On Mundaka Upanishad: Purify the doer and the deeds will be set right

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

न चक्षुषा गृह्यते नापि वाचा नान्यैर्देवैस्तपसा कर्मण वा ।
ज्ञानप्रसादेन विशुद्धसत्त्वस्ततस्तु तं पश्यते निष्कलं ध्यायमानः ॥

na cakṣuṣā gṛhyate nāpi vācā nānyairdevaistapasā karmaṇa vā
jñānaprasādena viśuddhasattvastatastu taṃ paśyate niṣkalaṃ dhyāyamānaḥ

The eye cannot seize, speech cannot grasp Him, nor these other godheads; not by austerity can he be held nor by works: only when the inner being is purified by a glad serenity of knowledge, then indeed, meditating, one beholds the Spirit indivisible.

~ Verse 3.1.8

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Acharya Prashant (AP): “Eye cannot seize, speech cannot grasp Him, nor these other godheads; not by austerity can he be held nor by works: only when the inner being is purified by a glad serenity of knowledge, then indeed, meditating, one beholds the Spirit indivisible.”

This is a very recurring theme across the various Upanishads. I am immediately reminded of the Kena Upanishad as I recite this particular verse.

The eyes go looking for Him and fail. The speech tries to describe Him — fails. The ears try to hear of Him and fail. And then, obviously, the mind tries to think of Him, grasp Him, and fails. That’s the Kena Upanishad. “He is the ear of the ears, He is the eye of the eyes, He is the mind of the mind.”

Much the same theme, in fact in much the same words, is being reiterated here. It is as if it is something so important that it cannot be over-emphasized. It is as if it is something so beautiful that the seers are never fed up of it. There is something eternal and of magnificent value in these utterances.

“Eye cannot seize, speech cannot grasp Him, nor these other godheads; not by austerity can he be held nor by works.”