Mandukya Upanishad : ( 04/03/2013. )

05/03/2019 The Mandukya Upanishad 2.1 : Swami Krishnananda The quintessential teaching of the Mandukya Upanishad of the Atharva Veda unfolded with lucidity. A profound analysis of the waking, dream and deep sleep states by the seer and sage of deep insight. Section 2 : The Individual and the Absolute 1. The first Mantra of the Mandukya Upanishad describes the nature of Omkara and its connotation in relation to the whole universe. Now, it also denotes some object, as was pointed out earlier. It is a Universal Name which refers to a Universal Form in such a manner that the Name and the Form coalesce to constitute one Being. As the Name is Universal and the Form also is Universal, they have naturally to blend into a single existence, because we cannot have two Universals standing apart from each other. There is, therefore, the Universal Name coalescing with the Universal Form; Nama and Rupa become one in this experience-whole. That experience is neither Nama nor Rupa, by itse...

02/02/2019 The Mandukya Upanishad - 4-1.10 Section 1: The Pranava or Omkara :-10. This is Isvaratva, for the time being. This is the gateway for the Sakshatkara (realisation) of Isvara, and if, for even half an hour daily, you are in a position to continue this chant and meditation; – who knows, the bubble may burst one day! The bubble of Jivatva may open up into the ocean of Isvaratva. Be prepared for this glorious achievement. And who can describe your majesty at that time! You will start shedding tears even by thinking of this condition. Tears will flow from your eyes; the body will tremble, because it will not be prepared for this experience. There will be Angamejayatva, as Patanjali describes – a tremor of the body. The river is beholding the ocean: 'O, how big! How am I to go there? I have been a small channel up to this time. Now I am entering into something which does not seem to have a limit at all from any side.' Terror may take possession of you; hair may s...

11/01/2019 The Mandukya Upanishad - 4-1.9 Section 1: The Pranava or Omkara :-9. 9.1 How to chant Om? This doubt may arise in your mind. We have tried to understand something about the magnificence of Om, but how are we to recite Om? Are we to think anything when we recite Om? The usual procedure prescribed is that the recitation of Om should neither be too short nor too long. There is a short, middling and elongated pronunciation, no doubt, but for all practical purposes of meditation, I would suggest that you may take to the middling duration of the recitation of Om. There is what is called a Matra or a measure, and you may regard one Matra as the time taken by the fist of the hand to go round your knee, in leisure, neither too fast nor too slow, and to snap the fingers. Take your hand once round your knee. This is the time taken for the measure called one Matra. Bring the hand round your knee once and make a snap of your fingers. How much time have you taken? T...

16/12/2018 The Mandukya Upanishad - 4-1.8 Section 1: The Pranava or Omkara :-8. Om is imperishable. All name in this world is perishable, for it goes with the corresponding form. But this Universal Form is imperishable, this Universal Name also is imperishable, comprehends everything. Omityetadaksharam: Om is Akshara, and Akshara is imperishable. Tasyopavyakhyanam, bhutam, bhavat, bhavishyaditi sarvam Omkara eva; Yaccanyat trikalatitam tadapyomkara eva... All that was in the past, all that is now in the present, all that will be in the future, all this is Om, because Om has no past, present and future; the Universal has no .time. What a grand description of Om is given in the Mandukya Upanishad! Whatever is in time, as past, present and future, is Om. Not merely this; that which is above time, also, is Om. Om has a twofold nature, the temporal and the eternal: it is Sabda and Sabdatita. It is constituted of A, U, M, representing all creation; but it has also a fourth nature w...

22/11/2018 The Mandukya Upanishad - 4-1.7 Section 1: The Pranava or Omkara :-7. When you recite Om properly, you enter into a meditative mood. You are not merely reciting a sound or a word or a phrase, you are creating a vibration. To point out once again; you are creating a vibration. What sort of vibration? Not a vibration which agitates you, irritates you, or creates a desire in your mind for a particular object, but a vibration which melts all other particular vibrations, puts an end to all desire, extinguishes all cravings and creates a desire for the Universal. As fire burns straw, this desire for the Universal burns up all other desires. A recitation of Om, even three times, correctly done, is enough to burn up all sins, to put a cessation to all desire and make you calm, quiet and satisfied within yourself. The test of a correct recitation or chant of Om is that you become calm in your mind and feel satisfied with what you are and what you have. When you come...

30/10/2018 The Mandukya Upanishad - 4-1.6 Section 1: The Pranava or Omkara :-6. The Manusmriti, the Mahabharata, the Puranas and the Upanishads describe the nature, the constitution, the structure and the glory of Om. With Om, Brahma created this cosmos, and from Om constituted of the three isolated letters A, U, M, the Vyahritis came forth : - Bhuh, Bhuvah, Svah. From these three Vyahritis, the three Padas of the Gayatri-Mantra emanated. From the three Padas of the Gayatri-Mantra, the meaning of the three sections of the Purusha-Sukta emerged, and from the meaning of the Purusha-Sukta, the meaning of the entire Vedas emanated, and from this vast meaning of the Vedas, Brahma created this cosmos, say the scriptures. So important is Om, not a chant uttered by Brahma, but a vibration that rose from the Supreme Being in the initial stage of creation – a comprehensive vibration. And when we chant Om, we also try to create within ourselves a sympathetic vibration, a vibration...

12/10/2018 Section 1: The Pranava or Omkara :-5. This Upanishad, the Mandukya, suggests a very simple method for the establishment of Jiva in Isvara, to transfer the relation of the personality to the non-relation of Isvara and to achieve this by a direct method of invoking the presence of Isvara, or Brahman, into our being, summoning Isvara into our consciousness. Give Isvara a place in your heart. Instead of thinking of an object corresponding to a particular name, think of Isvara who is designated by a comprehensive Name. All the names of the world like mountain, river, etc. are particular names corresponding to particular forms. But Isvara is not a particular form; He is a Universal Form, and therefore you cannot call Him or summon Him by a particular name. You have to call Him by a Universal Name, because He is Universal Form. No particularised language can describe Isvara, because Isvara is not a particularised object. He is not a man or a woman or a human being; He...