Mundakopanishad : [Criticism of rituals -- devoid of knowledge ( Upasana ) ]. Mantram-7.

Mundaka-Upanishad


Chapter-1.


Section-2. ( Rituals )



Mantram-7. [Criticism  of  rituals --  devoid  of  knowledge  ( Upasana ) ].


Discussion-3. " Sruti  says  further ........."


Sruti  says  that,  however  great  the  ritual,  and  however  strictly  it  has  performed,  the  performer  can  only  can  hope  for  comparative  success  and  can  reach,  at  best,  only  a  mid-station  in  his  voyage  to  Truth.

He  may  gain  a  more  intenser  life  of  acuter  happiness  in  the  subtler  planes  of  Consciousness  called  in  the  scriptures  as  the  'higher  worlds',  such  as  the  heaven,  'Satya  lokam  or  Brahmalokam'.


But,  whatever  be  one's  status  and  position  in  the  heaven,  it  is  only  a  sojourn  there;  not  an  eternal  assertion  of  the  immortal  "God-hood",  and  as  such,  the  performer  of  the  ritualistic  rules,  after  having  enjoyed  the  heavenly  joys,  as  the  fruits  of  his  great  and  meritorious  actions,  will  have  to  come  back  to  the  mortal  coil.


Hence,  the  Sruti  says,  "again  to  old  age  and  death."


"Birth.  growth,  disease,  decay  and  death  are  five  great  changes  that  provide  the  main  categories  of  pain  in  life."


Here,  the 'Upanishad,  by  mentioning  " OLD  AGE  AND  DEATH,"  means  all  the  five  modifications  in  the  pain-riddled  life  of  an  ordinary  human.


Discussions  on  Mantram-7. ENDS.

Next : Mantram-8 to 10. ( Description  of  the  sad  state  of  knowledge-less  ( devoid  of  Upasana )  rituals.

To be continued   .....