Mandukya Upanishad

Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad

Twelve short prose statements that map the syllable Om onto waking, dream, deep sleep and a fourth state (turiya) identified with the Self.

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Tradition: Vedic & Upanishadic foundations · Vedanta · Advaita Vedanta
Difficulty: intermediate
Attribution: Atharvaveda; author unknown
Period · language: Often regarded as one of the latest principal Upanishads, perhaps around the turn of the Common Era; dating is uncertain · Sanskrit
Themes: Om · States of consciousness · Turiya · Self · Non-duality

Why read this?

The shortest principal Upanishad, it offers a complete map of consciousness in a few lines, using experience everyone has (waking, dreaming, dreamless sleep) as the starting point for inquiry. Through Gaudapada's Karika on it, it became a foundation of Advaita.

Questions it answers

?What is common to waking, dreaming and deep sleep?
?Is there consciousness beyond these states?
?What does Om stand for?

Key teachings

Editorial overview

All this is Om

The text opens by identifying the syllable Om with everything, past, present and future, and with what lies beyond time.

This Self is Brahman

It states that all this is Brahman and that the Self is Brahman, one of the classical 'great sayings' (mahavakyas).

Four quarters of the Self

The Self is described in four aspects: the waking (vaishvanara), the dreaming (taijasa), the deeply sleeping (prajna), and the fourth (turiya), which is none of these.

The fourth

Turiya is described only by negation: not inwardly or outwardly conscious, not graspable, peaceful and non-dual. Advaita treats it as the Self underlying all three states.

Om as a map

The sounds A, U and M are matched to the three states, and the silence after the syllable to the fourth.

Structure

12 prose verses (mantras)

Important passages

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References only — the passages themselves are not reproduced until the source text is ingested.

2All this is Brahman; this Self is Brahman
7The fourth (turiya), described by negation
8–12The parts of Om matched to the states of consciousness

Source not yet ingested

The text of the Mandukya Upanishad is not part of this version. What you see here is an editorial overview with passage references. No verses have been reproduced or invented. The architecture is ready for the text to be added.