Mandukya Upanishad 2: Āgamaprakaraṇa

2.1

INVOCATION

INVOCATION

2.2

prajñānāṃśupratānaiḥ sthiracaranikaravyāpibhir vyāpya lokān bhuktvā bhogānsthaviṣṭhānpunarapi dhiṣaṇodbhāsitānkāmajanyān /
pītvā sarvān viśeṣān svapiti madhurabhuṅ māyayā bhojayanno māyāsaṃkhyāturīyaṃ paramamṛtamajaṃ brahma yattannato 'smi //1//

Having pervaded the worlds with the spreads of the rays of consciousness that pervade the multitude of the stationary and the moving; having enjoyed the grossest pleasures, and then again those produced by desire that are illuminated by the intellect; / having swallowed all distinctions, who sleeps, enjoying sweetness, causing us to experience through cosmic illusion—that Brahman which is the Fourth beyond the enumeration of cosmic illusion, the supreme, immortal, unborn, I bow down to that! // 1

Commentator's invocation: (1) I bow to that Brahman which after having enjoyed (during the waking state) the gross objects by pervading all the human objectives through a diffusion of Its rays of unchanging Consciousness that embraces all that moves created by virtue (and vice); which again (during the cosmic dream statefootnote{As identified with the cosmic subtle body of Hiraṇyagarbha.}) experiences through Its own light the objects of enjoyment that are called up by Its own intellect; which, further (in sound sleep or cosmic dissolution), withdraws promptly all these into Itself; and which lastly becomes free from all attributes by discarding every distinction and difference.

2.3

yo viśvātmā vidhijaviṣayān prāśya bhogān sthaviṣṭhān paścāc cānyān svamativibhavāñ jyotiṣā svena sūkṣmān /
sarvān etān punar api śanaiḥ svātmani sthāpayitvā hitvā sarvānviśeṣānvigataguṇagaṇaḥ pātvasau nasturīyaḥ //2//

He who, as the Self of all, having consumed the grossest objects of enjoyment born of injunctions, and subsequently, by his own light, the subtle others born from the power of his own mind; / having again gradually deposited all these in his own Self, abandoning all distinctions, devoid of the collection of qualities—may that Fourth protect us! // 2

2.5

START MandUp 1

START MandUp 1

2.6

omityetadakṣaramidaṃ sarvam /
tasyopavyākhyānaṃ vedāntārthasārasaṃgrahabhūtamidaṃ prakaraṇacatṛṣṭayamomityetadakṣaramityādyārabhyate /
ata eva na pṛthaksambandhābhidheyaprayojanāni vaktavyāni /
yānyeva tu vedānte sambandhābhidheya prayojanāni tānyeveha bhavitumarhanti /
tathāpi prakaraṇavyācikhyāsunā saṃkṣepato vaktavyāni /

"Om—this imperishable syllable is all this; / its explanation..."—this set of four treatise chapters, which is a concise compilation of the essence of the teachings of Vedānta, is begun with the words "Om—this imperishable syllable..." and so forth. / For this very reason, a separate connection, signified subject-matter, and purpose need not be stated. / Indeed, whatever are the connection, signified subject-matter, and purpose in Vedānta, precisely those must obtain here. / Nevertheless, one who wishes to comment on the treatise chapters should state them in brief.

Commentator's invocation: (1) I bow to that Brahman which after having enjoyed (during the waking state) the gross objects by pervading all the human objectives through a diffusion of Its rays of unchanging Consciousness that embraces all that moves created by virtue (and vice); which again (during the cosmic dream statefootnote{As identified with the cosmic subtle body of Hiraṇyagarbha.}) experiences through Its own light the objects of enjoyment that are called up by Its own intellect; which, further (in sound sleep or cosmic dissolution), withdraws promptly all these into Itself; and which lastly becomes free from all attributes by discarding every distinction and difference.

Introduction: "The letter Om is all this. Of this a clear exposition (follows)" (Mā. I. i. 1). These four Chapters (of the Kārikā) that sum up the quintessence of the Vedāntic ideas are commenced with the text, "The letter Om is all this" etc. Accordingly, the connection, subject-matter, and utility (of this treatise) need not be separately dealt with. The connection, subject-matter, and utility that pertain to Vedānta itself should fit in here also.footnote{The present book comprising the Upaniṣadic text and the Kārikā of Gauḍapāda forms a sort of a treatise on the Vedānta; and hence the four anubandhas or interconnecting elements—viz adhikārī, the person competent for study, sambandha, connection, e.g. that between the book and the subject-matter, viṣaya, subject-matter of the book, viz unity of the Self and Brahman, and prayojana, utility, viz liberation—are the same in both cases.} Still they ought to be briefly stated by one who wants to explain a treatise. In this connection it is to be noted that by the very fact that a scripture, (whether it be Vedānta or a treatise on it), reveals the spiritual disciplines conducive to the goal; it becomes endowed with a subject-matter; and from this fact it becomes indirectly possessed of a distinct relationship, a subject-matter, and utility.footnote{We are concerned primarily with knowledge and its result and not with books. The result aimed at is liberation which follows from the realisation of the non-difference of the Self and Brahman, and not from mere scriptures. Still the scriptures express that non-difference, and knowledge does not dawn with out the help of scriptural deliberation. Thus as indirect means to knowledge, the scriptures become connected with the subject-matter.} What again is the objective in view? That is being explained: Just as the normal state of a man, afflicted by disease, consists in his getting cured of the disease, similarly the normalcy of the Self, stricken with identification with misery, is regained through the cessation of the phenomenal universe of duality. The end in view is the realisation of non-duality. Since the phenomenal world of duality is a creation of ignorance, it can be eradicated through knowledge; and hence this book is begun in order to reveal the knowledge of Brahman. This fact is established by such Vedic texts as: "Because when there is duality, as it were, (then one smells something, one sees something," and so on) (Bṛ. II. iv. 14); "When there is something else, as it were, then one can see something, one can know something" (Bṛ. IV. iii. 31); "But when to the knower of Brahman everything has become the Self, then what should one see and through what, then what should one know and through what? (Bṛ. II. iv. 14.)

That being so, the first chapter, devoted to a determination of the meaning of Om, is based on (Vedic) traditional knowledge and is an aid to the ascertainment of the reality of the Self. The second chapter is concerned with rationally proving the unreality of that phenomenal world of duality, on the cessation of which is attained non-duality, just as the reality of the rope is attained on the elimination of the illusion of a snake etc. imagined on it. The third chapter is there to establish rationally the truth of non-duality, lest it too should be negated by a similar process of argument. The fourth chapter seeks to refute through their own arguments all the un-Vedic points of view that are antagonistic to the truth of non-duality established by non-dualism, and that remain involved in this unreal duality by the very fact of their mutual antagonism.

How again does the ascertainment of the meaning of Om become an aid to the realisation of the reality of the Self? The answer is: From such Vedic texts as, (That goal which all the Vedas with one voice propound, which all the austerities speak of, and wishing for which people practise Brahmacarya)—it is this, viz Om” (Ka. I. ii. 15), “This medium is the best” (Ka. I. ii. 17), “O Satyakāma, this (Om) is verily Brahman, (superior and inferior)” (Pr. V. 2), “Meditate on the Self as Om” (Maitrī. VI. 3), “Om is Brahman” (Tai. I. viii. 1), “Om indeed is all this” (Ch. II. xxiii. 3), it follows that just as the non-dual Self, notwithstanding the fact that It is the supreme Reality, can still be the substratum of all such illusions as the vital force, like the rope etc. becoming the substrata of the snake etc., similarly it is but Om that appears as all the ramifications of speech that have for their contents such illusory manifestations of the Self as the vital force etc. And Om is essentially the same as the Self, since it denotes the latter. And all the illusory manifestations of the Self, such as the vital force etc., that are denoted by the modifications of Om, do not exist apart from their names, in accordance with the Vedic texts: "All that is modification exists only in name, having speech as its support" (Ch. VI. i. 4), "All this phenomenal creation of that Brahman is strung together by the thread of speech and by the strands of names", "All these are but dependent on names"footnote{Names make empirical dealings possible for objects.}, and so on. Hence the Upaniṣad says, "Om ityetat akṣaram idam sarvam—the letter Om is all this."

As all these objects that are indicated by names are non-different from the names, and as names are non-different from Om, so Om is verily all this. And as the supreme Brahman is known through the relationship subsisting, between name and its object. It, too, is but Om. Tasya, of that, of this letter, viz Om, that is the same as the supreme as well as the inferior Brahman; upavyākhyānam, a clear exposition, as showing its proximity to Brahman by virtue of its being a means for the attainment of Brahman; the expression, "is to be understood as started with", has to be supplied after "clear exposition" to complete the sentence. Bhūtam, the past; bhavat, the present; bhaviṣyat, the future; iti, these, that is to say, whatever is circumscribed by the three conceptions of time; sarvam oṅkāraḥ eva, all this is but Om, in accordance with the reasons already advanced. Ca yat trikālātītam, and whatever else there is that is beyond the three periods of time, that is inferable from its effects but is not circumscribed by time, e.g. the Unmanifested and the rest; tat api, that, too, is oṅkāraḥ eva, verily Om.

Though a word and the thing signified are the same, still the presentation in the text, "The letter Om is all this" etc., was made by giving greater prominence to the word. The very same thing that was presented through an emphasis on the word is being indicated over again with a stress on the thing signified, so that the unity of the name and the nameable may be comprehended. For otherwise, the nameable having been grasped as dependent on the name, the doubt may crop up that the identity of the nameable with the name is to be taken in a secondary sense. And the necessity of understanding their identity arises from the fact that once this identity is established, one can by a single effort eliminate both the name and the nameable to realise Brahman that is different from both. And this is what the Upaniṣad will say in, "The quarters are the letters of Om, and the letters are the quarters" (Mā. 8). The Upaniṣad adverts to the topic in, "All this is surely Brahman" etc.

Introduction: "The letter Om is all this. Of this a clear exposition (follows)" (Mā. I. i. 1). These four Chapters (of the Kārikā) that sum up the quintessence of the Vedāntic ideas are commenced with the text, "The letter Om is all this" etc. Accordingly, the connection, subject-matter, and utility (of this treatise) need not be separately dealt with. The connection, subject-matter, and utility that pertain to Vedānta itself should fit in here also.footnote{The present book comprising the Upaniṣadic text and the Kārikā of Gauḍapāda forms a sort of a treatise on the Vedānta; and hence the four anubandhas or interconnecting elements—viz adhikārī, the person competent for study, sambandha, connection, e.g. that between the book and the subject-matter, viṣaya, subject-matter of the book, viz unity of the Self and Brahman, and prayojana, utility, viz liberation—are the same in both cases.} Still they ought to be briefly stated by one who wants to explain a treatise. In this connection it is to be noted that by the very fact that a scripture, (whether it be Vedānta or a treatise on it), reveals the spiritual disciplines conducive to the goal; it becomes endowed with a subject-matter; and from this fact it becomes indirectly possessed of a distinct relationship, a subject-matter, and utility.footnote{We are concerned primarily with knowledge and its result and not with books. The result aimed at is liberation which follows from the realisation of the non-difference of the Self and Brahman, and not from mere scriptures. Still the scriptures express that non-difference, and knowledge does not dawn with out the help of scriptural deliberation. Thus as indirect means to knowledge, the scriptures become connected with the subject-matter.} What again is the objective in view? That is being explained: Just as the normal state of a man, afflicted by disease, consists in his getting cured of the disease, similarly the normalcy of the Self, stricken with identification with misery, is regained through the cessation of the phenomenal universe of duality. The end in view is the realisation of non-duality. Since the phenomenal world of duality is a creation of ignorance, it can be eradicated through knowledge; and hence this book is begun in order to reveal the knowledge of Brahman. This fact is established by such Vedic texts as: "Because when there is duality, as it were, (then one smells something, one sees something," and so on) (Bṛ. II. iv. 14); "When there is something else, as it were, then one can see something, one can know something" (Bṛ. IV. iii. 31); "But when to the knower of Brahman everything has become the Self, then what should one see and through what, then what should one know and through what? (Bṛ. II. iv. 14.)

2.7

tatra prayojanavat sādhanābhivyañjakatvenābhidheyasambaddhaṃ śāstraṃ pāramparyeṇa viśiṣṭasaṃbandhābhidheyaprayojanavad bhavati /
kiṃ punas tat prayojanam ity ucyate rogārtasyaiva roganivṛttau svasthatā /
tathā duḥkhātmakasyātmano dvaitaprapañcopaśame svasthatā /
advaitabhāvaḥ prayojanam /

In this regard, a scripture, being related to a signified subject-matter by revealing the means possessing a purpose, indirectly comes to possess a specific connection, signified subject-matter, and purpose. / What then is that purpose? It is stated: just as for one afflicted by disease, health consists in the cessation of the disease, / likewise, for the Self, which is of the nature of suffering, health consists in the cessation of phenomenal manifestation. / Realisation of non-duality is the purpose.

Commentator's invocation: (1) I bow to that Brahman which after having enjoyed (during the waking state) the gross objects by pervading all the human objectives through a diffusion of Its rays of unchanging Consciousness that embraces all that moves created by virtue (and vice); which again (during the cosmic dream statefootnote{As identified with the cosmic subtle body of Hiraṇyagarbha.}) experiences through Its own light the objects of enjoyment that are called up by Its own intellect; which, further (in sound sleep or cosmic dissolution), withdraws promptly all these into Itself; and which lastly becomes free from all attributes by discarding every distinction and difference.

Introduction: "The letter Om is all this. Of this a clear exposition (follows)" (Mā. I. i. 1). These four Chapters (of the Kārikā) that sum up the quintessence of the Vedāntic ideas are commenced with the text, "The letter Om is all this" etc. Accordingly, the connection, subject-matter, and utility (of this treatise) need not be separately dealt with. The connection, subject-matter, and utility that pertain to Vedānta itself should fit in here also.footnote{The present book comprising the Upaniṣadic text and the Kārikā of Gauḍapāda forms a sort of a treatise on the Vedānta; and hence the four anubandhas or interconnecting elements—viz adhikārī, the person competent for study, sambandha, connection, e.g. that between the book and the subject-matter, viṣaya, subject-matter of the book, viz unity of the Self and Brahman, and prayojana, utility, viz liberation—are the same in both cases.} Still they ought to be briefly stated by one who wants to explain a treatise. In this connection it is to be noted that by the very fact that a scripture, (whether it be Vedānta or a treatise on it), reveals the spiritual disciplines conducive to the goal; it becomes endowed with a subject-matter; and from this fact it becomes indirectly possessed of a distinct relationship, a subject-matter, and utility.footnote{We are concerned primarily with knowledge and its result and not with books. The result aimed at is liberation which follows from the realisation of the non-difference of the Self and Brahman, and not from mere scriptures. Still the scriptures express that non-difference, and knowledge does not dawn with out the help of scriptural deliberation. Thus as indirect means to knowledge, the scriptures become connected with the subject-matter.} What again is the objective in view? That is being explained: Just as the normal state of a man, afflicted by disease, consists in his getting cured of the disease, similarly the normalcy of the Self, stricken with identification with misery, is regained through the cessation of the phenomenal universe of duality. The end in view is the realisation of non-duality. Since the phenomenal world of duality is a creation of ignorance, it can be eradicated through knowledge; and hence this book is begun in order to reveal the knowledge of Brahman. This fact is established by such Vedic texts as: "Because when there is duality, as it were, (then one smells something, one sees something," and so on) (Bṛ. II. iv. 14); "When there is something else, as it were, then one can see something, one can know something" (Bṛ. IV. iii. 31); "But when to the knower of Brahman everything has become the Self, then what should one see and through what, then what should one know and through what? (Bṛ. II. iv. 14.)

That being so, the first chapter, devoted to a determination of the meaning of Om, is based on (Vedic) traditional knowledge and is an aid to the ascertainment of the reality of the Self. The second chapter is concerned with rationally proving the unreality of that phenomenal world of duality, on the cessation of which is attained non-duality, just as the reality of the rope is attained on the elimination of the illusion of a snake etc. imagined on it. The third chapter is there to establish rationally the truth of non-duality, lest it too should be negated by a similar process of argument. The fourth chapter seeks to refute through their own arguments all the un-Vedic points of view that are antagonistic to the truth of non-duality established by non-dualism, and that remain involved in this unreal duality by the very fact of their mutual antagonism.

How again does the ascertainment of the meaning of Om become an aid to the realisation of the reality of the Self? The answer is: From such Vedic texts as, (That goal which all the Vedas with one voice propound, which all the austerities speak of, and wishing for which people practise Brahmacarya)—it is this, viz Om” (Ka. I. ii. 15), “This medium is the best” (Ka. I. ii. 17), “O Satyakāma, this (Om) is verily Brahman, (superior and inferior)” (Pr. V. 2), “Meditate on the Self as Om” (Maitrī. VI. 3), “Om is Brahman” (Tai. I. viii. 1), “Om indeed is all this” (Ch. II. xxiii. 3), it follows that just as the non-dual Self, notwithstanding the fact that It is the supreme Reality, can still be the substratum of all such illusions as the vital force, like the rope etc. becoming the substrata of the snake etc., similarly it is but Om that appears as all the ramifications of speech that have for their contents such illusory manifestations of the Self as the vital force etc. And Om is essentially the same as the Self, since it denotes the latter. And all the illusory manifestations of the Self, such as the vital force etc., that are denoted by the modifications of Om, do not exist apart from their names, in accordance with the Vedic texts: "All that is modification exists only in name, having speech as its support" (Ch. VI. i. 4), "All this phenomenal creation of that Brahman is strung together by the thread of speech and by the strands of names", "All these are but dependent on names"footnote{Names make empirical dealings possible for objects.}, and so on. Hence the Upaniṣad says, "Om ityetat akṣaram idam sarvam—the letter Om is all this."

As all these objects that are indicated by names are non-different from the names, and as names are non-different from Om, so Om is verily all this. And as the supreme Brahman is known through the relationship subsisting, between name and its object. It, too, is but Om. Tasya, of that, of this letter, viz Om, that is the same as the supreme as well as the inferior Brahman; upavyākhyānam, a clear exposition, as showing its proximity to Brahman by virtue of its being a means for the attainment of Brahman; the expression, "is to be understood as started with", has to be supplied after "clear exposition" to complete the sentence. Bhūtam, the past; bhavat, the present; bhaviṣyat, the future; iti, these, that is to say, whatever is circumscribed by the three conceptions of time; sarvam oṅkāraḥ eva, all this is but Om, in accordance with the reasons already advanced. Ca yat trikālātītam, and whatever else there is that is beyond the three periods of time, that is inferable from its effects but is not circumscribed by time, e.g. the Unmanifested and the rest; tat api, that, too, is oṅkāraḥ eva, verily Om.

Though a word and the thing signified are the same, still the presentation in the text, "The letter Om is all this" etc., was made by giving greater prominence to the word. The very same thing that was presented through an emphasis on the word is being indicated over again with a stress on the thing signified, so that the unity of the name and the nameable may be comprehended. For otherwise, the nameable having been grasped as dependent on the name, the doubt may crop up that the identity of the nameable with the name is to be taken in a secondary sense. And the necessity of understanding their identity arises from the fact that once this identity is established, one can by a single effort eliminate both the name and the nameable to realise Brahman that is different from both. And this is what the Upaniṣad will say in, "The quarters are the letters of Om, and the letters are the quarters" (Mā. 8). The Upaniṣad adverts to the topic in, "All this is surely Brahman" etc.

2.8

dvaitaprapañcasyāvidyākṛtatvād vidyayā tad upaśamaḥ syād iti brahmavidyāprakāśanāyāsya ārambhaḥ kriyate /

Because the phenomenal manifestation of duality is caused by ignorance, its cessation can occur through knowledge; therefore, this [work] is commenced in order to reveal the knowledge of Brahman.

Commentator's invocation: (1) I bow to that Brahman which after having enjoyed (during the waking state) the gross objects by pervading all the human objectives through a diffusion of Its rays of unchanging Consciousness that embraces all that moves created by virtue (and vice); which again (during the cosmic dream statefootnote{As identified with the cosmic subtle body of Hiraṇyagarbha.}) experiences through Its own light the objects of enjoyment that are called up by Its own intellect; which, further (in sound sleep or cosmic dissolution), withdraws promptly all these into Itself; and which lastly becomes free from all attributes by discarding every distinction and difference.

Introduction: "The letter Om is all this. Of this a clear exposition (follows)" (Mā. I. i. 1). These four Chapters (of the Kārikā) that sum up the quintessence of the Vedāntic ideas are commenced with the text, "The letter Om is all this" etc. Accordingly, the connection, subject-matter, and utility (of this treatise) need not be separately dealt with. The connection, subject-matter, and utility that pertain to Vedānta itself should fit in here also.footnote{The present book comprising the Upaniṣadic text and the Kārikā of Gauḍapāda forms a sort of a treatise on the Vedānta; and hence the four anubandhas or interconnecting elements—viz adhikārī, the person competent for study, sambandha, connection, e.g. that between the book and the subject-matter, viṣaya, subject-matter of the book, viz unity of the Self and Brahman, and prayojana, utility, viz liberation—are the same in both cases.} Still they ought to be briefly stated by one who wants to explain a treatise. In this connection it is to be noted that by the very fact that a scripture, (whether it be Vedānta or a treatise on it), reveals the spiritual disciplines conducive to the goal; it becomes endowed with a subject-matter; and from this fact it becomes indirectly possessed of a distinct relationship, a subject-matter, and utility.footnote{We are concerned primarily with knowledge and its result and not with books. The result aimed at is liberation which follows from the realisation of the non-difference of the Self and Brahman, and not from mere scriptures. Still the scriptures express that non-difference, and knowledge does not dawn with out the help of scriptural deliberation. Thus as indirect means to knowledge, the scriptures become connected with the subject-matter.} What again is the objective in view? That is being explained: Just as the normal state of a man, afflicted by disease, consists in his getting cured of the disease, similarly the normalcy of the Self, stricken with identification with misery, is regained through the cessation of the phenomenal universe of duality. The end in view is the realisation of non-duality. Since the phenomenal world of duality is a creation of ignorance, it can be eradicated through knowledge; and hence this book is begun in order to reveal the knowledge of Brahman. This fact is established by such Vedic texts as: "Because when there is duality, as it were, (then one smells something, one sees something," and so on) (Bṛ. II. iv. 14); "When there is something else, as it were, then one can see something, one can know something" (Bṛ. IV. iii. 31); "But when to the knower of Brahman everything has become the Self, then what should one see and through what, then what should one know and through what? (Bṛ. II. iv. 14.)

That being so, the first chapter, devoted to a determination of the meaning of Om, is based on (Vedic) traditional knowledge and is an aid to the ascertainment of the reality of the Self. The second chapter is concerned with rationally proving the unreality of that phenomenal world of duality, on the cessation of which is attained non-duality, just as the reality of the rope is attained on the elimination of the illusion of a snake etc. imagined on it. The third chapter is there to establish rationally the truth of non-duality, lest it too should be negated by a similar process of argument. The fourth chapter seeks to refute through their own arguments all the un-Vedic points of view that are antagonistic to the truth of non-duality established by non-dualism, and that remain involved in this unreal duality by the very fact of their mutual antagonism.

How again does the ascertainment of the meaning of Om become an aid to the realisation of the reality of the Self? The answer is: From such Vedic texts as, (That goal which all the Vedas with one voice propound, which all the austerities speak of, and wishing for which people practise Brahmacarya)—it is this, viz Om” (Ka. I. ii. 15), “This medium is the best” (Ka. I. ii. 17), “O Satyakāma, this (Om) is verily Brahman, (superior and inferior)” (Pr. V. 2), “Meditate on the Self as Om” (Maitrī. VI. 3), “Om is Brahman” (Tai. I. viii. 1), “Om indeed is all this” (Ch. II. xxiii. 3), it follows that just as the non-dual Self, notwithstanding the fact that It is the supreme Reality, can still be the substratum of all such illusions as the vital force, like the rope etc. becoming the substrata of the snake etc., similarly it is but Om that appears as all the ramifications of speech that have for their contents such illusory manifestations of the Self as the vital force etc. And Om is essentially the same as the Self, since it denotes the latter. And all the illusory manifestations of the Self, such as the vital force etc., that are denoted by the modifications of Om, do not exist apart from their names, in accordance with the Vedic texts: "All that is modification exists only in name, having speech as its support" (Ch. VI. i. 4), "All this phenomenal creation of that Brahman is strung together by the thread of speech and by the strands of names", "All these are but dependent on names"footnote{Names make empirical dealings possible for objects.}, and so on. Hence the Upaniṣad says, "Om ityetat akṣaram idam sarvam—the letter Om is all this."

As all these objects that are indicated by names are non-different from the names, and as names are non-different from Om, so Om is verily all this. And as the supreme Brahman is known through the relationship subsisting, between name and its object. It, too, is but Om. Tasya, of that, of this letter, viz Om, that is the same as the supreme as well as the inferior Brahman; upavyākhyānam, a clear exposition, as showing its proximity to Brahman by virtue of its being a means for the attainment of Brahman; the expression, "is to be understood as started with", has to be supplied after "clear exposition" to complete the sentence. Bhūtam, the past; bhavat, the present; bhaviṣyat, the future; iti, these, that is to say, whatever is circumscribed by the three conceptions of time; sarvam oṅkāraḥ eva, all this is but Om, in accordance with the reasons already advanced. Ca yat trikālātītam, and whatever else there is that is beyond the three periods of time, that is inferable from its effects but is not circumscribed by time, e.g. the Unmanifested and the rest; tat api, that, too, is oṅkāraḥ eva, verily Om.

Though a word and the thing signified are the same, still the presentation in the text, "The letter Om is all this" etc., was made by giving greater prominence to the word. The very same thing that was presented through an emphasis on the word is being indicated over again with a stress on the thing signified, so that the unity of the name and the nameable may be comprehended. For otherwise, the nameable having been grasped as dependent on the name, the doubt may crop up that the identity of the nameable with the name is to be taken in a secondary sense. And the necessity of understanding their identity arises from the fact that once this identity is established, one can by a single effort eliminate both the name and the nameable to realise Brahman that is different from both. And this is what the Upaniṣad will say in, "The quarters are the letters of Om, and the letters are the quarters" (Mā. 8). The Upaniṣad adverts to the topic in, "All this is surely Brahman" etc.

2.9

"yatra hi dvaitam iva bhavati"(bṛ.u 2 / 4 / 14) "yatra vānyad iva syāt tatrānyo 'nyat paśyed anyo 'nyad vijānīyāt"(bṛ.u 4 / 3 / 31) "yatra vāsya sarvam ātmaivābhūt tat kena kaṃ paśyet kena kaṃ vijānīyāt"(bṛ.u 2 / 4 / 14) ity ādi śrutibhyo 'syārthasya siddhiḥ /

The establishment of this meaning follows from scriptural revelation such as: "For where there is duality, as it were..." (Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 2.4.14), "Or where there might be something else, as it were, there one might see another, one might know another..." (Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 4.3.31), "Where, however, all this has become one's very Self, then by what and whom would one see, by what and whom would one know?" (Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 2.4.14).

Commentator's invocation: (1) I bow to that Brahman which after having enjoyed (during the waking state) the gross objects by pervading all the human objectives through a diffusion of Its rays of unchanging Consciousness that embraces all that moves created by virtue (and vice); which again (during the cosmic dream statefootnote{As identified with the cosmic subtle body of Hiraṇyagarbha.}) experiences through Its own light the objects of enjoyment that are called up by Its own intellect; which, further (in sound sleep or cosmic dissolution), withdraws promptly all these into Itself; and which lastly becomes free from all attributes by discarding every distinction and difference.

Introduction: "The letter Om is all this. Of this a clear exposition (follows)" (Mā. I. i. 1). These four Chapters (of the Kārikā) that sum up the quintessence of the Vedāntic ideas are commenced with the text, "The letter Om is all this" etc. Accordingly, the connection, subject-matter, and utility (of this treatise) need not be separately dealt with. The connection, subject-matter, and utility that pertain to Vedānta itself should fit in here also.footnote{The present book comprising the Upaniṣadic text and the Kārikā of Gauḍapāda forms a sort of a treatise on the Vedānta; and hence the four anubandhas or interconnecting elements—viz adhikārī, the person competent for study, sambandha, connection, e.g. that between the book and the subject-matter, viṣaya, subject-matter of the book, viz unity of the Self and Brahman, and prayojana, utility, viz liberation—are the same in both cases.} Still they ought to be briefly stated by one who wants to explain a treatise. In this connection it is to be noted that by the very fact that a scripture, (whether it be Vedānta or a treatise on it), reveals the spiritual disciplines conducive to the goal; it becomes endowed with a subject-matter; and from this fact it becomes indirectly possessed of a distinct relationship, a subject-matter, and utility.footnote{We are concerned primarily with knowledge and its result and not with books. The result aimed at is liberation which follows from the realisation of the non-difference of the Self and Brahman, and not from mere scriptures. Still the scriptures express that non-difference, and knowledge does not dawn with out the help of scriptural deliberation. Thus as indirect means to knowledge, the scriptures become connected with the subject-matter.} What again is the objective in view? That is being explained: Just as the normal state of a man, afflicted by disease, consists in his getting cured of the disease, similarly the normalcy of the Self, stricken with identification with misery, is regained through the cessation of the phenomenal universe of duality. The end in view is the realisation of non-duality. Since the phenomenal world of duality is a creation of ignorance, it can be eradicated through knowledge; and hence this book is begun in order to reveal the knowledge of Brahman. This fact is established by such Vedic texts as: "Because when there is duality, as it were, (then one smells something, one sees something," and so on) (Bṛ. II. iv. 14); "When there is something else, as it were, then one can see something, one can know something" (Bṛ. IV. iii. 31); "But when to the knower of Brahman everything has become the Self, then what should one see and through what, then what should one know and through what? (Bṛ. II. iv. 14.)

That being so, the first chapter, devoted to a determination of the meaning of Om, is based on (Vedic) traditional knowledge and is an aid to the ascertainment of the reality of the Self. The second chapter is concerned with rationally proving the unreality of that phenomenal world of duality, on the cessation of which is attained non-duality, just as the reality of the rope is attained on the elimination of the illusion of a snake etc. imagined on it. The third chapter is there to establish rationally the truth of non-duality, lest it too should be negated by a similar process of argument. The fourth chapter seeks to refute through their own arguments all the un-Vedic points of view that are antagonistic to the truth of non-duality established by non-dualism, and that remain involved in this unreal duality by the very fact of their mutual antagonism.

How again does the ascertainment of the meaning of Om become an aid to the realisation of the reality of the Self? The answer is: From such Vedic texts as, (That goal which all the Vedas with one voice propound, which all the austerities speak of, and wishing for which people practise Brahmacarya)—it is this, viz Om” (Ka. I. ii. 15), “This medium is the best” (Ka. I. ii. 17), “O Satyakāma, this (Om) is verily Brahman, (superior and inferior)” (Pr. V. 2), “Meditate on the Self as Om” (Maitrī. VI. 3), “Om is Brahman” (Tai. I. viii. 1), “Om indeed is all this” (Ch. II. xxiii. 3), it follows that just as the non-dual Self, notwithstanding the fact that It is the supreme Reality, can still be the substratum of all such illusions as the vital force, like the rope etc. becoming the substrata of the snake etc., similarly it is but Om that appears as all the ramifications of speech that have for their contents such illusory manifestations of the Self as the vital force etc. And Om is essentially the same as the Self, since it denotes the latter. And all the illusory manifestations of the Self, such as the vital force etc., that are denoted by the modifications of Om, do not exist apart from their names, in accordance with the Vedic texts: "All that is modification exists only in name, having speech as its support" (Ch. VI. i. 4), "All this phenomenal creation of that Brahman is strung together by the thread of speech and by the strands of names", "All these are but dependent on names"footnote{Names make empirical dealings possible for objects.}, and so on. Hence the Upaniṣad says, "Om ityetat akṣaram idam sarvam—the letter Om is all this."

As all these objects that are indicated by names are non-different from the names, and as names are non-different from Om, so Om is verily all this. And as the supreme Brahman is known through the relationship subsisting, between name and its object. It, too, is but Om. Tasya, of that, of this letter, viz Om, that is the same as the supreme as well as the inferior Brahman; upavyākhyānam, a clear exposition, as showing its proximity to Brahman by virtue of its being a means for the attainment of Brahman; the expression, "is to be understood as started with", has to be supplied after "clear exposition" to complete the sentence. Bhūtam, the past; bhavat, the present; bhaviṣyat, the future; iti, these, that is to say, whatever is circumscribed by the three conceptions of time; sarvam oṅkāraḥ eva, all this is but Om, in accordance with the reasons already advanced. Ca yat trikālātītam, and whatever else there is that is beyond the three periods of time, that is inferable from its effects but is not circumscribed by time, e.g. the Unmanifested and the rest; tat api, that, too, is oṅkāraḥ eva, verily Om.

Though a word and the thing signified are the same, still the presentation in the text, "The letter Om is all this" etc., was made by giving greater prominence to the word. The very same thing that was presented through an emphasis on the word is being indicated over again with a stress on the thing signified, so that the unity of the name and the nameable may be comprehended. For otherwise, the nameable having been grasped as dependent on the name, the doubt may crop up that the identity of the nameable with the name is to be taken in a secondary sense. And the necessity of understanding their identity arises from the fact that once this identity is established, one can by a single effort eliminate both the name and the nameable to realise Brahman that is different from both. And this is what the Upaniṣad will say in, "The quarters are the letters of Om, and the letters are the quarters" (Mā. 8). The Upaniṣad adverts to the topic in, "All this is surely Brahman" etc.

2.10

tatra tāvad oṃkāranirṇayāya prathamaṃ prakaraṇam āgamapradhānām ātmatattvapratipatty upāyabhūtam /
yasya dvaitaprapañcasyopaśame 'dvaitapratipattī rajjvām iva sarpādivikalpa upaśame rajjutattvapratipattis tasya dvaitasya hetuto vaitathyapratipādanāya dvitīyaṃ prakaraṇam /
tathādvaitasyāpi vaitathyaprasaṅgaprāptau yuktitas tathātvadarśanāya tṛtīyaṃ prakaraṇam /
advaitasya tathātvapratipattipakṣabhūtāni yāni vādāntarāṇyavaidikāni teṣām anyonyavirodhitvādatathārthatvena tadupapattibhir eva nirākaraṇāya caturthaṃ prakaraṇam /

Among them, first, the first treatise chapter is primarily based on scriptural revelation for the ascertainment of the syllable Om, serving as the means to the comprehension of the truth of the Self. / The second treatise chapter is for demonstrating through reasoning the unreality of that duality, upon the cessation of whose phenomenal manifestation the comprehension of non-duality arises—just as the comprehension of the truth of the rope arises upon the cessation of the conceptual construction of the snake and so forth on the rope. / Likewise, when the contingency of unreality also applying to non-duality arises, the third treatise chapter is for showing its reality through reasoning. / The fourth treatise chapter is for refuting through their very arguments those other non-Vedic doctrines which oppose the comprehension of the reality of non-duality, because they contradict one another and are false.

Commentator's invocation: (1) I bow to that Brahman which after having enjoyed (during the waking state) the gross objects by pervading all the human objectives through a diffusion of Its rays of unchanging Consciousness that embraces all that moves created by virtue (and vice); which again (during the cosmic dream statefootnote{As identified with the cosmic subtle body of Hiraṇyagarbha.}) experiences through Its own light the objects of enjoyment that are called up by Its own intellect; which, further (in sound sleep or cosmic dissolution), withdraws promptly all these into Itself; and which lastly becomes free from all attributes by discarding every distinction and difference.

Introduction: "The letter Om is all this. Of this a clear exposition (follows)" (Mā. I. i. 1). These four Chapters (of the Kārikā) that sum up the quintessence of the Vedāntic ideas are commenced with the text, "The letter Om is all this" etc. Accordingly, the connection, subject-matter, and utility (of this treatise) need not be separately dealt with. The connection, subject-matter, and utility that pertain to Vedānta itself should fit in here also.footnote{The present book comprising the Upaniṣadic text and the Kārikā of Gauḍapāda forms a sort of a treatise on the Vedānta; and hence the four anubandhas or interconnecting elements—viz adhikārī, the person competent for study, sambandha, connection, e.g. that between the book and the subject-matter, viṣaya, subject-matter of the book, viz unity of the Self and Brahman, and prayojana, utility, viz liberation—are the same in both cases.} Still they ought to be briefly stated by one who wants to explain a treatise. In this connection it is to be noted that by the very fact that a scripture, (whether it be Vedānta or a treatise on it), reveals the spiritual disciplines conducive to the goal; it becomes endowed with a subject-matter; and from this fact it becomes indirectly possessed of a distinct relationship, a subject-matter, and utility.footnote{We are concerned primarily with knowledge and its result and not with books. The result aimed at is liberation which follows from the realisation of the non-difference of the Self and Brahman, and not from mere scriptures. Still the scriptures express that non-difference, and knowledge does not dawn with out the help of scriptural deliberation. Thus as indirect means to knowledge, the scriptures become connected with the subject-matter.} What again is the objective in view? That is being explained: Just as the normal state of a man, afflicted by disease, consists in his getting cured of the disease, similarly the normalcy of the Self, stricken with identification with misery, is regained through the cessation of the phenomenal universe of duality. The end in view is the realisation of non-duality. Since the phenomenal world of duality is a creation of ignorance, it can be eradicated through knowledge; and hence this book is begun in order to reveal the knowledge of Brahman. This fact is established by such Vedic texts as: "Because when there is duality, as it were, (then one smells something, one sees something," and so on) (Bṛ. II. iv. 14); "When there is something else, as it were, then one can see something, one can know something" (Bṛ. IV. iii. 31); "But when to the knower of Brahman everything has become the Self, then what should one see and through what, then what should one know and through what? (Bṛ. II. iv. 14.)

That being so, the first chapter, devoted to a determination of the meaning of Om, is based on (Vedic) traditional knowledge and is an aid to the ascertainment of the reality of the Self. The second chapter is concerned with rationally proving the unreality of that phenomenal world of duality, on the cessation of which is attained non-duality, just as the reality of the rope is attained on the elimination of the illusion of a snake etc. imagined on it. The third chapter is there to establish rationally the truth of non-duality, lest it too should be negated by a similar process of argument. The fourth chapter seeks to refute through their own arguments all the un-Vedic points of view that are antagonistic to the truth of non-duality established by non-dualism, and that remain involved in this unreal duality by the very fact of their mutual antagonism.

How again does the ascertainment of the meaning of Om become an aid to the realisation of the reality of the Self? The answer is: From such Vedic texts as, (That goal which all the Vedas with one voice propound, which all the austerities speak of, and wishing for which people practise Brahmacarya)—it is this, viz Om” (Ka. I. ii. 15), “This medium is the best” (Ka. I. ii. 17), “O Satyakāma, this (Om) is verily Brahman, (superior and inferior)” (Pr. V. 2), “Meditate on the Self as Om” (Maitrī. VI. 3), “Om is Brahman” (Tai. I. viii. 1), “Om indeed is all this” (Ch. II. xxiii. 3), it follows that just as the non-dual Self, notwithstanding the fact that It is the supreme Reality, can still be the substratum of all such illusions as the vital force, like the rope etc. becoming the substrata of the snake etc., similarly it is but Om that appears as all the ramifications of speech that have for their contents such illusory manifestations of the Self as the vital force etc. And Om is essentially the same as the Self, since it denotes the latter. And all the illusory manifestations of the Self, such as the vital force etc., that are denoted by the modifications of Om, do not exist apart from their names, in accordance with the Vedic texts: "All that is modification exists only in name, having speech as its support" (Ch. VI. i. 4), "All this phenomenal creation of that Brahman is strung together by the thread of speech and by the strands of names", "All these are but dependent on names"footnote{Names make empirical dealings possible for objects.}, and so on. Hence the Upaniṣad says, "Om ityetat akṣaram idam sarvam—the letter Om is all this."

As all these objects that are indicated by names are non-different from the names, and as names are non-different from Om, so Om is verily all this. And as the supreme Brahman is known through the relationship subsisting, between name and its object. It, too, is but Om. Tasya, of that, of this letter, viz Om, that is the same as the supreme as well as the inferior Brahman; upavyākhyānam, a clear exposition, as showing its proximity to Brahman by virtue of its being a means for the attainment of Brahman; the expression, "is to be understood as started with", has to be supplied after "clear exposition" to complete the sentence. Bhūtam, the past; bhavat, the present; bhaviṣyat, the future; iti, these, that is to say, whatever is circumscribed by the three conceptions of time; sarvam oṅkāraḥ eva, all this is but Om, in accordance with the reasons already advanced. Ca yat trikālātītam, and whatever else there is that is beyond the three periods of time, that is inferable from its effects but is not circumscribed by time, e.g. the Unmanifested and the rest; tat api, that, too, is oṅkāraḥ eva, verily Om.

Though a word and the thing signified are the same, still the presentation in the text, "The letter Om is all this" etc., was made by giving greater prominence to the word. The very same thing that was presented through an emphasis on the word is being indicated over again with a stress on the thing signified, so that the unity of the name and the nameable may be comprehended. For otherwise, the nameable having been grasped as dependent on the name, the doubt may crop up that the identity of the nameable with the name is to be taken in a secondary sense. And the necessity of understanding their identity arises from the fact that once this identity is established, one can by a single effort eliminate both the name and the nameable to realise Brahman that is different from both. And this is what the Upaniṣad will say in, "The quarters are the letters of Om, and the letters are the quarters" (Mā. 8). The Upaniṣad adverts to the topic in, "All this is surely Brahman" etc.

That being so, the first chapter, devoted to a determination of the meaning of Om, is based on (Vedic) traditional knowledge and is an aid to the ascertainment of the reality of the Self. The second chapter is concerned with rationally proving the unreality of that phenomenal world of duality, on the cessation of which is attained non-duality, just as the reality of the rope is attained on the elimination of the illusion of a snake etc. imagined on it. The third chapter is there to establish rationally the truth of non-duality, lest it too should be negated by a similar process of argument. The fourth chapter seeks to refute through their own arguments all the un-Vedic points of view that are antagonistic to the truth of non-duality established by non-dualism, and that remain involved in this unreal duality by the very fact of their mutual antagonism.