Talk:Mānḍukyakārikā

By Swami Harshananda

Mānḍukyakārikā

The Māndukya Upanisad belonging

to the Atharvaveda is the shortest of the

ten Upaniṣads considered as the major ones. It has the unique distinction of a

detailed exposition by two stalwarts:— Śaṅkara (A. D. 788-820) and his teacher’s teacher, Gauḍapāda (7th century A. D.).

Gauḍapāda (about whom we know next to nothing) (See GAUDAPĀDA.) wrote a detailed commentary on this Upaniṣad, in the form of Kārikās (explanatory verses). His work is now well-known as the Māndukyakārikā. Āgamaśāstra is another name by which also it is known.

Though, apparently, this Kārikā is a commentary on the Māndukya Upanisad, in reality, it is much more than that. It looks as though Gauḍapāda has used this Upaniṣad as a means, to expound his own brand of Advaita Vedānta. Some people even go to the extent of not granting the status of an Upaniṣad to the Māndukyopa-nisad and dub it as the creation of Gauḍapāda himself!

The Māndukyakārikā has a total of 215 verses divided into four prakaraṇas or sections. They are:

1. Āgama-prakarana (29 verses)

2. Vaitathya-prakarana (38 verses)

3. Advaita-prakarana (48 verses)

4. Alātaśānti-prakarana (100 verses)

The Āgamaprakarana is a commentary on the entire Māndukyopanisad dividing it into four parts. The explanatory Kārikās are interspersed here and there as follows: Kārikās 1 to 9 after the sixth mantra of the Upaniṣad; Kārikās 10 to 18 after the seventh mantra; Kārikās 19 to 23 after the eleventh mantra and the rest, Kārikās 24 to 29, after the last (the twelfth) mantra.

The other three prakaraṇas are entirely independent expositions of Advaita Vedānta from various angles.

Śaṅkara has commented upon all the

Kārikās also, apart from the Upaniṣad itself.

The Vaitathyaprakarana deals with the Vaitathya or unreality of the world by analysing the three states of consciousness.

The Advaitaprakarana attempts to establish advaita (viz., that Brahman is the one and only Reality) through yukti or logic.

The Alātaśāntiprakarana, the longest of the four sections, refutes 35 schools of philosophy that existed during Gauḍa-pāda’s time, using the famous example of alāta or a lighted torch, which, when rotated, appears as a circle of fire, though no such circle really exists. In the same way, the dvaitaprapaṅca or the world of duality is only an appearance and not real.

Some of the more important concepts given by Gauḍapāda in this work may now be mentioned briefly.

Analysing the avasthātraya (See AVASTHĀTRAYA.) or the three states of consciousness—jāgrat (waking state), svapna (dream state) and suṣupti (deep-sleep state)—Gauḍapāda makes an important point: It is only in the waking state that the dream and the deep-sleep states are negated. However, from the standpoint of the turīya (the ‘fourth’ state) which is the eternal ‘waking state’ in the ātman, even the so-called waking state also is filled with the darkness of ignorance! Compared to this, all the three states are actually the night of ignorance.

‘Ajāti’ or ‘non-birth’ is another concept

which is peculiar to this work. (See AJĀTIVĀDA for details.) Since Brahman alone is real and all other objects—

whether it is this world or the jīvas (living beings)—are only appearances, there is no question of any ‘birth’ (jāti = birth) or creation of this world at all. Though the scriptures have described sṛṣṭi or creation, they have not declared it to be real!

However, following the beaten track of tradition and as a concession (out of compassion) to the ordinary sādhakas (spiritual aspirants) Gaudapāda accepts praṇavopāsanā (meditation on Ātman/ Brahman, with the help of Praṇava or Oṅkāra) and explains the procedure in detail.

Another special term used in this work is ‘asparśayoga’. It is the same as the experience of unalloyed bliss of the Self (Ātman/Brahman) wherein there is no sparśa or contact of the senses with their objects, but only with the Self (a = not; sparśa = contact; yoga = union).

The Kārikā ends with a definition of mokṣa or liberation as just a rediscovery of one’s true nature as the Ātman (= Brahman) and a brief description of the man of liberation.

Anandagiri (15th century A. D.) has written a gloss on the commentary of Saṅkara, elucidating further, wherever necessary.

See MĀNDUKYA UPANISAD also.

References

• The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore