Mandukya Upanishad

The Mandukya Upanishad is an old Sanskrit text found in the Atharva Veda.^[1][2] It is a main Upanishad and is number 5 in the list of 108 Upanishads of Hinduism.^[1] It is one of the most translated Upanishads. The text is in the form of a dialogue between sages Saunaka and Angiras. It has 64 verses written as mantras, but these mantras are for teaching and meditation, not rituals.^[1] The Mandukya Upanishad consists of three parts with two sections each.^[3] The first part talks about “Higher Knowledge” and “Lower Knowledge” and says that rituals and gifts do not reduce unhappiness, but knowledge does. The second part explains the nature of Brahman (the ultimate reality), the Self, and how to know Brahman. The third part builds on the second part and says that knowing Brahman leads to freedom, fearlessness, and bliss.^[3] Some scholars think the Mandaka Upanishad supports the idea of pantheism (everything is God).^[4] In some old Indian texts, the Mandaka Upanishad is part of a group of verse-structured Upanishads called “Mantra Upanishad” or “Mantropanishad.”^[5]

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 2, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120814691, pages 605-609
2. ↑ Max Muller (1962), The Upanishads - Part II, Dover Publications, ISBN 978-0486209937, pages xxvi–xxvii.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Eduard Roer, Mundaka Upanishad^{[permanent dead link]} Bibliotheca Indica, Vol. XV, No. 41 and 50, Asiatic Society of Bengal, pages 142-164
4. ↑ Norman Geisler and William D. Watkins (2003), Worlds Apart: A Handbook on World Views, Second Edition, Wipf, ISBN 978-1592441266, pages 75–81.
5. ↑ Müller, F. Max (Friedrich Max) (1879–84). The Upanishads. Princeton Theological Seminary Library. Oxford, The Clarendon press.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)