Commentary on the Mundaka Upanishad - 33: Swami Krishnananda

 

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Monday 14, Sep 2026. 06:15.
Books
Upanishads
Commentary on the Mundaka Upanishad - 33: 
Swami Krishnananda
Chapter-3, Section-2.
Mantram-4 ( Instructions on conemplation on Brahmam )
POST-33.

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Mantram-3.1.6

Satyam eva jayate nānṛtam, satyena panthā vitato deva-yānaḥ, yenākramanty ṛṣayo hy āpta-kāmā yatra tat satyasya paramaṁ nidhānam (3.1.6). 

Truth alone triumphs, not falsehood. Through truth the divine path is spread out, by which the sages whose desires have been completely fulfilled reach to where that supreme treasure of Truth is. Truth is more than truth-speaking. Truth is the symbol of perfection, a representation of the Divine Being. Adherence to truth means embracing the universal nature of Reality. Therefore, truth wins victory everywhere. Truth is the essence of the Universal movement consisting of evolution and involution. Untruth is negative, whereas truth is positive. Through truth the consciousness blossoms into more expanded experience, but untruth attempts to stifle consciousness altogether and disallows the expansion of consciousness causing, at the same time, the hardening of individuality.

It is Truth through which the divine way, or the life of spiritual striving, is spread before the aspiring individuals. The universe, as a spiritual organism to be striven for, is brought into the consciousness of the individual through the practice of Truth. Truth is, in fact, the eye of the individual aspiring for the realisation of its Absolute nature. The sages got a vision of this Truth because they were absolutely free from defects such as deceit, delusion, fraud, pride, vanity and falsehood. They found the consummation of their desires and aspirations in this Absolute Truth. They became first desireless, and then sought the Truth. Desire breeds falsehood, and desirelessness gives rise to Truth. Truth enables one to attain the Supreme Treasure, which is the Absolute Truth.

Mantram-3.1.7

Bṛhac ca tad divyam acintya-rūpaṁ sūkṣmāc ca tat sūkṣma-taraṁ vibhāti, dūrāt sudūre tad ihāntike ca paśyatsv ihaiva nihitam guhāyām (3.1.7): 

man, larger than space is its size; divyam: divinity supreme; acintya-rūpaṁ: unthinkable is its form; sūkṣmāc ca tat sūkṣma-taraṁ vibhati: subtler than the subtle is its inner subjectivity. First it was said it is larger than the largest. Now we are told it is subtler than the subtlest, smaller than the smallest.

Dūrāt sudūre tad ihāntike ca: Most remote it is, and also very near it is. It is as far from us as the horizon. We cannot touch it; we cannot know where it is. The horizon recedes further and further the more we move in its direction, and we will never touch it. The end of space cannot be seen. Space is so far, but this is even further. That is the distance between us and God. But it is so near because it is our very Self, the Atman.

Paśyatsv ihaiva nihitam guhāyām: It is in the cave of the heart of the individual, and also in the cave of the heart of the universe. It is the soul of the universe, and is also the soul of every individual being. The question of distance does not arise here in Consciousness. The ideas of remoteness and nearness, etc., arise from our living in space, time and objectivity. As there is no distance or measuring of separation of one thing from another, and there is no duration of time, and there is nothing external—neither space nor time, nor objectivity—the statement that it is farther than the farthest and nearer than the nearest has to be taken in the sense of a metaphor explaining that Brahman is everywhere and all things. It is the deepest root of our heart.

Mantram-3.1.8

Na cakṣuṣā gṛhyate nāpi vācā nānyair devaiḥ tapasā karmaṇā vā, jñāna-prasādena viśuddha-sattvas tatas tu taṁ pasyate niṣkalaṁ dhyāyamānaḥ (3.1.8): 

Not with the eyes is it to be seen, not with the speech is it to be described. No god can help us in reaching it. We can worship any god, but we will reach only that god, and nothing beyond. All the gods were created after the manifestation of space and time. As they are effects, how can they know the cause? Brahman exists prior to all these gods, and so we cannot know it by worship of these divinities. We also cannot know it merely by intense tapas of the body and the mind without concentration of consciousness. Actions, which produce perishable fruit, also cannot take us there because, as already mentioned in earlier verses, the perishable results of karma cannot take us to the Imperishable. Not by eyes, not by speech, not by worship of divinities, not by sheer austerity, not by actions of any kind is this Brahman to be known. Not by work, not by progeny, not by wealth can this world of Brahman be attained. Only by true renunciation can it be attained.

Jñāna-prasādena viśuddha-sattvas tatas tu taṁ pasyate niṣkalaṁ dhyāyamānaḥ: By knowledge alone is this Brahman realised. How is this knowledge attained? It is attained by the dispersal of the clouds that are covering consciousness in the form of ignorance, desire, and impulsion to action. As already mentioned, they are called avidya, kama and karma, the three grantis, three knots.

There were three cities of three demons, called Tripuras, as is elaborately described in the Siva Puranas and also in the Drona Parva of the Mahabharata. One city was built of iron, another of silver, the third of gold, and they were all suspended in space. The power of the demons occupying these cities was such that nobody could face them; they controlled even the gods. Lord Siva struck down these three cities with one arrow. These demons had great powers obtained by drinking from a nectarine pot in their house every day. As long as they drank the nectar, nobody could face them. So Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra joined together and hatched some plan to see that these three cities were destroyed, which could not easily be done. Brahma became a cow with a calf, and drank the nectar in their house, and when the demons returned they found the pot empty. Vishnu became the arrow to ensure that it would hit the target, and Rudra used his bow to shoot the arrow of Vishnu, which went straight to the three cities and destroyed them at one stroke, just as Rama cut down seven trees suddenly, abruptly, with the force of the single arrow that he discharged, as told in the Kishkinda Kanda of the Ramayana.

In a similar manner, we have to break this fortress of avidya, kama and karma in our hearts. They are not easy of overcoming. The profundity of our ignorance is known very well. We can never have even an inkling of the existence of God anywhere in this world. We have to scratch our heads day in and day out to bring into our minds the little faith that God must be existing. Otherwise, for all practical purposes, He does not exist. Who is going to think of God day in and day out? We have other works, and therefore this idea never arises. Such is the depth of our ignorance, and the impulsion of our desires. This must be done, that must be done, this project, that project, this industry, and so on. We set up plants to increase industry. We have so many desires, so many desires, because the idea of God has gone and action immediately rises like a whirlwind. We are busy with what we are doing every day due to our desires, created by the ignorance of the existence of God. Avidya, kama and karma cannot easily be broken. We require Rudra's power and Vishnu's arrow, and the nectar, which is the joy of the sense objects, should be cut by the discriminating faculty of the intellect, which is the seat of Brahma. Knowledge alone is the source of this dispelling of ignorance: jñāna-prasādena viśuddha-sattvas.

Tatas tu taṁ pasyate niṣkalaṁ dhyāyamānaḥ: Then with deep meditation we will thus know that radiance which is within us and that radiance which is spreading itself around. The whole world is the radiance of Brahman.

Mantram-3.1.9

Eṣo'ṇur ātmā cetasā veditavyo yasmin prāṇaḥ pañcadhā saṁviveśa, prāṇaiś cittaṁ sarvaṁ otam prajānām, yasmin viśuddhe vibhavaty eṣa ātmā (3.1.9): 

This subtle Atman is to be known only through intuition, in which the mind, the intellect and the sense organs stand together as if they melt into a single faculty. The mind thinks, the intellect understands, the eyes see, the ears hear, and so on, but intuition, or insight, is a single faculty which operates as sight, hearing, thinking, understanding, and everything that the other functions are capable of reporting to us. Intuition is actually the soul operating from inside. The soul has no eyes and ears; therefore, the knowledge which the soul manifests from itself is not seeing, hearing, etc. It is direct, immediate apprehension. Here the word 'chetas' is used to signify the deepest intuition possible.

Yasmin prāṇaḥ pañcadhā saṁviveśa: The fivefold pranas and the mind are all located in this central function. The five pranas are prana, apana, vyana, udhana and samana. Prāṇaiś cittaṁ sarvaṁ otam prajānām: The mind is enveloped by the powers of the sense organs, and amidst these functions there is the Atman shining independently of these separated functions, and yet causing the functions to take place independently. As the Sun who has no colour may appear as sevenfold in colour when its light is passed through a prism, for instance, the single faculty of intuitional apprehension may look like sensory operations, mental thinking, intellectual understanding, etc., because of the prism-like action taking place in the psyche of the individual through which the integral light of the Atman passes. This integral light is called intuition, insight, direct experience, etc. Subtle is this Atman, capable of being known only through inward intuition in which all the pranas and the sense organs are located, and in which the mind, together with sense organs, is fixed, in the midst of which this Atman shines.

Mantram-3.1.10

Yam yaṁ lokam manasā saṁvibhātivi śuddha-sattvaḥ kāmayate yāṁś ca kāmān, taṁ taṁ lokaṁ jāyate tāṁś ca kāmāṁs tasmād ātmajñaṁ hy arcayed bhūti-kāmaḥ (3.1.10): 

When we apprehend this Self in direct experience, whatever we wish to have will be in our hand. Whatever world we want to reach will be reached by us instantaneously. It may be the highest heaven, and we shall be there instantly. Ancient rishis were of this power. Narada can traverse through all the worlds as we can move through all the countries in this world with a vehicle. They have the capacity to adjust their spiritual personality to the conditions, laws and regulations of the different worlds. When they descend into the gross world, they adjust their personality into the gross conditions necessary; when they go to the heavenly world, they make their whole personality subtle, and they can even reach Brahmaloka as well. Narada is the son of Brahma himself. He can go to Vaikuntha and accost Narayana. So is the case with the knower of Brahman: yam yaṁ lokam manasā saṁvibhāti.

Taṁ taṁ lokaṁ jāyate: All regions come under the control of this knower of Brahman. And all the visualisations through the mind as objects of desire also get fulfilled in an instant. There is no time process. The objects of desire do not come tomorrow, they come just now; and we do not reach a place after some time, but immediately. A spaceless movement and a timeless achievement of purpose follows from the realisation of the Atman, which is eternity and space-like identity.

Therefore, it is proper for all people to worship the knower of Brahman. Because of the power of that person, the glory and greatness of that person who has known the Self, his blessing is wonderful. His blessing itself is a great virtuous benefit that accrues to us, because even to come in contact with a great soul should be regarded as the result of some meritorious deeds of the past. We shall not come in contact with anything worthwhile if our karmas do not permit.

Thus, the mantram says that whatever world we contemplate in our mind, that we shall reach immediately, and whatever we think in our mind, that also will be materialised at once because of the power of the knowledge of the Atman. Hence, the knower of the Atman should be worshipped by everybody who is intent on their own welfare.

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Next

Chapter 3: Section 2

Continued

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