Mandukya Upanishad : ( 04/03/2013. )

22/09/2018 Section 1: The Pranava or Omkara :-4. Now, we come from what we call Isvara-Srishti to Jiva-Srishti. Isvara-Srishti is the form corresponding to a name, as it is by its own right. Jiva-Srishti is the psychological connection that you have established between yourself and the corresponding form of a particular name. You are affected because of the Jiva-Srishti, and your understanding of the form corresponding to a name signifies merely Jiva-Srishti. We are now concerned not merely with Isvara-Srishti, but also Jiva-Srishti; perhaps with the latter we are more concerned than with the former because what binds us or liberates us is the nature of Jiva-Srishti, not so much the nature of Isvara-Srishti. Things as they are do not concern us very much. But things as they are to us mean very, much to us, and this meaning it is that binds us to what we call Samsara (earthly existence). Every name has a corresponding form, and the form is a content of Isvara-Srishti; the cre...

01/09/2018 Section 1: The Pranava or Omkara :-3. The Supreme Absolute is the Rupa (Form) of Om which is the Nama (Name). As everything in the world is designated by a name, we designate Isvara, God, also, by a name. As we summon into our consciousness a form by calling out its name, remembering its name, so also we summon into our consciousness the Being or the Form of Isvara, God, by summoning His Name. And just as the name of a particular object is connected with that object by a description of the character of that object, Om also, as the Name of Isvara, describes Isvara, and by this unique description of it, it enables us to contemplate the form of Isvara. A mountain is a name, a river is a name, fire is a name, man is a name, woman is a name, Rama is a name, Krishna is a name; and so on, we have many names – Nama. These names correspond to particular forms which they connote and also denote. When you utter a name, the form corresponding to that name comes to your mind aut...

06/08/2018 Section 1: The Pranava or Omkara :-2. Om ityetadaksharam idam sarvam, tasyopavyakhyanam bhutam bhavat bhavishyaditi sarvam omkara eva. The Imperishable is OM, and it is 'all this'. Everything else, whatever be of the past, present or future, is like an exposition, explanation or commentary on the meaning of this great Truth – the Imperishable Om. Sarvam Omkara eva: Everything is Om, indeed. This is how the Upanishad begins. Om itiyetadaksharam idam sarvam: All this, whatever is visible, whatever is cognizable, whatever can come within the purview of sense-perception, inference or verbal testimony, whatever can be comprehended under the single term, creation – all this is Om. We have been reciting 'Om' many a time, and it is a custom with most of us to greet one another with Om, to recite anything with Om and start Japa of any Mantra with the chanting of Om. The implication is that Om comprehends all things and it makes also a very auspicious beginn...

08/07/2018 Section 1: The Pranava or Omkara :-1. The Vedas, in their form as the Samhitas, constitute an introduction to the subject dealt with in the Vedanta or the Upanishads. The Upanishads are secret teachings containing wisdom beyond the realm of the earth and revealing proclamations of the great sages of yore on the nature of Reality. Among the Upanishads, the Mandukya may be regarded as the most important, and it is aptly said, Mandukyam ekam eva alam mumukshunam vimuktaye - for the liberation of the Mumukshu or seeker the Mandukya alone is enough; and if you are able to understand the true meaning of this single Upanishad, there may not be a necessity to study any other Upanishad, not even the Chhandogya or the Brihadaranyaka, because the theme of the Mandukya Upanishad is a direct approach to the depths of human nature. It does not give analogies, tell stories or make comparisons. It states bare facts in respect of man in general and Reality in its essential cha...

18/06/2018 3. Invocation Om! Bhadram karnebhih s'rnuyama devah bhadram pasyem-akshabhir-yajatrah, sthirair-angais-tushtuvam-sastanubhir vyasema devahitam yadayuh. svasti na indro vriddha-sravah svasti nah pusha visva-vedah, svasti nas-tarkshyo arishta-nemih svasti no brihaspatir-dadhatu. Om santih ! santih !!  santih !!! "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!

30/05/2018 2. Introduction-3. The Vidya has its origin, actually, in the Rig-Veda, in a famous Sukta, or hymn, called the Purusha-Sukta. The Purusha-Sukta of the Rig-Veda commences by saying that all the heads, all the eyes, and all the feet that we see in this world are the heads, eyes, and feet of the Virat-Purusha, or the Cosmic Being. With one head, the Virat nods in silence; with another face He smiles; with a third one, He frowns; in one form, He sits; in another form, He moves; in one form, He is near; in another form, He is distant. So, all the forms, whatever they be, and all the movements and actions, processes and relations, become parts of the Cosmic Body, with which the Consciousness should be identified simultaneously. When you think, you think all things at the same time, in all the ten directions; nay, in every way. The Chhandogya Upanishad concludes this Vidya by saying that one who meditates in this manner on the Universal Personality of Oneself as the Va...

18/04/2018 2. Introduction-2. Though the Mandukya Upanishad gives certain symbolic instances of identification of limbs with the Cosmic Body, the meditator, in fact, can choose any symbol or symbols for such form of identification. The creation does not consist merely of the few parts that are mentioned in the Upanishad. There are many other things which may come to our minds when we contemplate. So, we can start our meditation with any set of forms that may occur to our minds. We may be sitting in our rooms, and the first things that attract our attention may be the objects spread out in the rooms. When we identify these objects with our Body, we will find that there are also objects outside these, in the rooms. And, likewise, we can slowly expand our consciousness to the whole whole earth and, then, beyond the earth, to the solar and stellar regions, so that, we reach as far as our minds can reach. Whatever our mind can think, becomes an object for the mind; and that obje...