The Mandukya Upanishad (, ) is the shortest of all the Upanishads, and is assigned to Atharvaveda. It is listed as number 6 in the Muktikā canon of 108 Upanishads.
It is in prose, consisting of twelve short verses, and is associated with a Rig Vedic school of scholars. It discusses the syllable Aum; adds turiya to the three states of consciousness; and asserts that Aum is Brahman – which is the Whole – and that Brahman is this self (ātman).Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 2, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 605-637
The Mandukya Upanishad is recommended in the Muktikā Upanishad, in a dialogue between two of the most important characters of the Ramayana, Rama and Hanuman, as the one Upanishad that alone is sufficient for knowledge to gain moksha, and as sixth in its list of ten principal Upanishads.Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 2, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 556-557 The text is also notable for inspiring Gaudapada's Mandukya Karika a classic for the Vedanta school of Hinduism. The Mandukya Upanishad is among the often cited texts on chronology and the philosophical relationship between Hinduism and Buddhism.
Etymology The root of Mandukya is sometimes considered as Manduka (Sanskrit: मण्डूक) which has several meanings. Some of its meanings include "frog", "a particular breed of horse", "the sole of horse's hoof", or, "Spiritual distress"maNDUka Monier-Williams' Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Cologne Digital Lexicon, Germany Some writers have suggested that "frog" is the etymological root for Mandukya Upanishad.
Another root for the Upanishad's name is Mānduka (Sanskrit: माण्डूक) which literally is "a Vedic school" or means "a teacher".mANDUka Monier-Williams' Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Cologne Digital Lexicon, Germany Paul Deussen states the etymological roots of Mandukya Upanishad to be a "half lost school of Rigveda".Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 2, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 605-609 This school may be related to the scholar named Hrasva Māṇḍūkeya, whose theory of semivowels is discussed in Aitareya Aranyaka of Rigveda.Charles W. Kreidler, Phonology: Critical Concepts, Volume 1, Routledge, , page 9
Applying the rules of sandhi, the text is also called Mandukyopanishad.
Chronology and authorship
Chronology The chronology of Mandukya Upanishad, like that of other Upanishads, is uncertain and contested.Stephen Phillips (2009), Yoga, Karma, and Rebirth: A Brief History and Philosophy, Columbia University Press, , Chapter 1 The chronology is difficult to resolve because all opinions rest on scanty evidence, an analysis of archaism, style and repetitions across texts, driven by assumptions about likely evolution of ideas, and on presumptions about which philosophy might have influenced which other Indian philosophies.Patrick Olivelle (1996), The Early Upanishads: Annotated Text & Translation, Oxford University Press, , Introduction Chapter
Several academics have dated the Mandukya Upanishad to the early centuries of the Common Era. The Japanese scholar of Vedic, Hindu and Buddhist scriptures, Hajime Nakamura, dated the Mandukya Upanishad to "about the first or second centuries A.D." The scholar of South Asian religions, Richard E. King too dated the Mandukya Upanishad at the first two centuries of the Common Era. Indologist and Sanskrit scholar Patrick Olivelle states, "we have the two late prose Upanisads, the Prasna and the Mandukya, which cannot be much older than the beginning of the common era".
Mahony, (writing for the MacMillan Encyclopedia of Religion) on the other hand, states that Mandukya Upanishad probably emerged in the late fifth and early fourth centuries BCE, along with Prashna and Maitri Upanishads.WK Mahony (1987), Upanishads, in Jones, Lindsay, MacMillan Encyclopedia of Religion (2005), MacMillan, , page 9483 Phillips lists Mandukya Upanishad before and about the time the Shvetashvatara Upanishad, the Maitri Upanishad, as well as the first Buddhist Pali and Jaina canonical texts were composed. R D RanadeRD Ranade, A Constructive Survey of Upanishadic Philosophy, Chapter 1, pages 13-18 posits a view similar to Phillips, placing Mandukya's chronological composition in the fifth, that is the last group of ancient Principal Upanishads.
Authorship The text of the Mandukya Upanishad is fully incorporated in the Mandukya Karika, a commentary attributed to the 6th century CEPT Raju (2009), The Philosophical Traditions of India, Routledge, , page 177 Gaudapada, and is not known to exist independent of this commentary. Isaeva states that some scholars, including Paul Deussen, presumed that Gaudapada may be its author; however, there is no historical or textual evidence for this hypothesis. Scholars consider Mandukya Upanishad as a Principal Upanishad with more ancient origins.
Structure In contrast to the older Upanishads, the Mandukya Upanishad is very short, with clear and concise formulations. It has twelve short prose paragraphs.
Contents The Mandukya Upanishad is an important Upanishad in Hinduism, particularly to its Advaita Vedanta school.K Singh (2001), Some Thoughts on Vedanta, India International Centre Quarterly, Vol. 28, No. 3, pages 100-108 It succinctly presents several central doctrines, namely that "the universe is Brahman," "the Self (Atma) exists and is Brahman," and "the four states of consciousness".R. V. De Smet (1972), Early Trends in the Indian Understanding of Man, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 22, No. 3 (Jul., 1972), pages 259-268Mark B. Woodhouse (1978), Consciousness and Brahman-Atman, The Monist, Vol. 61, No. 1, Conceptions of the Self: East & West (JANUARY, 1978), pages 109-124 The Mandukya Upanishad also presents several theories about the syllable Aum, and that it symbolizes self.
Aum in the Mandukya Upanishad
The Mandukya Upanishad opens by declaring, "Aum!, this syllable is this whole world". Thereafter it presents various explanations and theories on what it means and signifies. This discussion is built on a structure of "four fourths" or "fourfold", derived from A + U + M + "silence" (or without an elementVerse 12 of Mandukya Upanishad; see Robert Hume's The Thirteen Principal Upanishad, page 393).
Aum as all states of time
In verse 1, the Upanishad states that time is threefold: the past, the present and the future, that these three are "Aum". The four fourth of time is that which transcends time, that too is "Aum" expressed.
Aum as all states of Atman
In verse 2, states the Upanishad, "this brahman is the Whole. Brahman is this self (ātman); that [brahman] is this self (ātman), consisting of four corners."
Aum as all states of consciousness
In verses 3 to 6, the Mandukya Upanishad enumerates four states of consciousness: wakeful, dream, deep sleep and the state of (being one with Self, the oneness of Self). These four are A + U + M + "without an element" respectively.
Aum as all of etymological knowledge
In verses 9 to 12, the Mandukya Upanishad enumerates fourfold etymological roots of the syllable "Aum". It states that the first element of "Aum" is A, which is from Apti (obtaining, reaching) or from Adimatva (being first). The second element is U, which is from Utkarsa (exaltation) or from Ubhayatva (intermediateness). The third element is M, from Miti (erecting, constructing) or from Mi Minati, or apīti (annihilation). The fourth is without an element, without development, beyond the expanse of universe. In this way, states the Upanishad, the syllable Aum is the Atman (the self) indeed.
Three states of consciousness and the fourth
The Mandukya Upanishad describes three states of consciousness, namely waking (jågrat), dreaming (svapna), and deep sleep (suṣupti),Arvind Sharma, Sleep as a State of Consciousness in Advaita Vedånta. State University of New York Pressadvaita.org.uk, Om – three states and one reality (An interpretation of the Mandukya Upanishad) and 'the fourth', beyond and underlying these three states: The first state is the waking state, in which we are aware of our daily world. "It is described as outward-knowing (bahish-prajnya), gross (sthula) and universal (vaishvanara)". This is the gross body. The second state is the dreaming mind. "It is described as inward-knowing (antah-prajnya), subtle (pravivikta) and burning (taijasa)". This is the subtle body. The third state is the state of deep sleep. In this state the underlying ground of consciousness is undistracted, "the Lord of all (sarv'-eshvara), the knower of all (sarva-jnya), the inner controller (antar-yami), the source of all (yonih sarvasya), the origin and dissolution of created things (prabhav'-apyayau hi bhutanam)". This is the causal body. Turiya, "the fourth," is the background that underlies and transcends the three common states of consciousness. In this consciousness both absolute and relative, saguna brahman and Nirguna Brahman, are transcended. It is the true state of experience of the infinite (ananta) and non-different (advaita/abheda), free from the dualistic experience which results from the attempts to conceptualise ( vikalpa) reality. It is the state in which ajativada, non-origination, is apprehended.
According to Raju, the idea of four states of Atman as awake, dream-filled sleep, deep sleep, and the "original pure state" is "anticipated in chapters 8.7 through 8.12 of Chandogya Upanishad.PT Raju (1985), Structural Depths of Indian Thought, State University New York Press, , pages 30, 32-33; Quote: "We can see that this story [in Chandogya Upanishad] is an anticipation of the Mandukya doctrine, (...)"Robert Hume, Chandogya Upanishad - Eighth Prathapaka, Seventh through Twelfth Khanda, Oxford University Press, pages 268-273
Theory and nature of Atman
The verses 3 through 7 discuss four states of Atman (Self).
Verse 3 of the Upanishad describes the first state of Self as outwardly cognitive with seven limbs,Sankara's Bhasya refers to Chandogya Upanishad's verse 5.18.2 for the list of seven nineteen mouths,Sankara's Bhasya states that these nineteen mouths of a human being are what interact with the empirical universe: five senses - seeing, hearing, touch, taste and smell; five organs of action - speech, hand, locomotion, sexual activity and excretion; five vital types of breath; the manas (mind), the buddhi (intellect, power to reason), the ahamkara (ego) and the citta (consciousness). enjoying the gross,this is everything in the perceived empirical universe a state of Self common in all of human beings.
The Mandukya Upanishad, in verse 4, asserts the second state of Self as inwardly cognitive with seven limbs, nineteen mouths, enjoying the exquisite, a state of brilliant Self.
The Upanishad's verse 5 states the third state of Self as one without desire or anticipations, where pure conscience is his only mouth, where he is in unified cognition, enjoying the delight, a state of blissful Self.
The verses 6 and 7 of the Upanishad states the fourth state of Self as one beyond all the three, beyond extrospective state, beyond introspective state, beyond cognitive state, the state of ekatmya pratyaya sara (one with the Self), tranquil, benign, advaita (without second). He then is the Self, just Atman, the one which should be discerned.
Johnston summarizes these four states of Self, respectively, as seeking the physical, seeking inner thought, seeking the causes and spiritual consciousness, and the fourth state is realizing oneness with the Self, the Eternal.
Similarities and differences with Buddhist teachings