Mundakopanishad : ( 12/12/2012. )

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...

23/11/2018 Mundaka Upanishad : Chapter 1: Section 1 :  Discussion-13. (Mundakopanishad : Chapter-1 : Section-1 :Mantram-9) But God does not just dissipate Himself in the knowledge of particulars. There is a general control over the whole of creation, and there He has a cosmic generality of knowledge. The great cosmic order is in His mind. This is the sarvajñah, or the generality of the knowledge of God. But the particularity is every little detail, even to counting the number of hairs of a person or the breaths that he breathes. That also is known to Him. Can we imagine what kind of knowledge God must have?  How many creatures are there in this creation: gods, demons, human beings, subhuman creatures, insects, and so on? How many leaves on the tree? He will count them. Unimaginable power of comprehension! So God knows everything in general as well as in particular. That is the meaning of being sarvajñah and sarva-vid. Yasya jñanamayam tapah. We are told...

23/11/2018 Mundaka Upanishad : Chapter 1: Section 1 :  Discussion-12. (Mundakopanishad : Chapter-1 : Section-1 :Mantram-7) Thus, how many things are there? Firstly, there is the Supreme Absolute. Secondly, there is anna, or the potential for the future manifestation in the form of tapas. Thirdly, there is Hiranyagarbha, the vibratory cosmic prana. Fourthly, there is thinking, which is the cosmic thought identifiable with Virat. Fifthly, there is law and order. Sixthly, there is the manifestation of the fourteen worlds. Seventhly, there is individuality, the individuals or jivas, who are propelled towards action, karma. Eighthly, there is the fruit of action. So there are eight degrees : - 1.Brahman, 2. prana, 3.manas, 4.satya, 5.loka, 6.karma, 7.manifestation,8.amrita. Look at this wonderful mantram. It is like a sutra, one thirty-two lettered verse giving us the whole scheme of creation from Brahman to dust. Look at the power of the composer of this m...