Ukara
Ukāra (IAST)Translation: "the letter U"
From Mandukya Upanishad (Verses 8, 10)
Mundaka and Mandukya Upanishads (Swami Sharvananda)
Sanskrit: उकार
Transliteration: Ukāra
Translation: "the letter U"
Commentary: "the common feature between the dreaming state and the letter U lies in their both being intermediary, one between the two states – the awakened and deep sleep, and the other between the two letters A and M. The superiority is in the sense of subtleness."
The Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad (Swami Krishnananda)
Sanskrit: उकार
Transliteration: Ukāra
Translation: "the letter U"
Commentary: "Ukāra is the second syllable of Om, which can be compared with the second Pāda or foot of the Ātman. The Ukāra is regarded as Utkarṣa or elevated in the sense that it is beyond Akāra, proceeds after Akāra. In the series of the letters of the alphabet, ‘U’ comes after, as an effect, as it were, of the pronunciation of Akāra; and while Akāra may be regarded as the commencement of language, Ukāra is the middle of all vowel-formations. When you utter ‘U’, you find that the middle of the throat begins to function. It is elevated, symbolically, says the Upaniṣad, in the sense that it is above Akāra in the process of word-formation. So also is Taijasa or dream-consciousness that comes afterwards as an effect of the waking experience; proceeding from the waking experience, existing midway between waking and sleep. Ubhayatvādvā; It is Ubhaya, or both, in the sense that it has two sides, namely, waking and sleep, from the point of view of the Pāda of the Ātman, and it is between Akāra and Makāra, from the point of view of the Mātrā(s), or syllables, of Oṃkāra. Thus we can compare, in meditation, Ukāra with Taijasa, the dreaming consciousness. These comparisons are made by the Upaniṣad to help one in meditation, so that one can bring Oṃkāra in juxtaposition with the states of the Ātman. All these comparisons are symbolic, and we should not take them literally. All meditations are symbolic; all Vidyā of the Upaniṣad are symbolic, as the comparison of Brahman to the rope and the world to the snake seen in the rope, in the analogy of the snake-in-the-rope, is symbolic. When you say, Brahman is like the rope, it does not mean that Brahman is long like the rope. The analogy is limited to the symbology intended; and likewise we have to take this comparison as a symbology to help meditation on the unity of all names and forms, comprehended in the unity of Oṃkāra with the Ātman in all its phases. Thus, Ukāra being elevated above Akāra, existing midway between Akāra and Makāra, is comparable with the dreaming state, which is elevated above the waking state as an effect of it, and exists between the waking and the deep sleep states. Utkarṣati Ha Vai Jñāna-Santatiṃ: And one who meditates in this manner, rises in his status of knowledge. As ‘U’ is raised over ‘A’, and dream is raised over waking, the knowledge of the meditator rises above all the ordinary informative understanding of the schools of thought. He becomes a real knower, a Jñāni, by a meditation on the unity of Ukāra with the Taijasa. Samānaś-Ca Bhavati: Just as there is an equilibrating effect of Taijasa in relation to the waking and sleep states, in the sense that it is conscious like waking, and yet not externally conscious in the same sense, just as there is an equalising effect of Ukāra between Akāra and Makāra, one who meditates thus becomes an equalising factor in society and in all creation. One becomes a harmonizing element everywhere. There is no conflict in one’s mind, then, and one does not create conflict in society when established in this meditation. One has peace within oneself, and creates peace outside, too, on account of the radiance of peace emanating from oneself. The meditator becomes a spontaneous peace-maker. His existence itself is a peace-making. He need not say anything in the world. In his presence, conflict cannot arise, and turmoil ceases, vexations and emotional tensions come to a close on account of meditation practiced thus as an equalizing factor of consciousness between waking and deep sleep through the syllable ‘U’ of Ukāra, says the Upaniṣad. Not only that; Nāsyā-Brahma-Vit-Kule Bhavati – so purifying is this meditation, such an effect it has upon the meditator and all those connected with him, that in his family no one who does not know Brahman can be born. He will have only Brahmavid in his family on account of the effect of this meditation. His blood gets purified so much, the very cells of his body are charged with this super-physical knowledge to such an extent, that an idiot child cannot be born to him. What is a child after all? It is you, yourself, reborn. Ātmā Vai Putranāmā Asi: You yourself are reborn, as your child, in some other form; and your knowledge will be communicated to the child, and because of this meditation, when it takes effect, you become flooded with knowledge; you become knowledge itself. Rather, it is not your body that is reborn; it is knowledge that is reborn. You do not merely pass on the chromosomes or blood-cells in the birth of a child, but you pass knowledge. You get inundated with spiritual knowledge to such an extent that you cease to be a mere physical body. The physical body vibrates as a body of knowledge. Such is the power of this knowledge. The family is nothing but the generation of your children, which, the Upaniṣad says, should be one of knowledge alone. Therefore, your generation, your posterity shall be a series, not of bodily children, but children of knowledge – Amritasya Putrāh. Such is the glory of this meditation."
References:
- Sharvananda, Swami (1920). Mundaka and Mandukya Upanishads: With Sanskrit Text; Paraphrase with Word-For-Word Literal Translation, English, Rendering and Comments. Mylapore, Madras: Sri Ramakrishna Math
- Krishnananda, Swami (1996). The Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad. Retrieved from https://www.swami-krishnananda.org/mand_0.html. p. 93-95.
