Ekonavimshati-Mukhah
Ekonaviṃśati-Mukhaḥ (IAST)Translation: "nineteen-mouthed"
From Mandukya Upanishad (Verse 3, 4)
Mundaka and Mandukya Upanishads (Swami Sharvananda)
Sanskrit: एकोनविंशतिमुखः
Transliteration: Ekonaviṃśati-Mukhaḥ
Translation: "nineteen-faced/mouthed"
Definition: "i.e., possessing five Jñānendriya (sensory organs), five Karmendriya (motor organs), five Prāṇa (vital energy) and four Antaḥ-Kāraṇa (four aspects of the mind). These are called mouths because through these He enjoys the external world."
The Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad (Swami Krishnananda)
Sanskrit: एकोनविंशतिमुखः
Transliteration: Ekonavimśati-Mukhaḥ
Translation: "nineteen-faced/mouthed"
Commentary: "Its mouth is the organ by which we consume things, take in objects, appropriate material by assimilation into our bodies, digest them into ourselves, as it were. This is the function of the mouth. The medium of the reception of objects into our own self is the mouth. In one sense, the eyes also are the mouth, the ears, are the mouth, because they receive and absorb certain vibrations through different functions. Vibrations impinge on our personality through the avenues called the senses, viz., eyes, ears, etc., and all these may be regarded as mouths; in this sense, everything that is cognized by the senses is Āharā or food for this personality. Anything that we consume with our senses is Āharā. Āharā-Śuddhau Sattva-Śuddhiḥ: When there is purity of food, there is illumination by means of Sattva from within, says the Chāndogya Upaniṣad. It does not mean that we should take only milk and fruits every day, which we usually regard as Sāttvica diet, while we may think evil thoughts, see ugly sights, hear bad news, and so on. Sāttvica Āharā is the purified vibration which the senses receive and communicate to the personality through all their functions, at all times. So, the senses are the mouths, and every kind of sense may be regarded as a mouth."
Lessons on the Upanishads (Swami Krishnananda)
Commentary: "Consciousness has nineteen mouths through which it eats the food of objective experience. What are these nineteen mouths? They are the five senses of knowledge: seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching. With these five sensations we come in contact with things in the world outside and enjoy them with the actions and reactions produced by means of such sensory contact. These five mentioned are called senses of knowledge, or Jñāna Indriya. They are so-called because they give us some sort of knowledge of either sight or sound or taste or smell or touch.
Apart from these five senses of knowledge, there are five organs of action. They do not give us any independent knowledge, but they act. The hand that grasps is one organ of action; the speech that articulates words is another organ of action; the feet that cause locomotion or movement are also organs of action; the generative organ and the excretory organ are also two of the active elements, or organs of action. They act, but they do not give any new knowledge. Whatever idea, knowledge, experience, etc., we may have through any one of these organs of action comes through the sensations already mentioned – namely, the Jñāna Indriya. Even when the organs of action act and we are conscious that they are acting, this consciousness is available only through the Jñāna Indriya and not separately through the organs of action. They do not give additional knowledge. It looks as if we have some sensation even through the organs of action, but actually it is not so. The sensation, the experience of the actions of the Karma Indriya, as they are called, arises on account of the simultaneous action of the Jñāna Indriya, or senses of knowledge. So these five senses of knowledge and five organs of action make ten mouths of consciousness.
There are five Prāṇa. The Prāṇa, or the vital energy in us, operates in five ways. When we breath out, expel the breath, the Prāṇa is active. When we breath in, when we inhale the breath, the Apāna is active. The Vyāna is the third form of the operation of this energy. It causes circulation of blood and makes us feel a sensation of liveliness in every part of the body. The operative action of the bloodstream is pushed onward in a circular fashion throughout the body by the action of a particular function of Prāṇa called Vyāna. There is another action of the Prāṇa, which is Udāna. It causes the swallowing of food. When we put food in the mouth, it goes inside through the epiglottis and it is pushed down by the action of a Prāṇa called Udāna. Udāna has also certain other functions to perform; it takes us to deep sleep. Our Jīva consciousness, our individualized consciousness, is pushed into a state of somnolence. That also is the work of Udāna. Udāna also has a third function to perform, namely, the separation of the vital body from the physical body at the time of death. Three actions, three performances are attributed to Udāna. The fifth Prāṇa, Samāna, operates through the navel region and causes the digestion of food. It creates heat in the stomach and in the navel region, causing the gastric juices to operate, and so we feel appetite. Hunger is created, and food is digested by the action of Samāna. Thus, there are five Prāṇa: Prāṇa, Apāna, Vyāna, Udāna, and Samāna. Five senses of knowledge, five organs of action, and five Prāṇa make fifteen ways in which we contact things.
There are four functions of the psychic organ. The internal psyche, which is generally called Manas – or mind, in ordinary language – has four functions. In Sanskrit, these four functions are designated as Manas, Buddhi, Ahaṅkāra, and Citta [Antaḥ-Karaṇa-Catuṣṭaya]. Manas is ordinary, indeterminate thinking – just being aware that something is there. That is the work of the mind; that is Manas. Buddhi determines, decides, and logically comes to the conclusion that something is such and such a thing. That is another aspect of the operation of the psyche – Buddhi, or intellect. The third form of the mind is ego, Ahaṅkāra, affirmation, assertion. “I know that there is some object in front of me and I also know that I know. I know that I am existing as this so-and-so.” This kind of affirmation attributed to one’s own individuality is the work of Ahaṅkāra, known as egoism. The subconscious action, memory, etc., are called the Citta, which is the fourth function. Thus, Manas, Buddhi, Ahaṅkāra, and Citta are the four basic functions of the internal organ, the psychological organ.
Hence, we have five senses of knowledge, five organs of action, five Prāṇa, and four operations of the psyche totaling nineteen. Consciousness grasps objects from outside through these mouths. We feel secure and happy because all these nineteen aspects are acting at the same time, in some form or other, with more or less emphasis. Any one of the nineteen can act at any time under special given conditions. Inasmuch as anyone can act at any time, it is virtually saying that all are acting at the same time. Therefore, we are actively, objectively conscious through the nineteen operative media of the individual consciousness in the waking condition. We are aware of this vast world of sensory perception, and we go on contacting these objects of the world through these media."
References:
- Sharvananda, Swami (1920). Mundaka and Mandukya Upanishads: With Sanskrit Text; Paraphrase with Word-For-Word Literal Translation, English, Rendering and Comments. Mylapore, Madras: Sri Ramakrishna Math
- Krishnananda, Swami (1996). The Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad. Retrieved from https://www.swami-krishnananda.org/mand_0.html. p. 48.
- Krishnananda, Swami (1991). Lessons on the Upanishads. Retrieved from https://www.swami-krishnananda.org/upanishad.html. p. 98-100.
