Hinduism - What Is The Mandukya Upanishad?

 

The Mandukya Upanishad is a Hindu scripture.

One of the Upanishads, a group of speculative religious teachings that make up the most recent layer of the Vedas, the oldest Hindu holy scriptures.

The central goal of the Mandukya Upanishad is to enquire into ultimate concerns, particularly the essence of the Self (atman).

Because of its brevity—only twelve verses—and clear exposition of philosophical monism, the Mandukya Upanishad is widely considered one of the most recent upanishads.

The first line extols the sound Om, describing it as the very essence of the cosmos.

The second verse connects Brahman with the universe, the Self (atman) with Brahman, and describes the Self as having four parts.


The four regions of the Self are described in the following verses, each of which eliminates another layer of egoism: 

  1. The first layer is waking consciousness, which is characterized by subject and object perceptions; 
  2. the second layer is dream sleep, which is pure subjectivity; 
  3. the third layer is deep sleep, which has neither subject nor object; 
  4. and the fourth layer is a mysterious state simply referred to as "the fourth" (turiya), which is the Self itself.


In later verses, the vowels "a" and "u" (which combine to produce the vowel "o"), as well as the letter "m," are identified as the three elements of the Om sound.

"Beyond all letters" and "without duality" is supposed to be the fourth stage.

Knowing this, according to the upanishad, leads to one last freedom, in which one spontaneously joins with the Self.


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