Mantra 3

शौनको ह वै महाशालोऽङ्गिरसं विधिवदुपसन्नः पप्रच्छ ।कस्मिन्नु भगवो विज्ञाते सर्वमिदं विज्ञातं भवतीति ॥ ३ ॥

PLATE IIMUṆḌAKA I.I.3–5kasminnu bhagavo vijñāte sarvamidaṃ vijñātaṃ bhavatiwhat is it that, being known, makes all this known?aparāthe lowerṛgvedayajurvedasāmavedaatharvavedaśikṣā · kalpa · vyākaraṇanirukta · chandas · jyotiṣaa list; it can be finishedparāthe higheryayā tad akṣaram adhigamyatereaching the imperishable
Śaunaka asks for the one thing whose knowing is the knowing of everything, and is answered with a distinction between two kinds of knowledge.The lower is drawn as a list because it is one and can be completed; the higher cannot be enumerated and is drawn as a single centre. The asymmetry between the two sides is the mantra's point, not a shortage of items.

In plain words

Śaunaka, a great householder, approached Aṅgiras in the prescribed manner and asked: ‘Venerable Sir, what is that which, being known, makes all this known?’