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Mundaka Upanishad

The Tradition of Knowledge • Verse 1

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Verse 1.1
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ब्रह्मा देवानां प्रथमः संबभूव विश्वस्य कर्ता भुवनस्य गोप्ता। स ब्रह्मविद्यां सर्वविद्याप्रतिष्ठामथर्वाय ज्येष्ठपुत्राय प्राह॥

brahmā devānāṃ prathamaḥ saṃbabhūva viśvasya kartā bhuvanasya goptā | sa brahmavidyāṃ sarvavidyāpratiṣṭhāmatharvāya jyeṣṭhaputrāya prāha ||

"Brahma, the creator of the universe and protector of the world, arose first among the gods. He taught the knowledge of Brahman, the foundation of all knowledge, to his eldest son Atharva."

What This Means:

The Upanishad begins by tracing the lineage of this sacred knowledge. Brahma, the creator god, first taught this wisdom to his son Atharva.

Going Deeper:

Brahma-vidya (knowledge of Brahman) is called the foundation of all knowledge because all other learning is incomplete without it.

How To Apply This:

Recognize that spiritual knowledge has been passed down through an unbroken lineage. You are part of this tradition.

#lineage#Brahma-vidya#tradition

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64 verses of the Mundaka Upanishad

The Tradition of Knowledge

  1. 1.1Brahma, the creator of the universe and protector of the world, arose first among the gods. He taught the...
  2. 1.2Atharva taught this Brahma-vidya to Angir. Angir taught it to Satyavaha Bharadvaja, who in turn taught it...
  3. 1.3Shaunaka, a great householder, approached Angiras properly and asked: "Revered sir, what is that by...
  4. 1.4To him he said: "Two kinds of knowledge are to be known - this is what the knowers of Brahman declare...
  5. 1.5Of these, the lower knowledge is the Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, Atharva Veda, phonetics, ritual...
  6. 1.6That which is invisible, ungraspable, without origin or qualities, without eyes or ears, without hands or...
  7. 1.7As a spider sends forth and draws in its thread, as plants grow on the earth, as hair grows from a living...
  8. 1.8Through tapas (creative heat), Brahman expands. From it food is born. From food comes life-breath, mind...
  9. 1.9From Him who is all-knowing, whose tapas consists of knowledge, from that Brahman are born name, form, and...

Lower vs Higher Knowledge

  1. 2.1This is the truth: the rituals which the sages saw in the mantras are variously elaborated in the three...
  2. 2.2When the flame flickers after the fire is kindled, then between the two portions of ghee one should offer...
  3. 2.3One whose fire sacrifice is without the new moon rite, full moon rite, four-monthly rites, harvest rite...
  4. 2.4Kali (black), Karali (terrifying), Manojava (swift as mind), Sulohita (deep red), Sudhumravarna...
  5. 2.5One who performs oblations in these shining flames at the proper times - these offerings carry him on the...
  6. 2.6"Come, come!" say the radiant oblations, carrying the sacrificer on the sun's rays, praising him with...
  7. 2.7But frail are these boats of the eighteen sacrificial forms in which the lower karma is expressed. The...
  8. 2.8Dwelling in the midst of ignorance, yet thinking themselves wise and learned, the deluded go round and...
  9. 2.9Living in ignorance in many ways, the childish think "We have accomplished our aim." Because ritualists...
  10. 2.10Thinking that sacrifices and charitable works are the highest, the deluded know nothing better. Having...
  11. 2.11But those who practice tapas and faith in the forest, peaceful, wise, living on alms - they pass through...
  12. 2.12Having examined the worlds won by karma, the Brahmin should arrive at dispassion: the uncreated cannot be...
  13. 2.13To that student who has duly approached, whose mind is peaceful and controlled, the wise teacher truly...

Brahman as the Source

  1. 3.1This is the truth: As from a blazing fire sparks of like nature fly forth by the thousands, so from the...
  2. 3.2The divine Purusha is formless. He is both within and without, unborn, without breath, without mind, pure...
  3. 3.3From Him arise life-breath, mind, and all the senses; space, air, fire, water, and earth - the supporter...
  4. 3.4Fire is His head, sun and moon His eyes, the directions His ears, the revealed Vedas His speech, air His...
  5. 3.5From Him comes fire with the sun as fuel; from the moon comes rain; from rain come plants on earth; man...
  6. 3.6From Him come the Rig, Sama, and Yajur Vedas, initiation, all sacrifices, rituals, gifts, the year, the...
  7. 3.7From Him come the many gods, celestial beings, humans, animals, birds; inhalation and exhalation; rice and...
  8. 3.8From Him come the seven pranas, the seven flames, seven kinds of fuel, seven oblations, and these seven...
  9. 3.9From Him come all the oceans and mountains; from Him flow rivers of all kinds; from Him come all plants...
  10. 3.10The Purusha alone is all this - karma, tapas, Brahman, the supreme immortal. One who knows this, hidden in...

The Two Birds

  1. 4.1Manifest, close by, moving in the cave of the heart - this is the great goal. In it is centered all that...
  2. 4.2That which is radiant, subtler than the subtle, in which the worlds and their inhabitants are fixed - that...
  3. 4.3Taking the great weapon of the Upanishad as a bow, place on it the arrow sharpened by meditation. Drawing...
  4. 4.4OM is the bow, the Self is the arrow, Brahman is called the target. It should be pierced by one who is...
  5. 4.5In whom heaven, earth, and the space between are woven, along with the mind and all the vital breaths...
  6. 4.6Where the nadis come together like spokes at the hub of a wheel, there He moves within, being born in many...
  7. 4.7He who is all-knowing, all-wise - His is this greatness on earth. In the divine city of Brahman, in the...
  8. 4.8Made of mind, leader of the vital breath and body, established in food, resting in the heart - the wise...
  9. 4.9The knot of the heart is cut, all doubts are dispelled, and one's karmas are exhausted - when That is...
  10. 4.10In the supreme golden sheath is Brahman, stainless, without parts. It is pure, the light of lights - that...
  11. 4.11There the sun does not shine, nor moon and stars, nor lightning, much less this fire. When He shines...

Realization

  1. 5.1Two birds, beautiful of wing, close companions, cling to the same tree. Of these two, one eats the sweet...
  2. 5.2On the same tree, the individual soul, immersed and bewildered, grieves due to helplessness. But when it...
  3. 5.3When the seer sees the golden-colored creator, the Lord, the Purusha, the source of Brahman - then the...
  4. 5.4He is indeed the prana that shines through all beings. Knowing this, the wise one does not talk...
  5. 5.5This Self is attained by truth, by tapas, by right knowledge, and by constant brahmacharya. Within the...
  6. 5.6Truth alone triumphs, not falsehood. By truth is laid out the divine path by which the sages, their...
  7. 5.7Vast is That, divine, inconceivable in form; subtler than the subtle, It shines forth. It is farther than...
  8. 5.8It is not grasped by the eye, nor by speech, nor by other senses, nor by tapas or karma. Through the grace...
  9. 5.9This subtle Self is to be known by the mind where the fivefold prana has entered. The mind of all beings...
  10. 5.10Whatever world the one of purified mind envisions with clarity, and whatever desires - those worlds and...

Liberation

  1. 6.1He knows this supreme abode of Brahman, in which the universe is placed and shines radiantly. The wise...
  2. 6.2One who desires objects, thinking of them, is born here and there according to those desires. But for one...
  3. 6.3This Self is not attained through discourse, nor through intellect, nor through much learning. It is...
  4. 6.4This Self is not attained by the weak, nor by the careless, nor by false austerity. But the Self of the...
  5. 6.5The sages who attain Him, satisfied with knowledge, their selves accomplished, free from passion, peaceful...
  6. 6.6Those ascetics whose understanding of Vedanta is well-ascertained, who through the yoga of renunciation...
  7. 6.7The fifteen parts return to their foundations, all the gods to their respective deities, actions and the...
  8. 6.8As rivers flowing toward the sea disappear, giving up name and form, so the wise one, freed from name and...
  9. 6.9One who knows that supreme Brahman becomes Brahman indeed. In their family, no one ignorant of Brahman is...
  10. 6.10This is declared by the verse: This Brahma-vidya should be taught only to those who perform their duties...
  11. 6.11This truth the sage Angiras declared of old. Let no one who has not performed the vow study this...
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