Verse 1
तदेतत् सत्यं मन्त्रेषु कर्माणि कवयो यान्यपश्यंस्तानि त्रेतायां बहुधा सन्ततानि । तान्याचरथ नियतं सत्यकामा एष वः पन्थाः सुकृतस्य लोके ॥ १॥
tadetat satyaṃ mantreṣu karmāṇi kavayo yānyapaśyaṃstāni tretāyāṃ bahudhā santatāni . tānyācaratha niyataṃ satyakāmā eṣa vaḥ panthāḥ sukṛtasya loke .. 1..
1 This is the Truth: The sacrificial works which were revealed to the rishis in the hymns have been described in many ways in the three Vedas. Practice them, being desirous to attain their true results. This is your path leading to the fruits of your works.
Verse 2
यदा लेलायते ह्यर्चिः समिद्धे हव्यवाहने । तदाऽऽज्यभागावन्तरेणाऽऽहुतीः प्रतिपादयेत् ॥ २॥
yadā lelāyate hyarciḥ samiddhe havyavāhane . tadā”jyabhāgāvantareṇā”hutīḥ pratipādayet .. 2..
2 When the fire is well lighted and the flames flicker, let a man offer his oblations in the space between the two portions of melted butter.
Verse 3
यस्याग्निहोत्रमदर्शमपौर्णमास- मचातुर्मास्यमनाग्रयणमतिथिवर्जितं च । अहुतमवैश्वदेवमविधिना हुत- मासप्तमांस्तस्य लोकान् हिनस्ति ॥ ३॥
yasyāgnihotramadarśamapaurṇamāsa- macāturmāsyamanāgrayaṇamatithivarjitaṃ ca . ahutamavaiśvadevamavidhinā huta- māsaptamāṃstasya lokān hinasti .. 3..
3 If a man’s Agnihotra sacrifice is not accompanied by the Darsa and the Paurnamasa sacrifice, by the Four Months’ sacrifice and the Autumnal sacrifice; if it is unattended by hospitality to guests or if the oblations are not offered at the right time; or if the sacrifice is unaccompanied by the Vaisvadeva ceremony or is improperly performed-then it destroys his seven worlds.
Verse 4
काली कराली च मनोजवा च सुलोहिता या च सुधूम्रवर्णा । स्फुलिङ्गिनी विश्वरुची च देवी लेलायमाना इति सप्त जिह्वाः ॥ ४॥
kālī karālī ca manojavā ca sulohitā yā ca sudhūmravarṇā . sphuliṅginī viśvarucī ca devī lelāyamānā iti sapta jihvāḥ .. 4..
4 Kali (the Black), Karali (the Terrific), Manojava (the Swift as thought), Sulohita (the Very red), Sudhumravarna (of the colour of bright smoke; purple), Splulingini (the Scintillating) and the luminous Visvaruchi (the All-gleaming, all- formed)-these seven, flickering about, form the seven tongues of the fire.
Verse 5
एतेषु यश्चरते भ्राजमानेषु यथाकालं चाहुतयो ह्याददायन् । तं नयन्त्येताः सूर्यस्य रश्मयो यत्र देवानां पतिरेकोऽधिवासः ॥ ५॥
eteṣu yaścarate bhrājamāneṣu yathākālaṃ cāhutayo hyādadāyan . taṃ nayantyetāḥ sūryasya raśmayo yatra devānāṃ patireko’dhivāsaḥ .. 5..
5 A man who performs the sacrifices when these flames are shining and offers oblations at the right time, is carried by these oblations on the rays of the sun to where dwells the sole sovereign of the gods.
Verse 6
एह्येहीति तमाहुतयः सुवर्चसः सूर्यस्य रश्मिभिर्यजमानं वहन्ति । प्रियां वाचमभिवदन्त्योऽर्चयन्त्य एष वः पुण्यः सुकृतो ब्रह्मलोकः ॥ ६॥
ehyehīti tamāhutayaḥ suvarcasaḥ sūryasya raśmibhiryajamānaṃ vahanti . priyāṃ vācamabhivadantyo’rcayantya eṣa vaḥ puṇyaḥ sukṛto brahmalokaḥ .. 6..
6 The luminous oblations say to the sacrifiers: Come hither! Come hither! And lead him on the rays of the sun, worshipping him all the while and greeting him with the pleasant words: This is the holy heaven of Brahma, earned by your good deeds.
Verse 7
प्लवा ह्येते अदृढा यज्ञरूपा अष्टादशोक्तमवरं येषु कर्म । एतच्छ्रेयो येऽभिनन्दन्ति मूढा जरामृत्युं ते पुनरेवापि यन्ति ॥ ७॥
plavā hyete adṛḍhā yajñarūpā aṣṭādaśoktamavaraṃ yeṣu karma . etacchreyo ye’bhinandanti mūḍhā jarāmṛtyuṃ te punarevāpi yanti .. 7..
7 But frail indeed are those rafts of sacrifices, conducted by eighteen persons, upon whom rests the inferior work; therefore they are destructible. Fools who rejoice in them as the Highest Good fall victims again and again to old age and death.
Verse 8
अविद्यायामन्तरे वर्तमानाः स्वयं धीराः पण्डितं मन्यमानाः । जङ्घन्यमानाः परियन्ति मूढा अन्धेनैव नीयमाना यथान्धाः ॥ ८॥
avidyāyāmantare vartamānāḥ svayaṃ dhīrāḥ paṇḍitaṃ manyamānāḥ . jaṅghanyamānāḥ pariyanti mūḍhā andhenaiva nīyamānā yathāndhāḥ .. 8..
8 Fools, dwelling in darkness, but wise in their own conceit and puffed up with vain scholarship, wander about, being afflicted by many ills, like blind men led by the blind.
Verse 9
अविद्यायं बहुधा वर्तमाना वयं कृतार्था इत्यभिमन्यन्ति बालाः । यत् कर्मिणो न प्रवेदयन्ति रागात् तेनातुराः क्षीणलोकाश्च्यवन्ते ॥ ९॥
avidyāyaṃ bahudhā vartamānā vayaṃ kṛtārthā ityabhimanyanti bālāḥ . yat karmiṇo na pravedayanti rāgāt tenāturāḥ kṣīṇalokāścyavante .. 9..
9 Children, immersed in ignorance in various ways, flatter themselves, saying: We have accomplished life’s purpose. Because these performers of karma do not know the Truth owing to their attachment, they fall from heaven, misery- stricken, when the fruit of their work is exhausted.
Verse 10
इष्टापूर्तं मन्यमाना वरिष्ठं नान्यच्छ्रेयो वेदयन्ते प्रमूढाः । नाकस्य पृष्ठे ते सुकृतेऽनुभूत्वेमं लोकं हीनतरं वा विशन्ति ॥ १०॥
iṣṭāpūrtaṃ manyamānā variṣṭhaṃ nānyacchreyo vedayante pramūḍhāḥ . nākasya pṛṣṭhe te sukṛte’nubhūtvemaṃ lokaṃ hīnataraṃ vā viśanti .. 10..
10 Ignorant fools, regarding sacrifices and humanitarian works as the highest, do not know any higher good. Having enjoyed their reward on the heights of heaven, gained by good works, they enter again this world or a lower one.
Verse 11
तपःश्रद्धे ये ह्युपवसन्त्यरण्ये शान्ता विद्वांसो भैक्ष्यचर्यां चरन्तः । सूर्यद्वारेण ते विरजाः प्रयान्ति यत्रामृतः स पुरुषो ह्यव्ययात्मा ॥ ११॥
tapaḥśraddhe ye hyupavasantyaraṇye śāntā vidvāṃso bhaikṣyacaryāṃ carantaḥ . sūryadvāreṇa te virajāḥ prayānti yatrāmṛtaḥ sa puruṣo hyavyayātmā .. 11..
11 But those wise men of tranquil minds who lives in the forest on alms, practising penances appropriate to their stations of life and contemplating such deities as Hiranyagarbha, depart, freed from impurities, by the Path of the Sun, to the place where that immortal Person dwells whose nature is imperishable.
Verse 12
परीक्ष्य लोकान् कर्मचितान् ब्राह्मणो निर्वेदमायान्नास्त्यकृतः कृतेन । तद्विज्ञानार्थं स गुरुमेवाभिगच्छेत् समित्पाणिः श्रोत्रियं ब्रह्मनिष्ठम् ॥ १२॥
parīkṣya lokān karmacitān brāhmaṇo nirvedamāyānnāstyakṛtaḥ kṛtena . tadvijñānārthaṃ sa gurumevābhigacchet samitpāṇiḥ śrotriyaṃ brahmaniṣṭham .. 12..
12 Let a brahmin, after having examined all these worlds that are gained by works, acquire freedom from desires: nothing that is eternal can be produced by what is not eternal. In order that he may understand that Eternal, let him, fuel in hand, approach a guru who is well versed in the Vedas and always devoted to Brahman.
Verse 13
तस्मै स विद्वानुपसन्नाय सम्यक् प्रशान्तचित्ताय शमान्विताय । येनाक्षरं पुरुषं वेद सत्यं प्रोवाच तां तत्त्वतो ब्रह्मविद्याम् ॥ १३॥ ॥ इति मुण्डकोपनिषदि प्रथममुण्डके द्वितीयः खण्डः ॥
tasmai sa vidvānupasannāya samyak praśāntacittāya śamānvitāya . yenākṣaraṃ puruṣaṃ veda satyaṃ provāca tāṃ tattvato brahmavidyām .. 13.. .. iti muṇḍakopaniṣadi prathamamuṇḍake dvitīyaḥ khaṇḍaḥ ..
13 To that pupil who has duly approached him, whose mind is completely serene and whose senses are controlled, the wise teacher should indeed rightly impart the Knowledge of Brahman, through which one knows the immutable and the true Purusha.