We can infer from 1.1.1 of the muNDaka Upaniṣad that Knowledge of the Self is not restricted to renunciates alone — it is imparted to householders as well. After all, Śaunaka himself was a householder, not a monk. What really matters is not one’s external status, but an inner readiness: the student must be free from preoccupation with worldly concerns and firmly resolved to realize the Self, without distraction.
शौनको ह वै महाशालोऽङ्गिरसं विधिवदुपसन्नः पप्रच्छ कस्मिन्नु भगवो विज्ञाते सर्वमिदं विज्ञातं भवतीति ॥ — 1.1.3, muNDaka upa.
[Meaning: Saunaka, well known as a great householder, having approached Angiras duly, asked, ‘O Adorable Sir, (which is that thing) which having been known, all this becomes known?’ (Translation: Swami Gambhirananda).]
Śaunaka is asking for that Knowledge, knowing which everything else becomes known. This is not just any question — it is the most fundamental inquiry possible. In fact, the Upaniṣads — especially those that follow the muNDaka — can be seen as extended responses to this very question. The teacher appreciates the depth of the inquiry but also makes it clear that the student must have the steadiness to abide in what is taught.
Aṅgiras goes on to declare that all forms of knowledge — including the Vedas and their auxiliaries — are inferior when compared to the Knowledge of the Self. Why? Because they do not directly reveal the Self.
Interestingly, this includes the Upaniṣads themselves! Since they are part of the Vedas, they too fall under “inferior knowledge.” What, then, is the point? The Upaniṣad is nudging us toward something subtle: the goal is not to cling to the words of scripture, but to arrive at the truth they point to.
अथ परा यया तदक्षरमधिगम्यते ॥ — 1.1.5, muNDaka upa.
[Meaning: Then there is the higher (Knowledge) by which the Imperishable Is attained.]
True Knowledge, then, is that by which the Self is directly and immediately realized. Any teaching that involves doing something — whether it is ritual, worship, meditation, or mantra repetition — does not directly lead to liberation. What is required is a clear understanding that produces what is often called a “thought-modification of the nature of brahman.”
Shankara explains this beautifully in his commentary:
यथा विधिविषये कर्त्राद्यनेककारकोपसंहारद्वारेण वाक्यार्थज्ञानकालादन्यत्रानुष्ठेयोऽर्थोऽस्त्यग्निहोत्रादिलक्षणः, न तथेह परविद्याविषये वाक्यार्थज्ञानसमकाल एव तु पर्यवसितो भवति, केवल शब्दप्रकाशितार्थज्ञानमात्र निष्ठाव्यतिरिक्ताभावात् । — Shankara’s commentary at 1.1.6, muNDaka.
[Meaning: In the matter of an injunction (vidhi), there is something to be done, as of the nature of agnihotra, etc., subsequent to the realization of its import, with the aid of many requisites, such as the doer, etc. However, in the matter of the Knowledge of brahman, there is nothing here to be done. It is accomplished simultaneously with the realization of the import of the text; for, there is nothing here except being centered in the Knowledge revealed by mere words. (Translation: S. Sitarama Sastri, 1905).]
In everyday learning — say, what we study in school — there’s usually a two-step process: first, we understand the theory; then, we put it into practice to get results. The same applies to Vedic rituals prescribed in the earlier portion of the Vedas (pUrva-mImAṃsA): understanding alone is not enough; action must follow.
But Self-knowledge is different. Here, fully grasping the meaning of the teaching is itself the “result.” There is no second step.
The Upaniṣad also reminds us that everything we see has emerged from a single primordial source. Yet we have forgotten this and become absorbed in the diversity of the manifested world. Fascinated by multiplicity, we turn to rituals and actions, thinking they will fulfill us.
प्लवा ह्येते अदृढा यज्ञरूपा अष्टादशोक्तमवरं येषु कर्म ।
एतच्छ्रेयो येऽभिनन्दन्ति मूढा जरामृत्युं ते पुनरेवापि यन्ति ॥ — 1.2.7, muNDaka upa.
[Meaning: Since these eighteen constituents of a sacrifice, on whom the inferior karma has been said to rest, are perishable because of their fragility, therefore, those ignorant people who get elated with the idea ‘This is (the cause of) bliss’, undergo old age and death over again. (Translation: Swami Gambhirananda).]
Mistaking action (karma) to be the source of lasting good, people get caught up in rituals and become habituated to them.
अविद्यायामन्तरे वर्तमानाः स्वयं धीराः पण्डितंमन्यमानाः ।
जङ्घन्यमानाः परियन्ति मूढा अन्धेनैव नीयमाना यथान्धाः ॥ — 1.2.8, muNDaka upa.
[Meaning: Remaining within the fold of ignorance and thinking, ‘We are ourselves wise and learned’, the fools, while being buffeted very much, ramble about like the blind led by the blind alone. (Translation: Swami Gambhirananda).]
Such people consider themselves wise, yet remain deeply action-oriented, never pausing to question whether they are on the right path.
Eventually, a more mature seeker begins to reflect:
परीक्ष्य लोकान्कर्मचितान्ब्राह्मणो निर्वेदमायान्नास्त्यकृतः कृतेन ।
तद्विज्ञानार्थं स गुरुमेवाभिगच्छेत्समित्पाणिः श्रोत्रियं ब्रह्मनिष्ठम् ॥ — 1.2.12, muNDaka upa.
[Meaning: A Brahmana should resort to renunciation after examining the worlds acquired through karma, with the help of this maxim: ‘There is nothing (here) that is not the result of karma; so what is the need of (performing) karma?’ For knowing that Reality he should go, with sacrificial faggots in hand, only to a teacher versed in the Vedas and absorbed in brahman. (Translation: Swami Gambhirananda).]
At this point, one recognizes that rituals, worship, and other actions cannot lead to Self-knowledge. A deep dispassion toward worldly pursuits arises. The first three human goals — dharma (righteousness), artha (wealth), and kAma (desire) — naturally fall away when one is committed to mokSa (liberation), the ultimate pursuit for all beings.
This can sound quite radical, even harsh. We are so used to achieving things through action that it feels counterintuitive to be told “do nothing.” But the Self is not something to be produced. It is ever-present.
One cannot graspIit as an object. The grasper, the act of grasping, and the object grasped are all nothing but That.
Take the example of space. Can we hold space in our hand? Our hand is in space; what is inside our hand is also space. Even if we close our fist tightly, space remains both inside and outside the hand. Space was there before the fist was formed. So how should we capture something that is already all-pervasive?
In the same way, the Self cannot be captured through action. But it can be “recognized” through Knowledge — through a certain kind of Vision.
When we perceive an object, our mind takes the form of that object. The thought “becomes” the object, as it were. This shows that cognition involves a matching between the knower and the known.
Now let us apply this to the Self. The Self is formless, all-pervasive — like space — but unlike space, it is full of awareness. Hence it is called cidAkAsha, the “Consciousness-Space.”
A quiet, steady mind — free from thought modifications — is itself cidAkAsha. In such a mind, name, form, and action deliquesce (pravilApyate – dissolve). It is like seeing space itself, rather than the objects in space. That seeing is the insight. Nothing more needs to be done.
न चक्षुषा गृह्यते नापि वाचा नान्यैर्देवैस्तपसा कर्मणा वा ।
ज्ञानप्रसादेन विशुद्धसत्त्वस्ततस्तु तं पश्यते निष्कलं ध्यायमानः ॥ — 3.1.8, muNDaka upa.
[Meaning: It is not comprehended through the eyes, nor through speech, nor through the other senses; nor is It attained through austerity or karma. Since one becomes purified in mind through the Grace of the Knowledge, therefore can one see that indivisible Self through contemplative meditation. Translation: Swami Gambhirananda – slightly edited). ]
Such an insight cannot be obtained through the eye nor the sensory organs. Nor through actions and askesis. It can be obtained only through a steady mind. One has to be stabilized in Self-knowledge alone, dropping the three qualities (sattva, rajas and tamas) and the veiling and projecting tendencies of the mind. Pure Consciousness alone will then reveal Itself.
Shankara makes a very significant observation while explaining the “Grace of the Knowledge” (ज्ञानप्रसादेन – jnAna prasAdena) in the above mantra.
(To Continue … Part 20 (muNDaka 3))