Purify the doer and the deeds will be set right || On Mundaka Upanishad (2021)

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

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…