Mandukya Upanishad

Th© mystic symbolism of the word ^Om’ : (a) identified witb the fourfold, pantheistic time-Brahma 1. Om ! — This syllable^ is this whole world. Its further explanation is : — The past, the present, the future — everything is just the word Om* And whatever else that transcends threefold time ^ — that, too, is just the word Om, 2. For truly, everything here is Brahma ; this self {diman) is Brahma. This same self has four fourths. (b) representing in its phonetic elements the four states of the Self 3. The waking state {jdgmnta-sihdnci)^ outwardly cognitive, having seven limbs, ^ having nineteen mouths,^ enjoying the gross {sthtda-bhuj)^ the Common-to-all-men {vaisvdnara)^ is the first fourth. 4. The dreaming state {svapna-sthdnd)^ inwardly cognitive, having seven limbs, having nineteen mouths, enjoying the exquisite {pravivikta-bhuj)^ the Brilliant {taijasd)^ is the second fourth. ^ Inasmuch as aksaram means also ‘ imperishable,’ the word may in this connection be used with a double significance, namely, * This imperishable syllable 2 A similar phrase occurs at 6vet. 6. 5 b. ® i^ahkara refers to the enumeration of the several parts of the universal i^aiivUnar^^ SM at Chand. 5. 18. 2; there, however, the list is longer than seveu. The exact significance of the number here is uncertain.

^ Sankara explains this to mean : the five organs of sense {huddhmdriyc^^ namely those of hearing, touch, sight, taste, and smell, the five organs of zz^mxk \kar 7 nen^ driyd), namely those of speech, handling, locomotion, generation, and excretion, the five vital breaths (pdm), the sensorium {mams)^ the intellect {kidd/ii)^ egoism and thinking (47//^). ;;5-l ' MANDUKYA UPANISHAD 5. If one asleep desires no desire whatsoever, sees no dream whatsoever,^ that is deep sleep [sustipta). The deep-sleep state {susupta-sthana)^ unified {eM-bhuia)p just a cognition-mass (prajnma-ghana)p consisting of bliss {dnanda-mayd)p enjoying bliss {ananda-bhuj) , whose mouth is thought {ceias-)^ the Cognitional {prdjria), is the third fourth. 6. This is the lord of all {sarvesvard)P This is the allknowing {sarva-jBa)P This is the inner controller (antarymnin)P This is the source {yoni) ^ of all, for this is the origin and the end {prabhavdpyayau)^ of beings. 7. Not inwardly cognitive {antah-prajna)^ not outwardly cognitive {bahih-prajna), not both- wise cognitive prajna\ not a cognition-mass {prajndna-gJiana\ not cognitive (prajm), not non-cognitive (a-prajnd)^ unseen (a-drsfa), with which there can be no dealing {a-vyavahdrya\ ungraspable grdhyd)^ having no distinctive mark {a 4 aksana)^ non-thinkable {a-cintyd), that cannot be designated {a-vyapadesya)^ the essence of the assurance of which is the state of being one with the {ekdtmya-pratyaya-sdra\ the cessation of development {prapancopasama\ tranquil {sdnia\ benign {sivd)^ without a second (^-^zW^^)-^[such] they think is the fourth.^ ^ He is the Self (Atman). He should be discerned.

8. This is the Self with regard to the word Om^ with regard to its elements. The elements \mdtrd) are the fourths ; ^ The part of the sentence tip to this point has occurred already in Brih, 4. 3. 19. 2 A detailed description of the condition of being * unified ’ occurs at Brih. ® This compound has already occurred in Brih. 4. 5. 13. A description of the self ‘consisting of bliss' occurs in Tait. 2, 5. It is declared to be the acme of attainment over every other form of self at Tait. 2, 8. i and 3. 10. 5. ® A phrase in Brih. 4, 4. 22. ® A phrase in Mund. i. I. g ; 2, 2. 7. The subject of discourse in Brih. 3. 7. ^ Literally, ‘ womb.' ^ A phrase in Katha d. II, Or, according to the reading ekdtma-j ‘ the oneness of the Self’ or ‘ one's own The designation here ixsed for the 'fourth,’ or super-conscious, state is mturtha, the usual and regular form of the ordinal numeral aiijective. In Brih. (at 5. 14. 3, 4, 6, 7) It is mmed Jurijya, and in Maitri (at 6. 19 ; 7, ii. 7) tH7ya — * variant forms of the same ordinal. All later philosophical treatises have the form inrlya^ which came to be the accepted technical term.

■ MANptjKYA UPANISHAD ■ ' the fourths, the elements.; the letter ay the letter u, the letter m} g. The waking state, the Common-to-all-men, is the letter the first element, from apti obtaining *) or from adimatva {' being first He obtains, verily, indeed, all desires, he becomes first — he who knows this. 10. The sleeping state, the Brilliant, is the letter the second element, from titkarsa (‘exaltation’) or from tibhayaiva (‘intermediateness’). He exalts, verily, indeed, the continuity of knowledge ; and he becomes equaP {samdna)\ no one ignorant of Brahma is born in the family of him who knows this. 11. The deep- sleep state, the Cognitional, is the letter the third element, from miti (‘erecting’) or ixom aplti^ (‘ immerging He, veril}/, indeed, erects {minoti) this whole world, ^ and he becomes its immerging — he who knows this. 12. The fourth is without an element, with which there can be no dealing, the cessation of development, benign, without a second. Thus Om is the Self (Atman) indeed. He who knows this, with his self enters the Self ^ — yea, he who knows this! ^ In Sanskrit the vowel o is constitutionally a diphthong, contracted from « + Om therefore may -he analyzed into the elements a + u-^m.

2 Either (i) in the sense of * equable,’ i. e. unaffected in the midst of the pairs of opposites {dvandt^a) ) or (2) in the sense of ‘ equitable/ i.e, impartial, alike, indifferent to both friend and foe; or (3) in the sense of "equalized,’ i. e. with the universe, which a knower understands exists only as his Seif’s consciousness ; or even (4) in the very common sense of / saiiie,’ i.e. the same as that which he knows. All these four (and more) are possible interpretations. 'J hey evidence how vague (or, how^ pregnant— it is urged) are some of the statements in the Upaiiishads, and how capable therefore of various interpretations. Of each of sections 8-10 there are, similarly, several interpretations. ^ Possibly as a synonym for another meaning of miti (derived from d wi, mindti)y ‘ destroying ’ or ^ perishing.’ ^ That is, out of his own consciousness— according to the philosophic theory of subjective idealism expounded in the Upanishads. ® This is a plnase which has previously occurred at VS. 32. 11. FIRST ADHYAYA Conjectures concerning the First Cause 1. Discoursers on Brahma (hrahma-vMin) say:— What is the cause? Brahma?^ Whence are we born? Whereby do we live? And on what are we established? Overruled by whom, in pains and pleasures,

Do we live our various conditions, O ye theologians {hrahnia- 2. Time {kala), or inherent nature (sva-dMva)^ ov necessity {niya/i)^ Or the elements \bhula), or a [female] womb {yom), or a [male] person {purusd) are to be considered [as the cause] ; Not a combination of these, because of the existence of the soul The soul certainly is impotent over the cause of pleasure and pain. 3. Those who have followed after meditation (dhydna) and abstrac- Saw the self-power iaima-sakti) of God {deva) hidden in his own qualities {guna). He is the One who rules over all these causes, From Uime' to Hhe soul/ The individual soul in manifold distress 4. We understand him [as a w'heel] with one felly, with a triple ^ With sixteen end-parts,® fifty spokes,^ twenty counter-spokes,® ' khh Mr an a 7 iz brahma mi^X moivca. also ^ What is the cause? Is it Brahma ? ’ or ‘ What is the cause ? What is Brahma ? ’ or ‘ Is the cause Brahma V or Is Brahma the cause 1 ’ or even * What sort of a cause is Brahma ? ^ (see Introduction, p. 8): sattvanii rajas^ and tmias — pureness, passion, and darkness.

® That is, the five elements the five organs of perception {huddhmdriya) t!ie five organs of action and the mind imanas), ^ The fifty conditions {bhdva) of the Sahkhya philosophy (cf. Sahkhya Karika 46). ® The ten senses (indriya) and their ten corresponding objects,