and tranquil. Having realized the All-Pervasive One everywhere, these wise ones enter into the All.
3-2-6: Those who have ascertained the meaning of the Vedanta knowledge, who are diligent and have become pure in mind through the Yoga of renunciation—they are all liberated at the time of the great end (death), becoming one with the Supreme Immortal.
3-2-7: The fifteen parts return to their sources, and all the senses return to their respective deities. The actions (Karma) and the individual self, appearing as the intellect, all merge into the Supreme Imperishable.
3-2-8: As flowing rivers disappear into the ocean, losing their separate names and forms, so the wise man, freed from name and form, goes to the Divine Person who is greater than the great.
3-2-9: Anyone who knows that supreme Brahman becomes Brahman indeed. No one in his family will be ignorant of Brahman. He overcomes grief, he overcomes sin; liberated from the knots of the heart, he becomes immortal.
3-2-10: This rule has been revealed: “Let one teach this Knowledge of Brahman only to those who perform their duties, who are versed in the scriptures, and firmly established in Brahman.”
3-2-11: The sage Angiras taught this truth in ancient times. One who has not fulfilled the vow should not read it. Salutation to the great Rishis! Salutation to the great Rishis!
Here ends the Mundakopanishad, included in the Atharva-Veda.
Compiled from various sources by Mahendra Myshkin