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Māndūkya Upanishad is one of the shortest Upanishads that form the revealed, so called metaphysical, parts of the Vedas. Literature regarded as central to the Hindu literary tradition was predominantly composed in Sanskrit, Indeed much of the morphology and linguistic "Veda" redirects here For other uses see Veda (disambiguation. The Rigveda ( Sanskrit sa ऋग्वेद ṛgveda, a compound of ṛc "praise verse" and veda "knowledge" The Yajurveda ( Sanskrit यजुर्वेदः, a Tatpurusha compound of yajus "sacrificial formula' + veda The Samaveda ( Sanskrit: सामवेद sāmaveda, from sāman "melody" + veda "knowledge") is third (in the usual The Atharvaveda ( Sanskrit: अथर्ववेद atharvaveda, a Tatpurusha compound of {{IAST|atharvan}}, an ancient Rishi The oral tradition of the Vedas ( Śrauta) consists of several pathas, "recitations" or ways of chanting the Vedic Mantras Such traditions The Brāhmaṇa s ( Devanagari: sa ब्राह्मणं are part of the Hindu śruti literature The Aranyakas (Sanskrit आरण्यक āraṇyaka) are part of the Hindu śruti, the four Vedas these religious texts were composed in The Upanishads ( Devanagari: उपनिषद् IAST: upaniṣad also spelled "Upanisad" are Hindu scriptures that constitute the core teachings The Upanishads ( Devanagari: उपनिषद् IAST: upaniṣad also spelled "Upanisad" are Hindu scriptures that constitute the core teachings The Aitareya Upanishad is one of the older "primary" Upanishads commented upon by Shankara. The Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upanishad ( Sanskrit: बृहदारण्यक उपनिषद् is one of the older "primary" ( Mukhya The Isha Upanishad ( īśa upaniṣad, otherwise Ishopanishad īśopaniṣad or īśāvāsya upaniṣad) is one of the shortest of the Upanishads The Taittiriya Upanishad is one of the older " primary " Upanishads commented upon by Shankara. The Chandogya Upanishad is one of the "primary" ( Mukhya) Upanishads Together with the Jaiminiya Upanishad Brahmana and the Brihadaranyaka The Kena Upanishad (kenopaniṣad is one of the older "primary" Upanishads commented upon by Shankara. The Muṇḍaka Upanishad is one of the older "primary" ( Mukhya) Upanishads commented upon by Shankara. The Kaṭha Upanishad is one of the older Mukhya "primary" Upanishads commented upon by Shankara. Prashna Upanishad ( IAST praṣnopaniṣad is one of the older "primary" Upanishads commented upon by Shankara. The Shvetashvatara Upanishad (Sanskrit Śvetāśvatara) (400 - 200 BCE is one of the older "primary" Upanishads It is associated with the Black The Vedanga ( vedāṅga, "member of the Veda" are six auxiliary disciplines for the understanding and tradition of the Vedas. See Shiksha (NGO for the Indian non-governmental organization The main principle of Vedic meter is measurement by the number of syllables The Sanskrit grammatical tradition of vyākaraṇa is one of the six Vedanga disciplines Nirukta ("explanation etymological interpretation" is one of the six {{IAST|Vedānga}} disciplines of Hinduism, treating Etymology, particularly Jyotiṣa ( Sanskrit jyotiṣa, from jyótis- "light heavenly body" also spelled Jyotish and Jyotisha in English Kalpa is one of the six disciplines of Vedanga, treating Ritual. Indian epic poetry is the Epic poetry written in the Indian subcontinent. The Rāmāyaṇa ( Devanāgarī: sa रामायण is an ancient Sanskrit epic attributed to the Hindu sage ( Maharishi) Valmiki The following is a bibliography of Hindu scriptures and texts. Smriti (Sanskrit स्मृति " that which is remembered " refers to a specific body of Hindu religious Scripture If you are looking for the singer see Shruti Haasan. For other meanings see Śruti (disambiguation. For other meanings see Purana (disambiguation. The Puranas ( Sanskrit: sa पुराण purāṇa, "of ancient times" Darśana ( Darshan, दर्शन is a Sanskrit term meaning "sight" (in the sense of an instance of seeing or beholding from a root Pāñcarātra are Vaishnavite devotional texts dedicated to a single deity Sriman Narayana who manifests in different forms Tantras (" Looms " or " Weavings " refers to numerous and varied scriptures pertaining to any of several esoteric traditions In Hinduism a Stotra is a hymn of praise These hymns praise aspects of the divine such as Devi, Siva, or Vishnu. Dharmaśāstra is a genre of Sanskrit texts and refers to the śāstra, or Indic branch of learning pertaining to Hindu Dharma, religious The Nalayira Divya Prabandha (or Nalayira Divya Prabhandham) is a collection of 4000 verses (Naalayira in Tamil means 'four thousand' composed before 8th century The Tevaram ( Tamil: தேவாரம் Teva means "God" aram means "garland") denotes the first seven volumes of the Śrī Rāmacaritamānas ( Devanāgarī: hi श्री राम चरित मानस ( Hindi / Avadhi) is an Epic poem composed by the The Shikshapatri ( Devanagari: शिक्षापत्री is a text of two hundred and twelve verses written in Sanskrit by Bhagwan Swaminarayan The Vachanamrut of Bhagwan Swaminarayan is the most sacred and foundational scripture of the Swaminarayan faith. Ananda Sutram is the basic scripture of modern Yoga composed in Sanskrit by Shrii Shrii Anandamurti (1921-1990 in the year 1961 The Upanishads ( Devanagari: उपनिषद् IAST: upaniṣad also spelled "Upanisad" are Hindu scriptures that constitute the core teachings "Veda" redirects here For other uses see Veda (disambiguation. It belongs to the Atharva Veda. The Atharvaveda ( Sanskrit: अथर्ववेद atharvaveda, a Tatpurusha compound of {{IAST|atharvan}}, an ancient Rishi It devotes itself entirely to the explanation of the spiritual - mystic - syllable Aum. Aum (also Om) ॐ is a mystical or sacred Syllable in the Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religions It is in prose, consisting of twelve sentences.
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About the Upanishad
The name literally means the Scripture of Toad. However, the commentators, including Gaudapada and Sankara, do not explain the meaning of this further.
It is said Varuna, the lord of cosmic waters, has taken the form of a toad to preach this Upanishad. In Vedic religion, Varuna or Waruna ( Devanagari:वरुण IAST: varuṇa) is a god of the Sky, of Rain and This story makes it more interesting since there is a hymn called Toad Hymn (manduka sukta) in the Rgveda, which is ostensibly an ode to the arrival of monsoons. But the cosmological significance of the hymn is yet to be unravelled. The connection between the hymn and the Upanishad, in terms of cosmological significance, may be an interesting point to search for.
Secondly, manduka is also a type of yoga--a "particular kind of abstract meditation in which an ascetic sits motionless like a frog" (Monier-Williams). Mandukasana is one of the 32 asanas (postures) described in yoga. Possibly the Upanishad, which is connected with meaning of Aum, which is essentially an object of meditation, has been named after Manduka to indicate the yoga aspect of the Aum.
On the other hand, some attribute this Upanishad to Sage Manduka. However, reference to this sage, just as sage Svetasvatara, to whom another celebrated Upanishad is attributed, does not appear anywhere else in the scriptures or other literature. (verify)
Manduka literally means son of Manduki. The seer with this matrynomic has been mentioned in the Vamsa brahmanas of Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. The Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upanishad ( Sanskrit: बृहदारण्यक उपनिषद् is one of the older "primary" ( Mukhya The same list mentions that Mandukeyas are his disciples.
Mandukeyas figure in Bhagavatapurana and elsewhere as the receivers of a branch of the Rg Veda from Indra pramati, probably their father, for practice and propagation.
This group of seers figure in Rg Veda also. Their hymns are mostly connected with phonetics of the Vedas. For eg. , we have Hrsva (short) mandakeya as a vedic seer who has proposed semi vowels. (ref. phonology:critical concepts by Charles W. Kreidler) Also, we have a text on the etymology of Vedas with the name "Manduki Shiksha" which deals with the notes of classical music of India.
That there are more than one Mandukeya points to the possibility of this name being a Gotra. Interestingly, the Gotras of the Mandakeyas are also identified with Bhargavas, who are varunis.
Varuni means the son of Varuna, the same God who seemed to have come as the Toad to sing this Upanishad.
Thus, the allegory seems to be that Varuna himself has taken birth as Sage Manduka in his own lineage to preach this Upanishad.
For the very reason that it explains the esoteric meaning of the fundamental syllable Aum of vedic spiritual tradition, the Upanishad has been extolled greatly. The Muktikopanishad, which talks about all other Upanishads, says that if a person cannot afford to study all 108 Upanishads, it will be enough to read just the Māndūkya Upanishad. The Muktikā ("deliverance" see Mukti) Upanishad is the final Upanishad of the Hindu canon of 108 texts of the Advaita According to Dr.S. Radhakrishnan, in this Upanishad we find the fundamental approach to the attainment of reality by the road of introversion and ascent from the sensible and changing, cleansing the mind of thoughts, feelings and wishes related to the material, relative world, and reaching the soul which, being spiritual and having an absolute nature as the Lord, is the only one that can perceive Him, Who is also absolute and spiritual, and cannot be perceived with material relative senses. Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, OM ( Telugu:సర్వేపల్లి రాధాకృష్ణ Tamil:சர்வேபள்ளி
Commentary by Gaudapada
The first extant commentary on this Upanishad was written by Gaudapada, before the time of Adi Shankara. Gaudapada ( c. 8th century CE) was a very early Guru in the Tradition of Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy Adi Shankara ( Malayalam: ആദി ശങ്കരന് Devanāgarī: आदि शङ्कर Ādi Śaṅkara, aːd̪i ɕaŋkərə (see below This commentary, called the Māndūkya-kārikā, is the earliest known systematic exposition of the advaita point of view of Vedanta. Advaita Vedanta ( IAST Advaita Vedānta; Sanskrit अद्वैत वेदान्त əd̪vait̪ə veːd̪ɑːnt̪ə is a sub-school of the Vedanta ( Devanagari: sa वेदान्त Vedānta) is a spiritual tradition explained in the Upanishads that is concerned with the Self-realisation Its importance can be gauged from the fact that when Shankara wrote his commentary on Māndūkya Upanishad, as he did for ten other Upanishads, he merged the Kārikā of Gaudapada with the Upanishad and wrote a commentary on the Kārikā also.
Explanation of Aum as in Mandukya Upanishad
Three mātrās
There are three mātrās in the word aum : ‘a’ as the ‘u’ in ‘but’; ‘u’ as the ‘u’ in ‘put’; and the ‘m’ in ‘balm’. The term mātrā is used for the upper limb of Nagari characters and a syllabic instant in prosody. Esoterically, the ‘a’ stands for the first stage of wakefulness, where we experience in our gross body the totality of external experiences through our mind and sense organs. The ‘u’ stands for the dream state of sleep in which mental experiences are available, though erratically, by the mind which is the only thing which is then awake, without the help of the external sense organs or the presence of the rationalising intellect.
Waking state and Dream state
The two kinds of experience, namely those of the waking state and those of the dream state, contradict each other, in the sense that a man may experience hunger in a dream though he has eaten in the waking state a few minutes earlier.
Deep sleep state
In the state of deep sleep, represented by the sound ‘m’, there is no consciousness of any experience; even the mind has gone to sleep. But still there is an awareness after the deep sleep is over that one has been sleeping. Māndūkya Upanishad says that in the state of deep sleep, the Atman which is always present, has been the witness to the sleep of the body and it is this source from which issues the memory of sleep. The Ātman ( IAST: Ātman Sanskrit: आत्मन् is a philosophical term used within Hinduism and Vedanta to identify the Soul
Beyond the three states
It is the Atman which is also present beyond the three states of experience. The fourth state (turīya avasthā) (see turiya) corresponds to the silence that ensues after one has steadily pronounced aum. In Hindu Philosophy, turiya (or chaturtha) is a state of pure Consciousness, or the experience of ultimate reality and truth It is the state of no matra (amātrā). In that silence Consciousness alone is present; there is nothing else. Consciousness has been defined loosely as a constellation of attributes of Mind such as Subjectivity, Self-awareness, Sentience, and the Therefore there is nothing to be cognized or be conscious of. This is the substratum of even the other three states of experience. During the silence that follows the recitation of aum, one is advised to merge in that Consciousness, in fact, be that Consciousness. That Consciousness is the Atman. That is Brahman. Brahman ( bráhman-, Nominative bráhma sa ब्रह्म is a concept of Hinduism. To underscore the point that the ‘fourth state’ is not another ‘state’ of consciousness, but consciousness itself, turīya avasthā is simply called turīya (the fourth).
Gaudapada’s thesis
In his kārikā on the Upanishad, Gaudapada deals with all the outstanding problems of philosophy, such as perception, idealism, causality, truth, and reality. Gaudapada ( c. 8th century CE) was a very early Guru in the Tradition of Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy In Psychology and the Cognitive sciences perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory Information. In Western civilization, Idealism is the philosophy which maintains that the Ultimate nature of reality is ideal or based upon ideas values essences The so-called Causality (but not causation) denotes a necessary relationship between one event (called cause and another event (called effect) which is the direct consequence The meaning of the word truth extends from Honesty, Good faith, and Sincerity in general to agreement with Fact or Reality Reality, in everyday usage means "the state of things as they actually exist" In turiya, he says the mind is not simply withdrawn from the objects but becomes one with Brahman, who is free from fear and who is all-round illumination. In Hindu Philosophy, turiya (or chaturtha) is a state of pure Consciousness, or the experience of ultimate reality and truth MIND ( Moving In New Directions) (est 1975 is an alternative education high school in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Brahman ( bráhman-, Nominative bráhma sa ब्रह्म is a concept of Hinduism. In both deep sleep and transcendental consciousness there is no consciousness of objects. In Philosophy, the adjective transcendental and the noun transcendence convey three different but related primary meanings all of them derived from the word's literal Consciousness has been defined loosely as a constellation of attributes of Mind such as Subjectivity, Self-awareness, Sentience, and the But this objective consciousness is present in an unmanifested 'seed' form in deep sleep while it is completely transcended in the turīya. Specifically, if one identifies the amātrā state of silence with the turīya and meditates on it without intermission, one realizes one's self and 'there is no return for him to the sphere of empirical life', says Gaudapada. The Ātman ( IAST: Ātman Sanskrit: आत्मन् is a philosophical term used within Hinduism and Vedanta to identify the Soul
Sources
- Dr. S. Radhakrishnan. The Principal Upanishads. George Allen and Unwin. 1969
- Eight Upanishads. Vol. 2. With the commentary of Sankaracharya, Tr. By Swami Gambhirananda. Advaita Ashrama, Calcutta, 1990.
- Swami Nikhilananda: Mandukyopanishad with Gaudapada’s Karika and Sankara’s Commentary. Shri Ramakrishna Ashrama, Mysore. Sixth edn. 1974
- V. Krishnamurthy. Essentials of Hinduism. Narosa Publishing House, New Delhi. 1989
- Swami Rama. Enlightenment Without God [commentary on Mandukya Upanishad]. Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy, 1982.
- Sri Aurobindo, The Upanishads [1]. Sri Aurobindo (শ্রী অরবিন্দ Sri Ôrobindo) ( August 15, 1872 – December 5, 1950) was an Indian Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry. The Sri Aurobindo Ashram was founded by Sri Aurobindo on the 24 November 1926 (Siddhi Day Puducherry (formerly; புதுச்சேரி or பாண்டிச்சேரி పాండిచెర్రి പുതുശ്ശേരി Pondichéry is a 1972.
External links
- GRETIL etext
- Mandukya Upanishad, Full etext from wikisource (Sanskrit).
- Mandukya Upanishad with Gaudapada Karika
- [2], Musical version of Mandukya Upanishad Composed by Pandit Jasraj.
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