Hinduism

Chapter5— Mundaka Upanishad

◆ About this chapter

The Mundaka Upanishad, the fifth of the principal Upanishads, stands as a pivotal text within the Atharvaveda, systematically distinguishing between empirical learning and transcendent wisdom. This chapter articulates the dual epistemology of the Vedas as provisional lower knowledge and the Imperishable Brahman as the ultimate higher knowledge, framing the latter as the sole means to liberation from the cycle of rebirth. By employing vivid metaphors such as the spider weaving its web, the text elucidates the non-dual relationship between the individual soul and the cosmic principle, offering a foundational inquiry into the nature of reality that continues to inform Hindu philosophical discourse.

Translation:

About this translation

King James Version (1611)

1611 · Public domain

The most influential English translation ever made. Sometimes archaic, but the standard PD English text.

Translators commissioned by King James I of England, 1604–1611

Brahman, the first of the gods, taught to Atharva the knowledge of Brahman, the foundation of all knowledge. ²That knowledge which is to be known, by which the immortal is known, is the higher knowledge. The lower knowledge is the Rigveda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda, and the Atharvaveda. ³The two knowledges are the higher and the lower. The lower is the Vedas, the higher is that by which the Imperishable is known. ⁴That which is not seen, but by which the seer is seen; that which is not heard, but by which the hearer is heard; that which is not thought, but by which the thinker is thought; that which is not known, but by which the knower is known. ⁵As the spider sends forth and draws in its thread, as herbs grow on the earth, as the hair grows on the head and the body of a living man, so does the universe arise from the Imperishable. ⁶The Self is the sun, the moon, the stars, the fire, the wind, the water, the earth. It is all this. ⁷He who knows the Self, the Imperishable, becomes the Imperishable. He does not return to the cycle of birth and death.

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Chapter Discussion

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