The Muṇḍaka Upanisad
The Muṇḍaka Upanisad describes a conversation between the sage Angirasa and Śaunaka Rsi, the leader of the sages performing sacrifices in the forest of Naimiṣāraṇya.
« The Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad: An in-depth study
Srila Vyasadava composed the Upanisads by selecting passages from the four original Vedas that deal directly with the topic of self-realization. The Aitareya and Kaushitaki Upanisads are derived from the Rig Veda, the Chandogya and Kena Upanisads from the Sama Veda, the Brihadaranyaka, Isha, Taittiriya, and Katha Upanisads from the Yajur Veda, and the Muṇḍaka Upanisad, together with the Mandukya and Prashna, are derived from the Atharva Veda.
The name "Muṇḍaka" literally means "shaved". It has two meanings. One refers to ascetics who performed the siro-vrata, shaving their heads and renouncing the practice of fruitive activities. Another is "shaved" in the sense of shedding ignorance and focusing on the pursuit of deep spiritual knowledge, instead of being distracted by karma-kanda sacrifices and promises of elevation to the celestial planets, as is common among ritualistic followers of the Vedas.
Modern scholars attribute the composition of the Muṇḍaka Upanisad to between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, but if we accept the account offered in the Vedas themselves, the Muṇḍaka Upanisad was composed by Vyasadeva close to the end of Dvapara-yuga, which ended around the time of the battle of Kuruksetra, more than 5,000 years ago.
The history of the compilation of the Vedas is described in the Srimad Bhagavatam. This is the direct account given by Suta Goswami, who was present at the time and gave his firsthand testimony. Direct accounts of historical events always offer more precise information than someone trying to find the facts thousands of years later based on indirect evidence.
"Sūta Gosvāmī said: When the second millennium overlapped the third, the great sage [Vyāsadeva] was born to Parāśara in the womb of Satyavatī, the daughter of Vasu. Once upon a time he [Vyāsadeva], as the sun rose, took his morning ablution in the waters of the Sarasvatī and sat alone to concentrate. The great sage Vyāsadeva saw anomalies in the duties of the millennium. This happens on the earth in different ages, due to the unseen force of time. The great sage, who was fully equipped in knowledge, could see through his transcendental vision the deterioration of everything material due to the influence of the age. He could also see that the faithless people in general would be reduced in duration of life and would be impatient due to lack of goodness. Thus he contemplated for the welfare of men in all statuses and orders of life. He saw that the sacrifices mentioned in the Vedas were means by which the people’s occupations could be purified. And to simplify the process he divided the one Veda into four, in order to expand them among men. The four divisions of the original sources of knowledge [the Vedas] were made separately. But the historical facts and authentic stories mentioned in the Purāṇas are called the fifth Veda.
After the Vedas were divided into four divisions, Paila Ṛṣi became the professor of the Ṛg Veda, Jaimini the professor of the Sāma Veda, and Vaiśampāyana alone became glorified by the Yajur Veda. The Sumantu Muni Angirā, who was very devotedly engaged, was entrusted with the Atharva Veda. And my father, Romaharṣaṇa, was entrusted with the Purāṇas and historical records. All these learned scholars, in their turn, rendered their entrusted Vedas unto their many disciples, granddisciples and great-granddisciples, and thus the respective branches of the followers of the Vedas came into being.
Thus the great sage Vyāsadeva, who is very kind to the ignorant masses, edited the Vedas so they might be assimilated by less intellectual men. Out of compassion, the great sage thought it wise that this would enable men to achieve the ultimate goal of life. Thus he compiled the great historical narration called the Mahābhārata for women, laborers and friends of the twice-born." (SB 1.4.14-25)
Most of the calculations of dates for the different books that compose the Vedas made by scholars are off by a few thousand years because they can't conceive how the books could have been composed by a single person so long ago, nor can they trace the original manuscripts written by Vyasadeva. Vyasa originally wrote the Vedas in palm leaves and entrusted the manuscripts to his disciples, who in turn copied them into new sets of leaves over time. Palm leaves can last for a few centuries at best, therefore we can presume all the original leaves written by Vyasadeva are now destroyed. One who tries to reconstruct the history of different Upanisads and other books in the Vedas will always come to copies or commentaries written thousands of years later. If one wants to come to the correct conclusions, he must accept the conclusions given in the texts themselves.
It's described that Vyāsadeva was born "when the second millennium overlapped the third". This describes how he was born in the particular cycle of yugas we are now, when Krsna personally appears in His original form.
Krsna appears only once on each day of Brahma, and when He does, the second millennium overlaps the third, creating a situation when powerful Ksatriyas—many being incarnations of the most powerful demons in the whole universe—take birth in the third era of the cycle. This creates the background for Krsna appearing to save his devotees, performing His pastimes of killing demons and giving them liberation.
Another account of the disciplic succession of the Vedas, starting with Lord Brahma himself, is given by Suta Goswami in the 12th canto of Srimad Bhagavatam:
"From that omkāra Lord Brahmā created all the sounds of the alphabet — the vowels, consonants, semivowels, sibilants and others — distinguished by such features as long and short measure. All-powerful Brahmā made use of this collection of sounds to produce from his four faces the four Vedas, which appeared together with the sacred omkāra and the seven vyāhṛti invocations. His intention was to propagate the process of Vedic sacrifice according to the different functions performed by the priests of each of the four Vedas.
Brahmā taught these Vedas to his sons, who were great sages among the brāhmaṇas and experts in the art of Vedic recitation. They in turn took the role of ācāryas and imparted the Vedas to their own sons. In this way, throughout the cycles of four ages, generation after generation of disciples — all firmly fixed in their spiritual vows — have received these Vedas by disciplic succession. At the end of each Dvāpara-yuga the Vedas are edited into separate divisions by eminent sages.
Observing that people in general were diminished in their life span, strength and intelligence by the influence of time, great sages took inspiration from the Personality of Godhead sitting within their hearts and systematically divided the Vedas. O brāhmaṇa, in the present age of Vaivasvata Manu, the leaders of the universe, led by Brahmā and Śiva, requested the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the protector of all the worlds, to save the principles of religion. O most fortunate Śaunaka, the almighty Lord, exhibiting a divine spark of a portion of His plenary portion, then appeared in the womb of Satyavatī as the son of Parāśara. In this form, named Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa, he divided the one Veda into four.
Śrīla Vyāsadeva separated the mantras of the Ṛg, Atharva, Yajur and Sāma Vedas into four divisions, just as one sorts out a mixed collection of jewels into piles. Thus he composed four distinct Vedic literatures. The most powerful and intelligent Vyāsadeva called four of his disciples, O brāhmaṇa, and entrusted to each of them one of these four samhitās.
Śrīla Vyāsadeva taught the first samhitā, the Ṛg Veda, to Paila and gave this collection the name Bahvṛca. To the sage Vaiśampāyana he spoke the collection of Yajur mantras named Nigada. He taught the Sāma Veda mantras, designated as the Chandoga-samhitā, to Jaimini, and he spoke the Atharva Veda to his dear disciple Sumantu. After dividing his samhitā into two parts, the wise Paila spoke it to Indrapramiti and Bāṣkala. Bāṣkala further divided his collection into four parts, O Bhārgava, and instructed them to his disciples Bodhya, Yājñavalkya, Parāśara and Agnimitra. Indrapramiti, the self-controlled sage, taught his samhitā to the learned mystic Māṇḍūkeya, whose disciple Devamitra later passed down the divisions of the Ṛg Veda to Saubhari and others.
The son of Māṇḍūkeya, named Śākalya, divided his own collection into five, entrusting one subdivision each to Vātsya, Mudgala, Śālīya, Gokhalya and Śiśira. The sage Jātūkarṇya was also a disciple of Śākalya, and after dividing the samhitā he received from Śākalya into three parts, he added a fourth section, a Vedic glossary. He taught one of these parts to each of four disciples — Balāka, the second Paila, Jābāla and Viraja. Bāṣkali assembled the Vālakhilya-samhitā, a collection from all the branches of the Ṛg Veda. This collection was received by Vālāyani, Bhajya and Kāśāra. Thus these various samhitās of the Ṛg Veda were maintained through disciplic succession by these saintly brāhmaṇas. Simply by hearing of this distribution of the Vedic hymns, one will be freed from all sins." (SB 12.6.43-60)
The disciplic succession of the Atharva Veda, of which the Muṇḍaka Upanisad is part, is also described:
"Sūta Gosvāmī said: Sumantu Ṛṣi, the authority on the Atharva Veda, taught his samhitā to his disciple Kabandha, who in turn spoke it to Pathya and Vedadarśa. Śauklāyani, Brahmabali, Modoṣa and Pippalāyani were disciples of Vedadarśa. Hear from me also the names of the disciples of Pathya. My dear brāhmaṇa, they are Kumuda, Śunaka and Jājali, all of whom knew the Atharva Veda very well. Babhru and Saindhavāyana, disciples of Śunaka, studied the two divisions of their spiritual master’s compilation of the Atharva Veda. Saindhavāyana’s disciple Sāvarṇa and disciples of other great sages also studied this edition of the Atharva Veda. Nakṣatrakalpa, Śāntikalpa, Kaśyapa, Āngirasa and others were also among the ācāryas of the Atharva Veda." (SB 12.7.1-4)
The Muṇḍaka Upanisad describes a conversation between the sage Angirasa and Śaunaka Rsi, the leader of the sages performing sacrifices in the forest of Naimiṣāraṇya. They started at the end of Dvapara-yuga and continued after the start of Kali-yuga. Although this great meeting of sages is commonly associated with the narration of the Srimad Bhagavatam by Sukadeva Goswami, it was also the stage for the narration of many other important scriptures.
The Muṇḍaka Upanisad was narrated at some point before the narration of the Srimad Bhagavatam, and it is organized into three parts or muṇḍakas, each divided into two sections or khandas, making a total of six sections. Like in other Upanisads, the text uses poetic and metaphorical language to convey the teachings, making a literal translation practically unintelligible.
The first section, 1.1, introduces the quest for knowledge of Śaunaka Rsi and presents the distinction between two types of knowledge inside the Vedas: para-vidya (spiritual knowledge, describing the nature of the Supreme Lord, the soul, our eternal relationship with Him and the process of devotional service) and apara-vidya (lower knowledge about fruitive activities and other material subjects). Understanding the distinction between the two is essential in understanding the Vedas because the same verses can be understood at both levels according to one's level of qualification. When interpreted based on apara-vidya, the verses of the Vedas appear to describe fruitive activities, rituals, and different branches of material knowledge, but when the higher meaning, para-vidya, is revealed, one can see that the verses actually describe the Lord and the process of devotional service that allow us to attain Him.
The first section also describes the structure of the universe and the process of creation and highlights the importance of approaching a qualified spiritual master to receive spiritual knowledge and guidance on the spiritual path. Without the expert guidance of a spiritual master, it is practically impossible for anyone to attain perfection, since one will not be able to find the correct understanding of the sastras alone. A self-taught seeker will always accumulate misunderstandings and deviate at a certain point. We can notice that all of this is discussed in just nine verses. That's how profound the words of the Upanisads are, and why a literal translation has very little utility.
The second section of the first part, 1.2, offers a practical illustration of the difference between the paths of para-vidya and apara-vidya, describing the process of sacrifice offered in the Vedas, and how the same instructions acquire different meanings and the same actions lead to different results according to the mentality of the performer. These verses offer very deep knowledge, but this knowledge becomes accessible only when studied under the right conclusions.
The first section of the second muṇḍaka, 2.1, describes the nature of the Lord, the nature of the souls, and how everything that exists is connected with Him. The soul shares the same spiritual qualities as the Supreme Lord, and is transcendental, just as He is. However, when we become entangled in matter, these qualities are covered. The whole material creation serves as a huge cycle of sacrifices that help us recover this original spiritual nature, progressing upwards, in a perfect arrangement created by the Lord. However, due to free will, one may refuse to progress on this path and instead lead a sinful life, being in the end degraded to the lower species of life.
The second section, 2.2, describes the difference between the Lord in the heart and the individual soul, as well as the eternal relationship between them. Although they share the same qualities and live together in the heart, they are not the same. The soul is meant to serve the Lord, but when we somehow become forgetful, we fall into illusion and become immersed in material distress and ignorance. When this illusion is removed, we find ourselves again immersed in eternal bliss in the service of the Lord.
This explanation is deepened in the first section of the third part, 3.1, which further explains the relationship between the soul and Paramatma using the analogy of two birds on a tree. The soul is the bird who eats, trying to enjoy the sweet and bitter fruits of the tree, while the Lord simply observes. When we forget our eternal position of service to the Lord, we become entrapped in the material tree. The Lord, however, remains transcendental and can help us. When we turn our face to the Lord, we become free from all material lamentation.
The final section, 3.2, concludes the book by describing more about the supreme nature of the Lord and the process of attaining Him. The Lord creates and maintains the whole material manifestation while simultaneously remaining aloof from it. The transcendental nature of the Lord is inconceivable and can't be understood by material intelligence. Only sincere service and devotion can convince the Lord to reveal Himself to the sincere seeker. Attaining such mercy, the perfect devotee becomes free from all coverings and joins the Lord in His eternal pastimes.
The Muṇḍaka Upanisad is considered one of the cornerstones of the Advaita school. Śaṅkarācārya wrote an extensive commentary on it, which defined much of the basis of the Mayavada philosophy. Superficially, it indeed appears that many of the verses describe the impersonal aspect and impersonal liberation, but when we dive deep we can see the verses actually describe the Supreme Lord in His personal aspect, the nature of the soul and devotional service to Him as the supreme goal of life. In this way, this commentary is not just an explanation of the Muṇḍaka Upanisad according to the Vaishnava school, but also a refutation of the Mayavada interpretation.
Both Srila Ranga Ramanuja and Srila Madhvacarya wrote brief commentaries on the Muṇḍaka Upanisad, and Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana explains the conclusions in his Govinda Bhasya. However, they are not easily understandable without the conclusions given by Srila Prabhupada in his books. It's only because Prabhupada explains the concepts discussed in the Upanisads in so much detail in his books that understanding the commentaries of the previous acaryas in their entirety becomes possible.