Mundakopanishad : ( 12/12/2012. )

Chapter-3. Section-2. Mantram-9,10,11. 1. One who  knows Supreme Brahmam, becomes Brahmam, 2. and his family, none who knows not the Brahmam will ever be born. 3. He crosses grief; crosses sin, and being free from the knots-of-the-heart, becomes immortal. 4. To them alone let one teach this knowledge of Brahmam, who perform rituals, who read Vedas, who pursue the meditations upon Brahmam, 5. who possess faith and offer oblations themselves to the fire called Ekarsi; and who have observed strictly the Sirovrata( carry pots of fire on their head!) 6. This is the Truth. Rishi Angira communicated this to his disciples in ancient times. No one, who has not observed any vow( renunciation), is fit to study this. 7. Our salutations to the great sages : our prostrations ( Sashtanga Namaskarams) to the great Seers. Mundakoupanisad ends here.   

Chapter-3. Section-2. Mantram-8. 1. As flowing rivers get themselves disappeared  in the Ocean, 2. losing  their special names and distinct forms, 3. so the wise man free from all his identifications with names and forms, 4. goes unto the highest of the high-------- 5. the Supreme Divinity.

Chapter-3. Section-2. Mantram-7. 1. Fifteen Kalas ( parts) :  a). Prana ( the Creator in us )- meaning the creative urge in man's physical, mental, and intellectual personalities. b) Faith- Without a certain amount of faith, none of us can conceive of or act in or accomplish anything in this world.  c). When the Creator gains faith , the grosser five great elements are born as Space,  Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. d). The perceivers of qualities of these five elements are the five sense-organs. Ear to perceive the quality of Akasa, the Sound; Skin to perceive the quality of Air, the Touch; Eye for the quality of Fire, the Form; Tongue  for the quality of Water, the Taste; and the, Nose to Smell the quality of Earth. e). Mind: When we have thus five different sense-organs to perceive five independent and heterogeneous  qualities, unless there is a synchronizing and co-ordinating factor, we could not have the organised an...

Chapter-3. Section-2. Mantram-6. 1. Having well ascertained beyond all doubts the exact import of the Upanisads, 2. and having purified their minds with the "Yoga of renunciation"all anchorites attain the world of Brahmam, 3. having attained immortality and at the time of death become fully liberated. 4. Death mentioned here is only the death of false vanities and the delusive ego sense. 5. When the little "I' dies, what remains is the Godly and the all-pervading Spiritual 'I.'  "Die to live the life Divine" 6. This seems to be the non-stop call of Vedanta to every generation, where ego ends, there Godhood starts.

Chapter-3. Section-2. Mantram-5. 1. The Self is attained through  a). Veracity, b). Concentration, c). Wisdom, and d). Continence; 2. Cultivate all the four shown above constantly, 3. When Impurities thus dwindle, 4. the ascetic beholds Him ( one who cultivates the above)-------- 5. This is stainless, resplendent ---------- within his very body.

Chapter-3. Section-2. Mantram-4. 1. The Self is not gained by the weak in body, mind, and intellect or Spirit, 2. nor by the insincere,  3. nor by those practising ( unintelligent) austerities,  4. but by wise men who strive with vigour, attention and propriety attain union with Brahmam. 

1. The Self is not attained through discourses, 2. nor through memorizing  scriptural texts,  3. nor through much learning. 4. It is gained only by him who wishes to attain it with his whole heart. 5. To such a one, the Self reveals its true nature. 6. If realisation of the Self is the end of all our desiring and the thralldom of birth and death, naturally,  7. the way to attain this explained above 1 to 5 ser.nos.  

Chapter-3. Section-2. Mantram-2. 1. Here in this mantram, we have a clear statement explaining the technique and the law behind human rebirth. 2. Thought is the expression of the creative urge in us and creation depends entirely upon the quality and mode of desires in us. 3. Whoever longs for objects of desire, brooding over them, 4. they born here and there for the fulfillment of those desires. 5. But in the case of a seer whose longings have found their final consummation in the ATMA, 6. and who has realized the self, 7. his desires vanish even here, 8. in this life.  

Chapter-3. Section-2. Mantram-1. 1. In this mantram, we have description of the benefits accrued by service to a great man of realization by a person who is himself without any material desires. 2. Earlier in the last section, mother Sruti promised that all those who worship a revered Master of Perfect Self-Realization can, in His grace, come to gain for themselves all their material desires. 3. Naturally, a doubt would arise in the minds of true seekers, who entertain no desires of sense-objects, 4. as to what would be the benefit if great Master be served faithfully and worshipped  with devotion  for a long time, by such a vrakta-seeker. 5. The man of Self-realization knows the Supreme Brahmam on whom the world is based, and who shines radiantly. 6. And  those men of discrimination, who without any worldly  desire are devoted to such persons, go beyond all chances of Rebirth.  

Chapter-3. Section-1 Mantram-10. 1. In this mantram, is the great secret of success, discussed for everyone who chooses to make use of it in all his activities. 2.Probably, this was exactly the secret behind the unforgettable success the ancient Bharatham  had in all fields of activity, including the material. 3. "Man is the man"is a accepted truth by western psychology also, and yet its  obvious corollary has been missed by them. 4. The Bharatheeya Rishies not only declared, "As the mind, so the man," but also lived up to this philosophy and discovered in it an answer to all our deficiencies and incapacities. 5. Hence, whatever sphere the man of purified nature desires, 6. whatever objects he fixes his heart upon, 7. he obtains those worlds and those objects. 8. Therefore, he who is desirous of prosperity should honour the man of Self-realisation. Ends Chapter-3. Section-1.    

Chapter-3. Section-1. Mantram-9. 1. A purified  intellect is the instrument, in making an all-out and sincere effort at the rediscovery of the Self.  2. Intuitive faculty is the 'illuminaing principle'  in  the intellect. 3. The instrument of realizing the Self is the Light of the Intellect. 4.Though we are intelligent,, our entire attention is always employed with the sense-organs and their respective objects,  5. When that intellect is purified, that is, when withdrawn from the playful pre-occupation with the toy-world, outside and within,  6. The Self shines forth in its own resplendence.   

Chapter-3. Section-1. Mantram-8. 1. Self / Atma / Truth  / Absolute / Lord : cannot be described by words, 2. Nor perceived by eyes or the senses, nor revealed by rituals and penance, 3. When understanding becomes calm and refined, 4. Then alone, in meditation one Realizes Him, the Absolute.  

Chapter-3. Section-1. Mantram-7. 1. Brahmam, the Supreme Reality, is great or vast because it is all-pervading , meaning "that which pervades all and which is pervaded by nothing." 2. Divyam and Acintya-Rupam----( Self-luminous and inconceivable or unknowable) :  Spark of life in us is certainly illuminating principle, without any form and unknown. 3. Farther than farthest, it is here within :  We are looking for the Divine far far away, but it is within us. 4.Subtler than subtlest : It is so,---------------small no one yet see the Reality. 5. If Truth be thus such a vast unimaginable and inconceivable one, at once here, there and everywhere, it would be the legitimate doubt in every seeker as to how and where he can realize this vast Divine factor. 6. Upanisad : says that Truth is realized here, in the "cave of the Heart."  

Chapter-3. Section-1. Mantram-6. 1. Truth alone wins, 2. not untruth,  3. Truth is laid out the path divine, 4. Aptakamah : Those who have fulfilled all their desires,  5. Devayanah : Thereafter  pass through this Divine path and ascend to the highest peak of God-hood The Supreme Truth.

Chapter-3. Section-1. Mantram-5. 1. Satyam ( truthfulness ), Ahimsa ( non-injury ), and Brahmacarya ( self-control ), are the three main corner-stones of the temple of Hinduism. 2. Satyam should play in the field of the intellect. When one is convinced of the God-theory and the Divine Nature of the One Self through observation, analysis, study, and self-thinking, to act thereafter in term of animal thoughts  and undivine emotions to commit sinful criminality, it is in this sense the word Satyam is used in the mantram. 3. Tapas is good to body and mind, 4. Truthfulness, meditation, and intense study of scriptures will help to develop Brahmacarya. 5. Gradually animalism dies away and when he thus becomes purified his mind and intellect become more and more subtle and, therefore, capable of greater awareness.   

Chapter-3. Section-1. Mantram-4. 1. Iswaran (  in this mantram Prana means Easwaran), 2. One who realize HE is present in all beings, then never blabbers, 3.When the wise having realized in himself his true nature has, only one karmam --to experience his God-hood within himself, 4. And to observe the tranquil play of the Self in all names and forms around and about him, 5. This man is the best of those who know the BRAHMAM.

Chapter-3. Section-1. Mantram-3. 1. He releases within himself a mighty power of energy free for application:  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------/ a).  When a person, during his/her seeking, is but deluded ego striving hard to discover the Reality behind the unreal, the true among the false.  b). When the aspirant, through meditation, has successfully and completely withdrawn his entire attention from the outer world of sense-objects and his inner world of thoughts and feelings, he releases the energy for application. c) It is the job of the seeker to make use of this energy to discover the Truth that lie within himself. 

Chapter-3. Section-1. Mantram-2. 1. This mantram is pointedly declaring what the two birds stand for. 2. The bird eating fruits, is our ego, which due to ignorance of its real nature, it entertains desires and strives to fulfill them in the outer world of sense-objects. 3. This ego suffer in its own delusions ( maya) (moham) (wrong-perceptions). 4. This ego does not know its real nature the "witnessing bird". 5. The  ego ( the fruits eating bird) under delusions, is the Jeevatma. 6. "the various false values; wrong notions, attachments, lust, greed, passions, fears, despairs"are all for the Jeevatma. 7. This ego fails to discover the True and Real, which is eternally there behind itself. 8. Hence this mantram says "when he (the ego) sees the other, the witnessing bird, the Lord ( Paramatma), and realizes His (Lord) glory, he ( ego) becomes free from dejection."   

Chapter-3. Section-1. Mantram-1. 1. Two birds bound to each other in close friendship, sitting on a branch of a tree. 2.One of them eats the fruits of the tree with relish, while the other just looks on, without eating. 3.The two birds mentioned here as living in great friendship upon the self-same tree, are ego and the Divine Spark of life in us.  4.The two birds --the real 'I' and the false 'I'  --live in one and the same tree, the body. 5.The false 'I', the ego, in its delusions goes on pecking at the hanging fruits and comes to suffer joy and sorrow, satisfaction or dis-satisfaction, according to the taste of the fruits pecked. Some are ripe, some are unripe; ripe ones are sweet, the unripe ones are sour.  6.But, the other bird, which all along remains in unperturbed tranquillity, merely  goes on witnessing the joys and sorrows of the bird busy with the fruits! 7.Here fruits are the karmik fruits---the reaction of on...

Chapter-2. Section-2. Mantram-11. 1. Concluding this section the Rishi here says that the ultimate cause for this world of objects, feelings, and thoughts, is the Brahmam alone. 2. In a mud-pot, mud is on the top, mud is below, again is on the right and mud is on the left. 3.In short, the pot is nothing but mud: from mud it came, in mud it stays, into mud it goes back on being destroyed. 4. Mud is the cause  and its effect. 5. The pot can be nothing but mud. 6. Similarly, here, Brahmam  the cause of the world, is said to be the all-perfading, homogeneous Truth in all the perceived  things of the world. 7. Summing:  All this is the Immortal Brahmam. He is everywhere-- above, below, in front,  at the back, on the right, on the left.  8. All this world is indeed the Supreme Brahmam. 9. End of chapter-2- section-2.   

MANTRAM-10 1. There the sun does not shine! 2.Nor the moon! 3. Nor the stars! 4. These  lightnings do not shine! --------- 5. How then (can) this earthly fire? 6. Everything shines after Him reflecting His glory. 7. This whole world is illuminated with His light.  

1. Brahmam is stainless. 2. Brahmam is indivisible. 3.Brahmam is pure. 4. Brahmam is light of all lights. 5.Location of Brahmam:-  a). Human personality is, for philosophical apprehension taken to be the Spirit enveloped ( circled) by five concentric circles of matter: they are - 1. Food-sheath (Annamaya kosam), 2. Vital-air-sheath ( pranamaya kosam), 3. Mental-sheath ( Manonmaya kosam), 4. Intellectual-sheath ( Vigjnanamaya kosam), 5. Bliss-sheath ( Anandamaya kosam) 6. Innermost sheath of the golden hue--the highest , it is here Brahmam is occupied. 6.This is called Atma or Jeevatma the part or shadow of Paramatma.

Chapter-2. Section-2. Mantram-8. 1. The SUN knows no darkness since light cannot suffer darkness. 2. The ROPE knows no snake. 3. The POST is no friend of the ghost. 4. A deluded person see only snake or ghost, instead of rope or post. 5. When put an end to delusion, he/she will recognise, rope or post. 6. Now the existence of ghost and snake is gone. 7. In this sense pure Consciousness is the essence behind the real and the unreal. 8. Truth is the essence behind the true or false. Here, in this 8th mantram he who sees both higher and lower means the real (true) and the unreal  (false ), thereafter there is no ignorance, the knots of the heart  mean ignorance, desires, actions. These are broken and all doubts of real and unreal ( true or false), are removed.  

Chapter-2. Section-2. Mantram-7. He who is all wise, and all knowing and His is this Glory manifest in the world. In the sky of heart -- the luminous city of Brahmam ( our heart  ) is established by Him (Lord). This is clothed in our mind and guiding life and body. With His (Lord's ) seat in our heart, He lives in the whole body of all men.  In the perfect knowledge of the Lord, the wise men realize the state of blissful immortality.

Chapter-2. Section-2. Mantram-6.   Ara   iva   ratha-nabhau   samhata   yatra   nadyah sa   esho-ntas-carate   bahudha   jaya-manah, Om-ityevam   dhyayatha   atmanam svasti   vah   paraya   tamasah   parastat. Meaning:- "Where all the nerves  meet like the spokes of a chariot wheel in the hub, there within the heart He ( Lord) moves, becoming manifold. Meditate on that Self as "OM." Godspeed to you in crossing to the farther shores beyond Darkness."    Explanation:- Hub of the chariot wheel  means here the center of love-heart, which is the seat of Pure Consciousness, and the Center of Life from the toe to tip of the hair on the head, here the wheel is the Life and chariot is our body. The nerves all over our body are the spokes of the chariot wheel.   Hub is the point that is in contact with every point in the circumference and it is that which equates a...

Chapter2. Section-2. Mantram-5. Yasmin   dyauh   prthivi   cantariksa- motam   manah   saha   pranais-ca   sarvaih, tam-evaikam    janatha   atmana-manya vaco   vimunca-thamrta-syaisa   setuh. Meaning:- "He in whom the heaven, the earth and the inter-space are centered, together with the mind and all life-breaths (Pranas)---know Him alone as the one Self of all, and desist from all other talk. This is the man's bridge to the shore of Immortality ( across the ocean of life)." Explanation:- "Are Centered":- The cause is the very substance of the effect; like mud is the very essence of all mud-pots. Likewise the entire world of things is in essence nothing but the Supreme Consciousness. A sure method by which we can end all pains and sense of limitations by knowing the seat of our Consciousness in ourselves. "Know Him":- Here, the object-of-knowledge is but the subject itself and,  as s...

Chapter-2. Section-2. Mantram-4. Pranavo   dhanuh   saro   hyatma brahma   tal-laksyam   ucyate apramattena   veddhavyam sara-vat   tan-mayo   bhavet. Meaning:- "The Pranavam is the bow, the Atma is the arrow and the Brahmam is said to be its mark/target (goal). It should be hit by one who is Self-collected and like the arrow, becomes one with the mark i.e. Brahmam." Explanation:- In these two mantras( 3&4)  the method of penetrating the Truth-center in us with our mind, is the theme. In these mantras Archery is used to explain( bow and arrow cum Target) The bow here is the chanting of "OM"( A U M) with a knowledge of the significance of "OM."  The arrow is the  Atma ( Life-Center) in the individual. The Awareness  in us, propelled by the motive-force generated in voiceless ecstasy, during thoughtless meditation, "flies" (arrow) to touch Total Awareness, (Target)   the Brahmam, the a...

Chapter.2 Section-2. Mantram-3. Dhanur    grahitvau-panisadam   mahastram saram   hyupasa-nisitam   sandhayita, ayamya   tad   bhava-gatena   cetasa laksyam   tadev-aksaram   somya   viddhi. Meaning:- "Having taken the great weapon ---the bow furnished by the Upanisads and fixed in it the arrow rendered by constant meditation; and having drawn it with the mind fixed on the Brahmam, O good looking youth! penetrate that mark ----the Immortal Brahmam."  This mantram along with 4th mantram are very important, the explanation will be provided next, when 4th mantram is on later, pse wait....

Chapter-2. Section-2. Mantram-2. Yad-arcimad   yad-anubhyo-nu   ca yasmin-loka   nihita   lokinas-ca, tad-etad-aksaram   brahma   sa   pranas-tadu   van-manah tad-etat   satyam   tad-amrtam   tat   ved-dhavyam   somya   viddhi. Meaning:- "Luminous, subtler than even the subtlest, that imperishable Brahmam alone is the abode of the world and all inhabitants. He is Life, speech, mind, reality, immortality. That is the mark ( goal ) which should be penetrated by the mind. Penetrate it, O my friend." Explanation:- In the previous mantram, the nature of Brahmam was told in detail and  explained how to know it. After knowing that, the statement in this mantram shall not be very difficult for any one to follow.  Subtlety in philosophy is measured by its pervasiveness.  Example:- The solid  is the grossest ; it is grosser than liquid, and the liquid, is grosser t...

Chapter-2. Section-2. Mantram-1. Avih   sannihitam   guhacaram   nama mahat   padam-atraitat   samarpitam ejat   pranan-nimisac-ca   yadetaj-janatha   sad-asad varenyam   param   vijnanad   yad-varistham   prajanam. Meaning:- "Bright, existing very close, moving in the cavity of the heart; great and the support of all; In Him is all the Universe centred round: what moves, breathes and winks. Know it which is both form and without form, the most adorable, the highest of beings, the one beyond the understanding of creatures." Explanation:- Bright:- Consciousness is considered to be bright in the sense that it is the light that illumines for us our thoughts and ideas. This light, that illumines, that  is within, is certainly the light of intelligence in the intellect. This is not physical, ordinary light as known to the scientists; it is the Consciousness, the Life-Principle( tattvam) in the ...

Chapter:-2. Section:-1. Mantram:-10.( last of this chapter). Purusa   evedam   visvam   karma tapo   brahma   paramrtam, etad   yo   veda   nihitam    guhayam so   vidya-granthim   vikiratiha   somya. Meaning of mantram:-  The Purusa ( Easwaran) alone is all this Universe---the sacrificial works (karma) and austerities (Tapas). O good-looking youth! he who knows this highest  and immortal Brahmam as seated  in the cavity of the heart, unties the knot of ignorance even here, in this very life. Explanation:- This mantram declaring the spiritual conclusion that the entire world of names and forms, feelings and ideas is but a manifestation of the dynamic whole ---------the Purusa. Action and thought (knowledge) when combined together provide us with the different fields of activities called Universe. Purusa:- (today) Purusa ( chaithanyam /Easwaran) is the vital centr...

Chapter-2. Section-1. Mantram-9.   Atah   samudra   girayas-ca   sarve-smat syandante   sindhavah   sarva-rupah, atas   ca   sarva   osadhaya   rasas-ca yenaisa   bhutais-tisthate   hy-antaratma.   From Him, :- All the oceans and mountains; from him,  the rivers of every description; from him, too, all herbs and saps by which the subtle body( sushma sariram) exists encircled by the gross elements of matter. Explanation:- In the previous mantras, we studied That from the Supreme Reality came all the dynamic aspects of nature and the entire kingdom of living organisms. This mantram  is here  indicating that even mountains, oceans, rivers, are all manifestations of the same  Eternal Truth. Earth, when watered by the rivers becomes favourable  field for plant-life, and then plants grow. In the plant the sap and by ddigesting the sap, the beings preserve and maintain them...

Chapter-2. Section-1. Mantram-8. Sapta   pranah   prabhavanti   tasmat Saptarcisah   samidhah   sapta   homah: sapta   ime   loka   yesu   caranti   prana guhasaya   nihitah   sapta   sapta. Meaning of the Mantram:- From Him are born: 1. Seven Pranas, 2. The Seven Flames, 3. Seven-fold fuel, 4. The Seven-fold oblations, 5. as also the seven worlds where the Pranas move in the cave of living creatures;  Seven and Seven. Explanation:- 1.From the Supreme Self ( Paramatma or Brahmam)  are born the seven sense-holes in the head of all living creatures: two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, one mouth. ( seven pranas)  2.The seven flames mentioned are the seven powers of cognition that beam out, as it were, to illuminate their respective objects. 3.Thus through the eyes, intelligence beams out to perceive form( roopam) and colour. 4. Through the ears, vitality sh...

Chapter-2. Section-1. Mantram-6 & 7. Tasmad   rcah   sama   yajumsi   diksa          (6) yajnas-ca   sarve-ca   kratavo   daksinas-ca samvat-saras-ca   yajamanas-ca   lokah somo   yatra   pavate   yatra   suryah. From Him are the Vedik hymens, the sacred chants, the sacrificial formulae, preliminary rites, sacrifices, ceremonies, sacrificial gifts, the time of the sacrifice, the sacrificer and the worlds, purified by the sun and the moon (which come to one as the fruits of sacrifice). Tasmac-ca   deva   bahudha   samprasutah           (7) sadhya   manusyah   pasavo   vayamsi prana-panau   vrihiyavau   tapas-ca sraddha   satyam   brahma-caryam   vidhis-ca. From Him also the Gods of various orders, the Celestias, the men, the beasts, (cattle), the birds, the in-breaths and the o...

Chapter:-2. Section:-1. Mantra:-5. Tasmad-agnih  samidho  yasya  suryah somat  parjanya  osadhayah  prthivyam puman  retah  sincati  yositayam vahvih  prajah  purusat  samprasutah. 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 (herbs eaten), the man(the fourth fire; who (the man) sheds his seeds into the woman(the fifth fire). In this manner many living beings are born from the Purusa (The Lord), the all-pervading being. Sky... whose fuel is the Sun : The statement made is to facilitate the student's meditation for the purpose of self-purification. Here, the word 'sky'means the very concept of space.We know that our mind and intellect can function only in a medium of space, time and causality. The concept of space ( and the consequent sense of li...

Chapter:-2. Section:-1. Mantra:-4. Agnir-murdha  caksusi  candra-suryam disah  srotre  vag  vivrtasca  vedah, vayuh  prano  hradayam  visva-masya pasdbhyam  prthivi  hyesa  sarva-bhutani-ratma. Fire (Agni) is his head; Sun and Moon---his eyes; four Quarters or Directions----his ears; the declared Vedas----his speech; the air----his breath; the Universe----his mind (heart); the Earth originated from his feet. He is indeed the inner Self (Atma) of all beings. Continuing the analogy in the last mantra(3), there will not be any contradiction if we were to describe the cotton as the sum-total shape of all the patterns  in the piece of cloth. Here in this mantra, we are having a description of the cause of its effects. Technically the Supreme, identifying with an individual physical structure, as we always do in our waking state of Consciousness, is called Visva. And, the Reality or the Self, identify...

Chapter:-2. Section:-1. Slokam:-3. Etasmaj-jayate  prano  manah  sarvendriyani  ca, kham  vayur-jyotir-apah  prthivi  visvasya  dharini. From Him are born the Prana ( life ), the mind, all the organs, the sky ( Akasa), the wind (Vayu), the fire ( Jyotih ), thewater ( Apah), and the earth( Prthivi) which supports all. From the Supreme Reality explained in the previous mantra, was created the entire world, knowable and knowing objects. Thus here, we have the enumeration explaining that the five elements, the ten senses, the Prana and the mind came out of Brahmam( The Supreme). It is Sastrik declaration that the form--quality of creation has come out of seventeen tattvas. Also, it declares that the entire world of activity (prana), of feelings(mind), of cognition ( sense organs), and the outer world of the five great elements have all the same source in the eternal Realty as explained in the previous mantra, In case, the pyre Exis...

Section:-1. Slokam:-2. (The Absolute nature of Brahmam)- Divyo  hyamurtah  purusah  sabahya-bhyantaro  hyajah, aprano  hyamanah  subhro  hy-aksarat  paratah  parah. Self-resplendent, formless, unoriginaled and pure, that all-pervading Being is both to life and mind, He transcends even the transcendent, unmanifested, causal-state of the universe.