MANDUKYA UPANISHAD with GAUDAPADA’S KARIKA : 5 - Swami Advayananda ji

 

Chinmaya International Foundation (CIF)

Avani-avittam is performed on the full moon day in the month of Shravan 🌕

It is an auspicious day to change the sacred thread (janeyu), and offer gratitude to our ancestors and ancient Rishis through Pitru Tarpanam, for spiritual knowledge, and reverence to the Vedas themselves.

At Adi Sankara Nilayam, participants including the Puja Vidhanam Residential Course students, Brahmacharins and Sevaks performed the Upakarma vidhi or rituals guided by Swami Sharadananda Sarasvati.

Adorning the new upavita (sacred thread), the seekers chanted the Gayatri Mantra –renewing the sacred vows, imbued with great spiritual significance, and invoking divine blessings for knowledge and enlightenment.

It was truly a glorious celebration of our ancestral heritage ✨

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Monday, 04 Sep 2023. 07:00.

MANDUKYA UPANISHAD 

with Part 1/4 of GAUDAPADA’S KARIKA

Agama Prakarana – “The Scriptural Treatise”

PART 1: Agama Prakarana (Mantras-29. )

Kar. Section 1.1: EXPERIENCE & ENJOYMENT (Mantras 1-5) 

Commentary on Mantras 1-5 of Mandukya Upanishad

Mantram - 2: Brahman is Verily OM

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Mantram - 2: Brahman is Verily OM

1a 

sarvam hi etat brahma,   =  All this is verily Brahman.

1b 

“ayam aatmaa brahma”   =  (mahavakya); This Atman is Brahman.

1c 

sah ayam aatmaa chatushpaat.   =  This Atman has four quarters or Padas.

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Introduction to Brahman, the Reality

1a 

Brahman is the Supreme Reality in Vedanta. Whatever has been spoken of so far 

as being Om, is now being spoken of as Brahman. In this verse, Brahman becomes the

predominant concept, not Om. We have shifted from the symbol to the actual application of 

the symbol. At once the idea flashes in our intellect that here we are dealing not just with 

something imaginary, but something that is nothing short of the Reality itself. 

The idea of the practical relevance of this discussion is ushered into our mind. Words 

in the scriptures are precious, and not a single extra word is permitted. The thought 

movement is brisk. We need to grasp the significance of every Pada of the Upanishad or risk 

being left stranded and out of the picture. There is a massive leap in understanding that we 

are about to take in the next Pada.

Introduction to Atman, the Miniature “Brahman” Within

1b 

Brahman is too vast a concept for us to grasp at once. The Upanishad, perhaps 

realizing our difficulty, does what a schoolteacher would do in a junior class; it presents a 

smaller version of the big problem. If we cannot comprehend the whole Himalayan range, 

the Upanishad starts by showing us one large mountain in the range! If the whole range is 

called Brahman, then one mountain in the range is called the Atman.

There, within each one of us, is a ‘replica’ called the Atman of the grand Brahman of 

the universe. This Atman is really no different from Brahman, but it helps us to get started in 

our understanding of Brahman. The idea is to start seeing ourselves as one ‘mountain’ and 

then later to everything in the world as the same range of mountains called Brahman. 

The Mahavakya: 

“Ayam Atmaa Brahma” – This is the Mahavakya of the Mandukya 

Upanishad. It tells us that there is an identity between the Atman within and Brahman 

without. This identity is going to be established in the 12 verses of the Upanishad. That is all 

that the Rishi who composed this Upanishad wants to teach us. 

Every Upanishad has its own Mahavakya teaching the same Truth to us. Each Rishi 

may approach the Truth in different ways in the different Upanishads, but the final message 

is identical. The great conclusion of all the Upanishads is that Brahman and Atman are 

identical. That Truth cannot change. The peak of Mount Everest is always one only, but 

mountaineers may reach it from many different faces. Each of them will have various 

explanations of their journeys, but when they describe the peak, everyone’s description 

agrees. It cannot be otherwise. 

The Rishi with whom we are making the present journey to the peak now introduces 

the face of the mountain which he is climbing up:

Introduction to The “Four Quarters” of the Self

1c 

Chatuspaat: 

The feature that is prominent about this particular Upanishad’s 

journey to the top of the mountain is that it has “four distinct Padas” or Quarters along the 

hiking trail. This is not unique to this Upanishad; other Rishis have also climbed up the same 

route. The only difference is that this Rishi has documented his journey in a very simple, 

easy-to-understand manner so that others can follow his directions easily and certainly 

reach the top as he did.

Crucial to be understood at the very outset is that the Atman has no parts, it is 

homogenous. The entire description given by the Rishi is a beautiful symbol using “OM”. The 

four Padas are not like the four legs of a cow, each of which is independent of the other. 

How are we to understand these four Padas?

A map to the peak is laid out for us in the remaining ten verses of the Upanishad. 

There is a mathematical precision in the way the map is laid out. The novelty of his 

description lies in putting forward the concept of the fourfold division of the trail as four 

quarters or Padas. These are like the four directions in a geographical map – north, south, 

east and west. Or one can think of them – as we did in the Introduction – as the four corners 

of a room. We are like the frog trapped inside the room who is hopping from corner to 

corner, trying to find a way to escape from the room!

The Bhashya’s Simile: 

The simile given in the Bhashya is of a currency coin. 

If one considers a rupee and divides it into 100 paisas, that would be a good simile. 

The 100 paisas should not be seen to be 4 equal portions consisting of 25 paisas; 

that would resemble the -

“cow’s legs” example. The correct way of looking at this simile is to integrate each Pada with 

its previous Pada, and impose a definite logical sequence to the 4 Padas. 

This means:

i) the first Pada is 25 paisas; 

ii) the second Pada would be 50 paisas (25 of its own + 25 of the previous);

iii) the third Pada would be 75 paisas (25 of its own + 50 of the two previous two); 

iv) the fourth Pada would be 100 paisas (25 of its own + 75 of the previous three).

Now, having grasped how the Padas are to be conceived, we can apply the concept 

one at a time to each of the four Padas. This is done in Verses 3-6; each verse explains one 

Pada in the proper sequence, from the 1st to the 4th.

One more point needs to be borne in mind. The individual’s journey to the Atman is 

called Vyashti level; it represents the microcosm. When the same journey is viewed from the 

Samashti level, representing the macrocosm, we have the road to Brahman. The 1st, 2nd and 

rd Padas are the means of reaching; the 4th Pada is the Goal that we reach. We see that the 

Fourth Pada is a very special one; it can be conceived only by successively merging the 

earlier three. This is the little “secret” that we shall discover as we progress!

The following is a ILLUSTRATION showing the 4 Padas and what each one represents:

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PADA

QTR.

MANTRAM

No.

VYASHTI LEVEL

(Microcosm)

SAMASHTI LEVEL

(Macrocosm)

AVASTHA

(State)

SOUND

Symbol

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1 3 Vishwa

Vaishvanara

(or Virat) Waking ‘A’

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2 4 Taijasa Hiranyagarbha Dream ‘U’

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3 5 Praajna Ishwara Deep Sleep ‘M’

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4 6 Atman Brahman Turiya AUM or OM

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THE FOUR PADAS AND THEIR REPRESENTATIONS:

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NAME OF STATE FEATURE PRESENT  OR ABSENT 

PADA

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QTR. Samskrit English

Gross Body, 

Senses & 

Intellect

Duality, 

Dream & 

Desires

Avidya or 

Ignorance

Non-duality 

Atman or 

Knowledge

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1

VAISHVANARA

(or Virat) Waking    

2 TAIJASA Dream    

3 PRAAJNA Deep Sleep    

4 TURIYA “Fourth”    

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CONTENT OF THE FOUR PADAS

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Next

Mantram - 3: The First Pada – Waking State Consciousness

To be continued

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