: himself, that nothing which is obtained through perishable means can be expected to be eternal hence what use of rites? He then, with a view to acquire a knowledge of superior learning, shall proceed, with a load of wood in his hand, to a spiritual teacher who is versed in the doctrines of the Vedas and has firm faith in God. The wise teacher shall properly instruct his pupil so devoted to him, freed from the importunities of external senses, and possessed of tranquillity of mind, in the knowledge through which he may know the eternal Supreme Being. End of the first Mundakam. He, the subject of the superior knowledge, alone is true. As from a blazing fire thousands of sparks of the same nature proceed, so from the eternal Supreme Being (0 beloved pupil) various souls come forth, and again they return into him. He is immortal and without form or figure, omnipresent, pervading external and internal objects, unborn, without breath or individual mind, pure and superior to eminently exalted nature. From him the first sensitive particle, or the seed of the universe, individual intellect, all the senses and their objects, also vacuum, air, light, water, and the earth which contains all things, proceed. Heaven is his head, and the sun and moon are his eyes; space is his ears, the celebrated Vedas are his speech; air is his breath, the world is his intellect, and the earth is his feet; for he is the soul of the whole universe. By him the sky, which is illuminated by the sun, is produced; clouds, which have their origin from the effects of the moon, accumulating them in the sky, bring forth vegetables in the earth; man imparts the essence drawn from these vegetables, to woman; then through the combination of such physical causes, numerous offspring come forth from the omnipresent Supreme Being. From him all the texts of the Vedas, consisting of verses, musical compositions, and prose, proceed; in like manner by him are produced Diksha or certain preliminary ceremonies, and sacrifices, without sacrificial posts or with them; fees lastly offered in sacrifices, time, and the principal person who institutes the performance of sacrifices and defrays their expenses; as well as future mansions, where the moon effects purification and where the sun shines. By him gods of several descriptions, all celestial beings subordinate to those gods, mankind, animals, birds, both breath and peditum, wheat and barley, austerity, conviction, truth, duties of ascetics, and rules for conducting human life, were created. From him seven individual senses within the head proceed, as well as their seven respective inclinations towards their objects, their seven objects, and ideas acquired through them, and their seven organs (two eyes, two ears, the two passages of nose and mouth), in which those senses are situated in every living creature, and which never cease to act except at the time of sleep. From him, oceans and all mountains proceed, and various rivers flow all vegetables, tastes, (consisting of sweet, salt, pungent, bitter, sour, and astringent) united with which the visible elementary substance encloses the corpuscle situate in the heart. The Supreme existence is himself all-rites as well as their rewards. He therefore is the Supreme and Immortal. He who knows him (O beloved pupil) as residing in the hearts of all animate beings, disentangles the knot of ignorance in this world. End of the first section of the 2nd Mundakam. God, as being resplendent and most proximate to all creatures, is styled the operator in the heart; he is great and all-sustaining; for on him rest all existences, such as those that move, those that breathe, those that twinkle, and those that do not. Such is God. You all contemplate him as the support of all objects, visible and invisible, the chief .end of human pursuit. He surpasses all human understanding, and is the most pre-eminent. He, who irradiates the sun and other bodies, who is smaller than an atom, larger than the world, and in whom is the abode of all the divisions of the universe, and of all their inhabitants, is the eternal God, the origin of breath, speech, and intellect,. as well as of all the senses. He, the origin of all the senses, the true and unchangeable Supreme Being, should be meditated upon; and do thou (O beloved pupil) apply constantly thy mind him. Seizing the bow found in the Upanishads, the strongest of weapons, man shall draw the arrow (of the soul), sharpened by the constant application of mind to God. Do thou (0 pupil), This corpuscle is supposed to be constituted of all the various elements that enter into the composition of the animal frame. Within it the soul has its residence, and acting upon it, operates through its medium in the whole system. To this corpuscle the soul remains attached through all changes of being, until finally absorbed into the Supreme Intelligence. being in the same practice, withdrawing all the senses from worldly objects, through the mind directed towards the Supreme Being, hit the mark which is the eternal God. The word Om, signifying God, is represented as the bow, the soul as the arrow, and the Supreme Being as its aim, which a man of steady mind should hit he then shall be united to God as the arrow to its mark. In God, heaven, earth, and space reside, and also intellect, with breath and all the senses. Do you strive to know solely the ONE Supreme Being, and forsake all other discourse; because this (a true knowledge respecting God) is the only way to eternal beautitude. The veins of the body are inserted into the heart, like the radius of a wheel into its nave. There the Supreme Being, as the origin of the notion of individuality, and of its various circumstances, resides; Him, through the help of Om, you will contemplate. Blessed be ye in crossing over the ocean of dark ignorance to absorption into God. He who knows the universe collectively, distinctively, whose majesty is fully evident in the world, operates within the space of the heart, his luminous abode. He is perceptible only by intellect; and removes the breath and corpuscle, in which the soul resides, from one substance to another supporting intellectual faculties, he is seated in the heart. Wise men acquire a knowledge of him, who shines eternal, and the source of all happiness, through the pure knowledge conveyed to them by the Vedas and by spiritual fathers. God, who is All-in-all, being known to man as the origin of intellect and selfconsciousness, every desire of the mind ceases, all doubts are removed, and the effects of the good or evil actions committed, now or in preceding shapes, are totally annihilated. The Supreme Being, free from stain, devoid of figure or form, and entirely pure, the light of all lights, resides in the heart, his resplendently excellent seat those discriminating men, who know him as the origin of intellect and of self-consciousness, are possessed of the real notion of God. Neither the sun nor the moon, nor yet the stars, can throw light on God: even the illuminating lightning cannot throw light upon him, much less can limited fire give him light imitate him, and all borrow their light from him. immortal: he extends before, behind, to the right, to the left, beneath and above. He is the Supreme, and All-in-all. End of the Second Mundakam. but they all God alone is Two birds (meaning God and the soul) cohabitant and co-essential, reside unitedly in one tree, which is the body. One of them (the soul) consumes the variously tasted fruits of its actions; but the other (God), without partaking of them, witnesses all events. The soul so pressed down in the body, being deluded with ignorance, grieves at its own insufficiency; but when it perceives its cohabitant, the adorable Lord of the Universe, the origin of itself, and his glory, it feels relieved from grief and infatuation. When a wise man perceives the resplendent God, the Creator and Lord of the Universe and the omnipresent prime Cause, he then, abandoning the consequences of good and evil works, becomes perfect, and obtains entire absorption. A wise man knowing God as perspicuously residing in all creatures, forsakes all idea of duality; being convinced that there is only one real Existence, which is God. He then directs all his senses towards God alone, the origin of self-consciousness, and on him exclusively he places his love, abstracting at the same time his mind from all worldly objects by constantly applying it to God: the person so devoted is reckoned the most perfect among the votaries of the Deity. Through strict veracity, the uniform direction of mind and senses, and through notions acquired from spiritual teachers, as well as by abstinence from sexual indulgence, man should approach God, who full of splendour and perfection, works in the heart; and to whom only the votaries freed from passion and desire can approximate. : He who practises veracity prospers, and not he who speaks untruths the way to eternal beatitude is open to him who without omission speaketh truth. This is that way through which the saints, extricated from all desires, proceed to the Supreme Existence, the consequence of the observance of truth. He is great and incomprehensible by the senses, and consequently his nature is beyond human conception. He, though more subtle than vacuum itself, shines in various ways. From those who do not know him, he is at a greater distance than the limits of space, and to those who acquire a knowledge of him, he is most proximate; and while residing in animate creatures, he is perceived obscurely by those who apply The difference between God, the intellectual principle, and the soul, the individual intellect, subsists as long as the idea of self-individuality is retained; like the distinction between finite and infinite space, which ceases as soon as the idea of particular figure is done away. their thoughts to him. He is not perceptible by vision, nor is he describable by means of speech: neither can he be the object of any of the other organs of sense; nor can he be conceived by the help of austerities or religious rites: but a person whose mind is purified by the light of true knowledge, through incessant contemplation, perceives him, the most pure God. Such is the invisible Supreme Being: he should be observed in the heart, wherein breath, consisting of five species, rests. The mind being perfectly freed from impurity, God, who spreads over the mind and all the senses, imparts a knowledge of himself to the heart. A pious votary of God obtains whatever division of the world and whatever desirable object he may wish to acquire for himself or for another: therefore any one, who is desirous of honour and advantage should revere him. End of the 1st section of the 3rd Mundakam. Those wise men who, abandoning all desires, revere the devotee who has acquired a knowledge of the supreme exaltation of God, on whom the whole universe rests, and who is perfect and illuminates everywhere, will never be subjected to further birth. He who, contemplating the various effects of objects visible or invisible, feels a desire to obtain them, shall be born again with those feelings but the man satisfied with a knowledge of and faith in God, blessed by a total destruction of ignorance, forsakes all such desires even during his life. : A knowledge of God, the prime object, is not acquirable from study of the Vedas, nor through retentive memory, nor yet by continual hearing of spiritual instruction: but he who seeks to obtain a knowledge of God is gifted with it, God rendering himself conspicuous to him.. No man deficient in faith or discretion can obtain a knowledge of God; nor can even he who possesses wisdom mingled with the desire of fruition, gain it but the soul of a wise man who, through firm belief, prudence, and pure understanding, not biassed by worldly desire, seeks for knowledge, will be absorbed into God. The saints who, wise and firm, were satisfied sololy with a knowledge of God, assured of the soul's divine origin, exempt from passion, and possessed of tranquillity of mind, having found God the omnipresent everywhere, have after death been absorbed into him; even |