Mundakopanishad : Chapter-3. Section-1. Mantram-4. - Swami Krishnananda.

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Thursday,  May 08, 2021. 06:53. AM.
Mundakopanishad
Chapter 3, 
Section 1,
Mantram-4 Supreme knower of Brahmam.
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Chapter -3, Section -1, Mantram -4. (Supreme knower of Brahmam.)

"Prano hy esa yah sarva-bhitair vibhati 

vijanan vidvan bhavate nativadi, 

atma-krida atma-ratih kriyava - 

nesa brahma-vidam varisthah." (3.1.4): 

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This great Hiranyagarbha Prana, the Universal life principle, is visible in the form of the life of every little creature in this world. Having known this, our mouths are shut and we will not speak afterwards. Like a drowning person whose mouth is filled with water, Eternity will fill us to such an extent that we will have no occasion to open our mouths, and we will not speak. Silence is golden. Not merely is it a policy, but it is a result that follows from the highest vision. The more we know, the less we speak. As it is said, it is only half-filled pots that make a lot of noise. One who is filled with this knowledge of the Universal Prana operating through all life in this world is the true knower, and he does not speak afterwards. What does he do then?

atma-krida atma-ratih kriyava - nesa brahma-vidam varisthah :

He is the Knower supreme. He is the best of the knowers of Brahman. He rejoices not with things outside; he rejoices with himself—?tma-kr??a. He plays with himself, he rejoices with himself, he works through himself, not with instruments outside. God does not have instruments like a pickaxe, a fountain pen, etc. By His very existence, He works. So is this knower of Brahman capable of working miracles in this world by his very existence. The words used here are brahma-vid?? viri??hah, which means the best of the knowers of Brahman.

There are four stages of Brahman knowledge described in the Yoga Vasishtha, and these stages are called brahmavid, brahmavidvara, brahmavidvariya and brahmavidvarishta. There are seven stages of knowledge in the ascent of the spirit to God—shubhecha, vicharana, tanumanasi, sattvapatti, asamsakti, padartha-bhavana and turiya. The fourth stage is called sattvapatti, where light flashes from Brahman, and that condition of the awareness of the flash of light from Brahman is called the state of brahmavid.

 Then the next stage comes. When we are totally detached from everything on account of the perception of this light everywhere, that is brahmavidvara. When we see consciousness illuminating through every brick, every stone and every atom, that stage is brahmavidvariya. 

Then we feel that the light is scintillating within us also, and we become indistinguishable from this mass of light everywhere; that is turiya. Such a stage is called brahmavidvarishta. He plays with himself, he rejoices with himself, he is satisfied with himself, and he works through the soul, and not by any kind of external instruments. Such a great soul, a true knower of Brahman the Supreme, is called  -

esa brahma-vidam varisthah 

End.
NEXT - CHAPTER3, SECTION-1, MANTRAM-5.

"Satyena labhyas tapasa hy esa atma 

samyag-jñanena brahmacaryena nityam, 

antah-sarire jyotir-mayo hi subhro 

yam pasyanti yatayah kisna-dosah."(3.1.5)

To be continued ...

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