Mundaka Upanishad - Mundaka 1, Section 1 - English

muṇḍakōpaniṣat, counted among the principal Upanishads and associated with the atharvavēda, is a foundational Vedantic text for seekers who have outgrown purely result-driven religion and want liberating knowledge. Its opening movement is deliberate: first establish lineage, then clarify the hierarchy of knowledge, then point to akṣara-brahman as the non-perishing reality.

This first chapter, first section (prathamamuṇḍakē prathamaḥ khaṇḍaḥ), is especially important because it sets the epistemic map for the rest of the text. It distinguishes aparā vidyā (textual/ritual/disciplinary learning) from parā vidyā (that by which the imperishable is known), without dismissing the former as useless.

ōṃ bha@draṃ karṇē#bhiḥ śṛṇu@yāma# dēvāḥ । bha@draṃ pa#śyēmā@kṣabhi@-ryaja#trāḥ । sthi@rairaṅgai$stuṣṭu@vāgṃ sa#sta@nūbhi#ḥ । vyaśē#ma dē@vahi#ta@ṃ yadāyu#ḥ । sva@sti na@ indrō# vṛ@ddhaśra#vāḥ । sva@sti na#ḥ pū@ṣā vi@śvavē#dāḥ । sva@sti na@stārkṣyō@ ari#ṣṭanēmiḥ । sva@sti nō@ bṛha@spati#-rdadhātu ॥
ōṃ śānti@ḥ śānti@ḥ śānti#ḥ ॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
May we hear what is auspicious; may we see what is auspicious. With steady bodies and faculties, may we live out the life aligned to divine purpose. May there be peace, peace, peace.

॥ ōṃ brahmaṇē namaḥ ॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
The sacred syllable Om. Salutations to Brahman.

॥ prathamamuṇḍakē prathamaḥ khaṇḍaḥ ॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
This is the first section of the first Mundaka.

ōṃ brahmā dēvānāṃ prathamaḥ sambabhūva viśvasya kartā
bhuvanasya gōptā । sa brahmavidyāṃ sarvavidyāpratiṣṭhāmatharvāya
jyēṣṭhaputrāya prāha ॥ 1॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Brahma, first among the gods, creator and sustainer of the world, taught Atharvan - his eldest son - the knowledge of Brahman, the foundation of all knowledge.

atharvaṇē yāṃ pravadēta brahmā'tharvā taṃ
purōvāchāṅgirē brahmavidyām ।
sa bhāradvājāya satyavāhāya prāha
bhāradvājō'ṅgirasē parāvarām ॥ 2॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
That knowledge of Brahman taught by Brahma to Atharvan was transmitted onward - to Angiras, then to Satyavaha Bharadvaja, and from Bharadvaja's line to Angiras - as knowledge spanning the higher and lower.

śaunakō ha vai mahāśālō'ṅgirasaṃ vidhivadupasannaḥ paprachCha ।
kasminnu bhagavō vijñātē sarvamidaṃ vijñātaṃ bhavatīti ॥ 3॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Shaunaka, a great householder, approached Angiras in the proper manner and asked: "Revered Sir, by knowing what does everything become known?"

tasmai sa hōvācha ।
dvē vidyē vēditavyē iti ha sma
yadbrahmavidō vadanti parā chaivāparā cha ॥ 4॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Angiras replied: the knowers of Brahman declare that two kinds of knowledge are to be understood - the higher and the lower.

tatrāparā ṛgvēdō yajurvēdaḥ sāmavēdō'tharvavēdaḥ
śikṣā kalpō vyākaraṇaṃ niruktaṃ Chandō jyōtiṣamiti ।
atha parā yayā tadakṣaramadhigamyatē ॥ 5॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Lower knowledge includes the four Vedas and the disciplines of phonetics, ritual method, grammar, etymology, metre, and astronomy. Higher knowledge is that by which the imperishable reality is directly known.

yattadadrēśyamagrāhyamagōtramavarṇa-
machakṣuḥśrōtraṃ tadapāṇipādam ।
nityaṃ vibhuṃ sarvagataṃ susūkṣmaṃ
tadavyayaṃ yadbhūtayōniṃ paripaśyanti dhīrāḥ ॥ 6॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
The wise behold that imperishable reality which is unseen, ungraspable, unclassifiable, beyond sensory limitation, eternal, all-pervading, supremely subtle, undecaying, and the source of all beings.

yathōrṇanābhiḥ sṛjatē gṛhṇatē cha
yathā pṛthivyāmōṣadhayaḥ sambhavanti ।
yathā sataḥ puruṣāt kēśalōmāni
tathā'kṣarāt sambhavatīha viśvam ॥ 7॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
As a spider projects and withdraws its web, as plants arise from the earth, and as hair grows from a living person, so does this universe arise from the imperishable.

tapasā chīyatē brahma tatō'nnamabhijāyatē ।
annāt prāṇō manaḥ satyaṃ lōkāḥ karmasu chāmṛtam ॥ 8॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
From Brahman's creative potency arises the principle of matter; from that emerge life-force and mind, then worlds, and the enduring law of action through which experiential continuity persists.

yaḥ sarvajñaḥ sarvavidyasya jñānamayaṃ tapaḥ ।
tasmādētadbrahma nāma rūpamannaṃ cha jāyatē ॥ 9॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
From that omniscient source, whose creative potency is knowledge itself, arise this manifested order: name, form, and material expression.

॥ iti muṇḍakōpaniṣadi prathamamuṇḍakē prathamaḥ khaṇḍaḥ ॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Thus ends the first section of the first Mundaka of the Mundaka Upanishad.

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