In this corpus brahman names the unconditioned totality that is identified outright with the ātman. The mūla opens by declaring "all this is brahman; this ātman is brahman" (Māṇḍūkya 2), establishing brahman as the all and as the self, which is then analyzed as four-footed. In the Gauḍapādīya kārikās brahman is characterized through the syllable oṃ (praṇava) — said to be both the lower and the higher brahman, and described as unborn, fearless, undecaying, beginningless and without parts (1.25–26). A second strand presents brahman as the object of knowledge that is itself unborn, eternal, and non-different from knowledge (3.33), the unborn "all" prior to any origination (3.1), the supreme that shines forth (3.12), the fearless ground that does not dissolve even in deep sleep (3.35), and the consummated reality reached when the mind neither dissolves nor disperses (3.46). The corpus thus uses brahman across (a) a totality/identity sense and (b) a meditative-object / unborn-reality sense, the two unified by the equation of brahman with ātman.
Senses
The reading surface. A later ingestion attaches a locus to a settled sense, or proposes a new one (dashed) for human triage — it never rewrites settled prose.
1 · The all; the totality, declared to be brahman and immediately identified with the ātman (w…settledadded v1
The all; the totality, declared to be brahman and immediately identified with the ātman (which is then shown to be four-footed). The mūla also presupposes a 'knower of brahman' (brahmavit) whose lineage is assured.
2 · brahman as the syllable oṃ (praṇava): fearless, and held to be both the lower (apara) and …settledadded v1
brahman as the syllable oṃ (praṇava): fearless, and held to be both the lower (apara) and the higher (para) brahman; characterized as without precedent, without interior or exterior, without sequel, and undecaying — i.e. partless and unconditioned.
3 · brahman as the unborn object of knowledge, non-different from knowledge itself, eternal an…settledadded v1
brahman as the unborn object of knowledge, non-different from knowledge itself, eternal and beginningless — the unborn 'all' prior to origination, by which the meditative attribution of an arisen brahman is faulted.
4 · The supreme brahman (paraṃ brahma) that shines forth / is revealed, illustrated by the ana…settledadded v1
The supreme brahman (paraṃ brahma) that shines forth / is revealed, illustrated by the analogy of space pervading earth and the body's interior.
advaita-vedānta
mandukya.karika:3.12
5 · brahman as the fearless reality, all-pervading light of knowledge, which though seemingly …settledadded v1
brahman as the fearless reality, all-pervading light of knowledge, which though seemingly dissolved in deep sleep is in truth not dissolved; the consummated (niṣpanna) reality realized when the mind neither dissolves nor is distracted, free of motion and of appearance.
advaita-vedānta
mandukya.karika:3.35mandukya.karika:3.46
6 · brahman/ātman analyzed as four-footed (catuṣpāt) through the three states — waking (viśva/…proposedadded v2
brahman/ātman analyzed as four-footed (catuṣpāt) through the three states — waking (viśva/jāgaritasthāna, the seer in the right eye, vaiśvānara), dream (taijasa), deep sleep (prājña) — correlated with the mātrās of oṃ (a/u/m); the one who knows this commonality (sāmānya) is the praiseworthy brahmavid.
Śaṅkara (bhāṣya)
Why a new sense: These passages develop the doctrine of the four pādas/states (viśva, taijasa, prājña) and their correlation with oṃ's mātrās — a structural analysis of the ātman-brahman not captured by the existing totality (s1), praṇava (s2), unborn (s3), revealed-space (s4), or fearless-light (s5) senses.
Gauḍapāda: Equates brahman with the praṇava (oṃ) and holds that the praṇava is both the lower brahman and the higher brahman; characterizes it as fearless, beginningless, partless (without prior, interior, exterior, or sequel), and undecaying, with meditation on it removing all fear. mandukya.karika:1.25mandukya.karika:1.26
Gauḍapāda: Holds brahman to be unborn (aja), eternal, and non-different from the knowledge that knows it; criticizes the worshipper who, taking brahman as born, misses that 'all is unborn prior to origination.' mandukya.karika:3.33mandukya.karika:3.1
Gauḍapāda: Identifies brahman with the fearless light of knowledge that is not truly dissolved in deep sleep, and with the 'consummated' reality manifest when the mind is neither dissolved nor distracted. mandukya.karika:3.35mandukya.karika:3.46
Attestation concordance — tier 2, every locus
Append-only. Grows by locus as texts arrive; stays one collapsed table so the senses remain the reading surface.
All 23 attestations ▾
Locus
Witness
Tradition
Stratum
Snippet
mandukya.upanisad:2
Māṇḍūkya (mūla)
upaniṣadic
mula
sarvaṃ hy etad brahmāyam ātmā brahma so 'yam ātmā catuṣpāt
mandukya.upanisad:10
Māṇḍūkya (mūla)
upaniṣadic
mula
svapnasthānas taijasa ukāro dvitīyā mātrotkarṣād ubhayatvād vā | utkarṣati ha vai jñānasaṃtatiṃ | samānaś ca bhavati | nāsyābrahmavit kule bhavati ya
v1Māṇḍūkya mūla + Gauḍapāda kārikā — +9 loci 5 sense(s) drafted from 9 loci.
v2Śaṅkara bhāṣya — +14 loci · 8 routed to existing · 1 new sense(s) proposed Routed against the five existing senses. The Oṃ/praṇava-as-brahman passages (sb:1, asb:1.25, asb:1.26, sb:12) map to s2 (oṃ as para/apara brahman, fearless, partless, unconditioned). The 'sarvaṃ brahma / ayam ātmā brahma' passage (sb:2) maps to s1 (the all identified with ātman, parokṣa→pratyakṣa). The unborn-brahman / origination passages (asb:1.6, asb:2.31, asb:2.32) map to s3 (unborn brahman, faulting of arisen/origination, māyā). The remaining passages (sb:3, asb:1.2, asb:1.14, sb:10, asb:1.22, asb:2.3) concern the four pādas/states (viśva/taijasa/prājña, jāgaritasthāna, the akṣi-puruṣa, dream-states, oṃ-mātrā correspondences, brahmavid praise) — these elaborate the structure of the four-footed ātman and the state-analysis but are not expressed by any existing sense; they are grouped into a new proposed sense. Note sb:3 and asb:1.2 describe the waking state and viśvānara; asb:1.14/2.3 dream; sb:10 the mātrā correspondence; asb:1.22 the brahmavid. These cohere as the doctrine of the four pādas/states of ātman-brahman, distinct from s1's bare totality-identification. (+30 bhāṣya loci beyond cap not routed)
Caveats
The corpus is a single tradition (Māṇḍūkya mūla plus the Gauḍapādīya kārikā) and a single named commentarial witness (Gauḍapāda); no Śaṅkara loci were supplied, so no position is attributed to him here.
The 'lower vs. higher brahman' (apara/para) wording at 1.26 is internal to Gauḍapāda's praṇava account and should not be read as a doctrinal dispute on the basis of these attestations alone.
The grounded gloss's claim that brahman is 'first indicated indirectly (parokṣa) then pointed out directly as the ātman' is not explicitly stated in the supplied loci; Māṇḍūkya 2 directly equates brahman and ātman without marking a parokṣa/aparokṣa sequence.
mūla locus 10 attests brahman only obliquely, through the compound abrahmavit ('non-knower of brahman'); it evidences the notion of a knower of brahman rather than a fresh characterization of brahman itself.