Mandukya Upanishad with Gaudapada's Karika 

by Gaudapada

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Last annotated on March 28, 2015

MANDUKYA UPANISHAD 

THE UPANISHAD 

****  "om": This imperishable syllable is all that is. Its expansive expression is: What has been, What is, What shall be. All this is "om." And whatever else there is, beyond the threefold division of Time, that, also, verily, is "om." For all this is Brahma, the Eternal; and the Self, Atma, is the Eternal. And this Self stands in four worlds.  Read more at location 6

In the world of Waking Consciousness, Jagrat, objectively perceiving, of sevenfold form, with nineteen mouths—organs of sense and action—an enjoyer of gross matter, this is the Natural Self, Vaishvanara, the first measure or foot.  Read more at location 9

In the world of Dream Consciousness, Swapna, subjectively perceiving, of sevenfold form, with nineteen mouths—organs of sense and action—an enjoyer of finer matter, this is the Psychical Self, Taijasa, the second measure or foot.  Read more at location 12

Where, entered into rest, he desires no desire and beholds no dream, this is Dreamless Consciousness, Sushupti. Dreamless consciousness, unified, collective perception, verily, made of bliss, an enjoyer of bliss, perceiving through the heart, this is the Spiritual Self, Prajna, the third measure or foot. This is the All-lord, this is the all-knower, this is the Inner ruler, this is the womb of all, the forthcoming and indrawing of beings.  Read more at location 14

Neither subjectively perceiving, nor objectively perceiving, nor perceiving in both ways, neither collective perception, nor perception nor non-perception; unseen, not to be apprehended, not to be grasped, without sign of separation, unimaginable, unindicable, the essence of the consciousness of the Self, in which the manifest world ceases, full of peace, benign, secondless, this is held to be the Fourth Consciousness, this is the Self, Atma, this is the goal of wisdom.  Read more at location 17

****  This Self, Atma, corresponds according to syllables with the "om" according to its measures. The measures are as the feet, and the feet are as the measures: A, U and M, to wit.  Read more at location 21

The Natural Self in Waking Consciousness, is the A, the first measure, so called from being the first, and from acquiring. He passes beyond all desires and becomes first, who thus knows. The Psychical Self, in Dream Consciousness, is the u, the second measure, so called from its up-raising and uniting. He is upraised to the highest knowledge, and becomes united, nor in his family do knowers of the Eternal fail, who thus knows. The Spiritual Self in Dreamless Consciousness, is the M, the third measure, so called because it measures all, or because all merges in it. He measures all, and in him all merges, who thus knows.  Read more at location 23

****  Without measure is the Fourth, not to be apprehended, wherein manifestation comes to rest, the benign, secondless. Thus the "om" is as the Self, Atma. Through the Self, he enters the Self, who thus knows, who thus knows.  Read more at location 29

GAUDAPADA'S POEM ON THE MANDUKYA UPANISHAD. 

I.

1. Objectively perceiving, wide-extending is the Natural Self; subjectively perceiving is the Psychical Self; collectively perceiving is the Spiritual Self; the One Self, verily, is thus manifested as three.  Read more at location 32

2. The Natural Self has its center in the right eye, and the mouth; the Psychical Self is centered in the mental and emotional nature; in the pure ether and in the heart dwells the Spiritual Self; thus it dwells in its vesture threefold.  Read more at location 34

3. The Natural Self is the enjoyer of gross matter; the Psychical Self is the enjoyer of finer matter; the Spiritual Self is the enjoyer of bliss. Learn thus the threefold division of feasts.  Read more at location 37

6. The forth-coming of all beings from what has been before is certain; the One Life, the Spirit, causes each fragment of consciousness to be born.  Read more at location 42

9. Some think all things were manifested for enjoyment; others that all was made for sport. But the universe is the very being of God; and what desire could there be in Him, who has attained all desires?  Read more at location 48

11. The bonds of cause and what is caused rule the Natural and Psychical Selves. The Spiritual Self is bound by cause; but these two rule not in the Fourth degree of consciousness, the Divine.  Read more at location 52

****  13. The Spiritual Self and the Divine Self have this in common, that neither perceives duality. The seed of the illusion of separateness dwells in the Spiritual Self, but no longer exists in the Divine.

14. Dream-forms and the illusion of separateness condition both the Natural and the Psychical Selves; the Spiritual Self has the seed of separateness without the forms of dream; but those who are established in the Fourth degree of consciousness, the Divine, perceive neither the illusion of separateness nor the forms of dream.  Read more at location 56

17. If the manifest world had real being, it should pass away in time. But this duality is sheer illusion; transcendental being is one and secondless.  Read more at location 66

23. The letter A leads to the Natural Self; the letter U leads to the Psychical Self; the letter M again to the Spiritual Self; there is no going in that which is without measure.  Read more at location 77

26. The "om" is the manifest Eternal, and the unmanifest Eternal also. The "om" has nought before it, nought within it, nought without it, it passes not away.

27. For the "om" is the beginning of all things, it is likewise the middle and the end. Knowing thus the "om," he straightway enters that Supreme.  Read more at location 84

II. 

9. In the dream-condition, also, that which is perceived subjectively is recognised as unreal, but that which appears objectively is held to be real; yet both are equally illusory.  Read more at location 108

11. If in both these conditions, we admit the illusory nature of all things seen as separate, who is it that thinks them separate? Who is the creator of these forms?

12. The Self, Atma, of Himself makes Himself appear in these forms, as a God, by his magical power of glamor. It is He who thinks these forms separate from Himself. This is the certain teaching of the Vedanta.  Read more at location 112

16. The Self, Atma, first forms the Individual Life, Jiva; thereafter the Self shapes beings of varied form, both those which are external, and those which are in self-consciousness. According to the inherent knowledge of the Individual Life, so is its memory.  Read more at location 123

(Note: quantum collapse)  17. As the rope, which cannot be perceived distinctly in the dark, is changed by imagination into various forms, such as a serpent, or a streak of water, so is the Self, Atma, changed by imagination into various forms.

18. As the imagined form vanishes when the rope is distinctly seen, and it is perceived that there is the rope, and nothing else, so is the clear perception of the Self, Atma.  Read more at location 126

****  19. The Self is imagined to take the forms of the life-breaths and numberless other forms; this is the magical glamor of the God, whereby Himself is concealed from view.  Read more at location 130

********  20. Those who believe in the Life see Him as Life; those who believe in the elements see Him as the elements; those who believe in the Nature-powers see Him as the Nature-powers; those who believe in the forms of matter, see Him as the forms of matter.  Read more at location 132

****  22. Those who believe in the Scriptures, the Vedas, see Him in the Scriptures; those who believe in sacrifices, see Him in sacrifices; those who think of the consciousness which enjoys, see Him as the enjoying consciousness; those who think of what is enjoyed, see Him as what is enjoyed.  Read more at location 137

****  24. Those who think of Time, see Him as Time; those who think of space, see Him in space; those who are set on words, think of Him as words; those who dwell on the worlds, think of Him as the worlds.  Read more at location 142

****  25. Those who dwell on emotion, think of Him as emotion; those who dwell on pure thought, think of Him as pure thought; those who dwell in imagination, think of Him as imagination; those who dwell in law, think of Him as Law; those who disregard law, think of Him as above law.  Read more at location 144

*********  (Note:  akin to logos, and Jesus in Luke 11:34)  Thus all ever perceive Him, each after his own thought.

29. In whatever form He may appear to anyone, that form each beholds; He protects him, becoming that form; and he who thinks on Him under that form, enters into Him.  Read more at location 153

33. By Him, though ever One, this is imagined in unreal forms; the forms are all produced by the One; therefore Oneness is the blessed state.  Read more at location 162

****  37. Let him who has conquered himself be above praise, seeking no adoration, ceasing from offerings to spirits; though amid the mutable, yet dwelling in the immutable; meeting the events of life as they come. 38. Seeing the reality beneath self-consciousness, and seeing also the reality beneath external things, let him become the reality, finding his pleasure-ground therein, never falling below the Real.  Read more at location 170

III. 

3. The Supreme Self is likened to space, which is made up of the sum of spaces enclosed in jars, and includes the jars also. This is the best simile for evolution. 4. When the jars and other containing vessels are destroyed, the spaces that were contained in the jars and the like melt into universal Space. So individual selves melt into the infinite Self.  Read more at location 179

(Note: sin and guilt)  8. As space, in the thought of the inexperienced child, seems stained, so does the Self seem to be stained, to those who are unawakened.  Read more at location 189

11. For the substance of the Five Veils of the Self, enumerated in the Taittiriya Upanishad, is of the Highest Being, as in the illustration of the portions of space, and Space.  Read more at location 194

14. The description of the individual soul and the universal Soul as separate before the growth of the soul is attained, is only to make intelligible the growth of the soul. It does not represent a reality. 15. Similes for the Soul, taken from clay that can be moulded, from iron that can be welded, from sparks that come forth from the flame, are different in character. They are but means for the understanding to pass over. There is no real division at all.  Read more at location 200

****  18. For the teaching of Oneness is the transcendental Truth, and duality is a part of it. As they also teach duality, this Truth does not conflict with them.  Read more at location 209

19. The Eternal, ever unborn, appears to be divided through Glamor only, for, were the division real, the immortal would take on mortality. 20. Some would have it that the unborn, everlasting Being comes to Birth. But how could the unborn, the immortal, come to mortality? 21. The immortal becomes not mortal, nor does the mortal become immortal. For nothing can become the contrary of its own nature.  Read more at location 211

24. Such sentences of Scripture as that which declares "There is no separateness," and "Indra, through glamor, appeared as manifold," prove that He, the ever unborn, appears to be born through Glamor alone.  Read more at location 220

38. Where no form is perceived by the thought, there is naught to grasp nor to surrender; then the power of knowing has come to rest in the Self. Reaching perfect being, it knows no further birth.  Read more at location 248

41. Just as it is possible to empty the ocean, by picking it up drop by drop on the tip of a blade of kusha grass, so it is possible completely to control the mind by infinite perseverance.  Read more at location 254

42. By the right means one should gain control over the mind, whether it be scattered abroad after the feasts of desire, or sunk down in sluggish sloth; for lust and sloth are equal dangers.  Read more at location 256

45. Let him not allow it to hold with relish to the happiness of this peace, but let him through spiritual vision break free from all attachment. Let him by effort of will bring the mind to oneness with the Self, keeping it poised, in perfect stillness.  Read more at location 263

****  48. The individual soul is not really born; it has no real separate being; that is the highest truth, which perceives that naught is really born.  Read more at location 270

IV.   "quenching Of The Fire-brand." 

****  2. He who teaches the Union which is limitless, bringing happiness to all beings, beings free from dissonance or discord; to him in reverence I bow.  Read more at location 275

7. The immortal becomes not mortal, nor can the mortal become immortal. For it is impossible that anything can become the opposite of its own nature. 8. He who says that what is by nature immortal may become mortal—how can he maintain that what enters into manifestation nevertheless remains immortal? 9. The nature of a thing is that which is complete in itself, that which is its very essence, that which is innate, that which is not added to it from without, that which does not lose its inherent character.  Read more at location 285

22. We teach that no reality comes into manifestation either from itself or from any other thing. Whether it be being or non-being or both, no reality ever comes into manifestation. 23. The cause of the beginningless cannot come into manifestation, nor can the result come into manifestation of itself. For if anything is beginningless, then it never begins at all.  Read more at location 316

(Note: explanation for perception, doesn't address physical effects)  24. But this objection is raised: There must be a cause which gives birth to perceptions; otherwise both would cease to exist And also from the existence of pain, the reality of external causes must be accepted.

25. We admit that reason demands that a cause be assigned for perception. But the nature of things equally demands that this cause shall be itself causeless.

26. The imagination does not come into contact with objects, nor is there a mirroring of objects in the imagination. For the object has no permanent reality, nor does the mirrored image exist apart from the object.

27. The imagination never touches any real object whether in past, present or future. And how could there be a mistaken impression of something that has no existence?

28. Therefore there is no external manifestation either of objects or of the mind. They who see such a thing are looking at something as non-existent as a footprint in the sky.  Read more at location 320

42. But the teaching that manifestation is a reality is put forward by the sages, only for the sake of those who are afraid of the thought that manifestation is no reality, those who rest their belief on common experience and on the adequacy of ritual acts.

43. Those who are afraid of the thought that manifestation is no reality, and who rely on experience, suffer no great detriment thereby, though they do fall short of truth.  Read more at location 357

45. The One, which is ever at peace, which is pure Consciousness, without manifestation, motion or material existence, appears to have manifestation, appears to be in motion, appears to be material. 46. Thus, verily, neither is imagination outwardly manifested, nor are objects outwardly manifested; thus, verily, the wise fall not into these inverted illusions.  Read more at location 363

****  47. Just as a fire-brand whirled in the air appears to make a straight or crooked line of light, so Consciousness set in motion gives the appearance of perceiver and perceived, subject and object. 48. Just as the fire-brand does not really take these shapes, but remains apart from this illusion and unchanged by it; so, verily, does Consciousness remain apart from the illusion of manifestation, and unchanged by it. 49. When the fire-brand is whirled about, the appearances it gives rise to, do not come from any external source; nor do they go anywhere else when it ceases to be whirled, nor do they withdraw into the fire-brand. 50. They do not go out of the fire-brand, because they have no substantial existence; just the same is true of Consciousness, for the illusion of appearance is common to both of them. 51. When Consciousness is in motion, the appearances in it do not come from any external source; nor, when its motion ceases, do they go to any other place; nor do they withdraw again into Consciousness.  Read more at location 367

54. In the same way, conscious selves are not the effect of imagination, nor is imagination the effect of conscious selves. Thus the wise take refuge in the truth that there is no real manifestation of cause and effect. 55. So long as there is a belief in cause and effect, so long will there be the seeming operation of cause and effect. But when the belief in cause and effect fades, then also will the seeming operation of cause and effect pass away. 56. So long as there is a belief in cause and effect, so long will the sequence of birth and rebirth continue; but when the belief in cause and effect fades away, the sequence of birth and rebirth will cease.  Read more at location 382

60. Since conscious selves do not in reality come into manifestation, they cannot be said either to be eternal as such, or not to be eternal. Where no distinctions of quality exist, there can be no distinguishing description.  Read more at location 395

72. This dual world of perceiver and perceived comes into being through the motion of the imagination. Therefore the imagination is declared to be unrelated to objects, everlasting, unattached. 73. The being that is built up by the enveloping power of illusion has no transcendental reality. So things held to exist by the delusions of other schools of thought, have no transcendental reality.  Read more at location 419

76. Where the imagination accepts no causes, whether good, bad or middling, then it falls not into birth; for without a cause, how can there be an effect? 77. The non-manifestation of the imagination, which is thus without a cause, is non-dual and unconditioned; the same is true of everything unborn, for it is but the work of the imagination. 78. Awaking to the truth that causation is not a final reality, and finding no external, separate cause for manifested existence, one reaches the heart's desire, the resting-place that is free from fear and beyond sorrow.  Read more at location 428

79. Belief that unreal things are real attaches us to unreal things. But when we wake up to the fact that outer things are unreal, we become free from attachment to them.  Read more at location 434

****  (Note:  enlightenment)  82. Through our grasping after one outer object after another, the joy of the Self is perpetually concealed, and suffering fills our field of view. But the Lord, the real Self is there, awaiting us.  Read more at location 440

83. The childish minded fails to find the Self, because he is wrapped up in arguments as to whether it is or is not, is and is not, or exists not at all; arguments drawn from the ideas of things moving or stable or both, or non-being.  Read more at location 442

87. The sense of the world as dual, made up of outer things and inner emotions, is a worldly perception. The sense of the world as single, made up of emotions without outer things, is equally worldly. 88. That which is beyond outer things and emotions is declared to be above worldly experience; it is proclaimed by the wise to be at once wisdom, and the goal of wisdom and knowledge. 89. When the knowledge of the three worlds is grasped, when they are known in ascending degrees, then the sage enters into perfect knowledge of all things.  Read more at location 450

90. The first steps of knowledge, concerning what is to be abandoned, what is to be known, what is to be acquired, what is to be lipened, are all but figurative expressions, except that which concerns what is to be known.  Read more at location 456

94. Those who dwell in the thought of separateness do not reach the Light. Those who are in bondage to separateness, who declare that objects really exist apart from the Self, are pitiful. 95. But those who will dwell firm-set in the unborn One, they indeed are wise in this world; but this wisdom the world cannot reach. 96. True wisdom is that which, being unmanifest, does not hold itself to be dependent on forms and characters which have no real being. Wisdom, thus independent, is declared to be free from attachment.  Read more at location 465

97. There can be no true detachment for the unwise in whom dwells even an atom of the sense of separateness; is not this the very thing that conceals the Real?  Read more at location 471

99. The wisdom of him who has reached illumination, who is full of fervor, does not concern itself with characters and forms; for him, forms and characters have no true reality. This is not the same as saying that the subjective is real. 100. Having thus realized the One, which is hard to behold, which dwells in the deeps, which is ever equal, which is full of light, that resting-place where there is no separateness: let us bow down to that One, in the measure of our enlightenment.  Read more at location 475

VI MANDUKYA UPANISHAD

Thought to most likely have been composed in first or second century AD.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandukya_Upanishad

From The Upanishads: Breath of the Eternal 

Interpretation by Swami Prabhavananda, Frederick Manchester

Last annotated on June 6, 2017

THE life of man is divided between waking, dreaming, and dreamless sleep. But transcending these three states is superconscious vision-called simply The Fourth.   Read more at location 510

MANDUKYA UPANISHAD  

THE SYLLABLE OM, which is the imperishable Brahman, is the universe. Whatsoever has existed, whatsoever exists, whatsoever shall exist hereafter, is OM. And whatsoever transcends past, present, and future, that also is OM. All this that we see without is Brahman. This Self that is within is Brahman.   Read more at location 512

The first aspect of the Self is the universal person, the collective symbol of created beings, in his physical nature-Vaiswanara. He is awake, and is conscious only of external objects.  Read more at location 514

The second aspect of the Self is the universal person in his mental nature-Taijasa. He has seven members and nineteen instruments of knowledge. He is dreaming, and is conscious only of his dreams.  Read more at location 518

The third aspect of the Self is the universal person in dreamless sleep-Prajna. He dreams not. He is without desire. As the darkness of night covers the day, and the visible world seems to disappear, so in dreamless sleep the veil of unconsciousness envelops his thought and knowledge, and the subtle impressions of his mind apparently vanish. Since he experiences neither strife nor anxiety, he is said to be blissful, and the experience? of bliss. Prajna is the lord of all. He knows all things. He is the dweller in the hearts of all. He is the origin of all.  Read more at location 520

****  (Note:   ineffable, beyond name, Tao)  The Fourth, say the wise, is not subjective experience, nor objective experience, nor experience intermediate between these two, nor is it a negative condition which is neither consciousness nor unconsciousness. It is not the knowledge of the senses, nor is it relative knowledge, nor yet inferential knowledge. Beyond the senses, beyond the understanding, beyond all expression, is The Fourth. It is pure unitary consciousness, wherein awareness of the world and of multiplicity is completely obliterated. It is ineffable peace. It is the supreme good. It is One without a second. It is the Self.  Read more at location 524

This Self, beyond all words, is the syllable OM. This syllable, though indivisible, consists of three letters-A-U-M. Vaiswanara, the Self as the universal person in his physical being, corresponds to the first letter-A. Whosoever knows Vaiswanara obtains what he desires, and becomes the first among men. Taijasa, the Self as the universal person in his mental being, corresponds to the second letter-U. Taijasa and the letter U both stand in dream, between waking and sleeping. Whosoever knows Taijasa grows in wisdom, and is highly honored. Prajna, the Self as the universal person in dreamless sleep, corresponds to the third letter-M. He is the origin and the end of all. Whosoever knows Prajna knows all things. The Fourth, the Self, is OM, the indivisible syllable. This syllable is unutterable, and beyond mind. In it the manifold universe disappears. It is the supreme good-One without a second. Whosoever knows OM, the Self, becomes the Self.   Read more at location 527