Mundaka 1.1.4 Trans & Comms

Tasmai sa hovāca dve vidye veditavye iti ha sma. Yad brahmavido vadanti parā caivāparā ca. (1.1.4)

tasmai – to him (Śaunaka); saḥ – he (Aṅgiras); uvāca – said; brahmavidaḥ – those who know Veda; vadanti – declare; iti – that; dve vidye – there are two types of knowledge; ha sma – indeed; veditavye – to be gained; yad – which (are known as); parā ca eva – higher; aparā ca – lower

Aṅgiras said to Śaunaka: ‘Those who know the Veda say that there are indeed two types of knowledge to be gained, which are (known as) higher and lower.

Instead of directly answering the question and unfolding parā-vidyā, the teacher starts with the statement that you also have to know aparā-vidyā. It is because of an important rule that Śaṅkara cites[34] here: a teacher has to first present all prevalent erroneous notions and negate them.

~Dayananda

4. To him (Śaunaka) Aṅgirā said, “There are two kinds of knowledge to be acquired, namely, aparā and parā – lower and higher. So say those (the great seers of the Upaniṣads) who know Brahman.”

According to Śaṅkara, the implication of the very question directly demands such an answer. The question concealed in its words not only indicates a thirst to know what that supreme Knowledge is, but also expresses at once a doubt in the mind of the student as to whether there can be such a ‘Knowledge’. The import of the question is: ‘O Teacher! Is there a Knowledge, knowing which all other knowledges become known, and if there be such a Knowledge, in what way is it different from the ordinary knowledges known to us and and how can I attain it?’

~Chinmayananda

To him he said: Two kinds of knowledge must be known-that is what the knowers of Brahman tell us. They are the Higher Knowledge and the lower knowledge.

The lower knowledge is the knowledge of the phenomenal world. In reality it is ignorance, for it does not lead to the Highest Good. The seer of the Upanishad asks the aspirant to acquire both the knowledge of the relative world and the Knowledge of Ultimate Reality. \Vhen by the pursuit of the former he fails to attain true freedom and immortality, he cultivates the latter.

~Nikhilananda

One Mundaka, Selected Translations

Brahma, the Maker of the universe and the Preserver of the world, was the first among the devas. He told His eldest son Atharva about the Knowledge of Brahman, the foundation of all knowledge. -N

In the beginning, Atharvā taught to Aṅgir that very same brahma-vidyā given by Brahmaji to him. Aṅgir taught it to Satyavaha who was born in the family of Bharadvāja. Satyavaha handed down this knowledge, that passes from the higher to the lower, to Aṅgiras. -D

Saunaka, the great householder, approached Angiras in the proper manner and said: Revered sir, what is that by the knowing of which all this becomes known? ~N

To him he said: Two kinds of knowledge must be known-that is what the knowers of Brahman tell us. They are the Higher Knowledge and the lower knowledge. ~N

Mundaka 1.1.3 Trans & Comms

śaunako ha vai mahāśālaḥ aṅgirasaṁ vidhivad upasannaḥ papraccha. kasminnu bhagavo vijñāte sarvamidaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavatīti. (1.1.3) 

śaunakaḥ – Śaunaka; ha vai – indeed; mahāśālaḥ – the famous householder; aṅgirasam – to Aṅgiras; vidhivat – as per the stipulations; upasannaḥ – approached; papraccha – (and) asked; iti – thus; bhagavaḥ – O Revered Sir!; kasmin nu vijñāte – by knowing which one thing alone; idam – this; sarvam – all; vijñātam – known; bhavati – becomes 

Śaunaka, the famous householder, approached Aṅgiras as per the stipulations and asked thus: ‘O Revered Sir! By knowing which one thing alone, does everything become known?

~Dayananda

The great householder Śaunaka duly approaching Aṅgirā in the prescribed manner asked, “What is That, my Lord, having known which all these become known”?

Śaunaka wants to know what is that Knowledge which is the very substance of all knowledges. In short, he wants to know the light principle in our intelligence by which knowledge of things are illumined for us during our existence.

~Chinmayananda

Saunaka, the great householder, approached Angiras in the proper manner and said: Revered sir, what is that by the knowing of which all this becomes known? 

According to Non-dualistic Vedanta an effect has no real existence apart from its cause. Therefore when a man knows the cause, he also should know that the effect has no reality independent of it. Brahman is the ultimate cause of the universe. When one knows Brahman, one also knows that the universe has no reality independent of Brahman. 

~Nikhilananda

Mundaka 1.1.2 Trans & Comms

Atharvaṇe yāṁ pravadeta brahmā atharvā tāṁ purovācāṅgire brahmavidyām. Sa bhāradvājāya satya-vahāya prāha bhāradvājo‘ṅgirase parāvarām. (1.1.2)

purā – in the beginning; yām – which; brahmā – Brahmaji; atharvaṇe – to Atharvā; pravadeta – taught; tām – that; brahmavidyām – knowledge of Brahman; atharvā – Atharvā; aṅgire – to Aṅgir; uvāca – taught; saḥ – he (Aṅgir); satyavahāya – to Satyavaha; bhāradvājāya – one who was born in the family of Bharadvāja; prāha – taught; bhāradvājaḥ – Bhāradvāja; parāvarām – that which comes through a teacher and then a student; aṅgirase – (taught) Aṅgiras

In the beginning, Atharvā taught to Aṅgir that very same brahma-vidyā given by Brahmaji to him. Aṅgir taught it to Satyavaha who was born in the family of Bharadvāja. Satyavaha handed down this knowledge, that passes from the higher to the lower, to Aṅgiras.

~Dayananda

2. The very Knowledge which Brahmā taught to Atharvā, he taught it to Aṅgi in ancient days and he taught it to Ṛṣi Satyavaha – of the Bhāradvāja clan and Satyavaha taught it to Aṅgirā – the knowledge was so handed down from the greater (Teacher) to the lesser (disciple).

When the kindly Masters tried to guide their disciples, they did not claim this knowledge as their own but only quoted, in their turn, their own Masters. Thus, the purity of the scriptures had been kept up by this tradition of a ‘divine-copyright’.

We have, here, an entire line of Guru-śiṣya paramparā (Teacher-taught family tree) giving us the details of who taught whom. In this mantra the family tree of knowledge has been traced out to Aṅgirā and in the following mantras you will find how he is the Guru to whom a disciple approaches with a transcendental question. The answer given to the seeker by Maharṣi Aṅgirā is the contents of the Muṇḍakopaniṣad.

~Chinmayananda

The Knowledge of Brahman about which Brahma told Atharva, Atharva, in olden times, told Angir. Angir taught it to Satyavaha, belonging to the clan of Bharadvaja, and the latter taught it, in succession, to Angiras.

The Knowledge of Brahman was first revealed by the Lord to Brahm.ii, who transmitted it to His eldest son. Therefore this Knowledge is not of human origin and is free from human imperfections.

~Nikhilananda

Mundaka 1.1.1 Trans & Comms

Brahmā devānāṁ prathamaḥ sambabhūva viśvasya kartā bhuvanasya goptā. Sa brahmavidyāṁ sarvavidyā-pratiṣṭhām atharvāya jyeṣṭhaputrāya prāha. (1.1.1)

devānām – among the gods; brahmā – Brahmaji; prathamaḥ – first; saṁbabhūva – came into being; viśvasya – of the entire universe; kartā – creator; bhuvanasya – of the universe; goptā – protector; saḥ – he (Brahmaji); brahmavidyām –knowledge of Brahman; sarvavidyā-pratiṣṭhām – the most exalted among all forms of knowledge; atharvāya – to Atharva; jyeṣṭhaputrāya – his first son; prāha – taught Among the gods,

1. Brahmaji came into being first; he is the creator of the entire universe and also its protector. He taught the knowledge of Brahman which is the most exalted among all forms of knowledge, to Atharva, his first son.

One Īśvara alone is viewed from different standpoints and is called by different names. Viewed from the creation standpoint he is Brahmaji. From the standpoint of sustenance he is Viṣṇu. From the standpoint of withdrawal he is Śiva or Rudra.

~Dayananda

1. Of the Gods, Brahmā – the Creator and the protector of the universe – was self-born, first gave out the knowledge of Reality (Brahmavidyā), the Knowledge of all knowledges, the foundation for all sciences, to his own eldest son Atharvā.

Brahmā is not a product of sperm and ovum, but he is self-born. He is the manifestation of the creative urge in the Reality. He, it is said, was the first to give out the great knowledge of Brahmavidyā to his own eldest son, Atharvā.

This knowledge of the supreme Reality is called Brahmavidyā, may be, because it was first given out by Brahmā or because it deals with Brahman, the term as used in the Upaniṣads for the eternal and omniscient pure Consciousness.

This Brahmavidyā has been glorified in the Upaniṣads as the ‘Science of all sciences’; as the ‘Knowledge of all knowledges’; as the ‘foundation of all other sciences’! The Self is the Life Principle in us and all other knowledge bits about the external world and the inner world are but modifications of the Self.

~Chinmayananda

1. OM. BRAHMA, the Maker of the universe and the Preserver of the world, was the first among the devas. He told His eldest son Atharva about the Knowledge of Brahman, the foundation of all knowledge.

By praising Brahma and the Knowledge of Brahman, the Upanishad indirectly extols the Knowledge which it intends to impart. The purpose is to awaken the interest of the hearer. 

~Nikhilananda

Aparoksanubhuti TOC

 

Aparoksanubhuti 2025

• Apararok
• Talks on Aparoksanubhuti 16: knower, witness
• Talks on Aparoksanubhuti 17/21: Atman is
• Talks on Aparoksanubhuti 22-24: sea of satcitananda
• Talks on Aparoksanubhuti 25-28: real knowledge
• Talking Aparoksanubhuti 25-28: rock opera
• Talks on Aparoksanubhuti 31,2,3,9,&40: supreme I
• Talks on Aparoksanubhuti 43-45: Brahman only
• Talking Aparoksanubhuti 43-45: ignorance of the rope
• Talks on Aparoksanubhuti 49-51: born of Brahman
• Talking Aparoksanubhuti 49-51: from The Aparok Opera Experience
• Talks on Aparoksanubhuti 52-54: no second
• Talking Aparoksanubhuti 52-54: body, ego, god, and dna
• Talks on Aparoksanubhuti 56-58: the real seer
• Talks on Aparoksanubhuti 104-124 (work in progress)
• 
  

Turiyam, Turiyam

In Samsara, there is doing and not doing.

In Isvara is nondoing.

Turiyam.

Brahman is consciousness-existence.

Maya is the sword of Brahman.

Turiyam.







~rj35

Jijnasu Zen of Both and Neither

Consciousness-existence is the silver screen.

The mind is the movie. To be or not to be?

Am I the movie or the movie screen?

~rj34

Vidya

1. In the Beginningless Beginning

Our conditioning turns original vidya into avidya.

Living in avidya is this material world.

Believing 'vidya in avidya' is really vidya is a darker place than just believing in avidya itself.

2. Vidya in Avidya

Vidya in avidya is a divine vehicle of deconstruction.

Like any kind of mass transportation, there's a time to get off. 

If nihilism isn't your destination.

3. Aumdada Says to Kabir, Isa 9-11

Vidya in vidya is satcitananda.

Vidya in vidya is nameless and formless.

Aum

~sr17

Isa TOC

• • • Isavasya 1 Translation Fantasia
    • Isavasya 2 Translation Fantasia
    • Isavasya 3 Translation Fantasia
    • Isavasya 4 Translation Fantasia
    • Isavasya 5 Translation Fantasia
    • Isavasya 6 Translation Fantasia
    • Isavasya 7 Translation Fantasia
    • Isavasya 8 Translation Fantasia
    • Isavasya 9 Translation Fantasia
    • Isavasya 10 Translation Fantasia
    • Isavasya 11 Translation Fantasia
    • Isavasya 12 Translation Fantasia
    • Isavasya 13 Translation Fantasia
    • Isavasya 14 Translation Fantasia
    • Isvayasa 15 Translation Fantasia
    • Isvayasa 16 Translation Fantasia
    • Isvayasa 17 Translation Fantasia
    • Isavasya 18 Translation Fantasia
    • A. Chinmayananda on Isa Structure
    • B. Isa Selected Translation
    • C. Best Isa Upanishad Translations
    • D. An Isa Transcreation (wip)
    • E. Transcreating Isa 1, 4-8