In the supplied Māṇḍūkya corpus, makāra denotes the sound/letter 'm', identified as the third mātrā of oṃkāra. The mūla correlates the three mātrās with the three pādas of the ātman (akāra–ukāra–makāra), and specifically pairs makāra with the deep-sleep condition (suṣuptasthāna) and the prājña. Two etymological glosses are offered for makāra in the mūla: from the root mi- ("to measure," miter) — since the prājña "measures out" this whole — and from apīti ("merging/dissolution," apīter), since all merges into it. Gauḍapāda's kārikās develop this correlation: makāra leads/conducts the prājña, and at the proper apprehension of the mātrās there is a common dissolution (laya); beyond the (three) mātrās there is no further course.
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 sound/letter 'm', the third mātrā (measure) of oṃkāra, listed alongside akāra and ukār…settledadded v1
The sound/letter 'm', the third mātrā (measure) of oṃkāra, listed alongside akāra and ukāra, correlated with a pāda of the ātman.
2 · The third mātrā of oṃkāra correlated with the deep-sleep state (suṣuptasthāna) and the prā…settledadded v1
The third mātrā of oṃkāra correlated with the deep-sleep state (suṣuptasthāna) and the prājña; glossed etymologically as from mi- ('to measure', miter) — because the prājña measures out this whole — or from apīti ('merging', apīter) — because all merges into it.
3 · The mātrā that 'leads'/conducts the prājña; associated, at the right apprehension of the m…settledadded v1
The mātrā that 'leads'/conducts the prājña; associated, at the right apprehension of the mātrās, with a common dissolution (laya), beyond which (i.e. beyond the mātrās) there is no further course.
4 · makāra as a constituent of compound/derivational terms where 'm' is the operative element …proposedadded v2
makāra as a constituent of compound/derivational terms where 'm' is the operative element — i.e. metalinguistic citation of the letter 'm' within words like akāramātratva/atva, not as a mātrā of oṃkāra per se
advaita-vedānta (Śaṅkara bhāṣya)
Why a new sense: Here makāra/akāra figure in the analysis of viśva's 'a-ness' (akāramātratva) as grammatical/derivational components rather than the meditative third measure.
mandukya.agamasastrabhasya:1.19
Commentary positions
Gauḍapāda: makāra leads/conducts the prājña (akāra leads viśva, ukāra leads taijasa, makāra prājña); beyond the mātrās no further course is found. mandukya.karika:1.23
Gauḍapāda: In the state/measure of makāra the prājña's mental [absorption] is preeminent; at the correct apprehension of the mātrās there is a common dissolution (laya). mandukya.karika:1.21
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.
v1Māṇḍūkya mūla + Gauḍapāda kārikā — +4 loci 3 sense(s) drafted from 4 loci.
v2Śaṅkara bhāṣya — +9 loci · 5 routed to existing · 1 new sense(s) proposed Several agamasastrabhasya loci with no recorded gloss (1.16, 3.2, 3.27) do not concern makāra at all — they discuss the saṃsārin jīva and māyā (1.16), aja brahma and kārpaṇya (3.2), and māyāvin/kāryagrahaṇa (3.27). The token 'makāra' is absent or only superficially present (e.g. -makāra- as a coincidental letter sequence in compounds like 'ajakārpaṇyaṃ', 'māyāspadam'); these are likely false positives from substring matching and were NOT routed, since the hard rule requires expressing one of the concept's senses. I have only routed loci that genuinely treat makāra as letter/mātrā of oṃkāra. 1.16, 3.2, 3.27 are left unrouted as non-attestations of the concept (string artifacts); flag for review. Routings made: :8 and :10 to s1 (third mātrā / letter 'm' correlated with a pāda of the ātman — note :10's snippet describes ukāra but the locus header concerns makāra as the named bound); :11 and 1.21 to s2 (suṣupta/prājña, miti/laya, merging at oṃkāra's completion); 1.23 to s3 (makāra leads/conveys prājña, and beyond the exhausted makāra there is no further course). 1.19 proposed as a new metalinguistic/derivational sense.
Caveats
The corpus supplied is a single tradition (Māṇḍūkya mūla plus Gauḍapāda's kārikā). No Śaṅkara commentary loci were supplied, so no positions are attributed to Śaṅkara despite the suggested gloss referencing a 'commentary'.
The suggested gloss that 'a and u seem to enter and merge into ma at the completion of pronouncing oṃ' is not stated in any supplied locus and is therefore not adopted as a grounded sense.
Etymological glosses (miter, apīter) are reported as they appear in mūla 11; their fuller doctrinal interpretation is not elaborated in the supplied loci.