Celebrating Shravan with Shiva -15

 Shiva Day Fifteen

The Concept of God in Hinduism by Swami Krishnanada

1.  The Mundaka Upanishad gives the image of the Supreme Being as the One Ocean into which all the rivers of individual existence enter and with which they become one, as their final goal. 

‘The Principal Upanishads’ by Subhamoy Das

The Mundaka Upanishad belongs to the Atharva Veda and has three chapters, each of which has two sections. The name is derived from the root 'mund' (to shave) as he that comprehends the teaching of the Upanishad is shaved or liberated from error and ignorance.

 The Upanishad clearly states the distinction between the higher knowledge of the Supreme Brahman and the lower knowledge of the empirical world — the six 'Vedangas' of phonetics, ritual, grammar, definition, metrics, and astrology. It is by this higher wisdom and not by sacrifices or worship, which are here considered 'unsafe boats', that one can reach the Brahman. Like the Katha, the Mundaka Upanishad warns against "the ignorance of thinking oneself learned and going around deluded like the blind leading the blind". Only an ascetic ('sanyasi') who has given up everything can obtain the highest knowledge.

The Mundaka Upanishad teaches meditation and spiritual knowledge regarding the true nature of Brahman and the Self (Atman). Brahman is a key concept found in the Vedas and the Upanishads. The Vedas conceptualize Brahman as the Cosmic Principle.