Seek the one who is Truthful || On Mundaka Upanishad (2021)

यदा पश्यः पश्यते रुक्मवर्णं कर्तारमीशं पुरुषं ब्रह्मयोनिम् । तदा विद्वान्पुण्यपापे विधूय निरञ्जनः परमं साम्यमुपैति ॥

yadā paśyaḥ paśyate rukmavarṇaṃ kartāramīśaṃ puruṣaṃ brahmayonim tadā vidvānpuṇyapāpe vidhūya nirañjanaḥ paramaṃ sāmyamupaiti

When the seer sees the golden-hued, the maker, the Lord, the Spirit who is one with Brahman, then he becomes the knower and shakes from his wings sin and virtue; pure of all stain he reaches the supreme identity.

~ Verse 3.1.3, Mundaka Upanishad

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Acharya Prashant (AP): So, the previous two verses have talked of the two birds perched on the same branch of the same tree—very similar, very alike, brothers of the same breed. One of the birds is busy enjoying the fruit of the tree, and the other bird just dispassionately watches. The sage very poetically clarifies that the bird that engages in consumption is the ‘I’ we typically identify with and call as aham or ego, and the bird that just watches is the ‘I’ that remains our calling, our coveted yet unreached destination: the Self, the Truth, Ātman.