The Mundakoupanishad : Post-19. Swami Krishnananda.

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Chinmaya Mission :

A book release event of 'Shrimad Bhagavata' translation in Nepali was organized by Chinmaya Mission Sikkim on 9th of Dec.

The event was graced by Br. Divakar Chaitanya's The Talk on 'Art of Peace.'

It was held in the presence of Swami Pradhymna Shrestha, Padma Shree Sanu Lama, Nepali Sahitya Bhagwan president Rudra Poudyal and Chief information commissioner C.P Dhakal along with more than 100 devotees.

S K Sarda and H P Dhakal were inspired to translate the original Hindi book of Swami Tejomayananda Titled- ‘Shreemad Bhagawad Pravarchan’ into Nepali Language for the benefit of Nepali Bhasi living in Himalayas and worldwide.

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Saturday, December 17, 2022. 09:00.

Chapter-1, Section-2, Mantram-13.

POST-19.

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Mantram-1 : 

( Instructions to teachers on initiating fit students )

"Tasmai sa vidvān upasannāya samyak 

praśānta-cittāya śamānvitāya, 

yenākṣaram puruṣaṁ veda satyam 

provāca tāṁ tattvato brahma-vidyam "(1.2.13). 

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To such a sincere disciple who humbly approaches the Master with restrained mind, with no desires whatsoever, endowed with sama, dama and such qualities—sama is internal restraint, the restraint of the inner organs, and dama is external restraint, the restraint of the outer organs—and who is calm and quiet, composed in mind, when such a person approaches the Guru for the sake of that imperishable Purusha who is to be known, the Truth of all truths, the Guru speaks. What does he speak? He speaks the essentials of Brahma-Vidya: tattvato brahma-vidyam.

Now we are given some indication as to what this Brahma-Vidya is. Up to this point, it is some kind of introduction. We have been introduced into the essence of the Upanishad in all these passages that we have gone through up to this time. Now comes the real import of the Upanishad, which is supposed to be the teaching of the Guru to the sincere disciple.

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Chapter 2: Section 1 : Mantra-1. 

(Birth of all beings from Brahman, like sparks from fire)

"Tad etat satyam: yathā sudīptāt pāvakād 

visphuliṅgāḥ sahasraśaḥ prabhavante sarūpāḥ, 

tathākṣarād vividhāḥ, saumya, bhāvāḥ 

prajāyante tatra caivāpi yanti (2.1.1)": 

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“O Master, The illustration of the fire and sparks is to indicate for the student's comprehension that there is some quality in us which will enable us to reach God. If the effect is totally disconnected from the cause—if there is nothing in the effect which can be called similar to the essence of the cause—there will be no relationship between them. This is to indicate that in spite of our separation from God, our fall from Brahman, as it were, we are still endowed with that potential for returning to Brahman, because the feet of Brahman are planted in our own heart. The Atman that we are is an indication of the Universal that Brahman is, just as the character of the spark is, in essence, the same as the character of fire. This illustration makes out that basically we are verily that which we are seeking. If we are entirely dissociated from that, there will be no possibility of our returning to it. The Atman is Brahman basically.

how has this world come?” The disciple raises the question.

There are various ways of answering this question of how this world has come. In the beginning the answer will depend on the ability of the mind of the student to understand, because the student imagines that the world has come from something. Even without seeing the world coming from something, we put questions such as: “Who created this world?” Why should the world be created by anybody? We imagine that this world must have been created by someone, and as this assumption is already in the mind, one has to take the stand of the disciple in assuming that there is a cause for this world; so initially, by a kind of illustration and analogy, the cause of the world, and the manner of its coming from the cause, are described in this verse.

Here is the truth, the answer to your question. From a large conflagration of fire, thousands of sparks emanate in all directions. In a similar manner, varieties of individualities—species of beings and things—emerge from this Imperishable Reality and return to it, as sparks of fire that rise from the conflagration shoot up and then go back to their source, which is the fire itself. Thus is the world coming from its cause, which is the Imperishable Brahman. It comes, it is sustained, and it returns. There is a beginning, and a middle, and an end for this world. Therefore, the world is not real, merely because of this simple fact that it has a beginning and an end, and a tentative middle.

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Next -

Chapter 2: Section 1 : Mantram-2.

( The Absolute nature of Brahman)

"Divyo hy amūrtaḥ puruṣah sa bāhyābhyantaro hy ajaḥ 

aprāṇo hy amanāḥ śubhro akṣarāt parataḥ paraḥ (2.1.2)".

To be continued

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