The Mundaka Upanishad : Post-4. Swami Krishnananda.

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Monday, February 21, 2022. 19:00.

Chapter-1. Section-1. Mantram-3 & 4.

Post-4.

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Mantram-3.

Śaunako ha vai mahāśālo'ṅgirasaṁ vidhivad upasannaḥ papraccha, kasmin nu bhagavo vijñāte sarvam idaṁ vijñātam bhavati iti (1.1.3):

“Great Master, holy Sage, what is that, by knowing which, one can know everything else also?” Is it possible to know something which can lead to the knowledge of all things at the same time? 

Generally, such a thing is not possible. If you know one thing, you know only that thing. The knowledge of A does not involve the knowledge of B, because A cannot be B. One thing cannot be another thing; it is the law of contradiction in logic. 

So what is this question? A supernatural question is raised by Saunaka Mahashala: “What is that thing, the knowledge of which will, at the same time, mean the knowledge of all things?” 

It was a simple question, leading to an answer which is the entire Upanishad.

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Mantram - 4 :

To the sage Saunaka, who queried in this manner, Angiras, the Master, speaks. 

Tasami sa hovāca: dve vidye veditavye iti ha sma yad brahmavido vadanti parā caivāparā ca (1.1.4): 

Two kinds of knowledge—dve vidye—are to be acquired: the higher and the lower. 

We have to know what higher knowledge is, and we also have to know what lower knowledge is. This is what we hear from Brahmavids, the great knowers of Brahman. This is the instruction we have received from the Brahmavid in regard to how knowledge can be acquired, or obtained.

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Knowledge of the lower is important, though lower knowledge is not the same as higher knowledge. Lower knowledge is something like the legs of a human being; and a human being can live even without legs. 

Legs are not essential to the body, but they are necessary for the body. In a similar manner, lower knowledge is not going to take us to Brahman, but it is necessary as legs are necessary for us, and so its essentials need not be overemphasised with a feeling of their overwhelming importance, giving no credit to that which will lead to that essential knowledge.

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All knowledge is a graduated training of the mind in the process of enlightenment. From the perceptible, visible, gross, tangible and acceptable reality, we gradually move the mind to that which is not easily acceptable and cannot be understood as quickly as we can understand that which is seen with the eyes directly. 

That the Sun is giving light to us, that it is now daytime, and that the Sun rose at a particular hour in the morning, is something acceptable. But that the Sun gives light to all parts of the world at different times, in a very systematic manner, is something that cannot be seen with the eyes directly. It requires a little imagination and intensive study to know this other fact involved in the illumination given by the Sun on the Earth, as it is not actually physically accessible to vision.

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There are degrees of knowledge, and there are as many degrees of knowledge as there are degrees of the psychic setup of a human being. We have to pass through as many stages of education as are the stages which compose our own mind. The mental degree is also the degree of reality that it will encounter in the process of enlightenment and education.

Saunaka put a question regarding what knowledge is, and Angiras said there are two types of knowledge, the lower and the higher. Now we are told what lower knowledge is.

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To be continued  ......

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