The Delusion

Here we are with the Mundaka Upanishad of Atharva Veda. The name is interesting: Mundaka Upanishad. It is surmised that ‘muṇdaka’ comes from ‘muṇda’, and ‘muṇda’ points towards the shaven head of the Brahmins who would practice austerity, the disciples of old carrying bald heads. We have seen those images. So, that is called a muṇda. From there comes the name Mundaka.

This Upanishad throws light on the path of knowledge. We call the Upanishads as belonging to the path of knowledge, Jñānamārga, and then we say the Bhaktimārga is the mārga of love, the path of devotion is synonymous with love. One should refuse to buy that distinction. The Upanishads are overflowing with love. If love is real, it can’t be sans discrimination or knowledge. And if you really have knowledge, you would be a very loving person. It’s just that your love would not be of the type you see all around.

After reading Mundaka Upanishad one can say poets are at work here. In fact, the Upanishads several times call the Rishis as kavis, poets. Not without reason: they are bringing to words that which is very abstract, and that is what a poet does; they are giving a face to that which is very conceptual, that is what a painter does. And then, when you give it a face, obviously you also give it a name, and that becomes the name of a god. So, those gods don’t really exist. They are names of something virtuous within.

In this course we will explore following topics in-depth:
All we see is delusion- How do you see something? You see something only when it blocks your vision. Do you see this? Only when it blocks your vision. You see something only when you take it as real, and the moment you see it, it is confirmed that it is real, right? as far as we are concerned, Maya is real to us. We don’t see through Maya; it obstructs our vision, and we do not see it as an obstruction. We call it the vision.

We choose delusion- A little speck of dust in your eyes can screen the sun away. That little thing is able to screen something as big as the sun. Why? Because you have allowed it to come too close to yourself. One sand particle from the beach, and the sun would be lost to you. Let it enter your eyes, and then see. Sun is gone.