MANDUKYA UPANISHAD with GAUDAPADA’S KARIKA : 12. - Swami Advayananda ji.

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Wednesday, April 19, 2023. 06:45.

MANDUKYA UPANISHAD 

With Part -1/4 of Goudapada's Karika

Agama Prakarana - "The Scriptural Treatise"

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THE “FOURTH” QUARTER – TURIYA

Upanishad Section 2 :  Mantras - 7.

Mantra - 7: The Fruit of the Process of “Negation”

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OBJECTIONS :

Objection 5: Is it a Shunya State (“Nothingness” or Void)?

Poorvapakshi: Is this Fourth Quarter a mere void?

Answer : 

No, an unreal illusion cannot exist without a substratum. Silver has the 

substratum of a shell; the snake of a rope; the ghost of a post; the mirage of a desert. In the 

same manner, the Fourth state is the substratum of the other three states. Without Turiya, 

the other three – Vishwa, Taijasa and Prajna – cannot exist.

Objection 6: What is TURIYA in Words?

Poorvapakshi: Just as the words in the above examples, can Turiya not be expressed 

in positive words, instead of having to be deduced from negations?

Answer: 

No. In the examples (under Obj. 5), both items are unreal. In this case we 

have a relationship between the Real and the unreal – and such a relation cannot really be 

described in words, as the Real is not a substance like a pot, etc.

A cow is an object and can be known by the appropriate means of knowledge. The 

Self is not like that; it has no attributes by which it may be described.

And also unlike a cow, the Self does not fall into any category (Jaati), does not have 

an activity associated with it (Kriya), and does not have any attributes (Guna). For this 

reason, it eludes all description.

Objection 7: Is it an absurdity just like the “Horns of a Hare”?

Poorvapakshi: Then of what purpose is the Self if it cannot even be defined? It is like 

the horns of a hare! – a sheer absurdity.

Answer: 

No, when this Turiya is realized, as it is emphatically declared in the 

scriptures, all craving or desire for the non-Self ceases. When one sees the shell, there is no 

desire for the imaginary silver any more. Besides, this state is the same as our own true Self. 

This is stated in all the Upanishadic Mahavakyas – “That thou art.”

Objection 8: Why should we negate the first three Padas?

Poorvapakshi: We have seen that the Fourth Pada is very different from the 

previous three Padas. So, what purpose does it serve to negate those three Padas? By 

negating we cannot prove anything about the Fourth Pada which is different from it.

Answer: 

No, the negation is purposeful – it is by proving the falsity of the other 

three states that we come to understand the Fourth state. We use this method when 

proving the “Tat Twam Asi” Mahavakya. By removing the false Upadhis, the identity of Tat 

Twam Asi is established.

Objection 9: What Does Negation Mean

Poorvapakshi: We actually experience the three states within us. How can they be 

denied, just by negating them? How is it possible to negate them?

Answer: 

We are not denying their existence superficially. We are seeing the unreality

behind them, like the snake in the rope. Then we are seeing the permanent Reality beneath 

them that gives them support. All three on the surface are mutually exclusive realms of 

experience. They themselves negate each other. Let that happen; we are interested in their 

unchanging essence – that is, their witnessing Consciousness.

Objection 10: Does not Consciousness change in deep sleep?

Poorvapakshi: In deep sleep consciousness changes – it disappears, doesn’t it?

Answer: 

No, there is no change in consciousness, only the name we give it changes. 

For that there is a good quote: “The knower’s function of knowing can never be lost” (Br 

IV,iii,30). Our recollection “I slept well” tells us consciousness was still there.

*****

Next
THE SYLLABLES OF “OM”
Upanishad Section 3: 
Mantras - 8-12
To be continued

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