Mudgala Upanishad 1: Verse 1

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

ॐ पुरुषसूक्तार्थनिर्णयं व्याख्यास्यामः। पुरुषसंहितायां पुरुषसूक्तार्थः संग्रहेण प्रोच्यते। सहस्रशीर्षेत्यत्र सशब्दोऽनन्तवाचकः। अनन्तयोजनं प्राह दशाङ्गुलवचस्तथा॥

Padapatha (Word Split)

ॐ । पुरुष-सूक्त-अर्थ-निर्णयम् । व्याख्यास्यामः । पुरुष-संहितायाम् । पुरुष-सूक्त-अर्थः । संग्रहेण । प्रोच्यते । सहस्र-शीर्ष-इति-अत्र । स-शब्दः । अनन्त-वाचकः । अनन्त-योजनम् । प्राह । दश-अङ्गुल-वचः । तथा ॥

Recitation with translationMudgala Upanishad 1

IAST Transliteration

oṁ puruṣasūktārthanirṇayaṁ vyākhyāsyāmaḥ | puruṣasaṁhitāyāṁ puruṣasūktārthaḥ saṅgraheṇa procyate | sahasraśīrṣety atra saśabdo 'nantavācakaḥ | anantayojanaṁ prāha daśāṅgulavacas tathā ||

Translation

ഓം। പുരുഷസൂക്തത്തിന്റെ അർത്ഥനിർണ്ണയം ഞങ്ങൾ വ്യാഖ്യാനിക്കുന്നു. പുരുഷസംഹിതയിൽ പുരുഷസൂക്താർത്ഥം സംഗ്രഹമായി പ്രസ്താവിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു. ‘സഹസ്രശീർഷാ’ എന്ന പ്രയോഗത്തിൽ ‘സഹസ്ര’ ശബ്ദം അനന്തത്തെ സൂചിപ്പിക്കുന്നു. അവന്റെ വ്യാപ്തി ‘അനന്ത യോജന’ എന്നും പറയുന്നു; അതുപോലെ ‘ദശാംഗുല’ എന്ന വചനവും അതേ ഭാവത്തിൽ ഗ്രഹിക്കണം.

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Academic Translation

Om. We shall expound the determinative meaning of the Puruṣa-sūkta. In the Puruṣa-saṁhitā, the meaning of the Puruṣa-sūkta is stated in summary. In the expression ‘sahasraśīrṣā’ (‘thousand-headed’), the word ‘sa’ (i.e., the numeral ‘thousand’) denotes the infinite. It also declares (his extent as) ‘infinite yojanas’, and likewise the statement ‘ten aṅgulas’ (is to be understood accordingly).

Verse Context

• Brahman as Puruṣa; ananta (infinity) and vyāpti (all-pervasion); hermeneutics of Vedic epithets
• Mahavakya: Indirect—supports mahāvākya insight by interpreting cosmic attributes as pointers (lakṣaṇā) to limitless Brahman/Ātman rather than finite form; aligns with ‘ayam ātmā brahma’ (Atharva) in intent.
• Atharva
• Atharvaveda (general/unspecified śākhā; commonly transmitted in Atharva-upaniṣad collections) Shakha
• Chandas: Prose with concluding anuṣṭubh-like cadence; overall treated as Upaniṣadic prose