Translation by Jayaram V
The Mandukya Upanishad belongs to the Atharvaveda.
Although it contains only 12 verses, the Mandukya Upanishad occupies
an important place in the development of Indian philosophical thought,
following a commentary or Karika on it by Gaudapada, who is believed
to be a teacher of Adi Shankaracharya's teacher. Gaudapada's Karika
on the Upanishad became the basis for the emergence of the Advaita
Vedanta or the philosophy of monism, according to which Brahman
alone is the truth and the rest is an illusion. The Upanishad deals
with the symbolic significance of the sacred syllable Aum and its
correlation with the four states of consciousness, namely the wakeful
consciousness, dream state, the state of deep sleep or dreamless
sleep and the state of transcendental consciousness in which all
divisions and duality disappears and the self alone exists in its
pure state, all by itself.
| 1 |
This syllable
AUM is verily all this
This is the explanation about AUM:
The past, the present and the future are AUM,
And That beyond these three is also AUM. |
|
| 2 |
Brahman is
indeed all this.
This self in us is also Brahman.
And this self has four planes. |
| 3 |
Vaisvanara
is the first stage.
Wakeful, outwardly conscious,
With seven limbs and nineteen mouths,
He is the enjoyer of the gross objects. |
| 4 |
Taijasa is
the second stage.
Dreaming, inwardly conscious,
With seven limbs and nineteen mouths,
He is the enjoyer of the subtle objects. |
| 5 |
In deep sleep,
seeking no desires,
Dreaming no dreams, unified into
The mass of greater consciousness,
Full of bliss, enjoying bliss only,
Face turned towards Chetasa,
Is Pragna the third stage. |
| 6 |
This is the
Master of All, the Omniscient,
The Inmost Dweller and source of
Creation and destruction of all beings. |
| 7 |
Conscious neither
internally nor externally,
Nor either ways, neither ordinary consciousness,
Nor the greater and the deeper consciousness,
Invisible, otherworldly, incomprehensible,
Without qualities, beyond all thoughts,
Indescribable, the unified soul in essence,
Peaceful, auspicious, without duality,
Is the fourth stage, that self, that is to be known.
|
| 8 |
The same Atman
is AUM among the syllables,
Each syllable in the word AUM is a stage. They
Are the letter A, the letter U and the letter M. |
| 9 |
The wakeful
Vaishwanara is the
First letter "A", being the first letter and
All pervasive. He who knows thus realizes
All his desires and becomes foremost too. |
| 10 |
The dreaming
Taizasa is the second
Letter "U", being superior and situated in
The middle. He who knows thus attains
Knowledge and children equally and none
In his family would be ignorant of Brahman |
| 11 |
In the world
of deep sleep, Pragna, is the
Third letter "M", being the limit and the end of
All diversity. He who knows thus is free from
All diversity and becomes one with the Self. |
| 12 |
The fourth
state is without parts and entanglements
Not bound to this world, It is auspicious and non-dual
Thus the form of AUM is verily the Self itself
He who knows thus enters into his own Self by himself. |
Suggested Further Reading
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