Mundakopanishad : ( 12/12/2012. )

======================================================================== ======================================================================== 28/12/2016. Mantram-s  - 8 to 10 : Description of the sad state of knowledge-less ( devoid of Upasana ) ritualists- Mantram-10. ======================================================================== Ishtapurtam manyamana varishtam nanyac chreyo vedayante pramudhaḥ, naksaya prsthe te sukrte’nubhutvemam lokam hinataram va vishanti (1.2.10). ======================================================================= 1. Many of these verses sound like the verses of the Bhagavadgita, in the Ninth Chapter, where it is said that after enjoying the glories of heaven you come back due to the exhaustion of the merits accumulated by good deeds. Ishta and purta are two types of good deeds that people do in this world. Sacrifices along the lines of the Vedic injunctions are called ishta. Other philanthropic deeds such as distributin...

======================================================================== ======================================================================= 30/11/2019. Mantram-s  - 8 to 10 : Description of the sad state of knowledge-less ( devoid of Upasana ) ritualists- Mantram-9. ======================================================================= Mantram - (1.2.9): "Avidyayam bahudha vartamana vayam krtartha ity abhi-manyanti balah, yat karmiṇo na pravedayanti rāgāt tenāturāḥ kṣīṇalokāś cyavante." Translation : "Engrossed in the many ways of the ignorant, these people childishly think that they have gained the ends ( goal ) of life. But being subject to passions and attachment. they never attain Knowledge, and, therefore, they fall down wretched, when the fruits of their good deeds are exhausted."  ====================================================================== Discussion : Children with no understanding imagine that they have achieved ever...

======================================================================= -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 26/10/2019 Mundaka Upanishad : Chapter-1: Section-2. Mantram-8&9. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avidyayam antare vartamanah svayam dhirah panditam manya-manah, janghanya-manah pariyanti mudhah, andhenaiva niyamana yathandhah (Chapter-1.Section-2.Mantram-8). Sunk in ignorance of the true values of life, imagining that they are very intelligent, wise, they are really wiseacres. Dhirah panditam manya-manah : These ritualists imagine that they know everything in the world, that they are omniscient, that they know what is good and that others do not know anything. Such is the astounding profundity of human ignorance. Janghanya-manah : They suffer afterwards as a consequence of this ign...

======================================================================= NAVA-RATHRI : MAHA-NAVAMI : VIJAYA-DASHMI : I wholehearted welcome all children to Akshara Brahmam. Today millions of children in Kerala irrespective of caste, creed and gender will get initiated into Akshara (school education) On Rice or on sand they are made to write - Hari Shree Ganapathaye Namaha. An Acharya who initiates the children will write the above mantra on the child’s tongue. This culture has been followed since time immemorial. People of other religions too follow this due to its significance . Let us look at what Hari Shree means. This is a reminder to all children regarding the two assets that they have in Life. First is Hari and next is Shree. Something that no one can ever remove from our Life .... what is that? They are the various skills like .....positive mind, humility and clarity in communication. If one is capable of developing these skills , there will always be plenty of o...

======================================================================== -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 01/09/2019 Mundaka Upanishad : Chapter 1: Section 2.7 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.1 A book that has fifteen chapters is called Panchadasi.  Similarly, Indian mystics such as the Alvars, who wrote the Nalayira Divya Prabandham. They are all astounding proclamations of the rapture of the soul in an experience which should be considered as entry into Brahmaloka itself. They were all masters of language who used words in order to break through the words and find the very soul in the essence of language itself. Mystical literature is actually the voice of the soul expressed in human tongue. Such is called Brahmaloka. It will simply shake your soul even to imagine what that experience cou...

11/07/2019 Mundaka Upanishad : Chapter 1: Section 2.6 Ehy-ehiti  tam-ahutayas suvarcasah suryasya rasmibhir-yajamanam vahanti, priyam vacam-abhivadantyo-’rcayantya, esa vah punyah sukrto brahma-lokah (1.2.6). The Sun’s rays, as the flames of fire, are not dead things; they are consciousness. They speak to you : “Come. Glorious man, here are the flames. Come, come.” The oblations, when offered properly with the recitation of the mantras correctly pronounced, create a situation wherein the oblations start assuming life. We have heard that, in ancient days, divinities used to rise up from the fire, bringing some offering. The nectarine pudding which was brought by a divinity in the sacrifice performed by Dasharatha is one of many instances. The living voice of the flames of fire in the sacrifice, and the glorious rays of the Sun, join together and speak very delightful words. Priyam vacam abhivadantyo’rcayantya : “How blessed you are. How good it is of you to ...

06/05/2019 Mundaka Upanishad : Chapter 1: Section 2.5 Chapter 1: Section 2.5 "Tam nayanty etas suryasya rasmayo yatra devanam patir eko’dhivasah." The soul, the subtle body of the performer of the yajna, is drawn out when the body is shed, and by the gravitational pull of the rays of the Sun and the propulsion given by the flames of fire into which the performer has offered the yajna, the soul that departs from the body of the jiva rises up. Where do we go? We go to the Sun, the solar orb. From there we are transported. Yatra devanam patir eko’dhivasah : - We are very graciously, lovingly escorted to the great heaven of Indra, who rules the whole heaven. So be prepared for the great blessedness of going to heaven, and do yajnas every day. In order to tell us that mere ritualistic performance in the form of sacrifices, etc., will not suffice for the salvation of the soul, the Upanishad first of all tells us some aspects of the manner in which the ritualis...

22/04/2019 Mundaka Upanishad : Chapter 1: Section 2.4  Chapter 1: Section 2.4 "Kali karali ca mano-java ca sulohita ya ca sudhumra-varna, sphulingini visva-rupi ca devi lelaya-mana iti sapta-jihvah." (1.2.4). In a properly performed sacrifice, seven flames of the fire are supposed to shoot up, not just one or two. The hungry fire will lap up in seven tongues. The seven tongues have their own names : — kali: the black one; karali: the blacker one; mano-java: rapid like the movement of the mind; sulohita: reddish in colour; sudhumra-varna: brownish in colour; sphulingini: sparking forth; visva-rupi: radiant. Devi: divine are the flames. The god Agni himself rises up to receive our offering and take us to the gods so that, in their satisfaction, they lift us up to the abode of the gods. Lelayamana iti sapta-jihvah : Oscillating flames of the agni, to which we offer the oblations, are designated in this manner. These names are to be remembered. ...

05/04/2019 Chapter 1: Section 2.3. . Esa vah panthah sukrtasya loke : (1.2.1) This is the blessedness for you. Here the Mimamsa speaks to you: It is the path of blessedness open to you. All people come. If you recite the Veda mantras properly, perform yajna and offer oblations to the gods, the flames of the sacrifice uniting themselves with the rays of the Sun will take you, by your subtle body, to the glorious realm of Indra’s heaven. So here is an invitation to the heaven of Indra. Yada lelayate hy arcis samiddhe havya-vahane, tad ajya- bhavav antaren ahutih pratipadayet ( chraddhaya-hutam ) (1.2.2). When we perform a havanam, a yajnam, the flames should shoot forth. The fire should not be smouldering, and it should not be smoking. If that is the case, then the yajna is not done properly. Savita is the flaming forth of the heated fire. When the flames move like tongues of fire, lapping hither and thither with a roaring sound, into those tongues of fire coming up from t...

06/03/2019 Chapter 1: Section 2.2. Mantram : 1. "Mantreshu karmani kavayo yany apasyams tani tretayam bahudha santatani." Treta means the three Vedas. In the three Vedas—Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda—we will find every mantra is a potential for action. The Mimamsa Shastra is very vigorous in the affirmation of mantras being just instruments in the performance of external sacrifice. Knowledge is the medium for action. After we know something, we do something. We do not merely know something and keep quiet. So shodhana, or incentive for action, is the potential of every mantra. This is the Mimamsa Shastra, and we are mentioning it in this particular verse. Therefore, the three Vedas are incentives for the performance of further action in the form of ritual and yajna. Treta means three Vedas, and it also means the Treta Yuga. There are four yugas: Krita Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga and Kali Yuga. We are in Kali Yuga, the last of the yugas. Eka eva pura vedah pr...

03/02/2019 Chapter 1: Section 2.1 Tad etat satyam  mantreṣu karmani kavayo yany - apasyams tani tretayam bahudha santatani, tanya - caratha niyatam, satyakama esa vaḥ panthaḥ sukrtasya loke (1.2.1.). This is a different subject altogether. A mantram in the earlier Sloka-s told us that there are two types of knowledge, the lower and the higher. Rg-vedo yajur-vedaḥ sāma-vedo’tharva-vedaḥ śikṣā kalpo vyākaraṇaṁ (1.1.5) : The Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda are all lower knowledge. Higher knowledge is that great spiritual insight by which we come into direct contact with the Imperishable. This was told to us in earlier Sloka-s. Now some details are given as to what lower knowledge is. The mantras of the Veda are utilised in the performance of sacrifices, or yajnas. This is the secondary character of the Veda mantras. Veda mantras can be used as prayers to the Almighty God or as prayers to the divinities inhabiting heaven. That is one form of the utilisation o...

12/01/2019 Mundaka Upanishad : Chapter 1: Section 1 :  Discussion-14 (Mundakopanishad : Chapter-1 : Section-1 :Mantram-9) Tasmad etad brahma nama-rupam annah ca jayate.  From this Great Being, Brahman, the Absolute, emanates the secondary Brahman. In the language of scholastic philosophers, it is prakriti.  Mama yonir mahad brahma (B.G. 14.3) is mentioned in the Bhagavadgita.  Here Brahma does not mean Supreme Brahman but prakriti, the matrix of things. Then name and form manifest themselves—nama-rupam. The inward characteristic of an object is called nama, and its outward characteristic is called rupa. The indication—the determining factor of a particular shape that an individual has to take—is called linga sharira in our case, and the subtle body is called the sukshma sharira.  Here, nama does not simply mean a name such as Rama, Krishna and Govinda; it is the indicative linga, or the specific character, of the would-be individual in the form o...