On Mundaka Upanishad: Only the Self chooses the Self

Following is an excerpt from a samvaad (dialogue) session with Acharya Prashant.

नायमात्मा प्रवचनेन लभ्यो न मेधया न बहुना श्रुतेन ।
यमेवैष वृणुते तेन लभ्यस्तस्यैष आत्मा विवृणुते तनूं स्वाम् ॥

nāyamātmā pravacanena labhyo na medhayā na bahunā śrutena
yamevaiṣa vṛṇute tena labhyastasyaiṣa ātmā vivṛṇute tanūṃ svām

This Self is not won by exegesis, nor by brainpower, nor by much learning of Scripture. Only by him whom It chooses can It be won; to him, this Self unveils its own body.

~ Verse 3.2.3

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Acharya Prashant (AP): “This Self is not won by exegesis, nor by brainpower, nor by much learning of Scripture. Only by him whom It chooses can It be won; to him this Self unveils itself.”

Nāyamātmā pravacanena labhyo na medhayā na bahunā śrutena. A very famous and meaningful verse from Vedanta. In the same vein comes the next verse, and together these two verses will discount much that is usually thought to lead to the great Self, to…