Mandukya Upanishad
Class 80
Verse 96
The spiritual seeker starts the journey as a prmadha associated with the body mind complex, he discovers himself as seeker who has not attained the qualification gyana yogyadha pramdha. He then practices sadhana sadhustha sambandhi and become gyana yogahda pramadha, a knower with qualifications. Then he practices sravanam and manam and gains knowledge which also belongs to mind, he becomes gyani pramadha. Then he should keep a balanced mind in day to day life, but he gets agitated and gets angry. At this point, he refers himself to pramadha and not sakshi. If you want to get out this disturbance, he should practice nidhithyasanam for a long time become gyana nishtaha which indicates that the mind is undisturbed all the time. The gyana nishta also belongs to mind and still as a prmadha. Once he stays as a gyana nishta for some time, I should not claim as gyana nishta I identify with my mind. Only when gyana nishta is strengthened the gyana nishta pramdha falls and thereafter I don’t claim also. Gyana nisha, gyana agyogta etc. are attributes of pramdha ahangara. I am the saksthi the witness of mind. These qualifications of mind belong to pramadha and not sakshi. As sakshi is always liberated. The spiritual journey is also from the standpoint of pramdah. After gyana nishta I claim I am sakshi and disown gyana nisha also. Once I have claimed I am sakshi, really speaking I am not sakshi also. To claim I am sakshi is to claim I am illuminator and indirectly indicating a second thing. Once I know I am illumined by mithya, my illuminator status also becomes mithya. the consciousness does not illumine any object. Because there is no second object all, as the second object is mithya. Consciousness does not contact matter because there is no matter that is separate from consciousness. Clay can’t contact pot because there is no pot other than clay to contact. Sathyam can’t contact mithya. Therefore, I the thuriyum I am relations less consciousness. I don’t have contact with anything. Only if I have contact, I can be called illuminator. In advaidam where is the question of sakshi? I am asanga chaithanyam.
Verse 97
The assimilation of Mandukya involves assimilation of the knowledge that I am advaida chaithanyam or non-dual conscsiouenss. Only when I am advaidam, I will be muktha. Duality, time, space, mortality, insecurity, fear samsara will all come one by one once I get duality. You can perceive a thing as a mithya but not as sathya. Even thought of anatma vasthu arrives as a real entity for an indiscriminate person. Asangatvam is gone and a relationship will come either in the form of raga or dwesha and relations less status will go away. Every time I get angry, the problem is with me and I have become a viswa or taijasa. Once a person gets attached to external object, that person will be kept busy. Every relationship will create duty after duty, giving no time for vedanta. How are they going to gain knowledge and drop ignorance? How is the destruction of ignorance will take place?
Verse 98
The avaranam covering the thuriya swaroopm is not removed by agyanis. This may raise the doubt that there are two things – thuriyum and avaranm or agyanam or maya. We do accept anadhi agyanam but that agyanam is not as real as thuiryum. They do not enjoy the same order of duality. If thuriyum and agyanam are equally real they both can either be destroyed or can be not destructible. If agyanam can’t be destroyed, then there will be no knowledge of thuriyum. Therefore, one must be sathyam and the other one is mithya. Thuiryum is paramarthika sathyam and agyanam is mithya or vyavakirka sathyam. Thuriyum is not contaminated by gyanam or agynam or maya because from thuiryum standpoint, Maya is as good as nonexistent. From all jivas standpoint, thuriyum is swaya prakasa because the covering is seeming covering and removal is also seeming removal. From the paramrthika dhrishti, everyone is born free. Everything – atma gone etc. – are figurative expression and empirical angle. The wise people figuratively say that the seeker gains knowledge and words like liberation are all figurative expression, similar to running away from rope snake – there is no snake to run away.
Verse 99
There is no second duality objectified for an all-pervading wise person – who is thuriyum or all-pervading chaithanyam. For that person, consciousness does not contact any person. Because there is no matter separate from consciousness. Agyani’s consciousness also does not come in contact with anything. A gyani knows there is no second object whereas an agyani thinks there is a second material object. This is true with regard to all jivas – that there is nature is thuriya chaithanyam. This teaching is not budhist teaching but vedantic teaching. In budhism also the world is negated. Because of this common feature, many people mistake that advaidam is only a version of budhism. However, budhism does not accept veda pramadham.
Verse 100
The fourth chapter started with a prayer and ends with prayer.
We are offering namaskaram to that thuriyuam which can’t be comprehended as an object of knowledge. It is available for knowing only as I but can never be experienced as an object. It is extremely subtle and deep for a gross mind because a gross mind always wants to objectify things. Such a mind can never grasp Brahman. That thuriyum is eternal, birthless, deathless, uniform without any internal differences or pollution like space. We are offering namaskra to that thuriyum. How can you do namaskara to that thuriyuam? Thuirya namaskara is only in the form of thuriya gyanam.
If doing namaska is in the form of knowing, then knowing is also objectification. Knowing thuriyum is claiming the fact that I am thuriyam. Listening to sastra is also form a puja. The fire is not physical fire, but it is gyana agni. The oblation is duality, viswa, taijasa, pragya; sthula, shuksham and karana prabanja are all oblation. After this namaskara, I will not get up as an individual. According to our capacity, we do a compromised version of namaskara in temple.