Atharva Veda
The Mandukya Upanishad, all twelve verses
The Mandukya Upanishad is twelve verses long, from the Atharva Veda. It says all of this is Om, that "this Self is Brahman" (verse 2), and maps the Self through waking, dream and deep sleep to a fourth, turiya, which verse 7 describes by taking every description away.
The text
ॐ इत्येतदक्षरमिदं सर्वं तस्योपव्याख्यानंभूतं भवद् भविष्यदिति सर्वमोङ्कार एवयच्चान्यत् त्रिकालातीतं तदप्योङ्कार एव ॥
oṃ ityetadakṣaramidaṃ sarvaṃ tasyopavyākhyānaṃbhūtaṃ bhavad bhaviṣyaditi sarvamoṅkāra evayaccānyat trikālātītaṃ tadapyoṅkāra eva ||
Om. This syllable is all of this. Here is its explanation. What has been, what is, and what will be: all of it is Om. Whatever else lies beyond the three times, that too is Om.
सर्वं ह्येतद् ब्रह्मायमात्मा ब्रह्म सोऽयमात्मा चतुष्पात् ॥
sarvaṃ hyetad brahmāyamātmā brahma so'yamātmā catuṣpāt ||
All of this is Brahman. This Self is Brahman. This Self has four quarters.
जागरितस्थानो बहिष्प्रज्ञः सप्ताङ्ग एकोनविंशतिमुखःस्थूलभुग्वैश्वानरः प्रथमः पादः ॥
jāgaritasthāno bahiṣprajñaḥ saptāṅga ekonaviṃśatimukhaḥsthūlabhugvaiśvānaraḥ prathamaḥ pādaḥ ||
The first quarter is Vaishvanara. Its place is waking. It knows what is outside. It has seven limbs and nineteen mouths, and it takes in the solid world.
स्वप्नस्थानोऽन्तःप्रज्ञः सप्ताङ्ग एकोनविंशतिमुखःप्रविविक्तभुक्तैजसो द्वितीयः पादः ॥
svapnasthāno'ntaḥprajñaḥ saptāṅga ekonaviṃśatimukhaḥpraviviktabhuktaijaso dvitīyaḥ pādaḥ ||
The second quarter is Taijasa. Its place is dream. It knows what is inside. It has seven limbs and nineteen mouths, and it takes in the subtle world.
यत्र सुप्तो न कञ्चन कामं कामयते न कञ्चन स्वप्नंपश्यति तत् सुषुप्तम् ।सुषुप्तस्थान एकीभूतः प्रज्ञानघनएवानन्दमयो ह्यानन्दभुक् चेतोमुखः प्राज्ञस्तृतीयः पादः ॥
yatra supto na kañcana kāmaṃ kāmayate na kañcana svapnaṃpaśyati tat suṣuptam |suṣuptasthāna ekībhūtaḥ prajñānaghanaevānandamayo hyānandabhuk cetomukhaḥ prājñastṛtīyaḥ pādaḥ ||
When a sleeper wants nothing and sees no dream, that is deep sleep. The third quarter is Prajna. Its place is deep sleep. In it everything has become one, a single mass of knowing. It is made of bliss and takes in bliss, and awareness is its door.
एष सर्वेश्वरः एष सर्वज्ञ एषोऽन्तर्याम्येष योनिः सर्वस्यप्रभवाप्ययौ हि भूतानाम् ॥
eṣa sarveśvaraḥ eṣa sarvajña eṣo'ntaryāmyeṣa yoniḥ sarvasyaprabhavāpyayau hi bhūtānām ||
This is the lord of all. This knows all. This is the ruler within. This is where everything comes from, for beings arise from it and return to it.
नान्तःप्रज्ञं न बहिष्प्रज्ञं नोभयतःप्रज्ञं न प्रज्ञानघनंन प्रज्ञं नाप्रज्ञम् ।अदृष्टमव्यवहार्यमग्राह्यमलक्षणंअचिन्त्यमव्यपदेश्यमेकात्मप्रत्ययसारं प्रपञ्चोपशमंशान्तं शिवमद्वैतं चतुर्थं मन्यन्ते स आत्मा स विज्ञेयः ॥
nāntaḥprajñaṃ na bahiṣprajñaṃ nobhayataḥprajñaṃ na prajñānaghanaṃna prajñaṃ nāprajñam |adṛṣṭamavyavahāryamagrāhyamalakṣaṇaṃacintyamavyapadeśyamekātmapratyayasāraṃ prapañcopaśamaṃśāntaṃ śivamadvaitaṃ caturthaṃ manyante sa ātmā sa vijñeyaḥ ||
Not turned inward, not turned outward, not both ways at once, not a mass of knowing, not knowing, not unknowing. It cannot be seen, used, grasped or marked. It cannot be thought or named. Its substance is the one steady sense of self. In it the world falls quiet. It is peace, it is good, it is one without a second. This they call the fourth. That is the Self. That is what is to be known.
Neti, neti: not this, not this
Each tap sets one description aside. What is left is what the verse calls the fourth.
- नान्तःप्रज्ञम्nāntaḥprajñamnot turned inward
- न बहिष्प्रज्ञम्na bahiṣprajñamnot turned outward
- नोभयतःप्रज्ञम्nobhayataḥprajñamnot both ways
- न प्रज्ञानघनम्na prajñānaghanamnot a mass of knowing
- न प्रज्ञम्na prajñamnot knowing
- नाप्रज्ञम्nāprajñamnot unknowing
- अदृष्टम्adṛṣṭamunseen
- अव्यवहार्यम्avyavahāryamnot to be used
- अग्राह्यम्agrāhyamnot to be grasped
- अलक्षणम्alakṣaṇamwithout marks
- अचिन्त्यम्acintyambeyond thought
- अव्यपदेश्यम्avyapadeśyambeyond naming
शान्तं शिवमद्वैतम्śāntaṃ śivam advaitampeace, the good, one without a second
सोऽयमात्माध्यक्षरमोङ्कारोऽधिमात्रं पादा मात्रा मात्राश्चपादा अकार उकारो मकार इति ॥
so'yamātmādhyakṣaramoṅkāro'dhimātraṃ pādā mātrā mātrāścapādā akāra ukāro makāra iti ||
This Self, taken as a syllable, is Om. Taken as sounds, the quarters are the sounds and the sounds are the quarters: a, u and m.
जागरितस्थानो वैश्वानरोऽकारः प्रथमा मात्राऽऽप्तेरादिमत्त्वाद्वाऽऽप्नोति ह वै सर्वान् कामानादिश्च भवति य एवं वेद ॥
jāgaritasthāno vaiśvānaro'kāraḥ prathamā mātrā''pterādimattvādvā''pnoti ha vai sarvān kāmānādiśca bhavati ya evaṃ veda ||
Vaishvanara, whose place is waking, is a, the first sound, because it runs through everything and because it comes first. One who knows this gains what they wish for and becomes first.
स्वप्नस्थानस्तैजस उकारो द्वितीया मात्रोत्कर्षात्उभयत्वाद्वोत्कर्षति ह वै ज्ञानसन्ततिं समानश्च भवतिनास्याब्रह्मवित्कुले भवति य एवं वेद ॥
svapnasthānastaijasa ukāro dvitīyā mātrotkarṣātubhayatvādvotkarṣati ha vai jñānasantatiṃ samānaśca bhavatināsyābrahmavitkule bhavati ya evaṃ veda ||
Taijasa, whose place is dream, is u, the second sound, because it is higher and because it stands between the two. One who knows this carries knowledge forward and is even with everyone. No one in their family is born without knowing Brahman.
सुषुप्तस्थानः प्राज्ञो मकारस्तृतीया मात्रा मितेरपीतेर्वामिनोति ह वा इदं सर्वमपीतिश्च भवति य एवं वेद ॥
suṣuptasthānaḥ prājño makārastṛtīyā mātrā miterapītervāminoti ha vā idaṃ sarvamapītiśca bhavati ya evaṃ veda ||
Prajna, whose place is deep sleep, is m, the third sound, because it measures and because everything merges into it. One who knows this measures all of this and becomes the place where it merges.
अमात्रश्चतुर्थोऽव्यवहार्यः प्रपञ्चोपशमः शिवोऽद्वैतएवमोङ्कार आत्मैव संविशत्यात्मनाऽऽत्मानं य एवं वेद ॥
amātraścaturtho'vyavahāryaḥ prapañcopaśamaḥ śivo'dvaitaevamoṅkāra ātmaiva saṃviśatyātmanā''tmānaṃ ya evaṃ veda ||
The fourth has no sound. It cannot be used or handled. In it the world falls quiet. It is good and one without a second. So Om is the Self itself. One who knows this goes into the Self by the Self.
The Mandukya and the Gita
Bhagavad Gita 8.13: Krishna on leaving the body while saying Om, the one syllable that is Brahman.
Bhagavad Gita 2.69: what is night for all beings is where the steady one is awake.
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Questions people ask
- How many verses are in the Mandukya Upanishad?
- Twelve, which makes it the shortest of the principal Upanishads. It belongs to the Atharva Veda.
- What is turiya?
- "The fourth": the Self described in verse 7, apart from waking, dream and deep sleep, and present through all three. The verse calls it peace, the good, one without a second.
- What does the Mandukya say about Om?
- Its three sounds, a, u and m, stand for waking, dream and deep sleep, and the silence after them stands for the fourth (verses 8 to 12).
Sources and method
Sanskrit from the Wisdom corpus, read against the sanskritdocuments.org editions (and GRETIL where it has the text); where the two differ, the proofread edition is used and the difference is listed for review. English is Wisdom’s own, drafted from the Sanskrit with Shankara’s commentary (S. Sitarama Sastri’s public-domain English) and checked for tone against Swami Paramananda (1919).
Wisdom translation, edited by Ankur Shukla. Commentary AI-drafted, under human review.