Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad

upapadyate cābhyupalabhyate ca

upapadyate cābhyupalabhyate ca |
(Vedānta-sūtra: 2.1.36)

“That [i.e., partiality on the part of Brahman in the form of favoring bhaktas] is also established, and is also observable.”

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yadā paśyaḥ paśyate rukma-varṇaṁ

yadā paśyaḥ paśyate rukma-varṇaṁ
kartāram īśaṁ puruṣaṁ brahma-yonim |
tadā vidvān puṇya-pāpe vidhūya
nirañjanaḥ paramaṁ sāmyam upaiti ||
(Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad: 3.1.3; cited in Paramātma Sandarbha: 37; Laghu Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.87.17; Govinda-bhāṣya on VS: 1.2.23, 1.3.2; Sāraṅga-raṅgadā-ṭīkā on Laghu Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.1.2)

“When a seer sees the golden-complexioned Maker, Īśa, the Puruṣa, the Source of Brahman, then that wise one casts away virtue and sin, and attains taintless, supreme likeness (sāmya) [to the Puruṣa].”

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nṛṣu tava māyayā bhramam amīṣv avagatya bhṛśaṁ

nṛṣu tava māyayā bhramam amīṣv avagatya bhṛśaṁ
tvayi sudhiyo’bhave dadhati bhāvam anuprabhavam |
katham anuvartatāṁ bhava-bhayaṁ tava yad bhrū-kuṭiḥ
sṛjati muhus trinemir abhavac-charaṇeṣu bhayam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.87.32)

[Translated according to Śrī Śrīdhara Svāmīpāda’s commentary:] “Understanding the ignorance as a consequence of your māyā among these human beings wherefrom repeated birth ensues, the wise foster bhāva [i.e., render service] profusely for you, Non-existence [i.e., you who are the cause of liberation from material existence]. How could your followers have any distress on account of [material] existence, since the furrowing of your brows—time (trinemi)—creates distress perpetually for those who are not in your shelter?”

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dvā suparṇā sayujā sakhāyā samānaṁ vṛkṣaṁ pariṣasvajāte

dvā suparṇā sayujā sakhāyā samānaṁ vṛkṣaṁ pariṣasvajāte |
tayor anyaḥ pippalaṁ svādv atty anaśnann anyo abhicākaśīti ||
samāne vṛkṣe puruṣo nimagno’niśayā śocati muhyamānaḥ |
juṣṭaṁ yadā paśyaty anyam īśam asya mahimānam iti vīta-śokaḥ ||
(Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad: 3.1.1–2)

“Two birds of beautiful plumage,

Ever-united in friendship,

Perch on the same tree.

Among them,

One eats the tasty berry [of the tree],

And the other, not eating, watches over [the first].

On the same tree,

The puruṣa [i.e., the embodied living entity], absorbed,

Laments because of [his] powerlessness, being deluded.

When he sees the other, the Lord, satisfied, and his [i.e., the Lord’s] greatness, he becomes free from lamentation.”

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satyam eva jayate nānṛtaṁ

satyam eva jayate nānṛtaṁ
satyena panthā vitato devayānaḥ |
yenākramanty ṛṣayo hy āpta-kāmā
yatra tat satyasya paramaṁ nidhānam ||
(Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad: 3.1.6)

“Truth alone triumphs, and not falsity [i.e., those who adhere to truth triumph and not those who engage in falsity]. Through truth is spread out the path of devas by which the ṛṣis of fulfilled desire ascend to that [domain] where there exists the supreme treasure of truth [i.e., Brahman].”

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kāmān yaḥ kāmayate manyamānaḥ

kāmān yaḥ kāmayate manyamānaḥ
sa kāmabhir jāyate tatra tatra |
paryāpta-kāmasya kṛtātmanas tu
ihaiva sarve pravilīyanti kāmāḥ ||
(Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad: 3.2.2)

“One who engenders desire for and dwells upon objects of desire is born there among them with [those] desires, but all the desires of one who is of satisfied desire and has realized the ātmā vanish even here [i.e., even while still in a material body within saṁsāra].”

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oṁ athāśvalāyano bhagavantaṁ

oṁ athāśvalāyano bhagavantaṁ
parameṣṭhinam upasametyocāva |
adhīhi bhagavan brahma-vidyāṁ variṣṭhāṁ
sadā sadbhiḥ sevyamānāṁ nigūḍhām |
yathācirāt sarva-pāpaṁ vyapohya
parātparaṁ puruṣaṁ yāti vidvān ||1||
tasmai sa hovāca pitāmahaś ca
śraddhā-bhakti-dhyāna-yogād avaihi ||2||
na karmaṇā na prajayā dhanena
tyāgenaike amṛtatvam ānaśuḥ |
pareṇa nākaṁ nihitaṁ guhāyāṁ
vibhrājate yad yatayo viśanti ||3||
vedānta-vijñāna-suniścitārthāḥ
sannyāsa-yogād yatayaḥ śuddha-sattvāḥ |
te brahmalokeṣu parānta-kāle
parāmṛtāḥ parimucyanti sarve ||4||
(Kaivalya Upaniṣad: 1–4; Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad: 3.2.6)

“Om. Now, Āśvalāyana approached illustrious Brahmā and said, ‘O illustrious One, please teach me Brahmā-vidyā, which is most excellent [among all types of knowledge], ever-adhered to by the sādhus, and secret, and by which the wise soon become absolved of all sin and attain the Supreme Puruṣa,’ and to him [i.e., to Āśvalāyana], the Grandsire [i.e., Lord Brahmā] verily spoke, ‘You can realize [the Brahma-vidyā you wish to attain] through the practices of śraddhā, bhakti, and meditation. Neither by karma, nor by progeny or wealth, but only by renunciation can you attain immortality, which is beyond heaven and shines hidden in the cave [i.e., heart]. Ascetics [lit., those who strive (for it)] enter it. Completely determined upon the object of realization established by Vedānta and of purified nature by virtue of practice of sannyāsa, the ascetics in the planes of Brahmā [i.e., in the various planes through the material universe] at the time of the final end [i.e., at the time of the dissolution of the material universe] overcome death and become completely liberated [from entanglement in saṁsāra, i.e., they realize Brahman].”

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tasmai sa vidvān upasannāya samyak

tasmai sa vidvān upasannāya samyak
praśānta-cittāya śamānvitāya |
yenākṣaraṁ puruṣaṁ veda satyaṁ
provāca tāṁ tattvato brahma-vidyām ||
(Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad: 1.2.13)

“To him of tranquil mind endowed with repose who has approached properly, that knower [of Brahman, i.e., the guru] should teach exactly that knowledge of Brahman by which the true imperishable Puruṣa is known.”

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parīkṣya lokān karma-citān brāhmaṇo

parīkṣya lokān karma-citān brāhmaṇo
nirvedam āyān nāsty akṛtaḥ kṛtena |
tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet
samit-pāṇiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham ||
(Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad: 1.2.12)

“Having examined the planes attained by karma, a brāhmaṇa reaches disinterest [based on the conclusion], ‘That which is unmade [Brahman] is not attained by that which is made [karma].’ To know in depth that [which is unmade, Brahman], he, with firewood in hand, should only [rather than seeking knowledge of it independently] approach a guru who is learned [in the śāstra] and fixed [exclusively] in Brahman.”

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