The Mandukya Upanishad – Invocation and Verses by Swami Krishnananda

The Mandukya Upanishad – Invocation and Verses

Divine Life Society Publication: Invocation and verses - The Mandukya Upanishad by Swami Krishnananda

The Mandukya Upanishad

by Swami Krishnananda

Invocation

Om! Bhadram karnebhih s'rnuyāma devāh
bhadram pasyemākṣabhiryajatrāh
sthirairangaistushtuvam sastanūbhir
vyaśema devahitam yadāyuh
svasti na indro vriddhaśravāh
svasti nah pūṣhā viśvavedāh
svasti nastārkṣyo ariṣtanemih
svasti no brihaspatirdadhātu
Om śāntih; śāntih; śāntih

"Om. Shining Ones! May we hear through our ears what is auspicious; Ye, fit to be worshipped! May we see with our eyes what is auspicious; May we, endowed with body strong with limbs, offering praise, complete the full span of life bestowed upon us by the divine beings; May Indra, of enhanced fame, be auspicious unto us; May Pushan, who is all-knowing, be auspicious unto us; May Tarkshya, who is the destroyer of all evils, be auspicious unto us; May Brihaspati bestow upon us auspiciousness!  

Om. Peace! Peace! Peace!

Verses

aum ity etad akṣaram idam sarvam, tasyopavyākhyānam 
bhūtam bhavad bhaviṣyad iti sarvam auṁkāra eva
yac cānyat trikālātītaṁ tad apy auṁkāra eva. 

1. OM! – This Imperishable Word is the whole of this visible universe. Its explanation is as follows: What has become, what is becoming, what will become, – verily, all of this is OM. And what is beyond these three states of the world of time, – that too, verily, is OM.

sarvaṁ hy etad brahma, ayam ātmā brahma 
so’yam ātmā catuṣ-pāt.

2. All this, verily, is Brahman. The Self is Brahman. This Self has four quarters.

jāgarita sthāno bahiṣ-prajñaḥ saptāṅga

ekonaviṁśati-mukhaḥ sthūla-bhug vaiśvānaraḥ
prathamaḥ pādah.

3. The first quarter is Vaiśvānara. Its field is the waking state. Its consciousness is outward-turned. It is seven-limbed and nineteen-mouthed. It enjoys gross objects.

svapna-sthāno’ntaḥ-prajñaḥ saptāṅga ekonavimśati-mukhaḥ

pravivikta-bhuk taijaso dvītiyaḥ pādah.

4. The second quarter is taijasa. Its field is the dream state. Its consciousness is inward-turned. It is seven-limbed and nineteen-mouthed. It enjoys subtle objects.  

yatra supto na kaṁ cana kāmaṁ kāmayate

na kaṁ cana svapnam paśyati tat suṣuptam
suṣupta-sthāna ekī-bhūtaḥ prajñānā-ghana evānanda-mayo
hy ānanda-bhuk ceto-mukhaḥ prājñas tṛtīyaḥ pādah. 

5. The third quarter is prājña, where one asleep neither desires anything nor beholds any dream: that is deep sleep. In this field of dreamless sleep, one becomes undivided, an undifferentiated mass of consciousness, consisting of bliss and feeding on bliss. His mouth is consciousness.

eṣa sarveśvaraḥ eṣa sarvajñaḥ, eṣo’ntāryami eṣa

yoniḥ sarvasya prabhavāpyayau hi bhūtānām. 

6. This is the Lord of All; the Omniscient; the Indwelling Controller; the Source of All. This is the beginning and end of all beings.

nāntaḥ-prajñam, na bahiṣ prajñam, nobhayataḥ-prajñam
na prajnañā-ghanam, na prajñam, nāprajñam;
adṛṣtam, avyavahārayam, agrāhyam, alakṣaṇam,
acintyam, avyapadeśyam, ekātma-pratyaya-sāram, 
prapañcopaśamam, śāntam, śivam, advaitam,
caturtham manyante, sa ātmā, sa vijñeyaḥ. 

7. That is known as the fourth quarter: neither inward-turned nor outward-turned consciousness, nor the two together; not an indifferentiated mass of consciousness; neither knowing, nor unknowing; invisible, ineffable, intangible, devoid of characteristics, inconceivable, indefinable, its sole essence being the consciousness of its own Self; the coming to rest of all relative existence; utterly quiet; peaceful; blissful: without a second: this is the Ātman, the Self; this is to be realised.

so’yam ātmādhyakṣaram auṁkaro’dhimātram pādā mātrā

mātrāś ca pādā akāra ukāra makāra iti.

8. This identical Ātman, or Self, in the realm of sound is the syllable OM, the above described four quarters of the Self being identical with the components of the syllable, and the components of the syllable being identical with the four quarters of the Self. The components of the Syllable are A, U, M.

jāgarita-sthāno vaiśvānaro’kāraḥ prathamā

mātrā’pter ādimattvād vā’pnoti ha vai
sarvān kāmān ādiś ca bhavati ya evaṁ veda.

9. Vaiśvānara, whose field is the waking state, is the first sound, A, because this encompasses all, and because it is the first. He who knows thus, encompasses all desirable objects; he becomes the first.

svapna-sthānas taijasa ukāro dvitīyā
mātrotkarṣāt ubhayatvādvotkarṣati ha vai
jñāna-saṁtatiṁ samānaś ca  bhavati
nāsyābrahma-vit-kule bhavati ya evam veda.

10. Taijasa, whose field is the dream state, is the second sound, U, because this is an excellence, and contains the qualities of the other two. He who knows thus, exalts the flow of knowledge and becomes equalised; in his family there will be born no one ignorant of Brahman.

suṣupta-sthānaḥ prājño makāras tṛtīya mātrā 
miter apīter vā minoti ha vā idaṁ
sarvam apītiś ca bhavati ya evaṁ veda. 

11.Prājña, whose field is deep sleep, is the third sound, M, because this is the measure, and that into which all enters. He who knows thus, measures all and becomes all.

amātraś caturtho’vyavahāryaḥ prapañcopaśamaḥ sivo’dvaita
evam auṁkāra ātmaiva, saṁviśaty ātmanā’tmānaṁ ya evaṁ
veda ya evaṁ veda.

12. The fourth is soundless: unutterable, a quieting down of all relative manifestations, blissful, peaceful, non-dual. Thus, OM is the Ātman, verily. He who knows thus, merges his self in the Self; – yea, he who knows thus.

Om śantih; śantih; śantih 

Om Peace! Peace! Peace!

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Invocation and Verses – Mandukya Upanishad by Swami Krishnananda

  

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