Mandukya Upanishad

Mandukya Upanisad manuscript page, Verses 1–3, Atharvaveda (Sanskrit, Devanagari script)

The Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad (Sanskrit: माण्डूक्य उपनिषद्; IAST: Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad) is the shortest of all the Upanishads, and is assigned to Atharvaveda.[1] It is listed as number 6 in the Muktikā canon of 108 Upanishads.[2]

It is in prose, consisting of twelve short verses, and is associated with a Rig Vedic school of scholars.[1] It discusses the syllable Aum; presents the theory of four states of consciousness; and asserts that Aum is Brahman – which is the Whole – and that Brahman is this self (ātman).[3][4]

The Mandukya Upanishad is notable for having been recommended in the Muktikā Upanishad, presented by 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.[2] The text is also notable for inspiring Gaudapada's Mandukya Karika a classic for the Vedanta school of Hinduism.[2] The Mandukya Upanishad is among the often cited texts on chronology and the philosophical relationship between Hinduism and Buddhism.[5][6]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference pauldeussenintro was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 2, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814691, pages 556-557
  3. ^ Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 2, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814691, pages 605-637
  4. ^ Hume, Robert Ernest (1921), The Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Oxford University Press, pp. 391–393
  5. ^ Nakamura 2004, p. 284-286.
  6. ^ Comans 2000, p. 97.

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