Authorship Gaudapada wrote or compiled the '
, also known as the ' or the ''''. Karl Potter notes that some scholars doubt whether the was written by one author, but others note that Shankara's commentary on Chandogya Upanishad clearly indicates it was written by one author. The ''
is a concise explanation, in verse form, of the Mandukya Upanishad'', one of the shortest but a profound
Upanishad, consisting of just 12 sentences. Even before the time of Adi Shankara, Mandukya Upanishad was considered to be a
Śruti, but not one particularly important during his era. In later periods, it gained notability as expressing the Upanishadic essence. The Karika, notably, presents rational arguments from dream states, infinitude and finitude, space and time, causality, disintegration, and generation in support of the Advaita doctrine. According to Sarma, the ''
is the earliest extant systematic treatise on , though it is not the oldest work to present Advaita views, nor the only pre-Sankara work with the same type of teachings. According to Hajime Nakamura, not only was the Gaudapada Karika'' treasured in the Advaita tradition, the text was also revered and highly respected in
Vishistadvaita and
Dvaita Vedanta schools of Hinduism. Gaudapada's text, adds Nakamura, was treasured but not considered a Sruti by Advaita scholars, while
Ramanuja and
Madhvacharya of non-Advaita schools considered its first chapter to be a Sruti.
Contents The Gaudapadiya Karika has 215
metered verses which are divided into four chapters: According to Gaudapada, the
Vishva and
Taijasa state of Self can be a source of cause and effect, the
Prajna state is only cause, while
Turiya state is neither. In the
Prajna state, consciousness lies dormant like a seed, whereas in the
Turiya it is fully awake and always seeing. It is the waking state and dream state that lead to awareness, errors and unawareness. The perceived duality of the world is
Maya, when in reality there is only nonduality. Karikas 1.19-1.29 identify
Vishva,
Taijasa, and
Prajna with the syllables A, U, and M of
Om, while Turiya, beyond all measure, transcends every state. Chapter One ends with the discussion of the syllable Om and its symbolism for Brahman and for the Atman within the heart of all living beings.
Chapter Two: Unreality (Vaitathya) Unreal are the dream objects during sleep, states Gaudapada, because the one who dreams never actually goes to the places he dreams of, and because whatever situation he dreams about is something he leaves upon waking up. This is in the scripture Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. In the same sense, Karikas 4-15 of Chapter Two state that the true reality is covered up for man even in his waking state, because, translates Potter, "any object nonexistent in the beginning and in the end is also nonexistent in the middle". Just as dream objects are found to be unreal upon waking, so too in the waking state, whatever we apprehend as real or unreal is unreal. But this assertion leads to the obvious question, states Gaudapada, that if both internal and external are not true reality, who is it that imagines, who apprehends them and who cognises? Gaudapada submits his answer as the Atman (Self, soul).
Gaudapada Karika states that while we do grasp objects, we perceive, we think, but this does not connote the nature of reality and unreality, just like our fear of "a rope for a serpent in darkness". We construct realities, states Gaudapada, and imagine
Jivatman to be various things such as
praana (breath),
loka (world),
deva (gods),
bhoktr (enjoyer),
bhojya (enjoyables),
sukshma (subtle),
sthula (gross),
murta (material),
amurta (nonmaterial) and so on. We imagine things in our mind, we create things in our mind, we destroy things in our mind, says Gaudapada; yet all these things are not different from It, the
atman (gender neutral). All such constructions create dualities in our imagination, are
maya. The true reality, state Karikas 33–36, is nondual and it is
atman. Those who have mastered and grown past all attachments, past all fear and past all anger, they are past all dualities, know their Self, have secured the nonduality within. According to Karikas 36–38, such wise individuals, do not care about praise from anyone, are beyond all rituals, are homeless wanderers, for they have realised the truth inside them and outside; they, translates Potter, "remain steadfastly true to nature".
Chapter Three: Nonduality (Advaita) Gaudapada begins this chapter by criticising
Upasana (worship), which assumes that the Brahman-Atman is unborn in the beginning and in the end, but is presently born (as jiva). He argues that the nondual Brahman-Atman (Self) can give rise to apparent duality (
Jivas, individual souls), while remaining unaffected, like space within jars. Self is like space and the Jivas are like space in jars. Just as space is enclosed in a jar, so is the Self manifested as Jivas. When the jar is destroyed the space in the jar merges into space so likewise, are the Jivas one with the Self. Gaudapada states that the Upanishads like the
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad teach that one's Atman (self) is identical with the Atman in all beings and that all Atman are identical with Brahman. While some Upanishads, acknowledges Gaudapada, imply a difference between individual soul and the Brahman, those texts are discussing the apparent distinction (duality) when one believes in apparent creation. In reality, states Gaudapada, there is no creation of souls from Brahman as they are identical. We must not confuse passages meant for spiritual instruction. According to Karikas 3.17-18, Gaudapada admits that dualists disagree with this view, but the ancient texts admit duality in the context of appearances, while "nonduality is indeed the highest reality" as translated by Karmarkar. According to Karl Potter's translation of Karikas 3.33-36, an awareness without conceptual construction is unborn, real, and is identical with
Brahman. This awareness is beyond words and thought, shines forth without fear, calm and unwavering, equanimous, and full of light. It comes from self-reflection, understanding, detachment from
dukkha (frustration) and
sukha (pleasure), where the mind rests in indescribable calmness within. Karikas 3.39-46 describe
Asparsa Yoga, through which this calmness is attained. In this practice of 'non-contact' (
a-sparsa), the mind is controlled and brought to rest, and does not create "things" (
appearances) after which it grasps; it becomes non-dual, free from the grasping subject-object dualism. Knowing that only
Atman-Brahman is real, the creations of the mind are seen as illusory, and negated (MK 3.31-33). When the mind is brought to rest, it becomes or is
Brahman (MK 3.46). According to Gaudapada, Asparsa Yoga is difficult for most, including the
yogis, who see fear, namely a loss of atman, in what is fearlessly blissful.
Chapter Four: The Peace of The Firebrand (Alatasanti) The last chapter of
Gaudapada Karika has a different style than the first three, and it opens by revering "the greatest of men", who are like the cosmic space through their awareness of nonduality, free from self-contradictions and confusion, and who understand
Dharma. Karikas 4.3–10 repeat some content from previous chapters, but with some word substitutions. Karikas 4.11–13 quote the key duality premise of
Samkhya school of Hindu philosophy, cross examines it, then asks how and why is cause eternal? The text states that the Samkhya premise "cause is born as its effect" leads to infinite regress, which is not persuasive.
Gaudapada Karika then acknowledges the
Ajativada (non-origination) theory of the Buddhists. Like Samkhya premise, the text praises and cross examines it, in three ways. First, the non-origination premises makes sense when neither the point of origin nor the end of something is known, but we know the point of origin of any example of something produced and therefore the
Ajativada premise does not follow; secondly, the
Ajativada premise commits the
Sadhyasama fallacy of reasoning by offering examples of what is yet to be proved. Third, according to Karikas 4.29–41, neither
samsara nor
mukti has a beginning or end, because if something is born it must have an end, and something that is unborn has no end. Karikas 4.45–52 state that only consciousness (
Vijnana) is real, explaining this with an example of fire stick before and during the time it burns, and adding that we construct and deconstruct our state of awareness. Karikas 4.53–56 assert that there is no causation, no effects, and repeats that consciousness is the only real thing. Everything is
impermanent, non-eternal, and without the origination by nature, state Karikas 4.57–60. Karikas 4.61–81 repeat text on four states from earlier chapters to re-emphasise the premises about impermanence and non-origination. Attachment to unreality causes desire, sorrow (
dukkha) and fear, while detachment leads to freeing from such states and to
samadhi. Three stages of understanding are described in Karikas 4.87–89:
Laukika (ordinary. which cognises object and subject as real),
Shuddha laukika (purified ordinary, where perceiving is considered real but not the objects) and
Lokottara (supramundane, where neither objects nor perceiving are cognised as real). Karikas 4.90–100 presents
Agrayana (vehicle to knowing). The text states, "all dharmas are without beginning, without variety, and are consciousness only". Duality is for the unwise, nonduality and undifferentiated Reality is for the wise, and difficult to grasp. The last
Karikas of the Chapter Four add, as translated by Karl Potter, "this the
Buddhas understand, the Buddha instructs us that consciousness does not reach the dharmas, yet the Buddha said nothing about either consciousness or dharmas!"
Gaudapada's Soteriology According to Gaudapada, liberation is the realisation that the Self is the unborn and has never truly entered into bondage. He describes the liberated Self as "unborn" and "calm" and awareness in this state as "independent, calm" and "blissful, unborn, all-knowing". In the doctrine of
Ajativada, he explains that what does not exist in the beginning or end cannot be real in the present and origination is impossible from being, non-being, both, or neither. He further states that bondage and liberation are only imagined states, and that bondage arises though mental projection (
vikalpa). Liberation follows when both ignorance (sleep) and error (dream/waking) are transcended and the "fourth" state (
turiya) is realised. Gaudapada separates liberation from waking, dreaming, and the non-awareness of deep sleep. Shankara interpreted these states as empirical and as stages through which self-knowledge is attained and liberation is realised through the removal of ignorance by knowledge.
Relationship to Buddhism The influence of Buddhist doctrines on Gaudapada has been a vexed question, though "most recent writers seem to be willing to admit Buddhist influence," yet also note that Gaudapada was a Vedantin and not a Buddhist. Gaudapada took over the Yogachara teaching of
vijñapti-mātra, "representation-only," which states that the empirical reality that we experience is a fabrication of the mind, experienced by consciousness-an-sich, and the four-cornered negation, which negates any positive predicates of 'the Absolute'. Gaudapada "wove [both doctrines] into the philosophy of
Mandukaya Upanisad, which was further developed by Shankara". In this view, According to Bhattacharya,
Asparsayoga also has Buddhist origins. In chapter Four, according to Bhattacharya, two karikas refer to the
Buddha. According to Murti, "the conclusion is irresistible that Gaudapada, a Vedanta philosopher, is attempting an advaitic interpretation of Vedanta in the light of the Madhyamika and Yogcara doctrines. He even freely quotes and appeals to them." However, adds Murti, the doctrines are unlike Buddhism. Chapter One, Two and Three are entirely Vedantin and founded on the Upanishads, with little Buddhist flavour.
Swami Nikhilananda denies Buddhist influence, arguing that Gaudapada used Buddhist terminology because Buddhism was prevalent at that time, but he was ultimately an Advaita Vedantin and he disagrees with
Gautama Buddha in the second last verse of the Alatasanti Prakarana in the Kārikā. Dasgupta explicitly states that Nikhilanda is incorrect in denying Buddhist influence, stating, in Sangharakshita's words, that "the influence of Buddhism on his thinking could not be denied." ==Other works by Gaudapadacharya==