The nature of God and His creation, as explained in the Mundaka Upanishad.
As a spider spreads out and withdraws its web, as on earth grow the herbs and trees, and as a living man issues out hair, so does the Universe emerge here from God.
-Mundaka Upanishad
Commentary by Sudhir Krishnan
The above famous verse in the Mundaka Upanishad attempts to explain the nature of God and His creation with metaphors. The first question that might arise in a student is “We say that that God is Love and that He is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient”. If that is the case, how is it this universe, which apparently He created, is totally different from His nature? The Upanishad answers - “Just as the spider creates a web from its body, and also withdraws it unto itself, so has the Universe emerged out of God”. The nature of the God the creator and the nature of the universe the created is different, just like the nature of the web that the spider spins out is different from the nature of the spider. Like the spider’s web, everything that is created springs out, remains in, and finally goes back to Him.
The above answer may satisfy some students. Some others may however ask “The spider weaves the web in order to catch it's prey. Similarly, has God also created the universe to satisfy His own desires?” To answer this question, a second metaphor is given “Just as the trees grow on the earth, so does the universe spring out of God”. The trees out of their desire to grow, use the soil as a nutrient. The soil is totally indifferent to which type of plants grows on it - it supports fruit tres as well as weeds equally. Through this metaphor, the teacher attempts to explain that unlike the spider which desires prey, God has not created this Universe out of his selfish desire. He is desire-less and supports all of His creation equally, just like the soil supports all kinds of trees and shrubs without any specific desire that a farmer might have. Thus it is we who use Him to satisfy our desires, and not Him that created this universe with a desire to satisfy himself.
While the second metaphor may clear the doubt of the student regarding the desireless-ness of God in His creation, another doubt may arise now. The soil is inert, and does not have any life of its own. Just as the trees are living on the inert soil, is it that God also is inert like the soil from which trees spring? Are we like the trees just using God as a soil, and that He himself is inert, lacking an enlivening principle of His own? This question is answered by the third metaphor. “Just as a living man issues out hair, so does the Universe emerge from God”. A living man has hair all over his body. Once he dies, although the hair is present, they can no longer grow. Just as the life in the man is needed for the hair to grow, in the same way it is the power of God that is responsible for all life that we see. Without Him there is no life - He is the enlivening principle, He is like the electricity without which no electrical appliance will function.