Mān̩d̩ūkya Upanis̩ad belongs to Atharva Veda. Mān̩d̩ūkya Upanis̩ad derives its name after the seer Mān̩d̩ūkya. The story goes the following way: God Varun̩a assumes the form of a frog to reveal the importance of pranava or Omkara which is presented as the only name and symbol of the Absolute Brahman. Mandukya Upanishad is the shortest of the principal Upanis̩ads. It has only twelve verses. It contains the quintessence of the entire vedantic teaching. The language of this Upanis̩ad is compact and concise, but rich in meaning. Gaud̩apāda wrote his famous Kārika, commentary on this Upanis̩ad. This is considered to be the first systematic exposition of Advaita Vedānta. Śaṁkara had also written a commentary both on the Upanis̩ ad and the commentary of Gaud̩apāda.
Its analysis has the entire treatment on human consciousness in the three states of waking (jāgrat), dream (svapna) and deep sleep (sus̩upti). By adopting a unique method of investigating these three states of human consciousness, the Upanis̩ad asserts the nature of Reality. The self is one who experiences gross things, (vaiśvānara), subtle objects (taijasa) and the unmanifested objectivity (prajñā). Mān̩d̩ūkya Upanis̩ad provides a symbol of AUM for meditation on the Reality that leads to the realization of the Supreme Reality. AUM is that mono-syllable word of all words. It comprises three sounds, A, U, M, having much more philosophical implications that are elaborated in the Upanis̩ad. It proclaims one of the famous great sayings, mahāvākya, namely ayamātmā brahma (This self is Brahman).
Exposition of AUM
The Mandukya Upanishad details the subtle meaning of AUM as a syllable that stands for the whole world. The aks̩ara AUM is given a meaning as “that which is imperishable or immortal.” The Mandukya Upanishad tries to strike an identical chord for the concepts of AUM, Brahman and Ātman, establishing that they are one and the same. The nature of AUM and the nature of nirgun̩a Brahman and sagun̩a Brahman are said to be the same. AUM is represented as the symbol of Brahman. It also stands for the manifested world of the past, the present and the future. AUM is the syllable considered to be all (Aks̩óaram idam sarvam).
Names and States of Consciousness
The Self is presented in the Mandukya Upanishad as having four names as viśva, taijasa, prajñā and turīya according to the states of consciousness it has for each moment. The names indicate the respective state of consciousness. The states are waking state, dream state, the state of deep sleep and the fourth, spiritual or transcendental consciousness. The visva is the name given to the Self in the waking state where the Self has a waking state as its sphere of activity and cognizes the external objects. The second state of consciousness is the dream state. The Self is to act in the sphere of dream. It cognizes internal, mental objects and enjoys the subtle objects. The name given to the Self is taijasa. The taijasa is conscious of the internal and mental states. The third state of consciousness is the deep sleep and the experiencer is named as prajñā. Here the experiencer does not desire anything. It does not perceive anything of external objects or dream objects. It is said to be a mass of cognition, for the self is really a witness of its own state. Yet this state of consciousness is considered to be transitory in nature and so it is not the ultimate state. The fourth one is the transcendental consciousness state where the self is really itself and it is said to be Turīya.
The reason why the first letter of the word “self” is capitalized, is to explain that the Self that is the experiencer is an all pervasive Self and is beyond the usual self that we in daily life address ourselves through; yet the two on a transcendental level remain the same.
Waking State (Jāgrata)
The physical universe is bound by uniform laws. It presents itself to all people. The waking state is the normal condition of the natural man. Here anyone perceives the world as it is and there is no much reflection on it bound by the fetters of sense-perception and desire. The Self voluntarily acts in the waking state.
The viśva is the name given to the subject of the waking state. In the waking state, the Self cognizes the material, physical and external objects in this state of consciousness. The waking state is the first quarter of the self and this vaiśvānara, the subject of the state, has the waking state as the sphere of action. In this state, consciousness relates to things external and is possessed of seven limbs and nineteen mouths. The seven limbs are presented from the imagery of Agnihotra sacrifice where it is said, ‘Heaven is verily of that vaiśvānara Self who is such; the sun is the eye, air is the vital force, space is the middle part, water is the bladder, and the earth indeed is the two feet. The āhavāniya fire has been imagined as his mouth. He that is possessed of these seven limbs is saptāṅgah̩.’ The self is said to be possessed of nineteen mouths. They are five senses of perception and five organs of action, the five vital forces and mind, intellect, ego and mind-stuff. They are mouths in the sense of gates of experiences. Since through these aforesaid entrances vaiśvānara, enjoys gross objects he is called as the enjoyer of the gross. The enjoyment of gross things is in the waking state. The vaiśvānara directs its attention towards superficial objects of the physical and material world. The awareness is an outside- focused concentration towards the things other than oneself. The idea presented in the Mān̩ d̩ ūkya Upanis̩ ad regarding this is that consciousness appears as though related to outer objects, owing to ignorance. The darkness of ignorance leads us to sometimes identify the external objects as themselves.
Dream State (Svapna)
The dream state is the condition of the self when the external senses and objects are not presented to it with their physical characters, but are available as mental images. The self is given a name, taijasa, the luminous one. The name is given as one who becomes the witness of the modes of cognition and appears only as a luminous thing.
It experiences mental states dependent on the predisposition and impressions left by the waking experience. The consciousness of the waking state is associated with many external means. And it is associated with these means and engrossed in external objects. As a result, it leaves in one’s mind lots of impressions. It is like the impressions on the piece of painted canvas. It appears in the dream state just as in the waking state, but without any external means. The mind is internal in relation to the senses. The consciousness in dream takes the forms of the impression in the internal mind that is aware of internal objects. In this state the self fashions its own world of dreams. The dream objects that are experienced are internal, subtle and mental items. The duality of the knower and the known remains in the second state of consciousness too. In the dream state taijasa possesses a greater freedom as the self imagines a world of its own from the perceptions of external objects in the previous state of waking experience. The dream objects give delight to the self for sometimes. In this sense, the self is liberated from the empirical world. Taijasa is the second aspect where the sphere of activity is the dream state. The consciousness is internal that possesses seven limbs and nineteen mouths. The person enjoys subtle objects. The external viśva is dependent on material objects. He experiences the modes of gross cognition. In the second state of consciousness, namely the dream state, the awareness is experienced consisting of mere impressions that are subtle. Hence the enjoyment of them too becomes subtle. While the first state is the waking life of outward moving, external consciousness, the second state is the dream life of inward looking consciousness.
Deep Sleep State (Sus̩upti)
The next state of consciousness is deep sleep. The Self is called prajñā whose sphere of activity is in deep sleep. The sleeper does not desire any enjoyable thing and does not see any dream. Deep sleep is the state of knowledge though the external and internal objects are cognized in abeyance. As in the darkness where there is no perception possible, in the deep sleep state there is no perception of both external and internal. In this state there is no desire, no thought is gained. All the impressions have become one and there remains only knowledge and bliss. This is the conceptual Self in the deep sleep state. The Self in the other two states are imaginative and perceptual ones. The deep sleep state is the doorway to the cognition of the two other states of consciousness, namely waking and dream. Deep sleep consists of the unawareness of Reality. Even in the other two states too there is unawareness of reality. There are the presence and absence of perceptible gross objects. Self in a deep sleep state which has unawareness of Reality is equally present in all the three states. It is distinguished from the earlier two states. In sleep there is no false perception of reality but only absence of desire. By this the other two states are differentiated from deep sleep.
The Self in deep sleep also is called as a mass of consciousness as it is characterized by the absence of discrimination. In this state everything becomes undifferentiated as everything appearing as a mass by becoming indistinguishable under darkness. The prajñā is full of joy. The abundance of joy is caused by the absence of the misery involved in the effort of the mind vibrating as the objects and their experience. Anyone who remains free from any effort, is considered to be happy and an experiencer of joy. This deep sleeper too has the joy that is enjoyed in this state. It consists in extreme freedom from effort. He abounds in bliss, who is surely an enjoyer of bliss and who is the doorway to the experience of the dream and waking states. He is not Bliss itself, but the enjoyer of bliss since the joy is not absolute.
In deep sleep the Self does not change or disappear. For after the deep sleep one is able to say that one slept soundly and was not aware of anything. The memory of deep sleep would not be possible if the Self has disappeared in deep sleep. The memory of sound sleep is recollected only because of the witnessing consciousness that remains unchanging in Deep Sleep. At the termination of deep sleep state, the self returns back to dream and waking states. In fact the Self remains unchanged in all states. Only the attributes are superimposed on to the self in these three states of consciousness. It is the same Self that subsists in the states of waking, dreaming, deep sleep and in the fourth. The deep sleep state is the one in which the consciousness enjoys peace and perceives neither external nor internal. Yet the deep sleep state is not the ultimate state, for it is transitory in character.
Turīya – Fourth State
The fourth state is termed as Turīya, as pure consciousness, transcendental, eternal and non dual. The Mān̩ d̩ ūkya Upanis̩ ad does not describe this state in a direct way with its positive qualities. The description of this state follows the negative method, known as via negativa. By explaining what is not the fourth, the knowledge of the fourth is known. Turīya is indicated not merely through positive description but by negation of attributes. Through negative methods something is positively established. Turīya is devoid of every characteristic that can be explained by the use of words possible. It is not describable through words. The fourth is to be that which is not conscious of the internal world, of external world, of both the worlds. It is not a mass of consciousness. It is not conscious, not unconscious. It is unseen, beyond empirical dealings, beyond the grasp of the organs of action, un-inferable, unthinkable, and indescribable. The valid proof consists in the single belief in the Self in which all phenomena cease. It is unchanging, auspicious, and non-dual. That is the Self and that is to be known.
Realization of Self
The knowledge of the fourth is attained by merging the other three states of consciousness. The Self is the one who is known in all the three states. It is free from all phenomenal relationships and remains in its absolute real aspect. The fourth one is different from those three that are conscious of the external and internal world. As the true nature of the rope is realized through the negation of the illusions of a snake, the very self, and subsisting in the three other states is established as Turīya. Like the rope taken as a snake, the Self in the other states is imagined to be possessed of attributes like consciousness of the internal and external world. When the self is known with the valid knowledge arising from the negation of such attributes, there occurs the cession of the phenomenal world of misery. So there is no need to search for any other means of knowledge or any other science or discipline to arrive at the knowledge of the true Self. For the realization of the Turīya, the negation of false attributes of the Self in the other three states is needed. Elimination of the knowledge of the snake is the simultaneous occurrence of the knowledge of the rope. The discriminative knowledge of the rope and the snake is made possible merely by this elimination of the false knowledge. In the case of Turīya, the instrument of knowledge is nothing but a valid knowing arising from negation of false knowledge. The false knowledge of the nature of the Self is only superimposed on the Self in the other three states. The unwanted attributes are eliminated simultaneously with the removal of the distinctions as the knower, the known and the knowledge.
Characteristics of the Self
The three states of consciousness are nothing but different states of experience of the self, known as avasthā-trayam. In the waking state the experiencer functions through the physical body and the sense organs and experiences the external world. In contact with the external world there are two things happening for the self. One is the experience of the external world which is the gross universe; sthūla prapañca. Secondly the mind records and stores all the experiences in the form of impressions, vāsanā. In the svapna avasthā, when all functioning of the physical body and sense organs with their external world disappears, the experiencer leaves one’s identification with the physical body. Without any transaction with the world outside, the self is transacting with the internal world. In this new world is encountered with its own sound, touch, sight, smell and so on. This dream world is a projected world born out of the activation of the past impression of the external world in the waking state. The world of dreamers is very much similar with that of the external world in the waking state. Only difference is that they are internally recreated with all its characters. The inner world is exactly as real as that of the external world. The projection is made out of previous impressions. Sometimes the activation is not total and complete. Only a few impressions get projected sometimes. The memory of the mind may be vague. In the deep sleep state, there is no external world due to the absence of the physical activities. Equally too there is no internal world due to non-functioning of the mind. Only involuntary actions like blood circulation, breathing and so on, take place.
In the absence of any conscious wilful functioning of the physical, there is total blankness without any experience of the external and internal world. The self relaxes without any strain and it gives lots of refreshing to the self. All these three states play an important role in functioning of the self. The waking state is predominant among others for the self is characterized mostly by the physical appearances and the external functioning. The dream world is determined by the impressions of the waking state.
Through elaborate discussion on states of consciousness the Upanis̩ad explains the true nature and characteristic features of the self. Following are the attributes given to self. The self is unseen (adrs̩tam), unperceived (avyavahāryam), beyond empirical dealings (agrāhyam), beyond the grasp of the organs of action (alaks̩anam), without any logical ground of inference, uninferable (acintyam), unthinkable, indescribable (avyapadeśyam). The self is the one in whom all phenomena have ceased, (prapañcopaśamam). It is unchanging (śāntam), auspicious (śivam), and non-dual (advaitam). This conscious being is termed as the Lord of all, Omniscient. This one is the inner Director of all, source of all; this one is verily the place of origin and dissolution of all beings. As the Lord of all, of all diversity is inclusive of the heavenly world. This one again, in his state of immanence in all diversity, is the knower of all. This one is Omniscient, the inner controller. This becomes also the Director of all beings by entering inside. He gives birth to the universe together with its diversities and this one is established to be the Source of all. This is certainly the place of origin and dissolution of all beings.
AUM and Self
The first verse of the Mandukya Upanishad says that the letter AUM is all that is past, present and future and is beyond all three periods of time. All the objects are indicated by names and forms. The names of objects are non-different from the objects and from AUM. Brahman as the supreme is known through the relationship existing between name and its objects. The letter AUM is the same as the supreme as well as the inferior Brahman. A clear exposition is given, showing its proximity to Brahman by virtue of its being a means for attainment of Brahman. The past, present and the future is understood as that which is circumscribed by the three periods of time. All this is but AUM, in accordance with the reasons already advanced. Even whatever is there beyond the three periods of time is also the AUM. That which is inferable from its effects but not confined by time is the unmanifested and verily AUM. The word and the object signified are the same. This is given greater importance in the Upanis̩ ad. All through the Upanis̩ ad this idea is presented with an emphasis on the unity of the name and the thing nameable. All this is surely Brahman. This self is Brahman. The self is said to be possessing four quarters. That which is AUM is Brahman. The self, innermost self is divided into four parts.
The self is considered from the standpoint of the syllable. It is indeed AUM. AUM has three letters or quarters. They are a, u and m. The Self is equated with AUM. That syllable AUM while being divided into quarters, exists on letters as its basis. The quarters are ‘a, u, and m’. Vaiśvānara in the waking state is like the first letter, a. He who knows does verily attain all desirable things, and becomes foremost. With regard to these, specific relations are being established. Vaiśvānara with his sphere of activity as the waking state is identical with the self in the gross cosmic context. It is because of the pervasiveness both are said to be identical. The sound ‘a’ is pervaded all speech and sound. “The sound ‘a’ is indeed all speech.” (A. A. II. iii. 7:13). Similarly, by Vaiśvānara has pervaded the whole universe. And we said that the word and thing denoted by the word are the same.
Taijasa is the state of a dream. He who knows is, increases the current of knowledge and becomes equal to all. None is born in his line who is not a knower of Brahman. The Self in the state of dream as his sphere of activity is the second letter, ukarah. The excellence is said to be in the Self and the second letter. As the letter u is better than a, Taijasa is better than viśva. And again because of the intermediate position enjoyed by u, between a and m. Taijasa is intermediate between Viśva and Prajñā. The self heightens, increases, the current of knowledge and becomes equal. Taijasa is inwardly conscious.
Prajñā with his sphere of activity in the sleep state is said to be ‘m’. The measuring or absorption is said to be the equal aspect in both. Anyone who knows thus measures all this and he becomes the place of absorption. The analogy is brought in to give meaning to measuring. Barley is measured by the vessel called prastha, so are Viśva and Taijasa measured, because of their entry into and coming out of prajñā during dissolution and origination. Similarly too, at the end of the pronunciation of the syllable AUM and at the time of its fresh pronunciation, the letters a and u seem to enter into the last letter m, to come out again from it. Absorption is getting merged or united in. At the pronunciation of AUM, a and u, verily seem to get merged into the last letter m. Similarly viśva and taijasa merge into prajñā at the time of sleep. The result obtained by the man of knowledge is stated. He measures all this, that is to say, he knows the reality of the Universe. He becomes the place of absorption. The self in its state is the cause of the world. The mention of subsidiary results here is by way of praising the primary means. The Gaud̩ apāda Kārika which is also a commentary on the Mān̩ d̩ ūkya Upanis̩ ad states that the part less AUM is Turīya, beyond all conventional dealings, the limit of the negation of the phenomenal world, the auspicious, and the non dual. Om is thus the self to be sure. He who knows thus enters the Self through his self. As a partless AUM, the fourth Turīya is merely the Absolute Self. It is beyond empirical relations because of the disappearance of names and nameables, that are but forms of speech and mind. It is the culmination of phenomenal existence which is the limit of the negation of the world. One, who knows the self to be equated with the letter OM, and to be auspicious, and non dual, finally enters into his own Supreme Self through his own empirical self. The knower of Brahman is the one who has realized the highest truth. He has entered into the Self by burning away the third state of latency. And hence he is not born again, since Turīya does not have latency of creation. For when a snake superimposed on a rope has merged in the rope on the discrimination of the rope and the snake, it does not appear again to those discriminating people, just as before, from the impressions of the past persisting in the intellect. To those men of renunciation however, who are possessed of dull or average intellect, who still consider themselves aspirants, who tread the virtuous path, and who know the common feature of the letters and the quarters of AUM and the Self as presented before to them the syllable AUM, when mediated on in the proper way, becomes helpful for the realization of Brahman.
Let Us Sum Up
The Mandukya Upanishad briefly explains in its twelve verses the condensed thought. It describes the entire human experience of three states of waking, dream, and deep sleep. The Mandukya Upanishad gives a deeper analysis of these states of consciousness. The self has three states of waking, dreaming and deep sleeping. In the wakeful state, the self is conscious of the common world of external gross objects. It enjoys the gross objects. The self is dependent on the body for the cognition of external objects. The second state of consciousness is that of dreaming. Here the self enjoys subtle things. The world fashioned for the dreamer is of the materials cognized in the waking experience. The self roams freely without the fetters of physical senses and body. The third state is the condition of deep sleep. In this state there are no dreams of objects and no desire for the objects.
The Self temporarily identifies with Brahman and enjoys bliss momentarily. In deep sleep the self is lifted above all desires and freed from external and internal objects. It is lost in objectless-knowing subject condition. The analysis of the fourth state of consciousness as transcendental is described in the Mandukya Upanishad via negativa. The fourth state is presented as the basis of all other three states.
An exposition of the principle of AUM as consisting of three elements, a, u, m is presented here. These are correspondingly referred to the three states of waking, dreaming and deep sleep. The supreme Self as manifested in the world in its gross, subtle and causal forms is presented through the analysis of the term AUM and the three states of consciousness. The fourth state of consciousness is termed as transcendental conscious state which is presented as the all-inclusive and ultimately real Absolute. Meditation on the word, AUM is suggested, for in recitation of AUM, there are four stages. There is a silence before ‘A’kara, ‘U’kara and ‘M’kara. There is an emphasis on the grasping of that silence which is Awareness. The witness is Ātmā, the Self. The Upanis̩ad reveals the true nature of man, as Ātman. It proclaims that the infinite dimension of man as ayam ātmā brahma – this ātman, self of man is Brahman. The absolute of the fourth state of consciousness is the object of mystical union. The knowledge of it, as presented in Mān̩ d̩ ūkya Upanis̩ ad leads one to liberation.
Related Articles: