Mandukya Upanishad
Encyclopedia
Vedanta
Vedānta was originally a word used in Hindu philosophy as a synonym for that part of the Veda texts known also as the Upanishads. The name is a morphophonological form of Veda-anta = "Veda-end" = "the appendix to the Vedic hymns." It is also speculated that "Vedānta" means "the purpose or goal...
. It is in prose, consisting of twelve verses expounding the mystic syllable Aum
Aum
Om or Aum Om or Aum Om or Aum (also , written in Devanāgari as and as , in Sanskrit known as (lit. "to sound out loudly"), ', or ' (also as ') (lit. "Auṃ form/syllable"), is a sacred/mystical syllable in the Dharmic or Indian religions, i.e...
, the three psychological states of waking, dreaming and sleeping, and the transcendent fourth state of illumination.
This Upanishad has been greatly extolled. The Muktikopanishad, which discusses other Upanishads, says that the Mandukya Upanishad alone is enough for salvation. According to Radhakrishnan it contains the fundamental approach to reality.
It was compiled, under the influence of Mahayana Buddhism, in the 1st or 2nd centuries AD, and contains Buddhist terms and modes of expression..
About the Upanishad
The name, "Mandukya" may have come about for several reasons:- Attribution to a sage called Manduka. Manduka means "son of Manduki" and a seer with this metronymic is mentioned in the Brihadaranyaka UpanishadBrihadaranyaka UpanishadThe Upanishad is one of the older, "primary" Upanishads. It is contained within the Shatapatha Brahmana, and its status as an independent Upanishad may be considered a secondary extraction of a portion of the Brahmana text. This makes it one of the oldest texts of the Upanishad corpus...
along with the Mandukeyas, his disciples. The Mandukeyas figure in the Bhagavata PuranaBhagavata puranaThe Bhāgavata Purāṇa is one of the "Maha" Puranic texts of Hindu literature, with its primary focus on bhakti to the incarnations of Vishnu, particularly Krishna...
as the receivers of a branch of the Rig Veda from IndraIndra' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
. This group of seers also figures in the Rig Veda itself: their hymns are mostly connected with lingustics. A text on the etymology of Vedas with the name "Manduki Shiksha" deals with the notes of the musical scale.
- Manduka is also a type of yoga – a "particular kind of abstract meditation in which an ascetic sits motionless like a frog". Mandukasana is one of the asanas (postures) described in yoga.
Aum in the Mandukya Upanishad
There are three mātrās ("letters", syllabic instants in prosody) in the word aum : ‘a’, ‘u’ and ‘m’. The ‘a’ stands for the state of wakefulness, where we experience externally through our mind and sense organs. The ‘u’ stands for the dream state, in which inward experiences are available. In the state of deep sleep, represented by the sound ‘m’, there is no desire and consciousness is gathered in upon itself.But there is a fourth, transcendent state, that of one "who is neither inwardly nor outwardly aware, nor both inward and outward, nor with consciousness infolded on itself.... who is unseen and ineffable, ungraspable, featureless, unthinkable and unnameable." The fourth state (turīya avasthā) corresponds to silence as the other three correspond to AUM. It is the substratum of the other three states. It is referred to as atyanta-shunyata (absolute emptiness).
From the fact that many Buddhist terms are used in explaining the fourth state, it is clear that this view was established under the influence of the Mahayana Buddhist concept of emptiness
Emptiness
Emptiness as a human condition is a sense of generalized boredom, social alienation and apathy. Feelings of emptiness often accompany dysthymia, depression, loneliness, despair, or other mental/emotional disorders such as borderline personality disorder...
.
Commentary by Gaudapada
The first extant metrical commentary on this Upanishad was written by GaudapadaGaudapada
Gaudapada was a very early guru in the tradition of Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy...
, before the time of Adi Shankara
Adi Shankara
Adi Shankara Adi Shankara Adi Shankara (IAST: pronounced , (Sanskrit: , ) (788 CE - 820 CE), also known as ' and ' was an Indian philosopher from Kalady of present day Kerala who consolidated the doctrine of advaita vedānta...
. This commentary, called the Māndūkya-kārikā, is the earliest known systematic exposition of advaita Vedanta
Vedanta
Vedānta was originally a word used in Hindu philosophy as a synonym for that part of the Veda texts known also as the Upanishads. The name is a morphophonological form of Veda-anta = "Veda-end" = "the appendix to the Vedic hymns." It is also speculated that "Vedānta" means "the purpose or goal...
. When Shankara wrote his commentary on Māndūkya Upanishad he merged the Kārikā of Gaudapada with the Upanishad and wrote a commentary on the Kārikā also. Scholars hold the Karika as well as Shankara's Commentary on it in high esteem.
Gaudapada
Gaudapada
Gaudapada was a very early guru in the tradition of Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy...
deals with perception
Perception
Perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of the environment by organizing and interpreting sensory information. All perception involves signals in the nervous system, which in turn result from physical stimulation of the sense organs...
, idealism
Idealism
In philosophy, idealism is the family of views which assert that reality, or reality as we can know it, is fundamentally mental, mentally constructed, or otherwise immaterial. Epistemologically, idealism manifests as a skepticism about the possibility of knowing any mind-independent thing...
, causality
Causality
Causality is the relationship between an event and a second event , where the second event is understood as a consequence of the first....
, truth
Truth
Truth has a variety of meanings, such as the state of being in accord with fact or reality. It can also mean having fidelity to an original or to a standard or ideal. In a common usage, it also means constancy or sincerity in action or character...
, and reality
Reality
In philosophy, reality is the state of things as they actually exist, rather than as they may appear or might be imagined. In a wider definition, reality includes everything that is and has been, whether or not it is observable or comprehensible...
. In the fourth state of consciousness – turiya
Turiya
In Hindu philosophy, turiya is the experience of pure consciousness. It is the background that underlies and transcends the three common states of consciousness: the state of waking consciousness , the state of dreaming , and dreamless sleep .-Advaita concept:The first two states are not true...
– the mind
Mind
The concept of mind is understood in many different ways by many different traditions, ranging from panpsychism and animism to traditional and organized religious views, as well as secular and materialist philosophies. Most agree that minds are constituted by conscious experience and intelligent...
is not simply withdrawn from the objects but becomes one with Brahman
Brahman
In Hinduism, Brahman is the one supreme, universal Spirit that is the origin and support of the phenomenal universe. Brahman is sometimes referred to as the Absolute or Godhead which is the Divine Ground of all being...
. In both deep sleep and transcendental
Transcendence (philosophy)
In philosophy, the adjective transcendental and the noun transcendence convey the basic ground concept from the word's literal meaning , of climbing or going beyond, albeit with varying connotations in its different historical and cultural stages...
consciousness
Consciousness
Consciousness is a term that refers to the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts. It has been defined as: subjectivity, awareness, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind...
there is no consciousness of objects but the objective consciousness is present in an unmanifested 'seed' form in deep sleep, while it is transcended in turīya. Specifically, if one identifies the wordless state with turīya and meditates, one realizes the true self
Atman (Hinduism)
Ātman is a Sanskrit word that means 'self'. In Hindu philosophy, especially in the Vedanta school of Hinduism it refers to one's true self beyond identification with phenomena...
and 'there is no return to the sphere of empirical life'.
Further reading
- Eight Upanishads. Vol.2. With the commentary of Sankaracharya, Tr. By Swami Gambhirananda. Advaita Ashrama, Calcutta, 1990.
- V. Krishnamurthy. Essentials of Hinduism. Narosa Publishing House, New Delhi. 1989
- Swami Rama. Enlightenment Without God [commentary on Mandukya Upanishad]. Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy, 1982.
- Sri AurobindoSri AurobindoSri Aurobindo , born Aurobindo Ghosh or Ghose , was an Indian nationalist, freedom fighter, philosopher, yogi, guru, and poet. He joined the Indian movement for freedom from British rule and for a duration became one of its most important leaders, before developing his own vision of human progress...
, The Upanishads http://www.sriaurobindoashram.info/Contents.aspx?ParentCategoryName=_StaticContent/SriAurobindoAshram/-09%20E-Library/-01%20Works%20of%20Sri%20Aurobindo/-12_The%20Upanishad_Volume-12. Sri Aurobindo AshramSri Aurobindo AshramThe Sri Aurobindo Ashram was founded by Sri Aurobindo on the 24 November 1926 . At the time there were no more than 24 disciples in the Ashram...
, Pondicherry. 1972.
External links
- GRETIL etext
- Mandukya Upanishad, Full etext from wikisource (Sanskrit).
- www.hinduwebsite.com, The Mandukya Upanishad English Translation
- Mandukya Upanishad with Gaudapada Karika
- http://www.musicindiaonline.com/l/7/s/album.482/language.10/, Musical version of Mandukya Upanishad Composed by Pandit Jasraj.
See also
- Adi Shri GauḍapādāchāryaGaudapadaGaudapada was a very early guru in the tradition of Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy...
- Adi Shri ShankaracharyaAdi ShankaraAdi Shankara Adi Shankara Adi Shankara (IAST: pronounced , (Sanskrit: , ) (788 CE - 820 CE), also known as ' and ' was an Indian philosopher from Kalady of present day Kerala who consolidated the doctrine of advaita vedānta...
- Advaita
- Shri Gaudapadacharya Mutt
- Shri Govinda BhagavatpadacharyaGovinda Bhagavatpada.Govinda Bhagavatpada was the Guru of the Advaita philosopher, Adi Shankara. We know little of his life and works, except that he is mentioned in all the traditional accounts as the teacher of Adi Shankara. He was the disciple of Gaudapada . He is mentioned in the first verse of Adi Shankara's...