The Mundakoupanishad : Post-58 - Swami Krishnananda.

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Tuesday 14, May 2024. 06:30.
The First Mundaka: First Khanda
Mantras: 4 & 5.
POST-58.

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Mantram - No. 4:

To him he said: “Two kinds of knowledge have to be acquired: thus the Knowers of Brahman have declared. These are (i) the lower and (ii) the higher.”

Mantram - No. 5:

Of these the lower one consists of the Rig Veda, the Yajur Veda, the Sama Veda, the Atharva Veda, phonetics, rituals, grammar, etymology, prosody and astronomy. But the higher one is that through which the Imperishable is attained.

Angiras tries to explain the lower Vidya in the beginning, though the question of Saunaka is regarding the higher Vidya. There may be a general doubt in the mind of the aspirant as to whether the lower Vidya has got any value or not. Angiras anticipates such doubts likely to be experienced by the disciple and says that the lower one is an insufficient means to the realisation of Brahman. The lower Vidya pertains to the divinities, their worship and the different methods of attaining excellent regions through the performance of meritorious deeds, like prayer, sacrifice, etc., offered to the divinities concerned. The prima facie view is rejected and the final judgment, viz., that the Imperishable Being is reached through another kind of knowledge, is established.

The great difference between the lower and the higher Vidyas is that in the former case knowledge gives rise to the performance of actions, whereas, in the latter case, all action ceases before the attainment of Knowledge. In the lower Vidya, when the knowledge of a divinity is gained, efforts should be put forth afterwards in order to attain that divinity. But in the higher Vidya, Knowledge does not mean the knowledge of any particular divinity and it is not knowledge in the ordinary sense at all. Higher Knowledge means not the connection between the knower and the known, but the knowledge of the Knower himself without any relation or medium between the knower and the known in the form of cognition or awareness. Further, the attainment of a divinity means the taking of a special form by an individual, befitting the nature of that particular divinity. But higher Knowledge means the renunciation of all forms of experience and existing as an absolutely attributeless being which is not in relation to any thing external.

The higher Vidya is the Knowledge propounded in the Upanishads. 'Upanishat' means the Knowledge that destroys ignorance or that which leads to perfection or the means of attuning oneself with the true Existence. Brahma-Vidya is the technique or the science enabling one to reach Absolute Experience. This Knowledge is attained through great effort in the forms of Viveka, Vichara, Vairagya and Abhyasa.

Dharma and Jnana are different in their natures. Virtuous actions no doubt conform to Dharma. But, the nature of Dharma is to goad one to action. When there is a knowledge of Dharma which is the same as lower Vidya, a person is incited to perform actions in terms of Dharma. Knowledge of merely Dharma does not mean perfection, because it is the sense of imperfection involved in it that prompts a person to do further action. But the higher Knowledge is self-sufficient and does not require one to perform anything after the attainment of It.

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Next

Mantram - No. 6:

Continued

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