In the supplied Māṇḍūkya corpus, oṃkāra is the syllable Oṃ treated as the imperishable (akṣara) identical with the whole of reality across the three times and beyond (mūla 1). It is analyzed pāda-wise: its mātrās a, u, m correspond to the pādas of the ātman (mūla 8), so that oṃkāra is the ātman itself (mūla 12). In its mātra-less (amātra) aspect it is the fourth, non-dual, auspicious, free of plurality (mūla 12; kārikā 1.29). The Gauḍapāda kārikās further identify the praṇava/oṃkāra with the all-pervading Īśvara seated in the heart (1.28) and present knowing oṃkāra pāda-wise as the soteriological goal (1.24, 1.29).
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 imperishable syllable (akṣara) Oṃ as identical with all this — past, present, future, …settledadded v1
The imperishable syllable (akṣara) Oṃ as identical with all this — past, present, future, and what is beyond the three times; its 'explanation' (upavyākhyāna) is the subject of the text.
3 · Oṃ in its mātra-less (amātra) aspect: the fourth, non-transactable, the cessation of plura…settledadded v1
Oṃ in its mātra-less (amātra) aspect: the fourth, non-transactable, the cessation of plurality, auspicious, non-dual — thus oṃkāra is the ātman alone, into which the knower enters by the self.
5 · Oṃ to be known pāda-wise (its pādas being the mātrās); having so known it, one should thin…settledadded v1
Oṃ to be known pāda-wise (its pādas being the mātrās); having so known it, one should think of nothing further — a soteriological injunction culminating in liberation (the knower being a sage, not common folk).
6 · Oṃ as a contemplative ladder (upāya): the mātrās a, u, m successively lead (nayati) the me…proposedadded v2
Oṃ as a contemplative ladder (upāya): the mātrās a, u, m successively lead (nayati) the meditator through viśva/vaiśvānara, taijasa, and prājña; when the makāra is dissolved (its seed-state exhausted), there is no further movement within the syllable — the amātra remains.
advaita-vedānta (Śaṅkara, Āgamaśāstra-bhāṣya)
Why a new sense: Distinct from the static pāda=mātrā equation (s2): here the mātrās function as a progressive meditative means (akāro nayate viśvam… kṣīṇe makāre… gatir na vidyate), a soteriological-praxis aspect not captured by existing senses.
mandukya.agamasastrabhasya:1.23
7 · The ātman as both within and without (sabāhyābhyantara), unborn, prior-less, all-pervading…proposedadded v2
The ātman as both within and without (sabāhyābhyantara), unborn, prior-less, all-pervading like space — the non-dual reality whose apparent inner/outer plurality (the elemental and bodily realms) is unreal like a rope-snake or dream.
advaita-vedānta (Śaṅkara, Āgamaśāstra-bhāṣya)
Why a new sense: This attestation does not mention oṃkāra at all; it expounds the unborn, all-pervading ātman and the unreality of inner/outer phenomena — a metaphysical claim about the self distinct from any oṃkāra-as-syllable sense.
mandukya.agamasastrabhasya:2.38
8 · Ajātivāda: no jīva is ever born — the one unborn ātman has no cause (kāraṇa) of arising, h…proposedadded v2
Ajātivāda: no jīva is ever born — the one unborn ātman has no cause (kāraṇa) of arising, hence nothing whatever comes into being; the earlier 'means' (upāya) are only provisional.
advaita-vedānta (Śaṅkara, Āgamaśāstra-bhāṣya)
Why a new sense: Expounds non-origination (na kaścij jāyate jīvaḥ) of the self, with no reference to oṃkāra or its mātrās; a doctrinal sense not represented among the existing oṃkāra senses.
mandukya.agamasastrabhasya:3.48
9 · Oṃ (praṇava) as the divine vibhūti / supreme manifestation of Kṛṣṇa: the praṇava in all th…proposedadded v3
Oṃ (praṇava) as the divine vibhūti / supreme manifestation of Kṛṣṇa: the praṇava in all the Vedas, the syllable identical with Bhagavān as the sacred object of knowledge alongside the Ṛk, Sāma, and Yajus.
bhagavadgītā (mūla)
Why a new sense: Here oṃkāra/praṇava is presented as a glory (vibhūti) and object of worship identified with Kṛṣṇa — a theistic Bhagavān identification not captured by the upaniṣadic akṣara senses or the Advaita Īśvara-in-the-heart gloss.
bhagavadgita:7.8bhagavadgita:9.16
10 · Oṃ as the one-syllable brahman to be uttered (vyāharan) at the moment of death while remem…proposedadded v3
Oṃ as the one-syllable brahman to be uttered (vyāharan) at the moment of death while remembering the Lord, by which the yogin attains the supreme goal — a liberative meditative/dying praxis.
bhagavadgītā (mūla)
Why a new sense: Distinctly a death-time yogic recitation injunction ('om ity ekākṣaraṃ brahma vyāharan ... yāti paramāṃ gatim'); not matched by the existing contemplative-ladder or pāda-wise knowing senses.
bhagavadgita:8.12
11 · Oṃ as the first member of the threefold designation of brahman ('oṃ tat sat'), uttered to …proposedadded v3
Oṃ as the first member of the threefold designation of brahman ('oṃ tat sat'), uttered to inaugurate and sanction prescribed acts of sacrifice, gift, and austerity by those who expound brahman.
bhagavadgītā (mūla)
Why a new sense: Oṃ here functions ritually as part of the 'oṃ tat sat' formula prefacing yajña-dāna-tapas — a liturgical/ritual-inaugural role absent from all existing senses.
bhagavadgita:17.23
Commentary positions
Gauḍapāda: Oṃkāra is to be known pāda-wise, its pādas being identical with its mātrās; having so known it one should cease all further mental construction. mandukya.karika:1.24
Gauḍapāda: The praṇava/oṃkāra is to be known as Īśvara, seated in the heart of all and all-pervading; the wise who realize this do not grieve. mandukya.karika:1.28
Gauḍapāda: Oṃkāra is mātra-less (amātra) and of infinite measure, the cessation of duality, auspicious; one by whom it is known is a true sage. mandukya.karika:1.29
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 24 attestations ▾
Locus
Witness
Tradition
Stratum
Snippet
mandukya.upanisad:1
Māṇḍūkya (mūla)
upaniṣadic
mula
oṃ ity etad akṣaram idaṃ sarvaṃ tasyopavyākhyānaṃ bhūtaṃ bhavad bhaviṣyad iti sarvam oṃkāra eva | yac cānyat trikālātītaṃ tad apy oṃkāra eva
oṃ tat sad iti nirdeśo brahmaṇas trividhaḥ smṛtaḥ | brāhmaṇās tena vedāś ca yajñāś ca vihitāḥ purā ||23|| tasmād om ity udāhṛtya yajña-dāna-tapaḥ-kriy
Editions & provenance
v1Māṇḍūkya mūla + Gauḍapāda kārikā — +6 loci 5 sense(s) drafted from 6 loci.
v2Śaṅkara bhāṣya — +14 loci · 11 routed to existing · 3 new sense(s) proposed Śaṅkara's Māṇḍūkya-bhāṣya passages map closely onto the Upaniṣadic senses they comment on. :1 and :2 establish Oṃ = akṣara = all this = brahman/ātman (s1). :8–:11, :12 (first part), and :1.22 develop the adhimātram pāda↔mātrā equation (s2); :8 explicitly states 'adhimātram… ātmano ye pādāḥ'. :12 culminates in the amātra/turīya/ātman-alone aspect (s3), as does :1.29 (amātras turīya oṃkāraḥ… śivaḥ, advaita). :1.28 matches s4 verbatim (īśvaraṃ praṇavaṃ… sarvavyāpinaṃ… dhīro… na śocati). :1.24 matches s5's pāda-wise knowing + 'na kiñcit prayojanaṃ cintayet' injunction. Three Āgamaśāstra-bhāṣya passages were proposed as new: 1.23 (the mātrās as a progressive meditative ladder/upāya, distinct from the static equation of s2), 2.38 (ātman as sabāhyābhyantara, unborn, all-pervading — no oṃkāra), and 3.48 (ajātivāda — no jīva ever born). The latter two do not concern oṃkāra at all and so cannot route to any existing oṃkāra sense; whether they belong on this concept node at all is debatable, but routed to conservative proposed senses pending review.
v3Bhagavad Gītā (mūla) — +4 loci · 3 new sense(s) proposed All four new attestations are from the Bhagavad Gītā (mūla), a witness tradition not represented among the existing upaniṣadic and Advaita-Vedānta senses. None of the existing senses concern oṃkāra as a divine vibhūti, as a death-time recitation, or as the ritual 'oṃ tat sat' formula, so each was assigned to a proposed new sense grounded in the Gītā snippets. 7.8 and 9.16 are grouped together as the vibhūti/Bhagavān-identification sense; 8.12 and 17.23 are kept separate due to their distinct praxis (dying recitation) vs. ritual-inaugural functions. · gathered via aliases [oṃkār, oṃ , praṇav, ekākṣar, auṃ]
Caveats
The supplied corpus is a single tradition (Māṇḍūkya mūla plus Gauḍapāda's kārikā); no other textual witnesses are admitted, and no comparative or dated parallels are drawn.
No Śaṅkara (bhāṣya) loci were supplied; therefore no position is attributed to Śaṅkara despite the suggested archetype's broader associations.
The 'mātra-less / fourth' and 'a-u-m pāda correspondence' formulations appear in both the mūla (8, 12) and the kārikā (1.29); these are presented as continuous, not conflicting, in the supplied evidence.
The senses are limited to usage in the six supplied loci; the gloss 'name (abhidhāna) and means of attaining brahman' from the indexing leads is not explicitly stated in these attestations and is therefore not asserted as a sense.