Upanishads : "The cream of Vedas"

MUNDAKOPANISHAD CHAPTER-3. SECTION-1. MANTRAM-8. { Unique  means  of  Self-realisation  ---  purification  of  mind. } Discussion-3. "Glory  of 'Tapascarya'  "  .. And  it  is  also  true  thal  all scriptures  in  the  world  indicate,  advise  and  insist  upon  the  glory  of   "tapascarye  and  rituals." Surely,  those  cannot  be  a  combined  conspiracy  against  the  faithful. In  the  science  of  Religion,  rituals  are  insisted  upon  as  preparatory  lessons  for  a  seeker,  and  tapascarya-s  are  preparations  for  a  training  of  the  mind  and  intellect  of  the  meditator. When  one  has  practiced...

MUNDAKOPANISHAD CHAPTER-3. SECTION-1. MANTRAM-8. { Unique  means  of  Self-realisation  ---  purification  of  mind. } Discussion-2.  "as  the  cause,  so  the  result".. That  the  Truth  cannot  be  perceived  by  the  senses,  has  already  been  explained. Here,  the  'Upanishad-s'     add  that  Truth  cannot  be  gained  through  rituals  and  penances  ( second line of mantram ). It  is  ordinarily  the  belief  with  all  faithfuls  that  worship  and  sincere  penance ( Tapas ) do  reveal,  for  the  worshipper,  "  GOD  OR  TRUTH"     "This  is  a  fallacious  statement  in  the  Science  of  Religion,  and ...

MUNDAKOPANISHAD CHAPTER-3. SECTION-1. MANTRAM-8. { Unique  means  of  Self-realisation  ---  purification  of  mind. } Discussion-1. Words  are  symbols  of  experiences  lived  by  by  the  mind  and  so  words  cannot  express  deeper  experiences  or  transmind  joys. Even  when  experiences  are  rather  intimate  and deep,  words  fail. Naturally,  the  experiences  in  the  white-heat  of  intense  meditation  cannot  be  expressed  in  terms  of  a  frail  language  which  is  insufficient  even  to  express  my  love  for  my  own  beloved! Hence  the  scripture  says,  " SELF  IS  NOT  GRASPED  BY  WORDS....

MUNDAKOPANISHAD CHAPTER-3. SECTION-1. MANTRAM-8. { Unique  means  of  Self-realisation  ---  purification  of  mind. } Na  cakshusa  grhyate  napi  vaca na-anyair-devais-tapasa   karmana  va, jnana-prasadena   visuddha-sattvah tatastu  tam  pasyate  nishkalam  dhyaya-manah. na  =  neither; cakshusa  =  by  the  eyes; grhyate  =  perceived; na  api  =  nor  even; vaca  =  ( described )  by  words; na  =  neiter; anyaih  =  ( by )  others; devaih  =  by  the  senses; tapasa  =  by  penances; karmana  =  by  rituals; va  =  either; jnana-prasadena  =  by  understanding; visuddha-sattvah   =  becomes  calm  and  refined; tatah  =  then; tu ...

MUNDAKOPANISHAD CHAPTER-3. SECTION-1. MANTRAM -7. { Nature  of  the  Supreme  Abode } Discussion-5. "cave  of  the  heart".. If  Truth  be  thus  such  a  vast  unimaginable  and  inconceivable  one,  at  once  here,  there  and  everywhere,  it  would  be  the  legitimate  doubt  in  every  seeker  as  to  how  and  where  he  can  realize  this  vast  divine  factor.   True  to  the  Aryan  culture,  imagination  and  mere  theory  have  no  hold  upon  the  people  and  unless  they  are  practical,  they  are  rejected. So  the  Rishis  of  ancient  have  given  us  in  this  mantram ...

MUNDAKOPANISHAD CHAPTER-3. SECTION-1. MANTRAM -7. { Nature  of  the  Supreme  Abode } Discussion-4. "Mother Sruti" In  fact  there  is  no  contradiction  here. Mother  Sruti  is  here  trying  to  find  an  expression  to  express  the  unfathomable,  vast,  the  all-pervading. Naturally  she  has  to  say  that  Pure  Awareness  or  Consciousness  is  a   "circle  whose  centre  is  everywhere."   It  is  at  once  at  every  point  in  the  heart  within  us,  as  well  as  outside  us  --- at  the  farthest  imaginable  or  conceivable  point  in  space,  time  or  thought  or  imagination. Wherever  a...

MUNDAKOPANISHAD CHAPTER-3. SECTION-1. MANTRAM -7. { Nature  of  the  Supreme  Abode } Discussion-3. "Farther  than  the  Farthest" .... "Farther  than  the  farthest,  it  is  here  within." Here  is  another  example  wherein  those  who  are  foreigners  to  the  Aryan  ( mean "Sreshtan" ) tradition  and  those  who  are  Aryan-s  by 'birth ' ( not correct by Bhagavad-Gita ),  but  foreigners  by  education,  find  themselves  dumb-founded  and  outwitted. To  them,  here  is  a  palpable  contradiction,  a  madness  of  thought,  a  lunancy  praised   to  the  level  of  the  genius!  O  else,  they  argue  how  can  any ...

MUNDAKOPANISHAD CHAPTER-3. SECTION-1. MANTRAM -7. { Nature  of  the  Supreme  Abode } Discussion-2. "Divyam  and  Acintya-rupam" ..... Divyam  and  Acintya-rupam ---- Self-luminous   and  in-conceivable  or  unknowable  :- The  Spark  of  Life  in  us  is  certainly  the  illuminating  principle  behind  our  sense-organs  and  our  mind  and  intellect. It  lights  up  everything,  including  the  light - giving  objects  such  as  the  Sun  and  Moon,  the  Stars  and  the  Fire. In  fact  in  its  very  nature  it  is  nothing  but  a  mass  of  light : - not   "light" in  the  ordinary  sense  in  which  we  know  ...

MUNDAKOPANISHAD CHAPTER-3. SECTION-1. MANTRAM -7. { Nature  of  the  Supreme  Abode } Discussion-1. "Brahmam" the  ... Brahmam,  the  Supreme  Reality,  is  great  or  vast  because   it  is  all-pervading. The  very  term   "brhat"   means  in  'Samskrtam'   vast  or  great;  and  hence  the  term   "BRAHMAM" for  the  all-pervading  to  mean, "That  which  pervades  all  and  which  is  pervaded  by  nothing." Hence,  the  reader  is  warned  that  since  explanations  of  many  of  these  terms  have  already  been  given  in  all  details  in   our  early  discussions  we  shall  only  hint  here  at ...

MUNDAKOPANISHAD CHAPTER-3. SECTION-1. MANTRAM -7. { Nature  of  the  Supreme  Abode } Brhacca  tad  divyam-acintya-rupam sukshmac-ca  tat  sikshma-taram  vibhati, durat  sudure  tad-ihantike  ca pasyatsvi-haiva  nihitam  guhayam. brhat   =   vast; ca   =   and; tat   =   that  ( the  truth  of  brahmam ); divyam   =  effulgent,  divine; acintya-rupam    =    form  that  beyond  all  imaginations; sukshmat   =   than  the  subtlest; ca   =   also; tat   =   that; sukshma-tatam   =   subtler; vibhati   =   shines; durat   =   than  the  farthest; sudure   =   farther; tat   =   that; iha  =  here  ( in  this  body ); ...

MUNDAKOPANISHAD CHAPTER-3. SECTION-1. Mantram-6. { Glory  of  Truth } Discussion-4. : "Knowledge of reality"... With  the  knowledge  of  Reality,  the  entire  amount  of  ignorance  ( about  it )  in  us  must  automatically  end. Thus,  when  ignorance  has  ended,  the  source  of  desire  also  gets  choked;  naturally  the  flow  of  scorching  thoughts  end,  and  the  devastating  acts  and  competitions  exhaust  themselves. The  term  aptakamah  ---  for  which  there  is  no  equivalent  or  even  a  powerfully  expressive  term  in  the  english  language  ---  clearly  indicates  the  perfect  state  of  t...

MUNDAKOPANISHAD CHAPTER-3. SECTION-1. Mantram-6. { Glory  of  Truth } Discussion-3. "Aptakamah" ( third  line  last  word  in  the  mantram )..... Aptakamah  : -   "Those  who  have  fulfilled  all  their  desires"   : - We  all  know  that  life  would  have  been  a  holiday  in  a  pleasant  island  if  only  we  can  get  freedom  from  the  agonizing  tortures  inflicted  upon  us  from  moment  to  moment  by  our  own  desires. Desires  erupt  from  the  mount  of  ignorance  in  us  and  flow  out  in  boisterous  lava  of unending  thoughts  and  they  reach  the  outer  world  as  our ...

MUNDAKOPANISHAD CHAPTER-3. SECTION-1. Mantram-6. { Glory  of  Truth } Discussion-2. "Devayanah  and  truthfulness" .......       The  extra  importance  is  given  to  truthfulness  because  the  Sruti  declares  that  not  only  is  truth  the  goal  and  truthfulness  the  path,  but  the  very  path  is  laid  with   "Slabs"   of  truthfulness!!! A  consistent   way   of  living, on  the  values  of  intellectual  truthfulness,  says   "Sri  Swami  Sankaracharya,"   widens  the  path  and  makes  it  an  easy  grant-trunk  road  to  spiritual  success. Devayanah  : - ( last  word  of  second  line  of  mantram ) T...

MUNDAKOPANISHAD CHAPTER-3. SECTION-1. Mantram-6. { Glory  of  Truth }  Discussion-1. "TRUTHFULNESS"....AND THE  NECESSITY.... The  necessity  for  truthfulness  as  explained  in  this  mantram  can  never  be  over-emphasized  in  spiritual  life  and  hence  Mother  Sruti,  noted  ever  for Her  brevity  and  economy  in  expression,  is  again  dedicating  yet  another  mantram  to  bring  homeb bto  us  the  importance  of  this  intellectual  honesty  born  of  heroism. Very  pertinently  Swami Sri  Adi  Sankaracharya  in  his  commentary  says  that  as  the  mantram  stands,  though  we  read.   "Truth  alone  wins,...

MUNDAKOPANISHAD CHAPTER-3. SECTION-1. Mantram-6. { Glory  of  Truth } Satyameva  jayate  nanrtam satyena  pantha  vitato  devayanah, yen-akramanty-rsayo  hyapta-kama yatra  tat  satyasya  paramam  nidhanam.   satyam  =  truth; eva  =  alone; jayat  =wins; na  =  not; anrtam  =  untruth; satyena  =  by  truth; panthah  =  path; vitatah  =  is  laid  out; devayanah  =  the  divine  path; yena  =  by  which; akramanti  =  ascend; rsayah  =  the  seers ( Rishi-s ); hi  =  verily; apta-kamah  =  those  who  have  fulfilled  all  their  desires; yatra  =  where; tat  =  that; satyasya  =  of  thruth; paramam  =  supreme; nidh...

MUNDAKOPANISHAD CHAPTER-3. SECTION-1. MANTRAM - 5. { Helpful  means  to  Self-realization } Discussion-7. "becomes  purified ( kshina-doshah" Our  capacities,  mental  and  intellectual,  are  at  present  ineffectual  because  of  their  grossness;  and  the  denseness  of  the  mind  is  directly  proportional  at  the  amount  of  animal-ism  in  us. Once,  through  the  above  practices,  one  starts  living  the  life  of  self-control,  truthfulness  and  meditation  upon  the  spiritual  contents  in  him,  the  animal-ism  slowly  dies  away  and  when  he  thus  becomes  purified  ( kshina-doshah), last  term  of the  mantram, ...

MUNDAKOPANISHAD CHAPTER-3. SECTION-1. MANTRAM - 5. { Helpful  means  to  Self-realization } Discussion-6. "Hinduism  as  antahakarana Suddhi  ....)" Truthfulness  and  meditation,  exhaustive  study  and  continence,  must  all  be  practiced  continuously  all  te  life  through. There  are  not  rules   for  seasonal  enthusiasms. When  continuously  thus  practiced  for  a  long  period,  the  individual  gains  thereby  more  and  more  poise  of  personality  and  develops  his  powers  of  understanding  and  application. These  powers  are  termed  in  "HINDUISM  AS   ANTAHAHARANA  SUDDHI ". Next : Discussion-7. "becomes  purified ( kshina-doshah" To be...

MUNDAKOPANISHAD CHAPTER-3. SECTION-1. MANTRAM - 5. { Helpful  means  to  Self-realization } Discussion-5. Bramacaryam --for house holder ... Thus,  to  a  house  householder ( family man),  perfect  brahmacaryam  is  to  live  in  Self-control,  indulging  only for  getting  children,  ( in case,  that  much  self-control  not  possible  for  new  young  couple  not  more  than  three  times  a  month )  only. Many  a  young  family  has  been  wrecked  by  disorder  and  discord  because,  one  of  the  partner  becomes  all  of  sudden  over-enthusiastic  and  suddenly  takes  to  the  vow  of  the  Self-control  without  caring  t...

MUNDAKOPANISHAD CHAPTER-3. SECTION-1. MANTRAM - 5. { Helpful  means  to  Self-realization } Discussion-4. "Brahmacaryam"...... Tuthfulness,  meditation  and  intense  study  of  the  scriptures  are  all  possible  only  when  the  individual  has  taken  unto  himself  the  principle  of  brahmacaryam  in  life. In  the  name  of  brahmacaryam  misguided   aspirants  have  often  wrecked  their  lives. "Bramacaryam",   in  all  completeness  both  in  body  and  mind,  is  practiced  successfully  only  by  full-time  seekers  and  perfected  Masters. All  the  others  have  their  own  limitations. Next : Discussion-5. Bramacaryam --for house holder ... T...

MUNDAKOPANISHAD CHAPTER-3. SECTION-1. MANTRAM - 5. { Helpful  means  to  Self-realization Discussion-3. "Tapas "... "TAPAS  IS  BROODING-THOUGHT"  : -  This  is  not  the  unintelligent  gross  TAPAS  of  the  body  which  is,  to  some  extent,  good  to  a  certain  type  of  men  in  teaching  them  self-control,  both  of  body  and  mind. When  one  has  practiced  the  vow  of  truthfulness  and  meditation  ( tapas),  one  becomes  more  and  more  fit  to  delve  into  the  secret  caves  of  the  scriptures  and  understand  the  real  import  of  the  mantra-s. Thus,  the  stydent  who  had ...

MUNDAKOPANISHAD CHAPTER-3. SECTION-1. MANTRAM - 5. { Helpful  means  to  Self-realization } Discussion-2. "Satysm"  ..... But  in  the  spiritual  sense  of  the  term,  "SATYAM" should  play  in  the  field  of  the  intellect. When  the  external  impressions  of  the  world  gathered  by  the  mind  are  filtered  through  the  intellect,  the  thinking-principle  in  man,  they  come  to  certain  judgments  and  thus  evaluate  the  minds,  men  and  institutions,  events  and  incidents. Having  thus  come  to  a  discriminating  judgement,  if  he  were  to  compromise  himself  in  his  thoughts  and  actions, ...