The Mystic Symbolism of the Word Om

The Māṇḍūkya Upanishad is the shortest and most concentrated of the principal Upanishads — twelve verses that map the entire structure of consciousness onto the syllable Om. The text identifies four states of the Self: waking (Vaiśvānara), dreaming (Taijasa), deep sleep (Prājña), and a fourth (Turīya) that is none of these — unseen, ungraspable, without mark, beyond thought, beyond designation, the cessation of the world's unfolding, tranquil, benign, without a second. The four states correspond to the three phonetic elements of Om — a, u, m — and the silence that follows.

This translation is by Robert Ernest Hume (1877–1948), published in 1921 in The Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Translated from the Sanskrit (Oxford University Press). The Māṇḍūkya belongs to the Atharva Veda and takes its name from the sage Māṇḍūkya. Despite its brevity — it is sometimes called the essence of all the Upanishads — it became the foundation for Gauḍapāda's Kārikā, one of the most important works of Advaita Vedānta philosophy, and through it shaped the entire tradition of non-dual thought in India.

The text is presented here from the Internet Archive digitisation of the first Oxford University Press edition (1921).

Om! — This syllable is this whole world.

Its further explanation is: —

The past, the present, the future — everything is just the word Om.

And whatever else that transcends threefold time — that, too, is just the word Om.

For truly, everything here is Brahma; this self (ātman) is Brahma. This same self has four fourths.

The waking state (jāgarita-sthāna), outwardly cognitive, having seven limbs, having nineteen mouths, enjoying the gross (sthūla-bhuj), the Common-to-all-men (vaiśvānara), is the first fourth.

The dreaming state (svapna-sthāna), inwardly cognitive, having seven limbs, having nineteen mouths, enjoying the exquisite (pravivikta-bhuj), the Brilliant (taijasa), is the second fourth.

If one asleep desires no desire whatsoever, sees no dream whatsoever, that is deep sleep (suṣupta).

The deep-sleep state (suṣupta-sthāna), unified (ekī-bhūta), just a cognition-mass (prajñāna-ghana), consisting of bliss (ānanda-maya), enjoying bliss (ānanda-bhuj), whose mouth is thought (cetas-), the Cognitional (prājña), is the third fourth.

This is the lord of all (sarveśvara). This is the all-knowing (sarva-jña). This is the inner controller (antar-yāmin). This is the source (yoni) of all, for this is the origin and the end (prabhavāpyayau) of beings.

Not inwardly cognitive (antaḥ-prajña), not outwardly cognitive (bahiḥ-prajña), not both-wise cognitive (ubhayataḥ-prajña), not a cognition-mass (prajñāna-ghana), not cognitive (prajña), not non-cognitive (a-prajña), unseen (a-dṛṣṭa), with which there can be no dealing (a-vyavahārya), ungraspable (a-grāhya), having no distinctive mark (a-lakṣaṇa), non-thinkable (a-cintya), that cannot be designated (a-vyapadeśya), the essence of the assurance of which is the state of being one with the Self (ekātmya-pratyaya-sāra), the cessation of development (prapañcopaśama), tranquil (śānta), benign (śiva), without a second (a-dvaita) — [such] they think is the fourth. He is the Self (Ātman). He should be discerned.

This is the Self with regard to the word Om, with regard to its elements. The elements (mātrā) are the fourths; the fourths, the elements: the letter a, the letter u, the letter m.

The waking state, the Common-to-all-men, is the letter a, the first element, from āpti ('obtaining') or from ādimatvā ('being first').

He obtains, verily, indeed, all desires, he becomes first — he who knows this.

The sleeping state, the Brilliant, is the letter u, the second element, from utkarṣa ('exaltation') or from ubhayatvā ('intermediateness').

He exalts, verily, indeed, the continuity of knowledge; and he becomes equal (samāna); no one ignorant of Brahma is born in the family of him who knows this.

The deep-sleep state, the Cognitional, is the letter m, the third element, from miti ('erecting') or from apīti ('immerging').

He, verily, indeed, erects (minoti) this whole world, and he becomes its immerging — he who knows this.

The fourth is without an element, with which there can be no dealing, the cessation of development, benign, without a second.

Thus Om is the Self (Ātman) indeed.

He who knows this, with his self enters the Self — yea, he who knows this!

Translator's Notes

The following notes are by Robert Ernest Hume, from The Thirteen Principal Upanishads (Oxford University Press, 1921). They preserve his commentary on variant readings, cross-references, and points of interpretation.

Inasmuch as akṣaraṁ means also 'imperishable,' the word may in this connection be used with a double significance, namely, 'This imperishable syllable...'

A similar phrase occurs at Śvet. 6. 5 b.

Śaṅkara refers to the enumeration of the several parts of the universal (vaiśvānara) Self at Chānd. 5. 18. 2; there, however, the list is longer than seven. The exact significance of the number here is uncertain.

Śaṅkara explains this to mean: the five organs of sense (buddhīndriya), namely those of hearing, touch, sight, taste, and smell, the five organs of action (karmendriya), namely those of speech, handling, locomotion, generation, and excretion, the five vital breaths (prāṇa), the sensorium (manas), the intellect (buddhi), egoism (ahaṁkāra), and thinking (citta).

The part of the sentence up to this point has occurred already in Bṛh. 4. 3. 19.

A detailed description of the condition of being 'unified' occurs at Bṛh. 4. 4. 2.

This compound has already occurred in Bṛh. 4. 5. 13.

A description of the self 'consisting of bliss' occurs in Tait. 2. 5. It is declared to be the acme of attainment over every other form of self at Tait. 2. 8. 1 and 3. 10. 5.

A phrase in Bṛh. 4. 4. 22.

A phrase in Muṇḍ. 1. 1. 9; 2. 2. 7.

The subject of discourse in Bṛh. 3. 7.

Literally, 'womb.'

Or, according to the reading ekātma-, 'the oneness of the Self' or 'one's own self.'

The designation here used for the 'fourth,' or super-conscious, state is caturtha, the usual and regular form of the ordinal numeral adjective. In Bṛh. (at 5. 14. 3, 4, 6, 7) it is named turīya, and in Maitri (at 6. 19; 7. 11. 7) turya — variant forms of the same ordinal. All later philosophical treatises have the form turīya, which came to be the accepted technical term.

In Sanskrit the vowel o is constitutionally a diphthong, contracted from a + u. Om therefore may be analyzed into the elements a + u + m.

Either (1) in the sense of 'equable,' i.e. unaffected in the midst of the pairs of opposites (dvandva); or (2) in the sense of 'equitable,' i.e. impartial, alike, indifferent to both friend and foe; or (3) in the sense of 'equalized,' i.e. with the universe, which a knower understands exists only as his Self's consciousness; or even (4) in the very common sense of 'same,' i.e. the same as that which he knows.

All these four (and more) are possible interpretations. They evidence how vague (or, how pregnant — it is urged) are some of the statements in the Upanishads, and how capable therefore of various interpretations.

Of each of sections 8–10 there are, similarly, several interpretations.

Possibly as a synonym for another meaning of miti (derived from √mi, mināti), 'destroying' or 'perishing.'

That is, out of his own consciousness — according to the philosophic theory of subjective idealism expounded in the Upanishads.

This is a phrase which has previously occurred at VS. 32. 11.

Colophon

The Māṇḍūkya Upanishad, translated from Sanskrit by Robert Ernest Hume (1877–1948). First published in The Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Translated from the Sanskrit, with an Outline of the Philosophy of the Upanishads and an Annotated Bibliography (Oxford University Press, 1921). Public domain.

The Māṇḍūkya is the shortest of the principal Upanishads — twelve verses that became the foundation for Gauḍapāda's Kārikā and, through it, for the entire Advaita Vedānta tradition. It is sometimes called the essence of all the Upanishads: everything is Om, everything is the Self, and the Self has four states — the last of which, beyond waking, dreaming, and sleep, is the silence after the syllable fades.

Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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