The Mandukya Upanishad

by Swami Krishnananda

Publishers' Preface

The present publication consists of the lectures, delivered extempore, by the Swamiji, in the year 1968, on the philosophy and teachings of the Mandukya Upanishad.

The First Section of the discourses expounds the meaning of the great mystical symbol, Om, or Pranava, as a connotation as well as denotation of the Absolute.

The Second Section explains the nature of the individual and the Absolute, and that everything is Brahman.

The Third Section explains the nature of the Universal Being, Vaisvanara, as delineated in the Upanishad.

The Fourth Section propounds the mystery of Dream and Sleep, as also the cosmic counterpart of this state, namely, Hiranyagarbha, the Divine Immanent Being.

The Fifth Section is an exposition of the profound significance of Sleep in the interpretation of the nature of the Spirit in man.

The Sixth Section is centred round the great theme, the nature of Ishvara, the Supreme God of the Universe.

The Seventh Section concerns itself with the majestic character of Reality as such, the Absolute, as the Transcendent Presence.

The Eighth Section is the concluding summary, devoted to an explanation of the harmony between the constituents of Om, or Pranava, and the four states of Consciousness, which forms the subject of the Upanishad.

Herein, the students of Philosophy and Spiritual Life will find presented the quintessence of the acme of thought and experience reached in ancient times, – the Upanishads.

—THE DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY
Shivanandanagar
16th November, 1996.