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

Chinmaya Mission:

"As a part of the ongoing Sewa projects at Chinmaya Vrindavan in Cranbury, 50 bags of food were packed and given as donations to the HomeFront organization for their Thanksgiving food drive. Kids from Grade 8 Bala Vihar eagerly joined in the activity with enthusiasm. They happily participated in putting together the food bags, contributing to the community and helping those in need. It was a heartwarming effort by the young volunteers to make a positive impact during the Thanksgiving season, spreading joy and support to others through their involvement in this charitable project."

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Wednesday, 29 Nov 2023. 06:30.

MANDUKYA UPANISHAD 

with Part 1/4 of GAUDAPADA’S KARIKA

Agama Prakarana – “The Scriptural Treatise”

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PART 1: Agama Prakarana (Mantras-29.)

THE SYLLABLES OF “OM”

Upanishad Section 3: 

Mantras - 8-12

Mantram - 8: Symbolism of the Letters of “OM”

Post-12.

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Introduction:

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 

2a 

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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Next

Mantram - 9: “A” – The First Letter: VISHWA

To be continued

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