Mundaka Upanishad-Brahma Jnyana

with Dr. H. V. Nagaraj Rao

This knowledge is said to have been passed down from teacher to student from the very beginning. Atharva, the son of Brahmā, received it and taught it onward, and in this way it has continued through the lineage.

The Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad teaches that there are two kinds of knowledge: parā and aparā. Aparā is worldly knowledge. It includes everything we know about the world, including the Vedas and other texts. Parā vidyā, by contrast, is knowledge of the soul, of God, of Brahman—that which is absolute and never changes. This is the highest knowledge.

There are different ways of explaining the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad. Madhvācārya, the founder of the Dvaita school, says that all the gods mentioned in this text are ultimately pointing to Viṣṇu.

In verse six, the words kṣara and akṣara are used. That which changes is kṣara. That which never changes is akṣara. This distinction is central. The higher truth spoken of in the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad is not something visible to the eyes. Our eyes can perceive only a certain spectrum of what exists. What is real in the highest sense is always present, yet it is invisible. It cannot be directly seen.

This higher truth also has no form. What color is love? Love has no color. It does not correspond to the physical senses. It has no hands, no feet, no visible form. In the same way, this higher knowledge does not pertain to worldly objects.

It is eternal. It is true in all ages and at all times. It is true in all places, whether far or near. It permeates everything. It is smaller than an atom and larger than the ocean. It is extremely subtle. It never declines, and its value and relevance remain true throughout all time, in all places, in all situations, and for all people.

This Brahma-vidyā is the yoni of all bhūtas, the source of all that exists. Only those with a sharp intellect can grasp it. Those who are entangled in desire, fear, and other external factors cannot grasp it.

What is this source of all bhūtas, this source of all beings? The Upaniṣad uses the metaphor of a spider. The spider produces its web from its own body. Philosophers have reflected on this image for ages. From where does the web come? It comes from the spider itself. The spider has the power both to project the web and to take it back again.

In the same way, supreme Brahman may be described as the great underlying reality, the godhead, the divinity, whatever one wishes to call it. Fundamentally, it is that which is responsible for the creation of the world and everything we see. The image of the spider illustrates this clearly. Brahman creates the entire universe from itself, and it can also absorb everything back into itself.

Another image is that of the earth. The earth contains dormant seeds and many hidden forms of life. It may remain dry and inactive for a long time, but when rain comes, life suddenly appears. Plants spring up. Worms, insects, frogs, and many other creatures emerge. Such mysterious phenomena have been observed and contemplated through the ages by those who sought the truth behind existence.

A similar example is the growth of hair on the body. We do not consciously make it happen. It simply happens on its own. According to genetics, this hair may take many different forms and qualities. In the same way, Brahman is the immutable and unchanging truth from which all things emerge. The force responsible for creation is like the spider spinning a web from its own being, like the earth suddenly bursting forth with life, or like the hair that grows on the body without any apparent effort.

Tapas is also an important concept. Tapas is that which creates heat. This heat can accumulate and produce an explosion, a sudden bursting forth, something like a big bang. What appears as one can suddenly become many, and this may happen in an instant. Indian thought has contemplated such ideas for a very long time.

The first layer of creation is food. For example, algae develops in water. That algae becomes food for more complex organisms. Fish develop, then larger fish, then amphibians and mammals, and so on. In this profusion of creation, intelligence also appears. As beings become more developed and more complex, buddhi, or intellect, appears more fully. Animals do not possess the same intelligence as human beings. Only human beings can contemplate questions such as the nature of existence, permanence and impermanence, and the source of creation. Dogs and cats do not reflect on these things in the same way; they function through instinct.

This leads to the fundamental question: from where does life come?

Karma is also central to Indian thought. The fruits of our actions play a role in this process. Another important idea is omniscience, the state of one who knows everything. Tapas gives jñāna, or knowledge. Tapas and the heat it generates are central to Indian ways of thinking. The Vedas themselves are understood to have arisen from the tapas of the ancient sages.

Then there is nāma-rūpa, name and form. As things evolve, they acquire name and form. Life consumes life. Smaller organisms are consumed by larger organisms as creation unfolds and develops.

These are the ideas through which the Indian thinkers who composed the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad understood creation.

If it is possible to know everything, then it is possible to understand the whole universe. By understanding the most fundamental processes, one comes to understand all other things as well. That knowledge is called Brahma-jñāna. One who is fully aware of these truths and who identifies with this process is said to become immortal. This is because identity shifts away from the mortal body and toward the eternal process by which creation takes place. One’s identity expands to include all that is, and because that reality is timeless and permanent, the one who is truly merged in it also becomes timeless, permanent, and immortal.