Alatasanti Prakarana

Alatasanti Prakarana

The fourth chapter of Mandukya Upanishad has focused on the realisation of the Self as the Ultimate Reality.

Gaudapada in the fourth chapter of the Mandukya Upanishad had said that an individual who lives within the Self in absolute identification of the Self, he is in a position to achieve the state of immortality. He had said an individual reaches the state of Self hood when he experiences a complete voiceless satisfaction. According to him the state of Perfection is one in which the Real nature of the Self is discovered. It has been said in this section of the chapter that when an individual discovers his unity with 'It' or the Absolute Reality he is in a position to understand that all matter envelopments around him and the things with which he cognizes the matter world around him are nothing but the Pure Atman. At this section of the Upanishad the Master had said that there is no distinction in the homogeneous and Absolute Self. The plurality is in fact a distortion of Truth projected by the delusory mind and intellect.

According to the opinion of Gaudapada, an entity that has realised Self Hood would realise the Self at all times and at all places. He in fact would be in a position to realise the Real Self both within and without. He is said to live a life of perfection with absolute unity with all the principles of diversity that exists in this pluralistic world. The Master believes that all those who emphasize on the recognition of the pluralistic world are indeed leading a life of falsification and are far away from the stage of Absolute Perfection. In the opinion of the Guru such people is unfortunate and narrow minded in nature. Gaudapada has advised his students that unless they remove all kinds of attachments from their minds they will not be in a state to achieve Absolute Perfection. Rather it can be said those who depart this world without recognizing the True Self and dedicates one life upon the recognition of the pluralistic world is in the true sense unfortunate and narrow minded.

The Guru had said in this section of the Mandukya Upanishad that all living entities have the right to claim their heritage that is Godhood. In order to achieve Godhood one must necessarily sacrifice the ego-centers and hence disregard all kinds of falsification that has been imposed upon the Atman. It is only after sacrificing the ego-centers; one is in a position to become the Self monarch. He had also said that all external objects are mere delusory projections of the mind and is not the Reality.

It has been declared in this chapter of the Upanishad that Spiritual Centre or Knowledge Absolute is the only Reality. The state of Samadhi on the other hand is the state of knowing the Knowledge. When an individual is able to transcend beyond the mind and the intellect and also moves away from the experiences of objects he is in a state to realise the Self and that is the ultimate goal and mission of every living being. Without realising the Self ones life is futile and is not worth living in the true sense. At the same time the teacher has warned his students that the realisation of the Self and the Absolute Self gets shattered when it is periled by multiple sobs and sighs, laughs and dances. It can be said that at this stage a mockery is made of the Godhood attained by the individual.

As per the opinion of the Master no compromise is ever possible between the dream state and the waking state similarly, when an entity has transcended his mind and intellect and has stepped on to the fields of infinite, he shall not thereafter entertain in himself even an iota of the sense of plurality in the Unconditioned where no conditioning can ever enter. It has been said that till the time there is a little presence of the subject-object relationship, the realisation is not complete. Finally when the individual attains the state of Unconditioned or Pure Consciousness he soon realises that the Real nature was never away from him, it was only veiled by his ignorance. In other words it can be said that the Self is not achieved through Sadhana rather it is discovered by removing ones ignorance and misunderstandings.

The fourth chapter of the Mandukya Upanishad has declared that the spiritual entity in all ego-centers is ever pure and beyond any kind of limitation. This is because all kinds of limitations that peril an individual are created by the delusory images of the mind.

Gaudapada has concluded this section of the Mandukya Upanishad saying that the knowledge which is free from any knowledge of objects is Knowledge Absolute and is also referred as the Pure Consciousness which cannot be touched but can only be realised and experienced.

Finally the chapter closes saying that the greatest worship that one can offer to the Self is realisation of the Self. Gaudapada has said that the ultimate aim of a seeker of Truth is the achievement of Selfhood. Gaudapada had saluted the knowledge of the Self as the Supreme Knowledge and has concluded that when an individual receives detachment from mind, body and intellect he is in a position to rediscover the Eternal Nature or the Self that is known by the name of Sacchidananda.

The Mandukya Upanishad has ended with an invocation which says:
Asango- ham,asango- hamasango- ham punah punah, saccidananda rupo-ham aham-evaham-avyayah.

The meaning of the invocation is as follows:
Unattached, Unattached, Unattached, am I, again and again; of nature Absolute-Existence-Knowledge-Bliss, am I: I am, That alone I am- the Eternal, the Immortal, the Imperishable!

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