The essence of Om and the fourfold nature of the Self
Om—this sacred syllable is the breath of all that was, is, and shall be; the horizon of past, present, and future melts into its eternal resonance, and even what lies beyond the threefold passage of time reverberates as Om. All that exists is Brahman; the Self, our innermost essence, is none other than this Brahman, enfolded in four luminous quarters in Human.
The first quarter awakens as Vaiśvānara, the sovereign of the waking world, outwardly luminous, seven-limbed, nineteen-mouthed, tasting the tangibility of the gross, the palpable forms of being. The second, Taijasa, dreams upon the subtle stage, inwardly aware, mirroring seven limbs and nineteen mouths, savoring the delicate whispers of imagined worlds.
Beyond dreaming and waking lies the sanctuary of deep slumber, Suṣupta, where no desire stirs, no dream dances; here consciousness condenses into unity, a radiant mass of bliss, a doorway through which pure experience flows, the realm of Prajña, the third quarter, tranquil and resplendent.
He, the eternal Ishwar (mentioned in Isha Upanishad), the Knower of all, the hidden sovereign within, the origin of all that rises and dissolves—this Brahman (mentioned in Keno Upanishad) flows through every being, the invisible architect of genesis and dissolution alike. Yet He transcends cognition: neither inwardly conscious, nor outwardly, nor both; neither a mass of thought, nor awareness, nor its absence; unseen, intangible, incomprehensible, ungraspable, unmanifest, unthinkable. Essence itself is the Self alone, serene in cessation, radiant in bliss, non-dual and auspicious. This is the Fourth, the Turiya, where the Self is to be realized.
Om, the syllable, is this Self. Its tones—A, U, M—echo the quarters: A, the waking Vaiśvānara, first in presence, pervading, the gateway to desire and fulfillment; U, the dreaming Taijasa, rising in subtlety, the harmonizer of knowledge, the balancer of flow, ensuring none ignorant of Brahman arises; M, the deep-sleep Prajña, the measure and absorption, the total embrace of all into unity.
The Fourth, beyond sound and form, beyond action and phenomenon, is tranquil, auspicious, non-dual—pure cessation, the dissolution of multiplicity. Om, radiant, indivisible, is the Self itself; he who knows thus merges, as flame to flame, the Self within the Self, and rests in unbroken, eternal harmony.
Tanmoy Bhattacharyya
18th October 2025
माण्डूक्योपनिषत्
ओमित्येतदक्षरमिदं सर्वं तस्योपव्याख्यानं भूतं भवद्भविष्यदिति सर्वमोङ्कार एव । यच्चान्यत्त्रिकालातीतं तदप्योङ्कार एव ॥ १ ॥
सर्वं ह्येतद्ब्रह्मायमात्मा ब्रह्म सोऽयमात्मा चतुष्पात् ॥ २ ॥
जागरितस्थानो बहिःप्रज्ञः सप्ताङ्ग एकोनविंशतिमुखः स्थूलभुग्वैश्वानरः प्रथमः पादः ॥ ३ ॥
स्वप्नस्थानोऽन्तःप्रज्ञः सप्ताङ्ग एकोनविंशतिमुखः प्रविविक्तभुक्तैजसो द्वितीयः पादः ॥ ४ ॥
यत्र सुप्तो न कञ्चन कामं कामयते न कञ्चन स्वप्नं पश्यति तत्सुषुप्तम् । सुषुप्तस्थान एकीभूतः प्रज्ञानघन एवानन्दमयो ह्यानन्दभुक्चेतोमुखः प्राज्ञस्तृतीयः पादः ॥ ५ ॥
एष सर्वेश्वर एष सर्वज्ञ एषोऽन्तर्याम्येष योनिः सर्वस्य प्रभवाप्ययौ हि भूतानाम् ॥ ६ ॥
नान्तःप्रज्ञं नबहिःप्रज्ञं नोभयतःप्रज्ञं नप्रज्ञानघनं नप्रज्ञं नाप्रज्ञम् । अदृश्यमव्यवहार्यमग्राह्यमलक्षणमचिन्त्यमव्यपदेश्यमेकात्मप्रत्ययसारं प्रपञ्चोपशमं शान्तं शिवमद्वैतं चतुर्थं मन्यन्ते स आत्मा स विज्ञेयः ॥ ७ ॥
सोऽयमात्माध्यक्षरमोङ्कारोऽधिमात्रं पादा मात्रा मात्राश्च पादा अकार उकारो मकार इति ॥ ८ ॥
जागरितस्थानो वैश्वानरोऽकारः प्रथमा मात्राप्तेरादिमत्त्वाद्वाप्नोति ह वै सर्वान्कामानादिश्च भवति य एवं वेद ॥ ९ ॥
स्वप्नस्थानस्तैजस उकारो द्वितीया मात्रोत्कर्षादुभयत्वाद्वोत्कर्षति ह वै ज्ञानसन्ततिं समानश्च भवति नास्याब्रह्मवित्कुले भवति य एवं वेद ॥ १० ॥
सुषुप्तस्थानः प्राज्ञो मकारस्तृतीया मात्रा मितेरपीतेर्वा मिनोति ह वा इदं सर्वमपीतिश्च भवति य एवं वेद ॥ ११ ॥
अमात्रश्चतुर्थोऽव्यवहार्यः प्रपञ्चोपशमः शिवोऽद्वैत एवमोङ्कार आत्मैव संविशत्यात्मनात्मानं य एवं वेद ॥ १२ ॥
Tanmoy Bhattacharyya on Consciousness: Biology, Psychology & Philosophy
