Mandukya Upanishad – 6

Mantra 12(end) 

Mantra 12

Amatraschaturtho'vyavaharyah prapanchopasamah sivo'dvaita

evamonkara atmaiva samvisatyatmana''tmanam ya evam veda ॥ 12॥

Turiyam is the Amatra, the fourth matra, which is beyond transactions, free from the world, blissful, and non-dual. Thus Omkara is the very Athma. One who knows thus merges his Self in the Supreme Self - the individual in the Total. 

Now the Upanishad comes to the Silence, the mental silence, Amatra, the fourth matra of Omkara, which is the same as the fourth pada of Athma, Turiyam. The ‘Silence’ that we experience as Amatra is the Turiyaṃ, which is beyond all transactions.  Silence cannot be handled by the organs of action or knowledge.  The moment you describe Silence, the Silence goes!  It is Silence in which the world of sounds has resolved.  Turiyam is the substratum wherein all the objects (pada, form) have resolved.  Amatra is the substratum wherein all sounds (padartha, name) have resolved.  Languages are different but Silence is one. In Amatra and Turiyam, division and plurality are not present.  They are both advaitam.  In this manner, Omkara and Athma are equal in all the four levels. 

When we talk about the equation of Amatra and Turiyam, the word ‘Silence’ has a special connotation. It is not the conventional silence for two reasons.  The first reason is that if the conventional silence is taken to mean a mere absence of sound or noise, it becomes a negative entity.  If this negative description is applied to Turiyam, one will end up with the Buddhist sunyavada teaching that the ultimate truth is emptiness.  The second reason is that the conventional silence is experienced only when the sound has disappeared.  Conventional silence is a relative entity subject to arrival and departure and equating with conventional silence will make Turiyam also a relative entity.  So Amatra, Silence, should not be taken as the relative silence or conventional silence.  When one experiences silence externally, it is the absence of sound and when thoughts and disturbances are absent in the mind, one experiences internal silence, blankness. When one experiences internal silence and there is internal blankness, there is something else also, i.e. Consciousness, because of which one is aware of the blankness.  If the silence is experienced and known by one, it means that there is a knowing Consciousness principle as well that pervades the silence. That Consciousness principle one cannot see, hear or objectify because that Consciousness principle is ‘I am’, that pervades and illumines the silence. The meaning of “Silence” is that Consciousness principle that reveals the silence. That Consciousness is Amatra.  It is not absence in itself but it is that one which reveals the absence of sound. That Consciousness is not subject to arrival and departure and it illumines the relative sound and the relative silence. That is Turiyam.  By enquiry into Athma one arrives at Turiyam. By enquiry into Omkara one arrives at Amatra.   Both Amatra and Turiyam are Consciousness only which is aware of both presence and absence of sound as well as the presence and absence of world.  Whoever understands that he is the Turiyam all the time, he ‘merges’ into Turiyam Athma and becomes one with the Turiyaṃ Athma. This is total merger like water merging into water, unlike salt merging into water. This is Atmasakshatkara, Realization of Athma, also called Brahmasakshatkara, Realization of Brahman.  This is the goal of life, Moksha and Mandukya Upanishad ends with this Mantra.

Acknowledgement

While concluding the series of blogs on Mandukya Upanishad I wish to record my deep debt of gratitude to the speeches and writings on Mandukya Upanishad, of:

1)   Swami Paramarthananda

2)    Swami Chinmayananda   &

3)  Sri T.N.Sethumadhavan

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