Om. Prostrations to Nārāyaṇa wearing conch, discus, and mace, 2 by whom the Yogi is released from the bondage of the cycle of rebirth through the utterance of Him who is of the form of Praṇava, the Om, composed of the three letters A, U, and M, who is the uniform bliss and who is the Brahmapurusha (all-pervading Purusha). Om. Therefore the reciter of the Manṭra "Om-namo-Nārāyaṇāya" reaches the Vaikuṇtha world. It is the heart-Kamala (lotus), viz., the city of Brahman. It is effulgent like lightning, shining like a lamp. It is Brahmaṇya (the presider over the city of Brahman) that is the son of Ḍevakī. It is Brahmaṇya that is Maḍhusūḍana (the killer of Maḍhu). It is Brahmaṇya that is Puṇdarīkāksha (lotus-eyed). It is Brahmaṇya, Vishṇu that is Achyuṭa (the indestructible). He who meditates upon that sole Nārāyaṇa who is latent in all beings, who is the causal Purusha, who is causeless, who is Parabrahman, the Om, who is without pains and delusion and who is all-pervading—that person is never subject to pains. From the dual, he becomes the fearless non-dual. Whoever sees this (world) as manifold (with the differences of I, you, he, etc.), passes from death to death. In the centre of the heart-lotus is Brahman, which is the All, which has Prājñā as Its eye and which is established in Prajñāna 3 alone. To creatures,
darkness only in the sun, so a fool sees only darkness in the self-shining Supreme Bliss. Should the clouds screen the eyesight, a fool thinks there is no sun; so an embodied person full of Ajñāna thinks there is no Brahman. Just as nectar which is other than poison does not commingle with it, so I, who am different from inert matter, do not mix with its stains. As the light of a lamp, however small, dispels immense darkness, so wisdom, however slight, makes Ajñāna, however immense, to perish. Just as (the delusion) of the serpent does not exist in the rope in all the three periods of time (past, present, and future), so the universe from Ahaṅkāra (down) to body does not exist in Me who am the non-dual One. Being of the nature of Consciousness alone, there is not inertness in Me. Being of the nature of Truth, there is not non-truth to Me. Being of the nature of Bliss, there is not sorrow in Me. It is through Ajñāna that the universe shines as truth.
Whoever recites this Āṭmaboḍha-Upanishaḍ for a Muhūrṭa (48 minutes) is not born again—yea, is not born again.
37:1 This Upanishaḍ treats of Āṭmic instruction.
37:2 The three symbols stand for Ākāsa, Manas, and Buḍḍhi.
37:3 In the Māṇdūkya Upanishaḍ, Prājñā is said to be the Jīva in the third state and Prajñāna is its attribute. Prajñāna is Prakarsha Jñāna or special wisdom, viz., of looking over the past and the future.
