Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 15.djvu/87

MUNDAKA-UPANISHAD.

FIRST MUNDAKA.

FIRST Khanda

1. Brahmâ was the first of the Devas, the maker of the universe, the preserver of the world. He told the knowlede of Brahman, the foundation of all knowledge, to his eldest son Atharva.^[1]

2. Whatever Brahmâ told Atharvan, that knowledge of Brahman Atharvan formerly told to Angir; he told it to Satyavâha Bhâradvâga, and Bhâradvâga told it in succession to Angiras.

3. Saunaka, the great householder, approached Angiras respectfully and asked: "Sir, what is that through which, if it is known, everything else becomes known?"

4. He said to him: "Two kinds of knowledge must be known, this is what all who know Brahman tell us, the higher and the lower knowledge."

5. "The lower knowledge is the Rig-veda, Yagur-veda, Sâma-veda, Atharva-veda, Sikshâ (phonetics), Kalpa (ceremonial), Vyâkarana (grammar), Nirukta (etymology), Khandas (metre), Gyotisha (astronomy)^[2];

1. The change between Atharva and Atharvan, like that between Nakiketas and Nâkiketa, shows the freedom of the phraseology of the Upanishad, and cannot be used for fixing the date of the constituent elements of the Upanishad.
2. Other MSS. add here itihâsa-purâna-nyâya-mimâmsâ-dharma-sâstrâni.