Mundakopanishad : ( 12/12/2012. )

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...