Mundaka Upanishad : Chapter 1: Section 1 : Discussion-8

02/09/2018
Mundaka Upanishad : Chapter 1: Section 1 :  Discussion-8
Mantram -5.

We cannot go to the Veda directly and understand anything out of it unless we are proficient in these six auxiliary shastras, or scriptures, called "siksha kalpo vyakaranam niruktam chando jyotisham." All these, says the great Master, together with the original Vedas—the Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda—should be considered as lower knowledge. They purify our minds and enlighten us into the mysteries of the whole of creation. They purify our minds because of the power that is embedded in the mantras and the emotional or religious awareness that is stimulated within us on account of the meaning that we see in the mantras, the blessing that we receive from the sages who composed the mantras, and also the special power that is generated by the metre. All these put together create a religious atmosphere in the person who takes to the study of the Veda. It is great and grand, worth studying. It will lift us to the empyrean of a comprehension of values that are not merely physical, but superphysical. Yet, it is not enough. There is a ‘but’ behind it. What is that greater knowledge, which is higher than this mentioned?

Atha para yaya tad ak?aram adhigamyate: That is the higher knowledge with which alone can we reach the imperishable Reality. Learning is different from wisdom; scholarship is not the same as insight. One may be a learned Vedic scholar and very proficient in the performance of sacrifices and the invocation of gods in the heavens, but eternity is different from temporality. All these glories of the Veda are in the region of time, and the Eternal is timeless. What is that timeless thing, that which is called Imperishable?

"Yat tad adresyam, agrahyam, agotram, avarnam, acakshuh- srotram tad apani-padam, nityam vibhum sarva-gatam susukshmam tad avyayam yad bhuta-yonim paripasyanti dhirah" (1.1.6): That great Reality is to be encountered in direct experience.

Adresyam : - that Reality which is not capable of perception through the eyes;

agrahyam : - that which cannot be grasped with the hands;

avarnam : - which has no origin;

agotram : - which has no shape or form;

acakshuh-srotram : - which has no sense organs like us;

tad apani-padam : - which has no limbs such as feet, hands, etc.;

nityam vibhum sarva-gatam susukshmam : - which is permanent, eternal, all-pervading, subtler than the subtlest;

tad avyayam : - which is imperishable;

bhuta-yonim : - which is the origin of all beings;

paripasyanti dhirah : - heroes on the path of the spirit will behold that great Reality within their own selves.

To be continued ..