Mundaka 2.1.5 Trans & Comms

tasmādagniḥ samidho yasya sūryaḥ somāt parjanya oṣadhayaḥ pṛthivyām. pumān retaḥ siñcati yoṣitāyām bahvīḥ prajāḥ puruṣāt samprasūtāḥ. (2.1.5)

tasmāt – from that Brahman; agniḥ – the heavens; yasya – whose; samidhaḥ – light; sūryaḥ – the sun; somāt – from the moon; parjanyaḥ – clouds (are born); oṣadhayaḥ – from the vegetation; pṛthivyām – on the earth (are born); pumān – the male; siñcati – places; retaḥ – the seed; yoṣitāyām – into the female; bahvīḥ – (thus) varieties of; prajāḥ – beings; samprasūtāḥ – are born; puruṣāt – out of Brahman

From that Brahman is born the heaven whose light is the sun (which is lighted by the sun). From the moon, which is born of the heaven, clouds are born. The male born of food places the seed into the female. Thus varieties of beings are born out of Brahman.

Īśvara is looked upon as five fires. These fires have come from Īśvara, so they are non-separate from him. Whatever one superimposes on these fires are also from Īśvara. This is the sarvātma-bhāva that goes all the way. Īśvara alone in the form of clouds, rain, food and seed in male and female becomes finally this body. That is being told here.

~Dayananda

From Him are produced the sky (which is the first fire) whose fuel is the sun; from the moon the rain clouds (the second fire); from the clouds the herbs that grow on the earth (the third fire); from these (eaten herbs) the man (the fourth fire), who sheds his semen into the woman (the fifth fire). Many living beings are (well) produced from the Puruṣa.

In order to understand the stanza, we must know that in the Chāndogya-upaniṣad, a method called ‘the Meditation of the five Fires’ has been advised.

~Chinmayananda

From Him comes the Fire whose fuel is the sun; from the moon comes rain; from rain, the herbs that grow on the earth; from the herbs the seminal fluid which a man pours into a woman. Thus many living beings are born of the Purusha.

The heavens, rain, earth, man, and woman are described as five kinds of sacrificial fire, and the soul's journey through them is compared to the offering of an oblation. The Purusha, or Brahman, is the final cause of all beings. The Upanishad explains man's origin and journey as a spiritual act.

~Nikhilananda