The Mundaka Upanishad opens with declaring Brahma as the first of gods, the creator of the universe, and the knowledge of
Brahman (Ultimate Reality, Eternal Principle, Cosmic Self) to be the foundation of all knowledge. The text then lists a succession of teachers who shared the knowledge of Brahman with the next generation. It describes a lineage of knowledge transmission that begins with Brahma, the creator god, who imparted the knowledge of Brahman to Atharva. Atharva then passed this knowledge to Angira, and in turn, it was taught to Satyavaha Bharadvaja. Satyavaha then conveyed it to Angiras. Charles Johnston suggests that this announces the Vedic tradition of teacher-student responsibility to transfer knowledge across the generations, in unbroken succession. Johnston further states that the names recited are metaphors, such as the One who Illuminates, Keeper of Truth, Planetary Spirit, mythological messenger between Gods and Men among others, suggesting the divine nature and the responsibility of man to continue the tradition of knowledge sharing across human generations. The higher knowledge is the means by which one can comprehend the imperishable (
Aksara, Brahman). It is the knowledge of Brahman - the one which cannot be seen, seized, has no origin, varna, eyes, ears, hands, or feet; it is the eternal, all-pervading, infinitesimal, imperishable, indestructible.
Sacrifices, oblations and pious works are useless, knowledge useful - First Mundakam The first seven mantras of second
khanda of first
Mundakam explain how man has been called upon, promised benefits for, scared unto and misled into performing sacrifices, oblations and pious works. {{Quote| But frail, in truth, are those boats, the sacrifices, the eighteen, in which these ceremonies have been told, Fools who praise this as the highest good, are subject again and again to old age and death. Fools dwelling in darkness, wise in their own conceit, and puffed up with vain knowledge, go round and round, staggering to and fro, like blind men led by the blind. The Mundaka Upanishad, in verses 1.2.11 through 1.2.13, asserts spiritual knowledge liberates man, and those who undertake
Sannyasa (renunciation) to attain such knowledge achieve it through
Tapas (meditation, austerity), living a simple and tranquil life on alms, without any sacrifices and rituals. In verses 1.2.12 and 1.2.13, the Upanishad suggests that "perishable acts cannot lead to eternal knowledge", instead it encourages seekers to gain knowledge from a learned spiritual teacher (guru) focused on Brahman.
Brahman is the inner Self of all things - Second Mundakam Mundaka Upanishad, in the first section of the second Mundakam, defines and expounds on the doctrine of Atman-Brahman. It asserts that just like a blazing fire creates thousand sparks and leaping flames in its own form, beings are brought forth from Brahman in its form. The Brahman is imperishable, without body, it is both without and within, never produced, without mind, without breath, yet from it emerges the inner Self of all things. From Brahman is born breath, mind, sensory organs, space, air, light, water, earth, everything. The section expands this idea as follows:
Om, Self and Brahman - Second Mundakam The Mundaka Upanishad, in the second
Mundakam, teaches that true wisdom comes from understanding the self and realizing its unity with Brahman. True wisdom is attained by understanding one's self. It asserts that Brahman is beyond sensory perception, known through intellect purified by spiritual knowledge and meditation, not mere reading of Vedas. Such knowledge, coupled with renunciation and meditation, leads to liberation. In verse 2.2.2, the Mundaka Upanishad asserts that Atman-Brahman is the real. It is life, it is speech, it is mind. That is the real. It is immortal. It is a mark to be penetrated. Penetrate It, my friend. Taking as a bow the great weapon of the Upanishad, one should put upon it an arrow sharpened by meditation, Stretching it with a thought directed to the essence of That, Penetrate that Imperishable as the mark, my friend.
Om is the bow, the arrow is the Self, Brahman the mark, By the undistracted man is It to be penetrated, One should come to be in It, as the arrow becomes one with the mark. The Upanishad, in verse 2.2.8 asserts that the man with the knowledge of the Self and who has become one with Brahman, is liberated, is not affected by
karman, is free of sorrow and self-doubts, is one who lives in bliss.
Reach the highest Oneness in all beings - Third Mundakam The third Mundakam begins with the allegory of two birds, as follows, But when he sees the other
Isa (lord) content, knows his glory, his grief passes away. When the seer sees the brilliant maker and
Isa as the Purusha who has his source in Brahman, then he is wise, he shakes off good and evil, stainless he reaches the highest oneness. Mathur states that this metaphor of the birds sitting on the same tree refers to one being the empirical self and the other as the eternal and transcendental self. It is the knowledge of eternal self, Atman-Brahman and its Oneness with all others, that liberates. The Upanishad states in verse 3.1.4 that the Self is the life of all things, and there is delight in this Self (Ātman). explains the theistic view, not only in terms of schools of Hinduism, but as a mirroring the theism found in Christianity and other scriptures around the world. These verses, states Johnston, describe the sorrow that drowns those who are unaware or feel separated from their Lord. This is the state, asserts Shankara, free of grief, when man reaches the supreme equality which is identity with the Brahman. The equality in matters involving duality in certainly inferior to this, states Shankara. In the second section of the third Mundakam, the Upanishad asserts, "the Self cannot be realized by those who lack inner strength, nor by the careless or heedless, nor by devotion or false notions of austerity, nor by knowledge of the empirical. It is obtained by the Self by which it is desired. His Self reveals its own truth". Once such self-knowledge is reached, calmness of mind results, a life of liberation emerges, one becomes and behaves like the Brahman. He is beyond sorrow, he is beyond sin, he is in tranquil union with the Self of all. ==Reception==