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Mundaka Upanishad

Chapter 1

प्रथममुण्डके प्रथमः खण्डः

Mundaka 1 · Khanda 1

Verses

  1. Verse 1

    oṃ bhadraṃ karṇebhiḥ śṛṇuyāma devā bhadraṃ paśyemākṣabhiryajatrāḥ | sthirairaṅgaistuṣṭuvāṃsastanūbhirvyaśema devahitaṃ yadāyuḥ | svasti na indro vṛddhaśravāḥ svasti naḥ pūṣā viśvavedāḥ | svasti nastārkṣyo ariṣṭanemiḥ svasti no bṛhaspatirdadhātu || oṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ ||

    Meaning

    Om. O gods, may we hear what is auspicious with our ears; may we see what is auspicious with our eyes, O worshipful ones. With steady limbs and bodies, may we, offering praise, enjoy the life allotted by the gods. May Indra of great fame bless us; may the all-knowing Pushan bless us; may Tarkshya (Garuda), the averter of harm, bless us; may Brihaspati grant us well-being. Om, peace, peace, peace.

  2. Verse 2

    oṃ brahmā devānāṃ prathamaḥ saṃbabhūva viśvasya kartā bhuvanasya goptā | sa brahmavidyāṃ sarvavidyāpratiṣṭhāmatharvāya jyeṣṭhaputrāya prāha || 1||

    Meaning

    Om. Brahma was the first of the gods to come into being, the maker of all, the protector of the world. He told the knowledge of Brahman, the foundation of all knowledge, to his eldest son Atharvan.

  3. Verse 3

    atharvaṇe yāṃ pravadeta brahmā'tharvā taṃ purovācāṅgire brahmavidyām | sa bhāradvājāya satyavāhāya prāha bhāradvājo'ṅgirase parāvarām || 2||

    Meaning

    The knowledge of Brahman which Brahma told to Atharvan, Atharvan of old declared to Angir; he told it to Bharadvaja Satyavaha, and Bharadvaja told the higher and lower (knowledge) to Angiras.

  4. Verse 4

    śaunako ha vai mahāśālo'ṅgirasaṃ vidhivadupasannaḥ papraccha | kasminnu bhagavo vijñāte sarvamidaṃ vijñātaṃ bhavatīti || 3||

    Meaning

    Shaunaka, the great householder, approaching Angiras in the prescribed manner, asked: 'O Lord, what is that by knowing which all this becomes known?'

  5. Verse 5

    tasmai sa hovāca | dve vidye veditavye iti ha sma yadbrahmavido vadanti parā caivāparā ca || 4||

    Meaning

    To him he said: 'Two kinds of knowledge are to be known — so say the knowers of Brahman — the higher (para) and the lower (apara).'

  6. Verse 6

    tatrāparā ṛgvedo yajurvedaḥ sāmavedo'tharvavedaḥ śikṣā kalpo vyākaraṇaṃ niruktaṃ chando jyotiṣamiti | atha parā yayā tadakṣaramadhigamyate || 5||

    Meaning

    Of these, the lower is the Rigveda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda, the Atharvaveda, phonetics, ritual, grammar, etymology, metre, and astrology; and the higher is that by which the Imperishable (akshara) is attained.

  7. Verse 7

    yattadadreśyamagrāhyamagotramavarṇamacakṣuḥśrotraṃ tadapāṇipādam | nityaṃ vibhuṃ sarvagataṃ susūkṣmaṃ tadavyayaṃ yadbhūtayoniṃ paripaśyanti dhīrāḥ || 6||

    Meaning

    That which is invisible, ungraspable, without origin, without attributes, without eye or ear, without hands or feet; the eternal, all-pervading, omnipresent, exceedingly subtle, undecaying — the wise behold that as the source of all beings.

  8. Verse 8

    yathorṇanābhiḥ sṛjate gṛhṇate ca yathā pṛthivyāmoṣadhayaḥ saṃbhavanti | yathā sataḥ puruṣātkeśalomāni tathā'kṣarātsaṃbhavatīha viśvam || 7||

    Meaning

    As the spider sends forth and draws in (its thread), as plants grow from the earth, as hair grows from the body of a living person, so from the Imperishable arises all this universe.

  9. Verse 9

    tapasā cīyate brahma tato'nnamabhijāyate | annātprāṇo manaḥ satyaṃ lokāḥ karmasu cāmṛtam || 8||

    Meaning

    By tapas (the will to create) Brahman expands; from it food (the unmanifest) is born; from food, the vital breath, mind, the (five) elements (truth), the worlds, and (in) works, immortality.

  10. Verse 10

    yaḥ sarvajñaḥ sarvavidyasya jñānamayaṃ tapaḥ | tasmādetadbrahma nāma rūpamannaṃ ca jāyate || 9||

    Meaning

    He who is all-knowing and all-wise, whose tapas consists of knowledge — from Him are born this Brahma (Hiranyagarbha), name, form, and food.

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