India has millennia-long tradition of spirituality and metaphysical thought. In its worldview, the Absolute/Supreme Reality defies all verbal descriptions – though it is visualizable in countless ways. The Upanishads, accordingly, are diverse expressions of the one vision of this very Reality. The Mundaka, however, holds a special place in the writings of the genre: not because of its emphasis on shraddha (belief) – ften in one’s guru, but primarily for its vehement denunciation of the Vedic ritualism. Which perhaps explains why sannyasins (the renunciate monks) treat this Upanishad as a spiritual authority for the way of life they have chosen to live. Here is a brilliant, critical interpretation – in contemporary idiom – of the Mundaka Upanishad, showing how a seeker can cogitate/meditate upon the Supreme Reality – or, in other words, how one can have the transcendental experience of cosmic Consciousness. The book looks afresh at some of the perpetually puzzling questions that Mundaka addresses – questions, like for instance: What is the nature of Brahman, the one Casual Reality? How can a seeker know it? Who can be eligible for its knowledge? Offering an indepth, analytical commentary on this time-honoured text, Swami Muni Narayana Prasad presents at once appropriate metaphors, analogies and, these besides, backgrounds to the varying contexts that not only elucidate various philosophical terms and concepts in all their underlying shades of meanings, but also provides rich insights into this Upanishad. Complete with the original Sanskrit text and its Roman transliteration, this work is a must for all keen on discovering the essential meaning of the Upanishadic thought and meditating upon ‘"wisdom’s ineffable core".
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