Mundaka 1.1.4 Trans & Comms

Tasmai sa hovāca dve vidye veditavye iti ha sma. Yad brahmavido vadanti parā caivāparā ca. (1.1.4)

tasmai – to him (Śaunaka); saḥ – he (Aṅgiras); uvāca – said; brahmavidaḥ – those who know Veda; vadanti – declare; iti – that; dve vidye – there are two types of knowledge; ha sma – indeed; veditavye – to be gained; yad – which (are known as); parā ca eva – higher; aparā ca – lower

Aṅgiras said to Śaunaka: ‘Those who know the Veda say that there are indeed two types of knowledge to be gained, which are (known as) higher and lower.

Instead of directly answering the question and unfolding parā-vidyā, the teacher starts with the statement that you also have to know aparā-vidyā. It is because of an important rule that Śaṅkara cites[34] here: a teacher has to first present all prevalent erroneous notions and negate them.

~Dayananda

4. To him (Śaunaka) Aṅgirā said, “There are two kinds of knowledge to be acquired, namely, aparā and parā – lower and higher. So say those (the great seers of the Upaniṣads) who know Brahman.”

According to Śaṅkara, the implication of the very question directly demands such an answer. The question concealed in its words not only indicates a thirst to know what that supreme Knowledge is, but also expresses at once a doubt in the mind of the student as to whether there can be such a ‘Knowledge’. The import of the question is: ‘O Teacher! Is there a Knowledge, knowing which all other knowledges become known, and if there be such a Knowledge, in what way is it different from the ordinary knowledges known to us and and how can I attain it?’

~Chinmayananda

To him he said: Two kinds of knowledge must be known-that is what the knowers of Brahman tell us. They are the Higher Knowledge and the lower knowledge.

The lower knowledge is the knowledge of the phenomenal world. In reality it is ignorance, for it does not lead to the Highest Good. The seer of the Upanishad asks the aspirant to acquire both the knowledge of the relative world and the Knowledge of Ultimate Reality. \Vhen by the pursuit of the former he fails to attain true freedom and immortality, he cultivates the latter.

~Nikhilananda

Mundaka 1.1.5 Trans & Comms

tatrāparā ṛgvedo yajurvedaḥ sāmavedo‘tharvavedaḥ śikṣā kalpo vyākaraṇaṁ niruktaṁ chando jyotiṣamiti. atha parā yayā tadakṣaram adhigamyate. (1.1.5) 

tatra – among the two; aparā – aparā; iti – is; ṛgvedaḥ – Ṛgveda; yajurvedaḥ – Yajurveda; sāmavedaḥ – Sāmaveda; atharvavedaḥ – Atharvaveda; śikṣā – phonetics; kalpaḥ – know-how of the rituals; vyākaraṇam – grammar; niruktam – etymology of Vedic words; chandaḥ – prosody; jyotiṣam – astronomy; atha – and; parā – parā; yayā – by which; tad – that; akṣaram – akṣaraṁ brahma; adhigamyate – is known

Among the two, the aparā-vidyā is Ṛgveda, Yajurveda, Sāmaveda, Atharvaveda, phonetics, know-how of rituals, grammar, etymology of Vedic words, science of metres, astronomy and astrology. And parā-vidyā is the one by which that imperishable Brahman is known.

To get parā-vidyā you have to acquire two types of qualifications. First is cognitive skill or the capacity to think properly, because the whole problem is due to aviveka, absence of ability to distinctly understand the real and the unreal. Therefore, the cognitive skill has to be honed. The second is, your life experiences should make you a complete person, in the sense of emotional maturity. Parā-vidyā is meant for a complete person, a compassionate person. The compassionate person alone is a mature person. Compassion towards yourself and the world implies maturity. Since aparā-vidyā gives viveka and maturity, it is presented first.

~Dayananda

There, the ‘lower knowledge’ is constituted of (the four Vedas) the Ṛg, the Sāma, the Yajur and the Atharva, and the (six Vedāṅgas) Śikṣā (phonetics), Kalpa (code of rituals), Vyākaraṇa (grammar), Nirukta (etymology), Chandas (metrics) and Jyotiṣa (astrology). Now the ‘Higher Knowledge’ is that which leads to immortality or that which goes beyond the word-meaning in languages.

This must have been a staggering revelation to the student who was then as much a victim of his generation as we are now of our own times. The great Śaunaka faithfully believed the declarations of Vedas and lived an entire life following strictly the ritualistic part of our immortal religion and at the end of his lifetime, when he reached the feet of a Master seeking the Supreme, he was told that he had squandered away the best part of his life in wooing but the ‘lower knowledge’.

~Chinmayananda

Of these two, the lower knowledge is the Rig-Veda, the Yajur-Veda, the Sama-Veda, the Atharva-Veda, siksha (phonetics), kalpa (rituals), vyakaranam (grammar), nirukta (etymology), chhandas (metre), and jyotis (astronomy); and the Higher Knowledge is that by which the Imperishable Brahman is attained. 

The Vedas generally-and especially in this context-signify the mere assemblage of words (sabdarasi) constituting their texts. In order to attain the Higher Knowledge, a student who has mastered the words of the scriptures must go to a qualified preceptor and cultivate such spiritual disciplines as discrimination and renunciation. Otherwise he cannot realize the Imperishable Brahman. 

~Nikhilananda

Mundaka 1.1.6 Trans & Comms

 yattadadreśyam agrāhyam agotram avarṇam acakṣuḥ-śrotraṁ tadapāṇipādam. nityaṁ vibhuṁ sarvagataṁ susūkṣmam tadavyayaṁ yadbhūtayoniṁ paripaśyanti dhīrāḥ. (1.1.6) 

tat – that; yat – which; adreśyam – is not the object of sense perception; agrāhyam – not an object of organs of action; agotram – unborn; avarṇam – without any attributes; acakṣuśśrotram – not eyes or ears (not a sense organ); tad – that; apāṇipādam – which has no hands or legs (not an organ of action); nityam – eternal; vibhum – which becomes many; sarvagatam – all-pervasive; susūkṣmam – the most subtle; tat – that; avyayam – free from decline and disappearance; yat – which; bhūtayonim – cause of all beings; dhīrāḥ – those who are qualified; paripaśyanti – see very clearly

Brahman is that which is not the object of sense perception or organs of action, which is unborn, which does not have any attributes, which does not have eyes and ears nor hands and legs, which is eternal, which becomes many (manifold creation), which is all-pervasive, the most subtle, that which is free from decline and disappearance, which is the cause of all beings and which the qualified people see very clearly.

~Dayananda

That which is invisible, ungraspable, unoriginated and attributeless, that which has neither eyes not ears nor hands nor legs – that is Eternal, full of manifestations, all-pervading, subtlest of the subtle – that imperishable Being is what the wise perceive as the source of all creation.

Sanskrit has reached its fulfilment in this stanza! There is no śāstra in our Hindu literature wherein this mantra has not been more than once referred to and quoted. Śaṅkara’s pen cannot move down sometimes even a page without scribbling at least a part of this mantra. No paṇḍita can open his mouth without expressing the ideas contained in this! In short, this mantra is the summary of the Highest said in all the bibles of the world.

~Chinmayananda

By means of the Higher Knowledge the wise behold everywhere Brahman, which otherwise cannot be seen or seized, which has no root or attributes, no eyes or ears, no hands or feet; which is eternal and omnipresent, all-pervading and extremely subtle; which is imperishable and the source of all beings.

The wise pursue the Higher Knowledge to realize Brahman, the Imperishable Absolute. The first half of the verse describes Brahman by the negation of attributes. The second half indicates Brahman by certain positive epithets. Brahman is the attributeless and unchanging Reality in all objects, but is unrelated to them.

~Nikhilananda

Mundaka 1.1.7 Trans & Comms

yathorṇanābhiḥ sṛjate gṛhṇate ca yathā pṛthivyām oṣadhayaḥ sambhavanti. yathāsataḥ puruṣāt keśalomāni tathākṣarāt sambhavatīha viśvam. (1.1.7) 

yathā – just as; ūrṇanābhiḥ – the spider; sṛjate – creates; ca – and; gṛhṇate – withdraws; yathā – just as; pṛthivyām – from the earth; oṣadhayaḥ – plants and trees; sambhavanti – come into being; yathā – just as; sataḥ puruṣāt – from a living person; keśalomāni – hair on the head and body (grow); tathā – in the same manner; akṣarāt – from the Brahman which is akṣara; iha – here; viśvam – the creation; sambhavati – comes into being

Just as a spider creates and withdraws its web, just as the plants and trees come into being from the earth, just as hair on the head and body grow from a living person, in the same manner, here, the creation (world) comes into being from the imperishable Brahman.

The example of a spider is given here because in creating the thread, the spider is both the maker and the material.

Similarly, Īśvara as the creator does not need help from somebody. Just as a spider creates the thread and withdraws it, Brahman is able to project the jagat and also withdraw it. In fact, Brahman is manifest as jagat. It can take back the jagat into itself, which is why at all levels it is Brahman.

Brahman does not stand separate from the jagat like the spider from the web. Brahman is non-separate from the jagat, like the earth is not separate from the trees and plants that have come out of it.

~Dayananda

As the spider projects and withdraws (unto itself) the web, as the herbs and plants sprout out from the earth, as hairs grow on the head and body of a man, so from the Imperishable comes out the universe here.

Thus, on the whole, the three pictures distinctly give us three sets of ideas which we must comprehend fully in order to grasp the entire process of creation. They are – 

Out of Him the world has come without the intervention of any other cause other than Himself and in the end the projected world is absorbed back again into the Divine, as spider creates the web.

The Supreme has neither the effort nor the purpose with which the earth produces or nourishes the herbs and plants. Creation is an effortless, purposeless, projection – a divine līlā. 

The Supreme is not a dead inert matter like the earth, but is a conscious living, vital personality – a positive entity – an all-pervading Essence, absolute Existence- Knowledge-Bliss (Sat-Cit-Ᾱnanda).

~Chinmayananda

As the spider sends forth and draws in its thread, as plants grow on the earth, as hair grows on the head and the body of a living man -so does everything in the universe arise from the Imperishable.

The creation is not the becoming or transformation of Brahman. Brahman, through Its own inscrutable power, appears as the universe of name and form without Itself undergoing any change whatsoever. This is called maya.

~Nikhilananda

Mundaka 1.1.8 Trans & Comms

tapasā cīyate brahma tato‘nnamabhijāyate. annāt prāṇo manaḥ satyaṁ lokāḥ karmasu cāmṛtam. (1.1.8) 

tapasā – by knowledge; brahma – Brahman; cīyate – bulges; tataḥ – from that; annam – the unmanifest (jagat); abhijāyate – is born; annāt – from the unmanifest; prāṇaḥ – hiraṇyagarbha; manaḥ – total mind; satyam – five elements; lokāḥ – worlds; karmasu ca – and due to actions; amṛtam - the results (are born) 

Brahman bulges by knowledge. From that Brahman the unmanifest is born. From the unmanifest, hiraṇyagarbha is born. Then the total mind, the five elements, the worlds and actions are born. And due to actions, results are born.

Brahman itself does not undergo any change. Brahman therefore gets seemingly ‘connected’ to māyā. From the unmanifest, which is māyā, the jagat is going to manifest now, just as the sprout, which exists in the seed in a potential but unmanifest form, emerges from the seed.

~Dayananda

In brooding meditation or continuous thought (tapas), the total creative urge (Brahmā) swells (with the very joy of creation). From Him food is produced, from food the prāṇa, the mind, the bhūtas, the worlds and in the karmas their fruits (are produced).

The creative urge in Reality, in its own potency, swells in an impatience of self-expression, and then from that the whole world of objects constituting the plane of matter emerges out. From matter, life as known to us manifests. Prāṇa, here means life; prāṇa is the centre of all activities.

~Chinmayananda

Brahman expands by means of austerity, and from It primal matter is produced; from matter, Prana; from Prana, mind; from mind, the elements; from the elements, the worlds; thence works, and from the works, their immortal fruits.

The word tapas in the text means, literally, austerity. It also denotes intense thinking, which precedes any creative act. Here the word means knowledge regarding the future creation. Brahman, or Pure Intelligence, alone exists; It is one and without a second. Under the influence of Its own maya there arises in Brahman the desire for creation, or projection, and forthwith It becomes endowed with omniscience, that is to say, with the knowledge and capacity of creating, preserving, and destroying the universe. Thus Brahman appears to increase in size, like a seed before it splits and the sprout comes out. In this stage Brahman, or the attributeless Absolute, becomes known as Saguna Brahman, or Brahman associated with the attributes of omniscience, omnipotence, and so on. The whole creation is the illusory superimposition of name and form on Brahman, owing to maya. Maya has no existence independent of Brahman.

~Nikhilananda

Mundaka 1.1.9 Trans & Comms

yaḥ sarvajñaḥ sarvavid yasya jñānamayaṁ tapaḥ. tasmādetad brahma nāma rūpamannaṁ ca jāyate. (1.1.9) 

yaḥ – that; sarvajñaḥ – who is all-knowledge in general; sarvavit – who is all-knowledge in terms of the details; yasya – whose; tapaḥ – tapas; jñānamayam – is of knowledge alone; tasmāt – from that; etat – this; brahma – hiraṇyagarbha; nāma rūpam – names and forms; ca – and; annam – food; jāyate – is born 

That Brahman is all-knowledge in general and all-knowledge in terms of details of everything that is to manifest. His tapas is nothing but knowledge alone. From that Brahman, hiraṇyagarbha, all names and forms, and the food are born.

Brahman and Īśvara are therefore one and the same. Brahman with reference to the creation is called Īśvara. Īśvara knows sarva, everything. The understanding of sarva is two-fold. One is in general and the other in particular. One who knows everything in general is called sarvajña,[75] and one who knows everything in particular is called sarvavit.[76] Both words have the same meaning of ‘knower of everything.’

There must be an entity that has all this knowledge. He is called Īśvara. Both Īśvara and the individual are akṣaraṁ brahma. If I know this fact, I am also sarvajña. But I cannot call myself Īśvara for I do not have all-knowledge ‘in detail’ which is required for the creation of this jagat. Īśvara has this knowledge due to māyā-upādhi. The upādhi makes the difference.

~Dayananda

From the Brahman (the supreme Reality) – who not only is aware of the total happenings in the world but has the knowledge of all the details of happenings every minute, whose very thought is of the nature of Knowledge – are all these produced: the creator, names and forms, and nourishment for all.

With this stanza, the first section of the first chapter of the Muṇḍakopaniṣad is completed. Naturally, Śruti is trying to summarise the entire chapter in a pregnant statement, at once brief and beautiful.

The supreme Reality, the light of the intelligence, is nothing but pure Wisdom and as such it is generally aware of all the happenings in the entire cosmos, and It being the Light that illumines every mental wave in the plant, animal and human life, and It being the Existence Principle in everything, that is, there cannot happen anything which is not directly under the supreme Light nor can anything exist but in the lap of pure Existence.

Thus Mother Śruti says, “Pure Consciousness, being by nature absolute Existence- Knowledge, knows everything and it knows every detail of all that it knows”. The pregnant import of those two expressions, ‘sarvajña’ and ‘sarvavid’ is not easy for a gross intellect even to conceive readily and all of a sudden.

~Chinmayananda

For him who knows all and understands everything, whose austerity consists of knowledge-from Him, the Imperishable Brahman, are born Brahma, name, form, and food. 

It is well known that any creative work is preceded by deep thinking. The object is at first conceived in the mind of the creator; then it is given a tangible form. The universe is the outcome of the thought of the Creator. In describing the act of creation the Upanishad says: "He thought." The difference, however, between a human creation and the divine creation is that the former is the result of much effort and labor whereas the latter is the spontaneous manifestation of Brahman. Devasya esha svabhavah-"All this is the very nature of Brahman." The Upanishad gives a spiritual interpretation of the creation as opposed to a mechanistic. 

~Nikhilananda

Mundaka 2.1.1 Trans & Comms

(Note: Chapter 1.2 was on the lower truth (and not transcribed in this effort) 2.1 returns to the highest truth.)

tadetat satyam. yathā sudīptāt pāvakād visphuliṅgāḥ sahasraśa prabhavante sarūpāḥ. tathākṣarād vividhāḥ somya bhāvāḥ prajāyante tatra caivāpi yanti. (2.1.1)

tad – that; etat – this; satyam – is the truth; somya – Oh pleasing one; yathā – just as; sudīptāt – well-lighted; pāvakāt – from the fire; sahasraśaḥ – in thousands; visphuliṅgāḥ – sparks; prabhavante – come out; sarūpāḥ – of the same nature (as of the fire); tathā – so too; akṣarāt – from the Brahman; vividhāḥ – varieties of; bhāvāḥ – beings; prajāyante – are born; ca – and; tatraiva – into that alone; apiyanti – they go back

This is the truth, oh pleasing one! From a well-lighted fire how innumerable sparks of the same nature as fire come out, so too, varieties of beings are born from the Brahman that is akṣara, and they go back into that alone.

The spark example is excellent if one understands it properly. Otherwise, it can create all kinds of problems. Here, the example is not meant to show that the sparks come from the fire and go back into the fire, but it is to point out that one fire alone is in the form of many sparks due to many upādhis. The spark has some kind of upādhi-viśeṣa, attributes of a limited form. It is fire with a dimension of its own. With this conditioning, the fire is called a spark. Therefore, we use two different words, ‘spark’ and ‘fire’. The sparks are many, but all of them are one fire. That is the extent of the example here.

~Dayananda

This is the truth, as from the flaming fire thousands of sparks similar to its form (nature) issue forth; so from the Immortal (Brahman) O My beloved youth! Diverse (manifold) beings (jīvas) originate and they find their way back into it.

In this second chapter, the attempt is to paint for us an idea of a supreme Knowledge with its contents, functions and qualities. The Supreme, being Infinite, will not, and cannot come within the expressiveness of language which is but an expression of the finite. The Infinite cannot be expressed in terms of the finite and yet, no other scripture in the world, we can most assuredly say, has succeeded in pointing out to us the Infinite so successfully as the Upaniṣads have done. Some wondrous expressions pointing to the Infinite and some perfect techniques of explanation are employed in this chapter. In short, we may say that without this chapter Muṇḍakopaniṣad could not have been considered as a scripture at all.

~Chinmayananda

THIS IS THE TRUTH: As, from a blazing fire, sparks essentially akin to it By forth by the thousand, so also, my good friend, do various beings come forth from the imperishable Brahman and unto Him again return.

TRUTH: The truth here referred to is the ultimate Truth, in contrast to the truth mentioned in I. ii. I. The latter is only a relative truth, being the object of the lower knowledge and also heing associated with work and its results. The truth stated here is the goal of the Higher Knowledge.

As, FROM ETC: Brahman, the goal of the Higher Knowledge, is realized only in immediate and direct awareness. It cannot be objectified like a physical thing or a mental idea. For that reason Brahman is here described to the disciple indirectly, by means of an illustration, to make it as clear as an object of direct perception.

~Nikhilananda

This is the Truth: just as sparks come out of the blazing fire by the thousands, even so, many kinds of beings come forth from the Immutable Supreme and then they return to It.

~Sri M

Aparoksanubhuti TOC

 

Aparoksanubhuti 2025

• Apararok
• Talks on Aparoksanubhuti 16: knower, witness
• Talks on Aparoksanubhuti 17/21: Atman is
• Talks on Aparoksanubhuti 22-24: sea of satcitananda
• Talks on Aparoksanubhuti 25-28: real knowledge
• Talking Aparoksanubhuti 25-28: rock opera
• Talks on Aparoksanubhuti 31,2,3,9,&40: supreme I
• Talks on Aparoksanubhuti 43-45: Brahman only
• Talking Aparoksanubhuti 43-45: ignorance of the rope
• Talks on Aparoksanubhuti 49-51: born of Brahman
• Talking Aparoksanubhuti 49-51: from The Aparok Opera Experience
• Talks on Aparoksanubhuti 52-54: no second
• Talking Aparoksanubhuti 52-54: body, ego, god, and dna
• Talks on Aparoksanubhuti 56-58: the real seer
• Talks on Aparoksanubhuti 104-124 (work in progress)
• 
  

Turiyam, Turiyam

In Samsara, there is doing and not doing.

In Isvara is nondoing.

Turiyam.

Brahman is consciousness-existence.

Maya is the sword of Brahman.

Turiyam.







~rj35

Jijnasu Zen of Both and Neither

Consciousness-existence is the silver screen.

The mind is the movie. To be or not to be?

Am I the movie or the movie screen?

~rj34