page_title: Mandukya Upanishad
hierarchical_section_title: Mandukya Upanishad
caption_attribution_description: English: The early Upanishads (Upanisad, Upanisat) are scriptures of Hinduism. Variously dated by scholars to have been composed between 900 BCE to about 200 BCE, these texts are in Sanskrit language and embedded within a layer of the Vedas. They contain a mixture of philosophy and mystical speculations, many set in the form of dialogues or pedagogic style. Their central teachings include the concepts of Atman (soul, self) and Brahman (metaphysical reality). These manuscripts are preserved at the Lalchand Research Library, Ancient Indian Manuscript Collection, DAV College Digital Library Initiative, Chandigarh India, in association with SP Lohia and Indorama Charitable Trust. The texts are over 2000 years old, the re-copying into this particular manuscript is dated to a pre-1867 reproduction (exact date unknown). The manuscript shows significant decay and damage on the sides and its edges. Language: Sanskrit Script: Devanagari Script style: pre-14th century (Northern / Western) Mandukya Upanishad, verses 1-3, partially 4 The thick text is the Upanishad scripture, the small text in the margins and edges are an unknown scholar's notes and comments in the typical Hindu style of a minor bhasya. The photo above is of a 2D artwork of a text that is over 2,000 years old, from a manuscript that was produced decades before 1923. Therefore Wikimedia Commons PD-Art licensing guidelines apply. Any rights I have as a photographer is herewith donated to wikimedia commons under CC 4.0 license. माण्डुक्योपनिषद्
context_page_description: The Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad is the shortest of all the Upanishads, and is assigned to Atharvaveda. It is listed as number 6 in the Muktikā canon of 108 Upanishads.
  It is in prose, consisting of twelve terse verses, and is associated with a Rig Vedic school of scholars. It discusses the syllable Aum, presents the theory of four states of consciousness, and asserts that Aum is Brahman, which is the Whole, and that Brahman is this self.
  The Mandukya Upanishad is notable for having been recommended in the Muktikā Upanishad, through two central characters of the Ramayana, as the one Upanishad that alone is sufficient for knowledge to gain moksha, and as first in its list of eleven principal Upanishads. The text is also notable for inspiring Gaudapada's Karika, a classic for the Vedanta school of Hinduism. Mandukya Upanishad is among the oft cited texts on chronology and philosophical relationship between Hinduism and Buddhism.
context_section_description: The Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad (Sanskrit: माण्डूक्य उपनिषद्, Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad) is the shortest of all the Upanishads, and is assigned to Atharvaveda. It is listed as number 6 in the Muktikā canon of 108 Upanishads.
  It is in prose, consisting of twelve terse verses, and is associated with a Rig Vedic school of scholars. It discusses the syllable Aum, presents the theory of four states of consciousness, and asserts that Aum is Brahman, which is the Whole, and that Brahman is this self (ātman).
  The Mandukya Upanishad is notable for having been recommended in the Muktikā Upanishad, through two central characters of the Ramayana, as the one Upanishad that alone is sufficient for knowledge to gain moksha, and as first in its list of eleven principal Upanishads. The text is also notable for inspiring Gaudapada's Karika, a classic for the Vedanta school of Hinduism. Mandukya Upanishad is among the oft cited texts on chronology and philosophical relationship between Hinduism and Buddhism.
caption: Mandukya Upanisad manuscript page, Verses 1-3, Atharvaveda (Sanskrit, Devanagari script)
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