The Mundakoupanishad : Post-52. - Swami Krishnananda

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Tuesday 20, Feb 2024. 07:22.

Chapter 3: Section 2.

Mantram- 5.

POST-52.

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Mantram-5.

"Sampra-pyainam-rsayo jnana-trptah

krtatmano vita-ragah prsantah,

te sarvagam sarvatah prapya dhira

yuktat-manah sarva-meva-visanti."

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Translation:

"When the Rishies have attained the Atman they become satisfied with their knowledge, their purpose is fulfilled, they become free from desire and they gain tranquillity.

Having attained the all-pervading Atman everywhere, the wise thereafter devoted to the Self, enter into everything."  

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Commentary:

Those who are calm and quiet in their minds, free from internal desires and external constraints of the senses, wanting nothing—those who have done everything that is to be done in this world and are ready to leave, bag and baggage, satisfied with knowledge only and wanting nothing else through knowledge, knowing knowledge as the final end in itself, realising that knowledge is being, and it is not an instrument for the acquisition of something outside—having attained the Atman by these means, the blessed souls enter into that which is everywhere, from all sides, and become all themselves. The soul, when it enters Brahman, enters into that which is everywhere; and it enters not only from one direction or from one passage, it enters from all sides. When we enter a house, we enter through one door only, and not through all the doors. But the soul, inasmuch as it has expanded its dimension to infinity, enters Brahman, which is everywhere, from every side. From all ten directions, the soul will enter Brahman; and having entered it, the Atman becomes all things.

What is meant by 'all things'? This is a question of interpretation according to the school of thought. It may mean becoming all things; it may mean becoming the Supreme Absolute, which is all things. This is a simple and plain answer. Or it may mean becoming all the fourteen worlds at one stroke so that, in our very personality, we will see the fourteen worlds scintillating as the Virat Svarupa itself. Or it may mean that we are able to see ourselves in every little creature in this world, in every tree, leaf, stone and atom. 

The Sun, the Moon, the stars and the firmament—we will find ourselves spread out everywhere. Whatever be the manner in which we understand this state of affairs, the final significance is that the soul, having become infinite on account of total freedom from all desire, enters the Infinite. It is the Infinite entering the Infinite. Therefore, it enters in an infinite manner and becomes the Infinite itself. So the Infinite enters the Infinite in infinite ways, and becomes the Infinite. That is the meaning of this half verse: te sarvagaṁ sarvataḥ prāpya dhīrā yuktātmānas sarvam evāviśanti. It is a great blessedness to listen to these words. Even listening to these words, and bestowing a little thought on what this means, will purge us of all our sins and past karmas.

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Next

Mantram-6.

"Vedanta-vijnana-suniscit-arthah

sannyasa-yogad yatayah suddha-sattvah, 

te brahma-lokesu paranta-kale 

paramrtah pari-mucyanti sarve." (3.2.6):

Continued

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