46 pages 1 hour read

Anonymous, Transl. Juan Mascaró

The Upanishads

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | BCE

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Chapters 5-7

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 5: “Mundaka Upanishad” - Chapter 7: “Svetasvatara Upanishad”

Chapter 5, Part 1, Subchapter 1 Summary

Brahma is the god who is the creator of all things. He shared with his son Atharvan a vision of Brahman, which was passed on down to the sage Angiras. This knowledge can be divided between higher and lower wisdom. 

Lower wisdom is the Vedas, the literary arts, and religious ritual. Higher wisdom is what leads to Brahman. As for the characteristics of Brahman, it is invisible, incomprehensible, “omnipresent,” and “infinite in the great and infinite in the small” (75) as well as the origin of all reality and Brahma himself. “Tapas” (75), the power of meditation, is how the universe itself was created.

Chapter 5, Part 1, Subchapter 2 Summary

The religious actions that came from Brahma’s vision were explained in the Vedas. During rituals involving the “sacred fire of Agnihotra” (76), the one performing the sacrifice has to take into account the time of year, the presence of guests, and complete the sacrifice according to the rules. Failing to do so will cause the one carrying out the ritual to “not attain the reward of seven worlds” (76). Sacrifices have to be conducted when the flames are brightest and the ritual has to take into account “the signs of heaven” (76).

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