तदेतत्सत्यं मन्त्रेषु कर्माणि कवयो यान्यपश्यंस्तानि त्रेतायां बहुधा संततानि ।तान्याचरथ नियतं सत्यकामा एष वः पन्थाः सुकृतस्य लोके ॥ १ ॥
In plain words
This is truth: the Karmas that the seers saw in the mantras are spread in many ways through the Tretā. Practise them regularly, seekers of truth; this is your path to the world won by good deeds.
The commentators
Muṇḍakopaniṣadbhāṣyam· bhāṣya
साङ्गा वेदा अपरा विद्योक्ता 'ऋग्वेदो यजुर्वेद' इत्या- दिना । 'यत्तदद्रेश्यम्' इत्यादिना 'नामरूपमन्नं च जायते' इत्यन्तेन ग्रन्थेनोक्तलक्षणमक्षरं यया विद्ययाधिगम्यत इति सा परा विद्या सविशेषणोक्ता । अतः परमनयोर्विद्ययोर्विषयौ विवक्तव्यौ संसारमोक्षावित्युत्तरो ग्रन्थ आरभ्यते । तत्राप- रविद्याविषयः कर्मादिसाधनक्रियाफलभेदरूपः संसारोऽना- दिरनन्तो दुःखस्वरूपत्वाद्धातव्यः प्रत्येकं शरीरिभिः साम- स्त्येन नदीस्रोतोवद्विच्छेद रूपसम्बन्धस्तदुपशमलक्षणो मोक्षः परविद्याविषयोऽनाद्यनन्तोऽजरोऽमरोऽमृतोऽभयः शुद्धः प्र- सन्नः स्वात्मप्रतिष्ठालक्षणः परमानन्दोऽद्वय इति । पूर्वं ताव- दपरविद्याया विषयप्रदर्शनार्थमारम्भः । तद्दर्शने हि तन्निर्वे- दोपपत्तिः । तथा च वक्ष्यति—'परीक्ष्य लोकान्कर्मचितान्' इत्यादिना । न ह्यप्रदर्शिते परीक्षोपपद्यत इति तत्प्रदर्शय- न्नाह— तदेतत् सत्यम् अवितथम् । किं तत् ? मन्त्रेषु ऋग्वेदाद्याख्येषु कर्माणि अग्निहोत्रादीनि मन्त्रैरेव प्रकाशि- तानि कवय मेधाविनो वसिष्ठादय यानि अपश्यन् दृष्टव- न्तः । यत्तदेतत्सत्यमेकान्तपुरुषार्थसाधनत्वात् , तानि च वेद- विहितानि ऋषिदृष्टानि कर्माणि त्रेताया त्रयीसंयोगलक्षणाया हौत्राध्वर्य्वौद्गात्रप्रकारायामधिकरणभूताया बहुधा बहुप्रकार सन्ततानि सप्रवृत्तानि कर्मिभि क्रियमाणानि त्रेताया वा युगे प्रायश प्रवृत्तानि , अतो यूय तानि आचरथ निर्वर्तयत निय- त नित्य सत्यकामा यथाभूतकर्मफलकामा सन्त । एष व युष्माक पन्था मार्ग सुकृतस्य स्वय निर्वर्तितस्य कर्मण लोके फलनिमित्त लोक्यते दृश्यते भुज्यत इति कर्मफल लोक उच्य- ते । तदर्थं तत्प्राप्तये एष मार्ग इत्यर्थ । यान्येतान्यग्निहोत्रादीनि त्रय्या विहितानि कर्माणि, तान्येष पन्था अवश्यफलप्राप्ति- साधनमित्यर्थ ॥
In plain words
The Vedas together with their auxiliary disciplines were identified as lower vidyā in the passage beginning with “Ṛgveda, Yajurveda,” and the rest. Higher vidyā was then defined in the passage from “That which is invisible” through “from it arise name, form, and food”: through this vidyā one realizes the Akṣara described by those marks. The next passage distinguishes what the two kinds of vidyā concern—saṃsāra and mokṣa. Lower vidyā concerns saṃsāra, the beginningless flow of karma, its means, and its many fruits. Because that flow is suffering by nature, every embodied being must leave it behind; taken as a whole, it continues unbroken like a river. Higher vidyā concerns mokṣa, the ending of that flow: it is beginningless and endless, beyond decay and death, immortal and fearless, pure and clear, abiding in one’s own Ātman, supreme bliss without a second. The text first shows the realm of lower vidyā, because only after seeing it can one turn away from it. It will later say, “Having examined the worlds built by karma.” One cannot examine what has not first been shown, so the mantra begins, “This is the truth”—the rites are unfailing in their own sphere. What rites? Agnihotra and the other karmas disclosed by the mantras of the Ṛgveda and the other Vedas, which wise seers such as Vasiṣṭha perceived. They are “true” because they reliably lead to the specific human end for which they are performed. These Vedic karmas spread into many forms in the Tretā, understood as the conjunction of the three Vedas and the field of the Hotṛ, Adhvaryu, and Udgātṛ priests. Tretā may also mean the age in which these rites were widely practiced. Therefore, keep performing them, you who desire their actual fruits. The “world of sukṛta” is the realm where the fruit of one’s own well-performed karma is seen and enjoyed. The path to that realm is precisely these Agnihotra and other rites taught by the triple Veda; they bring their appointed fruit without fail.
Close to the Sanskrit
The Vedas with their auxiliary disciplines were stated to be lower vidyā by the words beginning “Ṛgveda, Yajurveda,” and so on. By the passage beginning “That which is invisible” and ending “from it arise name, form, and food,” higher vidyā was stated with its defining marks: by it one attains the Akṣara described there. The following text therefore begins in order to distinguish the objects of these two vidyās, saṃsāra and mokṣa. The object of lower vidyā is saṃsāra, which consists in distinctions of karma, its means, and its fruits. It is beginningless and endless; because its nature is suffering, each embodied being must abandon it. Collectively it is a relation of unbroken continuity, like the current of a river. Mokṣa, whose mark is the cessation of that saṃsāra, is the object of higher vidyā: beginningless and endless, undecaying, deathless, immortal, fearless, pure, serene, marked by abiding in one’s own Ātman, supreme bliss, nondual. First, the text begins by showing the object of lower vidyā, for on seeing it, dispassion toward it becomes possible. Accordingly, it will later say, “Having examined the worlds built by karma,” and so on. Examination is not possible when the object has not been shown; therefore, showing it, the text says, “That is this truth”—it is unfailing. What is it? The karmas such as Agnihotra, revealed by the mantras in what are called the Ṛgveda and the other Vedas, which the seers, the wise such as Vasiṣṭha, saw. They are true in the sense that they are an unfailing means to their specific human end. Those Veda-ordained karmas seen by the ṛṣis are spread out in many forms in the Tretā: the conjunction of the three Vedas that serves as the sphere of the Hotṛ, Adhvaryu, and Udgātṛ functions. Or they were widely practiced in the Tretā age. Therefore, perform them continually, you who desire the true fruits of karma. “This is your path of sukṛta in the world”: “world” is that in which the fruit of one’s own well-performed karma is seen, experienced, and enjoyed. This path is for reaching that world. In other words, those Agnihotra and other karmas enjoined by the triple Veda are the path that unfailingly brings their fruit.