शौनको ह वै महाशालोऽङ्गिरसं विधिवदुपसन्नः पप्रच्छ ।
कस्मिन्नु भगवो विज्ञाते सर्वमिदं विज्ञातं भवतीति ॥ ३॥
śaunako ha vai mahāśālo’ṅgirasaṃ vidhivadupasannaḥ papraccha .
kasminnu bhagavo vijñāte sarvamidaṃ vijñātaṃ bhavatīti .. 3..
Saunaka, the great householder, approached Angiras in the proper manner and said: Revered sir, what is that by the knowing of which all this becomes known?
Commentary:
Is it possible to know something which can lead to the knowledge of all things at the same time? Generally, such a thing is not possible. If you know one thing, you know only that thing. The knowledge of A does not involve the knowledge of B, because A cannot be B. One thing cannot be another thing; it is the law of contradiction in logic. So what is this question? A supernatural question is raised by Saunaka Mahashala: “What is that thing, the knowledge of which will, at the same time, mean the knowledge of all things?” It was a simple question, leading to an answer which is the entire Upanishad.
Sri Ramakrishna Says —
BANKIM: “I too think that we should first of all know about the different things of the world. How can we know of God without knowing something of this world? We should first learn from books.”
MASTER: “That’s the one cry from all of you. But God comes first and then the creation. After attaining God you can know everything else, if it is necessary.
“If you can somehow get yourself introduced to Jadu Mallick, then you will be able to learn, if you want to, the number of his houses and gardens and the amount of his money invested in government securities. Jadu Mallick himself will tell you all about them. But if you haven’t met him and if you are stopped by his door-keepers when you try to enter his house, then how will you get the correct information about his houses, gardens, and government securities? When you know God you know all else; but then you don’t care to know small things. The same thing is stated in the Vedas. You talk about the virtues of a person as long as you haven’t seen him, but no sooner does he appear before you than all such talk stops. You are beside yourself with joy simply to be with him. You feel overwhelmed by simply conversing with him. You don’t talk about his virtues any more.
“First realise God, then think of the creation and other things. Valmiki was given the name of Rama to repeat as his mantra, but was told at first to repeat ‘mara’. ‘Ma’ means God and ‘ra’ the world. First God and then the world. If you know one you know all. If you put fifty zeros after a one, you have a large sum; but erase the one and nothing remains. It is the one that makes the many. First one, then many. First God, then His creatures and the world.
“The one thing you need is to realise God. Why do you bother so much about the world, creation, ‘science’, and all that? Your business is to eat mangoes. What need have you to know how many hundreds of trees there are in the orchard, how many thousands of branches, and how many millions of leaves? You have come to the garden to eat mangoes. Go and eat them. Man is born in this world to realise God; it is not good to forget that and divert the mind to other things. You have come to eat mangoes. Eat the mangoes and be happy.”
BANKIM: “Where do we get the mangoes?”
MASTER: “Pray to God with a longing heart. He will surely listen to your prayer if it is sincere. Perhaps He will direct you to holy men with whom you can keep company; and that will help you on your spiritual path. Perhaps someone will tell you, ‘Do this and you will attain God.'” (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
Related Articles:
In all the beings separated into different categories, that knowledge which sees the one inseparable Reality (Atma), know it to be Sattvic Jnana.
— Bhagavad Gita 18.20
Knowing which there shall not be any other to be known in this world, that Knowledge combined with experience, I will tell you.
— Bhagavad Gita 7.2