MANDUKYA UPANISHAD with GAUDAPADA’S KARIKA : 13. - Swami Advayananda ji.
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Sunday, April 30, 2023. 08:00.
MANDUKYA UPANISHAD
With Part -1/4 of Goudapada's Karika
Agama Prakarana - "The Scriptural Treatise"
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THE “FOURTH” QUARTER – TURIYA
THE SYLLABLES OF “OM”
Upanishad Section 3:
Mantras - 8-12
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The “frog”, famous for giving its name to the ‘Mandukya’ Upanishad, is beginning its
second round of hopping from Quarter to Quarter!
In the first round the purpose was specifically to detail the states of consciousness
represented by the four Quarters, namely waking, dream, deep sleep and the enlightened
state. The emphasis then was on the word, Om, and its component letters or syllables.
Now from the word, the emphasis shifts to the sound of Om, taken as a whole as
well as syllable by syllable, known in sound terminology as Maatras. A Maatra is a specific
duration for the chanting of each syllable. There is a spiritual practice brought into play
employing sound as the device to introduce the change. Four techniques of chanting Om
have evolved from it, one for each of the four Quarters. We shall see these techniques in
more detail in the Karika that follows immediately after these Upanishadic mantras.
Just as reading the lyrics of a song is very different from singing the song, so also is
the shift denoted by this second round of visits to each Quarter. Implied in the change from
reading to chanting is the importance placed on a strict sequence of moving from one
Quarter to the next. There is a growth in Consciousness that is signified by the sequence.
We move forward in our evolution from the gross level towards the subtler levels until we
reach illumination in the Fourth Quarter. Such are the creative means employed by the Rishi
to catch our wandering mind and hold it firmly onto the subject matter at hand!
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Mantram - 8 : Symbolism of the Letters of “OM” :
1.
sah ayam aatmaa; = That same Atman (Self), when considered
2.
a adhyaksharam = i) from the standpoint of the total syllable,
omkaarah; = is ‘Om’ (the ‘Fourth’ Quarter); but
2b.
adhimaatram; = ii) from the standpoint of the letters of Om:
paadaah maatraah, = a. the (first three) Quarters are the letters;
cha maatraa paadaa. = b. or the letters are the (first three) Quarters.
3.
akaarah, ukaarah, makaarah iti. = We have the ‘A’, the ‘U’, and the ‘M’ letters.
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