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As per the traditional belief, whatever truth one finds in the
Upanishads is an attempt by the Upanishadic sages to explain their
experience, that they had when they were in deep state of meditation.
That is the realization they arrived at. It is a different matter
whether they could describe their experience exactly as they went
through it. But anyone who goes on their path, would surely
experience the very same truth and it needs no further
What is this realization as per the Upanishads?
to base my discussion on one of the shortest Upanishads, namely the
Mandukya Upanishad. This is an Upanishad from Atharva
Veda. The great 8th century philosopher Shankara
says that this Upanishad is the essence of all the Upanishads.
Shankara’s grand Guru Gaudapada wrote the well known Mandukya
Karika based on this Upanishad. In Madukya Karika, Gaudapada
uses this Upanishad as a support for his philosophy. Shankara builds
further on this, and what we have is the well known Advaita
philosophy.
Though later philosophers like Madhva disagreed, Shankara’s
Advaita is no doubt one of the greatest thoughts, which even today
baffles many a great thinker, both in the east as well in the west.
Whether you agree with this philosophy or not, the way Shankara puts
forth his views in his commentaries is amazing and an intellectual
I personally have strong inclination towards this Advaita
philosophy, not because of Shankara’s intellectual rendering, nor
because of what the Upanishads say, but because, that is what the
experience one gets when one goes on the path of the Upanishadic
What is this realization that I am talking about?
In just one verse or mantra, this Upanishad says it all. It talks
about that state which one attains when one meditates, and goes into
deep state of Samadhi. The Upanishad calls this state as Turiya.
What is that state?
The Upanishad says that it is not describable!
How do you describe anything? There are various ways of describing
Either you give an example of something similar and say, “this
is something similar to that”. For example, a donkey is
similar to a horse. But the Upanishad says that there is nothing that
is similar to Turiya among anything that you know. In that case, how
Maybe you can describe it by listing out its features. For
example, you can say mango is a sweet fruit with attractive color and
so on. But this state that you reach, has no attributes at all, that
is known to our common knowledge. It is attribute less –
The other way of describing something is by saying what you can do
with it. For example, a pot is something using which you can cook.
But this state Turiya is something which is quite unlike anything
that you can use. It is avyavahaaryam – not something
with which you can do something.
Well, can you just report it as it is, the way you experienced it?
For example, that was a nice scenic spot. But in the case of Turiya,
you cannot even do that, since there are no words in your vocabulary
that can describe it. It is avyapadEsham – beyond
Can you at least understand it, if you cannot describe it? No.
Even that is not possible since it is beyond mentation –
You can neither describe it, nor even think about it. In that
case, how do you know such a state exists? The Upanishad says that it
exists since it is a unifying experience – Ekaatma pratyata
saaram. In that state there is no multiplicity at all. It is
advaitam – it is a nondual experience.
Ok. Whatever it is, what is the use of attaining such an
experience? What use is such a realization? Does it give me some
special powers? Will I become immortal? Can I command over others, as
No. You get none of these. Special powers, immortality, commanding
over others etc. are the delusions that one goes through because of
worldly lures. But this realization eliminates all those delusions.
It is prapanchopashamanam – a cure for all worldly
Not just that, in the Turiya state you experience compete
tranquillity – shaantam. You experience something
most sacred – Shivam. And become free from all
confusions caused due to duality –
Advaitam.
Basically, you become one with the entire existence. There is
nothing other than you. And everything is within you.
Does it mean that you really merge with the entire existence? No.
You don’t merge with anything. You only experience as if you have
lost your separate identity and become one with everything.
Here is where Advaitis like Shankara disagree. They say that
Turiya is not a state. But it is the reality. It is not a
state like being awake, or dreaming, or deep sleep which you often go
through. They view those states as an illusion or Maya.
The real one is this Turiya, which is one and only one.
Well, this is in tune with Shankara’s Advaita, where he
considers the world as an illusion or Mithya. In fact,
many Advaitis point to this Upanishad as a support for their concept
But if you read the words of this Upanishad carefully, you see no
suggestion of any illusion. It is indeed talking about the four
states that one goes through. Otherwise, what is the meaning of the
Upanishad saying that “one has to experience this state – sa
vijnyEyah”? If you are already that Brahma,
as Shankara Advaita says, then who has to experience what?
As usual, the Shankara Advaitis wriggle out from this question, by
saying that the one who is under ignorance has to know this! But who
is the one who is under ignorance in an Advaitic world? It cannot be
anyone other than the all-knowing Brahma! Which leads to further
For most purposes, I go by Shankara’s views, except when it
comes to this strange notion of Maya. Elsewhere I have explained how
this confusion can be mitigated by taking the words of the Upanishads
as they appear, without interpretations.
Each one of us is not identical to Brahma, but a form taken by
Brahma. This form has limitations and it can be ignorant too. This is
the form that is going through the states that we are talking about.
It is the form that is seeing the Brahma – its own true nature,
bereft of the form. Once the form goes through that experience, it
realizes that it is actually a form taken by Brahma. That is why “one
has to experience this state – sa vijnyEyah”.
Having sorted out this minor confusion, let us clear some of the
other misconceptions most people may have.
A person gets this experience at the culmination of meditation.
But how is one sure that he is not imagining something?
To imagine something, first of all, you should be awake –
Jaagrita. That is when you perceive external things and
come up with something imaginary. But the Upanishad says that in the
Turiya state you don’t perceive anything external – na
In that case, maybe you are dreaming such an experience. Dreams
are based on memories of whatever you have perceived while you were
awake. The dream world is almost similar to the wakeful world, except
that it is a mentally created world. You still perceive things albeit
internally. But the Upanishad negates even that by saying – na
antah prajnya i.e. Turiya is not something dreamt.
Are you in deep sleep by any chance? But in deep sleep, you don’t
perceive anything. It is as if your perceptive capabilities are
frozen. You are neither awake, nor dreaming. Is Turiya some such
state? The answer of the Upanishad is a big NO. It says – na
prajnyaana ghanam i.e. in the Turiya state the perceptive
capabilities are not frozen.
If it is none of these cases, then Turiya could be a zombie like
state, where you neither perceive anything outside, nor inside your
mind, nor you are in deep sleep bereft of the ability to perceive
anything. The Upanishads rejects even that possibility by saying –
na prajnyam, na aprajnyam – i.e. Turiya is beyond
perception and non-perception!
Only way to know what it actually is, is by going through that
experience, and there is no other way!
How does one go through this experience? The Upanishad says –
“by meditating on the OM sound.” The OM sound represents the
Brahma. And when one meditates on this sound, he experiences the
Brahma by entering the Turiya state.
But you yourself are a form of that Brahma. So, you experience
yourself, through yourself (i.e. your limited form) – aatmanaa
aatmaanam samvishati. For a moment, you would know what
Let me conclude by putting together all the concepts of that one
mantra or verse of the Madukya Upanishad that ‘describes’ this
wonderful state of realization.
bahihprajnyam, na ubhayatah prajnyam
prapanchOpashamanam, shaantam,
© Dr. King, Swami Satyapriya 2024Credits: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh-g1ox-R6U
Mandukya Upanishad 2 | Pandit Jasraj | Shaarang Dev | Times Music Spiritual
Times Music Spiritual
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