ମୁଣ୍ଡକ ଉପନିଷଦ୍ - ତୃତୀଯ ମୁଣ୍ଡକ, ପ୍ରଥମ କାଣ୍ଡଃ

Two birds, bound together in friendship, reside upon the same tree. One of them eats the fruit of the tree, while the other simply watches, without eating.

Dwelling on the same tree, the individual soul is overwhelmed by its own helplessness and grieves, caught in delusion. But when it beholds the other, the Lord who is worshiped by all, and recognizes His glory, it is freed from sorrow.

When the seer beholds the Golden Lord, the Creator, the Supreme Person who is the source of Brahma, he washes away both merit and sin, becomes taintless, and attains the highest state of equality with the Divine.

He is indeed the Life-breath that shines in all beings. Knowing this, the wise man ceases to be a mere disputer. Delighting in the Self, finding joy in the Self, and active in spiritual labor, he becomes the foremost among the knowers of Brahman.

This Self is attained by truth, by self-discipline, by complete knowledge, and by a life of purity, practiced constantly. He is within the body, radiant and pure, seen by those seekers who have cleansed themselves of all faults.

Truth alone triumphs, not falsehood. By truth is the path of the divine opened, the path by which the sages, whose desires have been fulfilled, ascend to where Truth has its supreme abode.

Vast, divine, and of unthinkable form, It shines more subtle than the subtlest. It is farther than the farthest, yet It is here close at hand, dwelling within the secret cave of the hearts of those who can see.

It is not grasped by the eye, nor by speech, nor by the other senses, nor by austerity or ritual action. Only when one’s being is purified by the serenity of knowledge does one behold that partless One through meditation.

This subtle Self is to be known by the mind, in which the life-breath has entered in five forms. The minds of all living beings are interwoven with the senses; when the mind is purified, the Self reveals Its own glory.

Whatever world the man of purified mind desires, and whatever objects he longs for, he attains that world and those objects. Therefore, let the seeker of prosperity worship the knower of the Self.