Description
The Mandukya Upanishad, from the Atharva Veda, is the shortest and quite possibly the most powerful of the Upanishads. It explains the the nature of atma, pure conciousness by symbolically dividing "om" into three parts, representing the states of waking (jagrat), dream (svapna) and deep sleep (susupti).
Waking (Vaishwanara)
Atma associated with Sthula, Sukshma, and Karana Sharira.
Agrahana — non-recognition of Sat-Chid-Ananda Atma.
Anyatha Grahana — identification as a human being.
Thus, suffering.
Dream (Taijasa)
Atma associated with Sukshma and Karana Sharira.
Agrahana present.
Anyatha Grahana — identification as a dream character.
Thus, suffering.
Deep Sleep (Prajna)
Atma associated with Karana Sharira alone.
Sthula and Sukshma absent.
Agrahana present; Vikshepa absent.
Therefore no Anyatha Grahana.
No suffering.
Anandamaya.
Atyanta Anayasena — absolute effortlessness.
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Vastu and Upadhi
Atma is Vastu — the reality.
Sharira is Upadhi — name and form, not independent.
Clay is Vastu; pot is Upadhi.
The pot is not separate from clay.
Likewise, the Shariras are not separate from Atma.
Atma is not personal consciousness.
It is the reality because of which everything exists — Brahman: Satyam, Jyanam, Anantam.
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Mula Avidya
Fundamental ignorance is Dvi-Shaktimat — possessing two powers:
Avarna Shakti — covering → Agrahana.
Vikshepa Shakti — projection → Anyatha Grahana.
Rope not recognized → snake projected.
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Cause of Suffering
Agrahana alone does not cause suffering.
Anyatha Grahana causes suffering.
In Waking and Dream:
Agrahana + Anyatha Grahana → suffering.
In Deep Sleep:
Agrahana present; Anyatha Grahana absent.
Hence no suffering.
Swami Tadatmananda originally taught these classes at Arsha Bodha Center in 2011, when only audio was recorded for each class, not video. Later, a group of dedicated and skillful volunteers produced videos for these classes, showing the Sanskrit text, Roman transliteration, and translation. The following volunteers deserve many thanks for their hard work to produce these videos: Jhanvi, Vikram, Upendra, and Mangesh,
Swami Tadatmananda is a traditionally-trained teacher of Advaita Vedanta, meditation, and Sanskrit. For more information, please see: https://www.arshabodha.org/