Mundakopanishad : ( 12/12/2012. )

SECTION:-1. SLOKAM-8. Tapasa  ciyate  Brahma  tato-nnam-abhijayate, Annat  prano  manah  satyam  lokah  karmasu  camrtam. In  brooding  meditation  or  continuous  thought  ( Tapas),   the total  creative urge  ( Brahmaji)   swells  ( with the very joy of Creation ). From Him  food is produced, from  food  the  prana,  the  mind,  the   Bhuta-s, the  world's and the  Karma-s   and  their fruits. The word Tapas has been very often misunderstood as 'austerity'. The word tapas has come to gather in the folds of iots various significances  austerity also. It is the true scriptural meaning  of 'concentrated thinking' that the word tapas, it seems, has been used here.Sruti elsewhere says "Aikagryam pramam tapah"development of single pointed attention is the Supreme Tapas.  

SECTION-1. SLOKAM-7. YATHORNA-NABHIH  SRJATE  GRHNATE  CA YATHA  PRTHIVYAM-OSADHAYAH  SAMBHAVANTI YATHA  SATAH  PURUSAT  KESALOMINI TATHA-KSARAT  SAMBHAVATIHA  VISVAM. 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 man, so from the imperishable Being comes out the universe.

SECTION:-1. SLOKAM-6. YAT  TAD-ADRESYAM-AGRAHYAM-AGOTRAM-AVARNAM ACAKSUH  SROTRAM  TAD-APANI-PADAM, NITYAM  VIBHUM  SARVAGATAM  SUSUKSMAM   TAD-AVYAYAM YAD  BHUTA-YONIM  PARI-PASYANTI  DHIRAH. That which is invisible, unguessable, unoriginality and attribute less, that which has neither eyes nor ears nor hands nor legs --that is Eternal, full of manifestations, All-- pervading, Subtler of the subtle---that  Imperishable  Being is what the wise perceive as Source  of all Creation.   

SECTION:-1. SLOKAM:-5. TATRAPARA,  RG-VEDA  YAJUR-VEDA SAMA-VEDO- ATHARVA-VEDAH SIKSA, KALPOVYAKARANAM  NIRUKTAM  CHANDO   JYOTISAM-ITI ATHA  PARA,  YAYA  TAD-AKSARAM-ADHIGAMYATE. There, the 'lower knowledge'is constituted of  ( the four vedas ) the Rg, the Sama,  the Yajur,  and the Atharva, and the ( six Vedangas) Siksa( phonetics), Kalpa  (code of rituals), Vyakarana ( grammar ), Nirukta ( etymology ), Chandas ( metrics ) and Jyotisa ( astrology ).  Now the 'Higher Knowledge'is that which leads to immortality or  that which goes beyond the word-meaning  in languages.

SECTION:-1. SLOKAM:-4. Tasmai  sa  hovaca ---- dve  vidye  veditavye  iti  ha  sma  yad Brahma-vido  vadanti  pra  caivapara  ca. To him ( Saunaka ) Angira said : 'There are two kinds of knowledge to be aquired, namely, Apara and Para----lower and higher. So say those ( the great seers of the Upanisads ) who know Brahman.'  

SECTION:-1. SLOKAM-3. Saunako  ha  vai  mahasalo - ngirasam vidhivad - upasannah  papraccha Kasmin  nu  bhagavo  vijnate Sarvam-idam  vijnatam  bhavatiti. The great householder  Saunaka  duly  approaching  Angira  in  the  prescribed manner  asked, "What is That, my  Lord, having known  which  all these become known?   

Atharvane  yam  pravadeta  brahma- tharva tam  purova-cangire  brahma-vidyam sa  bharadvajaya  satyavahaya praha  bharadvajo-ngirase  pravaram. The very knowledge which Brahmaji  taught  to Atharva,  he taught  it  to  Angi in ancient days: and he taught  it  to Rishi  Satyavaha---of the Bharadvaja clan and Satyavaha  taught  it  to  Angira--the knowledge  was  so  handed  down  from  the  greater (teacher ) to the lesser ( disciple ).       

Om   Brahma  devanam  prathamah  sambabhuva visvasya  karta  bhuvanasya  gopta, sa  brahma-vidyam  sarva-vidya-pratistham atharvaya  jyestha-putraya  praha. 1. Of  the  Gods,  Brahmaji,  the   Creator  and  the  protector  of  the  universe, was self-born first.  He  gave  out  the  knowledge  of  Realty (Brahma Vidya), the knowledge  of all  knowledges,  the  foundation  for  all  sciences,  to  his  own  eldest  son,  Atharva.        

Om bhadram  karnebhih  srnuyama  devah bhadram  pasyem-aksabhir-yajatrah Sthirair-angais-tustuvagm-sastanubhih vyasema  devahitam  yadayuh Svasti na indro vraddha-sravah svasti vah  nah  pusa  visva-vedah Svasti nastarksyo  aristanemih svasi no Brhaspatir-dadhhatu. Om Santih !  Santih !!   Santih !!! O ye Gods, may we hear with our ears [always] what is auspicious;  O worshipful  ones, may we with our eyes  see [always] what is auspicious. May we live the entire length  of our allotted  life hale and hearty offering our praises [unto Thee]. May Indra, the ancient and the famous, Pusan [sun] the all-knowing,  the Lord of  swift motion ]Vayu/wind] who saves us from all harms  and  Brhaspati who protects the spiritual wealth in us--bless us - [with the intellectual strength to understand the scriptures and the heroic heart to follow the teachings]. Om...

TRUTH ALONE TRUIMPHS, TRUTH'S ETERNAL ABODE -BRAHMAM, THE SUPREME,:- Which is subtler than the subtlest, farther than the farthest and nearer than the nearest, who resides in the lotus of the heart of every being. As rivers flow into the sea and in doing so lose their name and form,  and thereafter are known as Ocean alone; a wise man, freed from name and form attains the Supreme being, the infinite, the eternal. "Knower of Brahmam becomes brahmam"     

Jeevatma and Paramatma:- Another well-known analogy--apointer to Brahmam is from this Upanisad. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------/ Two birds (Jeevatma and Paramatma) bound to each other in close friendship (because Jeevatma is nothing but the image of Paramatma seen through the medium of mind) perched on the self-same tree(body). One of them eats the fruits of the tree with relish, while the other looks on without  eating. Jeeva, owing to identification with the body and mind becomes the doer (Karta) and enjoyer (Bhokta) --thus enjoys and suffers. But Paramatma remains untainted by any such modifications and remains just a Witness--neither enjoys nor suffers.

A practical analogy:- Method of penetration Brahman:- OM is the bow, the arrow is the individual being, and Brahman is the target. With mind absorbed and heart melted in live, draw the arrow and hit the mark------ the imperishable Brahman. Lose thyself in him, just as the arrow gets lost in the target. One of the most glorious stanzas of our scriptures generally chanted soon after the offering of camphor flame in Arati, without which no ritual is concluded, finds place in this Upanisad as also Kartha and Svetasvetara Upanisads. "Him the sun does not illuminate, nor the moon, nor the stars,  nor the lightening-----nor indeed the fires kindled upon earth. Everything shines, illuminated by his light, reflecting His glory."    

THE IMPERISHABLE ALONE IS REAL. THE THINGS AND BEINGS ARISE FROM HIM (LORD) AND MERGE BACK INTO HIM, JUST AS INNUMERABLE SPARKS FLY UPWARDS FROM THE BLAZING FIRE AND AFTER BURNING THEMSELVES OUT MERGE BACK INTO FIRE. ALL CREATURES DESCEND FROM THE IMPERISHABLE----FROM HIM THE SKY, FROM SKY THE RAIN, FROM THE RAIN THE FOOD, AND FROM THE FOOD, THE SEED IN MAN WHICH HE GIVES TO WOMAN. THE SELF-LUMINOUS BRAHMAN IS ALL, EVER-PRESENT IN THE HEARTS OF ALL.[to be cont----d] by swami chinmayananda.

INTRODUCTION:-3. AFTER EXPLAINING THE LOWER AND HIGHER KNOWLEDGE, THE CHANGELESS REALITY IS POINTED OUT TO BE ALL-PERVADING, SUBTLER TAN THE SUBTLEST--THE EVER LASTING, THE SOURCE  OF ALL. THE CREATION OF UNIVERSE IS EXPLAINED, WITH THREE BEAUTIFUL ANALOGIES OF SPIDER, PLANTS AND HAIRS ON THE BODY OF MAN, TO HAVE SPRUNG OUT OF ETERNAL BRAHMAM. FRUITS OF RITUALS AND SACRIFICES ARE FINITE AND TRANSIENT. GOOD WORKS, NO DOUBT, LEAD THEM TO HEAVEN, WHERE REWARDS ARE QUICKLY EXHAUSTED AND THEY ARE FLUNG BACK TO EARTH. SINCERE SADHAKAS WHO ARE CONTENTED, SELF CONTROLLED AND TRANQUIL ARE ADVISED TO PRACTICE AUSTERITY AND MEDITATION IN SOLITUDE, APPROACH REVERENTLY A TEACHER WELL VERSED IN SCRIPTURES AND WELL ESTABLISHED IN BRAHMAM. SUCH A TEACHER ALONE CAN SHOW HIM/HER THE PATH TO LIBERATION. [To be cont-----d] BY SWAMI CHINMAYANANDA.

2.INTRODUCTION-Continue--- This Mantropanisad consisting of sixty four mantras rendered in a picturesque language, couched in a varied and charming metre and diction which are uniformly sublime, belongs to ATHARVA-VEDA.  All serious sadhakas will spiritually benefit by practicing repeated contemplation upon its teachings. It is divided into three chapters or Mundakas  and each of these in turn into two sections or Khandas. This Upanisad contains some of the most famous, beautiful and often quoted  analogies in Upanisadik literature.  [to be continue--------d] BY SWAMI CHINMAYANANDA. 

INTRODUCTION Mundaka literally means "Shaving of the head."This Upanisad, therefore, is also called  as the "Shaving Upanisad or the Upanisadof the "TONSURED." Shaving Upanisad---because its contents remove the super--imposed  veil  of Ignorance obscuring the Atma through direct and penetrating exposition of the Higher Knowledge like a razor removes the hairs from the head; and "Upanisad of the Tonsured"----because it is primarily intended  for Sannyasins to help them in their quest for the attainment of the eternal and the Imprishable. [ to be cont-----d] BY SWAMI CHINMAYANANDA.