Mandukya Upanishad: All 12 Mantras in Sanskrit with Meaning

ओमित्येतदक्षरमिदं सर्वं तस्योपव्याख्यानं भूतं भवद्भविष्यदिति सर्वमोंकार एव
यच्चान्यत्त्रिकालातीतं तदप्योंकार एव ॥ १ ॥

Om ity etad aksharam idam sarvam tasyopavyakhyanam bhutam bhavad bhavishyad iti sarvam onkara eva
Yach chanyat trikalatitam tad apy onkara eva

MeaningOm: this syllable is all of this. What follows is its explanation. All that has been, all that is and all that will be is just Om. And whatever else lies beyond the three times is also just Om.

NoteThe Mandukya is the shortest of the principal Upanishads, with twelve prose mantras. The classical commentary is the Karika of Gaudapada, which Shankara in turn commented on. Only the twelve mantras are given on this page.

Other readingThe print begins "omity etad akṣaram", and writes "oṃkāra" with the anusvara. One Wikisource page prints "tasyopavyākhyānabhūtaṃ" as a single word; the print, both GRETIL files and the other Wikisource page read "tasyopavyākhyānaṃ bhūtaṃ".

सर्वं ह्येतद्ब्रह्मायमात्मा ब्रह्म सोऽयमात्मा चतुष्पात् ॥ २ ॥

Sarvam hy etad brahmayam atma brahma so'yam atma chatushpat

MeaningAll of this is Brahman, and this Self is Brahman. This Self has four quarters.

जागरितस्थानो बहिःप्रज्ञः सप्ताङ्ग एकोनविंशतिमुखः स्थूलभुग्वैश्वानरः प्रथमः पादः ॥ ३ ॥

Jagaritasthano bahihprajnah saptanga ekonavimshatimukhah sthulabhug vaishvanarah prathamah padah

MeaningThe first quarter is Vaishvanara, whose place is the waking state. It knows what is outside, has seven limbs and nineteen mouths, and enjoys the gross things of the world.

NoteThe nineteen mouths are traditionally the five organs of knowledge, the five organs of action, the five breaths, and mind, intellect, ego and memory. The seven limbs are listed by commentators as the parts of the universal body: heaven, sun, air, space, water, earth and fire. Teachers differ on the details of these lists.

स्वप्नस्थानोऽन्तःप्रज्ञः सप्ताङ्ग एकोनविंशतिमुखः प्रविविक्तभुक्तैजसो द्वितीयः पादः ॥ ४ ॥

Svapnasthano'ntahprajnah saptanga ekonavimshatimukhah praviviktabhuktaijaso dvitiyah padah

MeaningThe second quarter is Taijasa, whose place is the dream state. It knows what is inside, has seven limbs and nineteen mouths, and enjoys what is subtle.

यत्र सुप्तो न कञ्चन कामं कामयते न कञ्चन स्वप्नं पश्यति तत्सुषुप्तम्
सुषुप्तस्थान एकीभूतः प्रज्ञानघन एवानन्दमयो ह्यानन्दभुक्चेतोमुखः प्राज्ञस्तृतीयः पादः ॥ ५ ॥

Yatra supto na kanchana kamam kamayate na kanchana svapnam pashyati tat sushuptam
Sushuptasthana ekibhutah prajnanaghana evanandamayo hy anandabhukchetomukhah prajnas tritiyah padah

MeaningWhen a sleeper wants nothing and sees no dream, that is deep sleep. The third quarter is Prajna, whose place is deep sleep. Here everything has become one, a mass of awareness made of bliss, enjoying bliss, with consciousness for its mouth.

एष सर्वेश्वर एष सर्वज्ञ एषोऽन्तर्याम्येष योनिः सर्वस्य प्रभवाप्ययौ हि भूतानाम् ॥ ६ ॥

Esha sarveshvara esha sarvajna esho'ntaryamy esha yonih sarvasya prabhavapyayau hi bhutanam

MeaningThis one is the lord of all and knows all. It is the inner guide and the source of all, the place from which beings arise and into which they pass.

नान्तःप्रज्ञं न बहिःप्रज्ञं नोभयतःप्रज्ञं न प्रज्ञानघनं न प्रज्ञं नाप्रज्ञम्
अदृश्यमव्यवहार्यमग्राह्यमलक्षणमचिन्त्यमव्यपदेश्यमेकात्मप्रत्ययसारं प्रपञ्चोपशमं शान्तं शिवमद्वैतं चतुर्थं मन्यन्ते
स आत्मा स विज्ञेयः ॥ ७ ॥

Nantahprajnam na bahihprajnam nobhayatahprajnam na prajnanaghanam na prajnam naprajnam
Adrishyam avyavaharyam agrahyam alakshanam achintyam avyapadeshyam ekatmapratyayasaram prapanchopashamam shantam shivam advaitam chaturtham manyante
Sa atma sa vijneyah

MeaningThe fourth is not inward knowing, not outward knowing, not both, not a mass of knowing, not knowing and not not-knowing. It cannot be seen, and it is beyond all dealings, beyond grasp, without marks, beyond thought and beyond description. Its essence is the one Self, the stilling of the world, peaceful, auspicious, without a second. This, they hold, is the fourth. It is the Self, and it is to be known.

NoteThis is the verse most often quoted from the Upanishad. It describes the fourth state, turiya, only by saying what it is not, which is the usual way the Upanishads speak of it.

Other readingThe print reads "adṛśyam" (it cannot be seen). The GRETIL file and Wikisource read "adṛṣṭam" (unseen). The meaning is close. One Wikisource page also reads "ekātmapratyayāsāram" with a long vowel; the print reads "ekātmapratyayasāram" as printed here.

सोऽयमात्माध्यक्षरमोंकारोऽधिमात्रं पादा मात्रा मात्राश्च पादा अकार उकारो मकार इति ॥ ८ ॥

So'yam atmadhyaksharam onkaro'dhimatram pada matra matrashcha pada akara ukaro makara iti

MeaningThis same Self, seen as the syllable Om, is Om over its measures. The quarters are the measures and the measures are the quarters: the A, the U and the M.

Other readingThe print reads "oṃkāro 'dhimātram". One Wikisource page prints "oṅkaro" with a short vowel.

जागरितस्थानो वैश्वानरोऽकारः प्रथमा मात्राप्तेरादिमत्त्वाद्वा
आप्नोति ह वै सर्वान्कामानादिश्च भवति य एवं वेद ॥ ९ ॥

Jagaritasthano vaishvanaro'karah prathama matrapteradimattvad va
Apnoti ha vai sarvan kaman adish cha bhavati ya evam veda

MeaningVaishvanara, whose place is waking, is the A, the first measure, because of reaching and because of being first. Whoever knows this reaches all desires and becomes the first.

NoteThe three measures are heard in the chanting of Om, A, then U, then M. The verses 9 to 11 give a reason for each match, and the reasons are word-plays that commentators explain in different ways.

स्वप्नस्थानस्तैजस उकारो द्वितीया मात्रोत्कर्षादुभयत्वाद्वा
उत्कर्षति ह वै ज्ञानसंततिं
समानश्च भवति
नास्याब्रह्मवित्कुले भवति य एवं वेद ॥ १० ॥

Svapnasthanas taijasa ukaro dvitiya matrotkarshad ubhayatvad va
Utkarshati ha vai jnanasantatim
Samanash cha bhavati
Nasyabrahmavit kule bhavati ya evam veda

MeaningTaijasa, whose place is dream, is the U, the second measure, because of rising above and because of being in between. Whoever knows this raises the flow of knowledge and is treated as an equal, and no one in his family is without knowledge of Brahman.

सुषुप्तस्थानः प्राज्ञो मकारस्तृतीया मात्रा मितेरपीतेर्वा
मिनोति ह वा इदं सर्वमपीतिश्च भवति य एवं वेद ॥ ११ ॥

Sushuptasthanah prajno makaras tritiya matra miter apiter va
Minoti ha va idam sarvam apitish cha bhavati ya evam veda

MeaningPrajna, whose place is deep sleep, is the M, the third measure, because it measures and because it is where things dissolve. Whoever knows this measures all of this and becomes its place of dissolution.

अमात्रश्चतुर्थोऽव्यवहार्यः प्रपञ्चोपशमः शिवोऽद्वैत एवमोंकार आत्मैव
संविशत्यात्मनात्मानं य एवं वेद ॥ १२ ॥

Amatrash chaturtho'vyavaharyah prapanchopashamah shivo'dvaita evam onkara atmaiva
Samvishaty atmanatmanam ya evam veda

MeaningThe fourth has no measure. It is beyond all dealings, the stilling of the world, auspicious, without a second. So Om is the Self itself. Whoever knows this enters the Self by the self.

NoteThe fourth, turiya, is often explained as the silence after the chant. It is not a fourth measure, which is why the verse says it has none.

Other readingThe print writes "evam oṃkāra" with the anusvara.