The Mundaka Upanishad: 4 - Swami Krishnananda.

 

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Wednesday 30, April 2025, 11:15.
Books
The Mundaka Upanishad: 4, 
First Mundaka
First Khanda
Swami Krishnananda

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The First Mundaka: First Khanda

Mantram - No. 6:

That which is imperceptible, ungraspable, without lineage, colourless, eyeless and earless, handless and footless, eternal and all-pervading, existing in the heart of all, very subtle, imperishable and the source of all beings, is beheld by men of wisdom.

This indestructible being does not come within the purview of the powers and the functions of the body, the vital energy, the senses of knowledge and action, the mind, the subconscious, the intellect, and the ego, whatever be the form into which their functions are modified. The relative values and the ideas of connections or relations that are seen in the world of experience hold good only when there is cognition and perception of the external. Attributes do not inhere in this Ultimate Substance, and they are neither identical with It nor different from It. If they are different, they have no connection with It; if they are identical, they do not exist at all. Hence, all attributes are denied in the transcendental Being. The negation of the functions of hearing and seeing imply the non-existence of name and form which are connected with these two functions. Name and form do not mean the ordinary name and form which are understood by the mind. Name means the potentiality of form and form is the materialisation of name. Name is the subtle power which is the factor working as the principle or constitution of individuality which expresses itself as a form situated in space. Thus, name stands for that individualistic principle which does not change until the attainment of the highest knowledge. But the form changes itself at the time of death and at the beginning of birth. Hence, Nama and Rupa are not valid in the Absolute.


Further, the senses and the other organs are necessary only when there is the need for the knowledge of anything or for doing anything. Absoluteness does not stand in the need of either knowing anything or doing anything, because of its secondlessness. It is able to know more and do more without any functional organ, as these organs are not helps but real obstructions to the consciousness of the perfection of spirit. This Spirit does not suffer diminution either in the form of decay of organs or loss of possessions or change of attributes, because it has neither organs, nor properties, nor qualities which are subject to change; nor is it affected by increase as in it everything is included. The Spirit is experienced as existent everywhere, without distinctions, by those who have risen to the level of spiritual consciousness. This is the object of higher knowledge, or Para Vidya.

Mantram No. 7:

As a spider projects forth and absorbs back (the threads), as plants grow on earth, as hairs grow on the body, the universe emerges from the Imperishable Being.

The first example shows that even the material cause of the universe is the Divine Being Itself, i.e., the Universe is non-different in nature from its cause. The second illustration shows that what is manifested is only an appearance of the form of the original cause. The third example shows that even apparently inanimate beings also find their origin in the conscious cause. In short, whatever is, similar or dissimilar—everything is essentially the highest causeless Cause, viz., the Divine Principle.

Mantram No. 8:

Brahman distends through austerity; then the primordial matter is produced; from that the Prana, the mind, truth, the regions and the effects of actions.

The austerity of Brahman consists in Knowledge. It is not a means to purification as in the case of the individual, but it is the metaphorical explanation of the nature of the Primal Wish which is considered to exist as the background of the appearance of the universe. The cause of the world is described here as the general potentiality which dilates in order to give rise to appearances. This cause accounts for the existence of the original essence of matter which is in the state fit for manifestation. This matter is called here as Anna or food, because it is the object of experience by the spirit internally as well as externally. The co-existence of matter and spirit makes possible the appearance of the cosmic life, or Hiranyagarbha. Prana, objectively and enlivened by consciousness, is the same as the Creator, Hiranyagarbha, but, subjectively, the energy that vibrates the body and influences the mind. This Hiranyagarbha is the peculiar combination of all- knowledge and all-power. He is all-knowledge because he is based on the Absolute and he is all-power because he is the cause of the world. The mind, which is of the nature of the thought and doubt together with the intellect with a capacity to discriminate and determine, is produced as an effect from this primordial matter itself. From this the mind comes out. Satyam, or truth, is the continuity or existence of the different forms of experience. Truth means the truth of experience. The experiences of the mind are considered as true, because the mind gives rise to the expression of its own forms. These forms, though they are not continuous or truly existent, appear to be continuous and true because the mind reflects through itself the consciousness which is continuous and true. The creation of the mind implies also the projection of the external fields or regions which provide the necessary atmosphere for the experiences of the mind. The moment the mind is ejected, the impulse to action, which is the nature of the mind, is also produced. The impulse to action results in the performance of action. As every action has got its own reaction or result, the fruits of action always exist as inseparable from their causes. The fruit of action is called here as Amrita, or indestructible, because these fruits of actions can never be destroyed until the attainment of Self-Knowledge.





NOTE. THE PRESENT CASTE SYSTAM EXISTING IS MAN MADE, AND THIS IS MISUSED MAINLY BY POLITICIANS FOR THEIR CONVENIENCE, AND THE PEOPLE REALISED NOW, THEY NOW GETTING EDUCATED, AND IMPROVING THEMSELVES TO UPLIFT THEMSELVES VIA EDUCATION.

THESE DIVISION SLOWLY DISAPEAR AND VARNASRAMAM EXISTS EVER, THROUGH OUT THE WORLD   

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Next

Mantra No. 9:

Continued

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