Mundaka Upanishad - Mundaka 3, Section 1 - Konkani

This document is in सरल देवनागरी (Devanagari) script, which is commonly used for Konkani language. You can also view this in ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada) script, which is also sometimes used for Konkani language.

मुंडक उपनिषद् - तृतीय मुंडक, प्रथम कांडः

The first section of the third Mundaka is one of the most direct realization-oriented passages in the Upanishads. The earlier chapters established knowledge hierarchy, कर्म's limits, cosmic dependence, and contemplative method; this section now speaks from the threshold of realization itself. Its language is therefore simultaneously symbolic, diagnostic, and liberating.

This section is famous for the two-birds imagery, the declaration सत्यमेव जयते, and explicit statements about the conditions of Self-realization. It moves from bondage-description to seeing, from seeing to purification, from purification to sameness with Brahman, and from contemplative maturity to existential freedom.

॥ तृतीय मुंडके प्रथमः खंडः ॥

Translation (भावार्थ):
This is the first section of the third Mundaka, where the Upanishad turns explicitly toward direct realization and its marks.

द्वा सुपर्णा सयुजा सखाया समानं वृक्षं परिषस्वजाते ।
तयोरन्यः पिप्पलं स्वाद्वत्त्यनश्नन्नन्यो अभिचाकशीति ॥ 1॥

Translation (भावार्थ):
Two companion birds sit on the same tree: one eats the sweet fruit, while the other does not eat and simply watches.

समाने वृक्षे पुरुषो निमग्नोऽनिशया शोचति मुह्यमानः ।
जुष्टं यदा पश्यत्यन्यमीशमस्य
महिमानमिति वीतशोकः ॥ 2॥

Translation (भावार्थ):
On that same tree, the embodied person, sunk in confusion, grieves in helplessness. But when he sees the other - the Lord and His glory - he becomes free from sorrow.

यदा पश्यः पश्यते रुक्मवर्णं
कर्तारमीशं पुरुषं ब्रह्मयोनिम् ।
तदा विद्वान् पुण्यपापे विधूय
निरंजनः परमं साम्यमुपैति ॥ 3॥

Translation (भावार्थ):
When the seeker truly beholds the radiant Lord, the source-ground, then becoming wise, he casts off bondage to virtue and vice, becomes stainless, and attains supreme sameness.

प्रणो ह्येष यः सर्वभूतैर्विभाति
विजानन् विद्वान् भवते नातिवादी ।
आत्मक्रीड आत्मरतिः क्रियावा-
नेष ब्रह्मविदां वरिष्ठः ॥ 4॥

Translation (भावार्थ):
That one life-principle shines through all beings. Knowing this, the wise does not indulge in empty over-speech; delighting in the Self and established in right action, he becomes foremost among knowers of Brahman.

सत्येन लभ्यस्तपसा ह्येष आत्मा
सम्यग्ज्ञानेन ब्रह्मचर्येण नित्यम् ।
अंतःशरीरे ज्योतिर्मयो हि शुभ्रो
यं पश्यंति यतयः क्षीणदोषाः ॥ 5॥

Translation (भावार्थ):
This Self is realized through truth, austerity, right knowledge, and sustained sacred discipline; the pure luminous reality within is seen by disciplined seekers whose defects are worn down.

सत्यमेव जयते नानृतं
सत्येन पंथा विततो देवयानः ।
येनाऽऽक्रमंत्यृषयो ह्याप्तकामा
यत्र तत् सत्यस्य परमं निधानम् ॥ 6॥

Translation (भावार्थ):
Truth alone prevails, not falsehood. By truth the path of the gods is spread out; fulfilled sages traverse it to the supreme treasure of Truth.

बृहच्च तद् दिव्यमचिंत्यरूपं
सूक्ष्माच्च तत् सूक्ष्मतरं विभाति ।
दूरात् सुदूरे तदिहांतिके च
पश्यंत्विहैव निहितं गुहायाम् ॥ 7॥

Translation (भावार्थ):
That reality is vast, luminous, and beyond conceptual form; subtler than the subtle, farther than the farthest yet here very near - established in the heart-cave itself.

न चक्षुषा गृह्यते नापि वाचा
नान्यैर्देवैस्तपसा कर्मण वा ।
ज्ञानप्रसादेन विशुद्धसत्त्व-
स्ततस्तु तं पश्यते निष्कलं
ध्यायमानः ॥ 8॥

Translation (भावार्थ):
It is not grasped by eye, speech, senses, austerity, or ritual alone; but through knowledge-born clarity and purified mind, the meditating seeker beholds that partless reality.

एषोऽणुरात्मा चेतसा वेदितव्यो
यस्मिन् प्राणः पंचधा संविवेश ।
प्राणैश्चित्तं सर्वमोतं प्रजानां
यस्मिन् विशुद्धे विभवत्येष आत्मा ॥ 9॥

Translation (भावार्थ):
This subtle Self is to be known by refined awareness; in that field the fivefold vital force operates, and the minds of beings are woven with vital energies. When this inner instrument is purified, the Self shines forth.

यं यं लोकं मनसा संविभाति
विशुद्धसत्त्वः कामयते यांश्च कामान् ।
तं तं लोकं जयते तांश्च कामां-
स्तस्मादात्मज्ञं ह्यर्चयेत् भूतिकामः ॥ 10॥

Translation (भावार्थ):
Whatever realm and aims a purified-minded seeker truly envisions, those are attained; therefore one who seeks genuine well-being should honor the knower of the Self.

॥ इति मुंडकोपनिषदि तृतीयमुंडके प्रथमः खंडः ॥

Translation (भावार्थ):
Thus ends the first section of the third Mundaka in the Mundaka Upanishad.

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