Upanishads · Muṇḍaka 1.1.3
॥
Devanāgarī
शौनकः ह वै महाशालः आङ्गिरसं विधिवत् उपसन्नः पप्रच्छ ।
कस्मिन् नु भगवो विज्ञाते सर्वम् इदं विज्ञातं भवति इति ॥
Transliteration (IAST)
śaunakaḥ ha vai mahāśālaḥ āṅgirasaṃ vidhivat upasannaḥ papraccha |
kasmin nu bhagavo vijñāte sarvam idaṃ vijñātaṃ bhavati iti ||
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
शौनकःśaunakaḥŚaunaka; the sage Śaunaka
ह वैha vaiverily; verily indeed
महाशालःmahāśālaḥa great householder (mahā-śāla — 'owner of a great house'); a wealthy master of a house; an eminent head of a household
आङ्गिरसम्āṅgirasamto Aṅgiras; to the [sage] Aṅgiras; to the descendant of Aṅgiras
विधिवत्vidhivatin due order (vidhi-vat — 'according to the rule'); as is fitting; according to the ordinance
उपसन्नःupasannaḥhaving approached; having come as a pupil
पप्रच्छpapracchaasked; put a question
कस्मिन् नुkasmin nuwhat then; what reality
भगवःbhagavaḥO venerable one; O master
विज्ञातेvijñātewhen it is known (vi-√jñā); upon the knowing; being known
सर्वम् इदम्sarvam idamall this; this whole world
विज्ञातम्vijñātamknown; comprehended; understood
भवति इतिbhavati itibecomes, thus; turns out to be
Translation
Śaunaka, a great householder, having approached Aṅgiras in due order, asked: "What is it, venerable one, that must be known, so that all this becomes known?"
Version
d3f32abb47cf · published Jul 26, 2026, 8:10:40 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The question for whose sake the Muṇḍaka was written — and one of the greatest questions ever asked by man: kasmin nu bhagavo vijñāte sarvam idaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati — "what must be known, so that all this becomes known?" Śaunaka is not seeking one more piece of knowledge — he is seeking the key-knowledge: that single point from which the whole becomes intelligible; the root by knowing which you know the tree down to its last leaf.
The question itself already contains an insight: it presupposes that everything has one Source, and that the Source is knowable. A world lacking such a point would be a heap of irreducible facts — and every science silently believes the contrary as it searches for a "single theory"; Śaunaka asks after the single theory of everything in its ultimate depth — after Him from whom both the facts and the knower come.
Who asks matters: mahāśālaḥ — "a great householder", a wealthy and accomplished man; and he upasannaḥ vidhivat — "approached in due order", as a pupil, in humility (the Praśna and the Kaṭha showed that order: fuel in hand, obeisance, service). Wealth had not satisfied him — and did not hinder him: one who has everything asks about That without which everything is nothing. Aṅgiras' answer will take up the whole Upaniṣad; its first words come in the next verse.