Advaita Prakarana

Advaita Prakarana

The central theme of the third chapter is that the Non-dual Reality behind the pluralistic world is not illusory.

In this chapter of the Mandukya Upanishad, Gaudapada had tried to describe the Eternal Reality of the Non-dual Self. He had emphasized in this chapter that the Supreme Reality is beyond all limitation. He had said that Pure Awareness is not available to our cognition till our minds are engaged with matter developments of the pluralistic world. Even if very little matter development is present in the mind, the mind gets periled with ego and when the mind receives even the touch of ego it moves very far away from the Supreme Reality. According to the Master when an individual experiences the Pure Consciousness he is able to realise the Unborn, Homogeneous experience which is same throughout. This is because the Unborn and the Homogeneous is the All-pervading Reality.

Gaudapada in this chapter had said that when ego departs from an individual self, the Supreme Consciousness sets in. He had also said that when an individual transcends beyond the mind and the intellect, he is able to experience the Pure Consciousness. According to him when the individual ego is broken a man is able to realise Godhood. Rather in other words it can be said that when the individual-T sets, the Universal-T rises. He has advised his student that with the help of proper Sadhana one is able to renounce the matter developments of the world and in turn can experience the true nature of the Self or the Atman. According to him the Reality behind multiple Jivas is always eternal and non-dual. In every form and in every condition, the Reality behind all living beings is the same and this Reality is the Life Principle that illuminates all living beings and that is the Eternal Truth of life. He has said that the only difference between individuals is between their mental and intellectual capacities and once this difference is transcended the experience of Reality for all individuals is the same. Rather it can be said that when an individual detaches him from the mental attachments of this pluralistic world, he is in a position to realise Itself which is the Knowledge Absolute and gradually the false conceptions of time, causality and plurality gets removed from the mind.

In the opinion of Gaudapada, the ego-centre within individuals is the Real Self and unless one understands that one is bound to suffer and it has been said that knowing of the Real Self is termed as Knowledge or Jnana. He also believes that a life that is spent in ignorance is equivalent to death. Gaudapada had said that it is Atman that illuminates both happiness and sorrow. He has claimed in his teachings that the Atman is ever pure and non-dual in nature. An individual may be born or dying. He may be in heaven or in hell but the Atman is Eternal, Unborn, with no migration or emigration.

The Master in this section of the Mandukya Upanishad had said that the Supreme can only remain Unborn and Changeless and if individuals start accepting the fact the world of Reality has been caused from the Reality then individuals move closer to causation. But one should remember that the Supreme Truth is far away from causation so if one is moving close to any kind of causation he in turn drowns himself towards regress and infinitum.

He has said that behind all the sense organs and behind the mind and the intellect lays the Pure Consciousness and one who has realised the All-pervading consciousness is beyond all kinds of attractions posed by the material world or the sense organs he has realised the Ultimate Truth.

The Guru believes that in order to place the mind to such a state of un-disturbing equilibrium, one should constantly practice meditation. Only with the help of meditation, gradually the mind is pacified and finally it reaches a stage whereby it transcends all the falsifications of the pluralistic world and attains a stage during which all animalistic tendencies of the mind lie dormant. But at the same time he has said that when an individual has conquered all the animalistic tendencies of the mind he is close to the Reality and is also in a position to conquer the Ultimate Reality. At this juncture Gaudapada had said that when the mind achieves the state of equilibrium it should not be disturbed again. But at the same time he had said that the stage of mental equanimity is an experience of bliss but it is not the state of realisation of the Ultimate Self. He had warned all his pupils through this section of the Mandukya Upanishad that an individual should renounce all kinds of bliss until one reaches a state whereby the egoless T'-ness of eternal experience is realised by him.

In a state when the mind has reached the T-ness of eternal experience he becomes the Brahmanhimself. In other words it can be said that at the moment of Self-realization, the seeker is not only aware of his individual-Self but is also at once fully conscious of the All-pervading Reality, termed as Brahman.

Towards the end of this chapter the Master had said that man minus mind is God; God plus mind is man. The mind always exists in Ashanti. He had said that when all kinds of agitations in the mind end, the Ashanti of the mind also comes to an end. It can also be said that when an individual is bereft of the mind he is in a position to realise the Self Hood. When an individual realises the Self, he experiences the Supreme Bliss and the Supreme Bliss is synonymous with the indescribable, liberation and the unborn. It can also be called a stage of the omniscient Brahman. According to the Master this bliss can be experienced when the mind is tranquil and is free from all kind of agitations.

It can be concluded saying that Plurality could rise only from some cause; but nothing exist other than the highest Truth; therefore, nothing has ever been born.

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