Mundaka Upanishad - 1

 

Introduction & Sishya’s question

Upanishad means BrahmaVidya, knowledge of Brahman, the Cosmic Supreme.  The word upanishad primarily refers to the knowledge of the Brahman, and secondarily to the book that contains the knowledge of Brahman.  Upanishads form the end portion of Vedas, Veda anta bhaga, and so are called Vedanta as well. Since this portion deals with the knowledge of Brahman and its realization and gives the knowledge of jeeva, the individual, jagat, the universe and their relationship with each other and with Brahman, this is the philosophical portion of Vedas and is called the jnana khanda.  The earlier portion of Vedas, Veda purva bhaga, deals only with karmas and upasanas and is called the karma khanda.

Mundaka Upanishad is a medium sized Upanishad that belongs to Atharva Veda. There are 64 Mantras spread over 3 chapters called mundakas. Each chapter is divided into two sections called khandas. So there are in all 6 khandas or sections. The Upanishad derives its name from the Sirovrutha ritual, mentioned in the Atharva Veda, the chief feature of which is carrying a pot of fire on the shaven head. This ritual is also referred to in the Upanishad itself in the penultimate mantra. Shaven head is referred to as mundaka. Again mundaka also refers to head itself, which shows the importance or primacy of this Upanishad in BrahmaVidya study.

This Upanishad opens with the peace invocation (shanthi paata), which is unique to all upanishads belonging to Atharva Veda. Through this peace invocation the student prays for 1) sound physical, intellectual and emotional health, 2) A full life of worshipful attitude to all devas and 3) freedom from all types of obstacles that may hinder successful completion of the study and understanding of the Upanishad.  Swami Vivekananda interprets the first two lines of this shanthi mantra as” Let positive strong helpful thoughts enter into our brain from childhood”

The shanthi Mantra, which is self-explanatory, runs as:

“Om bhadram karnebhih shrunuyaama devaah Bhadram pashyemaakshabhiryajatraah I Sthirairangaistushtuvaamsastanoobhih
Vyashema devahitam yadaayuh I Swasti na indro vridhashravaah
Swasti nah pooshaa vishwavedaah I Swasti nastaarkshyo arishtanemih
Swasti no brihaspatir dadhaatu.II  Om shantih, shantih, shantih!  II”

Om, O Devas, may our ears hear what is good and auspicious! May we see what is auspicious! May we sing your praise, live our allotted span of life in perfect health and strength! May Indra (who is) extolled in the scriptures, Surya, the all-knowing, Garuda, who saves from all harm, and Brihaspati who protects our spiritual lustre, vouchsafe prosperity in our study of the scriptures and the practice of the truths contained therein! Om peace, peace, peace!

The shanti mantra like all shanthi mantras, ends as “Om shantih, shantih, shantih! ”.  Here Om is the sound representation of Brahman.  ‘shantih’ stands for the peace that comes from the removal of obstacles to the successful pursuit of study of upanishd.  The obstacles are classified into three types.  These are:

1.   Adhyathmikam – Obstacles arising from within oneself like one’s personal ill-health, negative mood etc. 

2.   Aadhi bauthikam – Obstacles arising from other known sources or external situations like ill-health of a family member, noisy neighbourhood etc.

     3. Aadhi daivikam – obstacles arising from unseen sources like floods, storm etc. 

In the first two Mantras of the first section of the first Mundaka, the glory of BrahmaVidya is revealed.  This has originated from Brahmaji himself who taught it to his eldest son Atharva.  This knowledge in guru-Sishya lineage has come down to Angiras Rishi who is the guru in this Upanishad.  The sishya is Saunaka who is described as ‘महाशाला’ (Mahasaala) meaning he is a great householder who has established and maintains annasalas, dharmasalas and yajnasaalas.  This indicates he is a rich pious man of charitable nature who has performed many yajnaas.  He approaches guru Angiras, with shraddha and humility and asks for BrahmaVidya with the question in 1-1-3.

Kasmin nu bhagavo vijaate, sarvam-idam vijnaatam bhavati iti.?  (1-1-3)

What is it, O revered sir, knowing which everything in this universe becomes known?”

The above is the Vachyartha or the word meaning of this question.  Lakshyartha or the implied meaning  is “what is the source of this universe or the original  cause of creation, knowing which the essence of this universe will be known?”.  This can be further interpreted as “What is the eternal principle behind this ephemeral  universe?”.  Since Brahman is the eternal principle, which is the source of creation, this finally means BrahmaVidya, knowledge of Brahman.  This Mantra 3, also underscores a few important points.

1.   The importance of guru, as Lakshyartha has to be taken for many of the mantras and not mere Vachyartha.  Going by dictionary meaning, one may not understand or much worse, one may misunderstand totally and arrive at erroneous conclusions.

2.   One approaches the guru and asks for the knowledge specifically, demonstrating his keenness and worthiness for the knowledge.  The very question of Saunaka demonstrates that he is aware of the technicalities of the communication technique adopted in the Upanishad

3,  The Mantra uses the word  विधिवत्  (Vidhivat) to describe his approach to Guru  which is as laid down in sastras, that is  with humility and shraddha.

Shraddha means:

1. Faith in the validity of sastras as source of knowledge about Brahman

2.   Faith in Guru for interpreting the sastras properly

3.  Faith in himself that he can acquire that knowledge through guru upadesa. 

Upadesa of guru Angiras starts from Mantra 4, and will be discussed from next blog.

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