“Mañana on the teachings of the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad.”
The realization of the Self begins with viveka, the discrimination between the real and the unreal, between the Self and what is not the Self. This discrimination is not a mere intellectual process, but a deep and subtle inquiry into one’s own being. It starts with the recognition that what we ordinarily take ourselves to be — the body, the mind, the intellect — are all objects of our awareness, and hence cannot be the subject, the true “I.”
The body, made of matter, is inert and ever-changing. It grows, decays, and perishes; it is subject to birth and death. Moreover, it is something that I can observe — I know “my body is healthy” or “my body is tired.” That which is known cannot be the knower. Therefore, I, the knower, am distinct from the body. The body also disappears in dream and deep sleep, yet I continue to exist. Hence, I am not the body but the one who witnesses its presence and absence.
The mind, which includes thoughts, feelings, and emotions, too is an object of my awareness. Thoughts rise and fall; they are not constant. I am the one who observes their presence and absence. The mind does not shine on its own; it borrows its light from consciousness, from me. I am aware even of the mind’s restlessness or quietude, proving that I am not the mind but the illuminator of the mind.
The intellect or buddhi, which provides decision and understanding, and the sense of individuality, the “I”-notion (ahaṅkāra), are likewise witnessed by me. The intellect says “I know,” and the ego says “I am,” but both are transient modifications within consciousness. As Śrī Śaṅkara explains in the Upadeśa Sāhasrī and as Sureśvarācārya elaborates in the Naishkarmya Siddhi, even the “I”-thought is an object to awareness. The true Self is the witness (sākṣī) of these inner instruments (antaḥkaraṇas). I am the changeless witness of all mental modifications, never the modifications themselves.
Thus, I stand apart as the witness of all the states of experience — waking, dream, and deep sleep. These states come and go, but I, the conscious witness, remain unaffected, unchanged, ever-present. The waking state reveals the external world; the dream state presents an internal world projected by the mind; and in deep sleep, both dissolve into unmanifest latency. But in all these, I, the knower of their coming and going, remain the same.
This understanding is deepened by the method of anvaya and vyatireka — observing what remains constant across states and what disappears. In waking, I experience body and world; in dream, only the mind’s projections; in deep sleep, none of these exist, yet I am still there. I know upon waking that I slept well and was unaware of anything. This recollection proves that I existed and that I was aware of the absence of everything else. The body and mind are restricted to particular states, but I, the consciousness, pervade all of them equally.
In deep sleep, there is no body, no mind, no duality — yet there is existence and awareness. This state is a direct experiential confirmation of what the Chāndogya Upaniṣad teaches: “Sat eva somya idam agra āsīt” — Existence alone was, one without a second. There, I exist as pure consciousness, unconditioned by any adjunct. The teaching of the śāstra that my true nature is saṃvit, pure consciousness, is thus not a belief but a lived verification. I am consciousness itself, self-evident, self-luminous, ever-present.
This leads to the profound recognition that what is experienced as deep sleep is not truly a “state” at all, but the very revelation of one’s own nature. Deep sleep is called suṣupti only from the standpoint of the waking mind that interprets it later. In reality, there are no such divisions as waking, dream, and sleep for the Self; they are merely conceptual distinctions seen from the vantage of ignorance. My true nature is what remains when all foreign adjuncts are discarded, when all that is not-Self is left aside. Realization is thus not an acquisition but an uncovering — an unclothing of the Self from the superimposed layers of body, mind, and intellect.
Whatever characteristics are ascribed to the Self in the waking and dream states are superimpositions (adhyāsa) alone. Even the status of being a “witness” is a temporary pedagogical device. It helps the seeker disidentify from the mind and intellect but does not ultimately belong to the Self. Witnesshood itself is a śāstrīya adhyāropa — a deliberate conceptual superimposition for the sake of instruction, to be given up once its purpose is fulfilled. When the Self is recognized as non-dual consciousness, even the idea of witnessing loses meaning, for there is no second thing to witness.
When this vision is clear, it becomes evident that there is no bondage, and hence no liberation to be attained. The Self is ever-free, ever-pure, unchanging, non-dual. All notions of limitation and suffering are only appearances within ignorance. The idea of striving for salvation itself belongs to ignorance; when knowledge dawns, it is seen that the Self was never bound, and therefore never required to be freed.
All descriptions and attributes that the scriptures apply to the Self — as existence, consciousness, bliss, or witness — are to be understood as śāstrīya adhyāropas, pedagogical superimpositions meant to guide the mind. They are not absolute truths but skillful means to point to the truth beyond all description. They must not be overextended or developed into philosophical systems, for their purpose is only to remove ignorance, not to establish new doctrines.
In the end, the Ātman is svaprakāśa, self-luminous, self-revealing. It does not depend even on the śruti for illumination. The śruti serves only as the antya-pramāṇa, the final means of knowledge, whose role is to dispel ignorance and reveal what is ever-evident. Once the Self is known, all means of knowledge, including the scriptures, are sublated. The Self stands revealed as one’s own being — pure, non-dual consciousness, free from all duality, beyond the triad of knower, known, and knowledge.
The seeker is perforce bound to the following realization:
न निरोधो न चोत्पत्तिर्न बद्धो न च साधकः ।
न मुमुक्षुर्न वै मुक्त इत्येषा परमार्थता ॥ ३२ ॥
na nirodho na cotpattirna baddho na ca sādhakaḥ |
na mumukṣurna vai mukta ityeṣā paramārthatā || 32 ||https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/mandukya-upanishad-karika-bhashya/d/doc143663.html
32. There is no dissolution, no birth, none in bondage, none aspiring for wisdom, no seeker of liberation and none liberated. This is the absolute truth.
Such is the complete unfolding of the Vedāntic vision as revealed by Śrī Śaṅkara and expounded by Śrī Swami Sacchidānandendra Saraswati. Through the inquiry into the three states of experience, the seeker comes to know that the Self, the very essence of one’s being, was never other than the infinite reality itself — nitya-śuddha-buddha-mukta-svarūpa, ever pure, ever conscious, and ever free.