अद्वयतारक उपनिषद्

Summary

The Advayataraka Upanishad is a short but luminous Yoga Upanishad of the Shukla Yajurveda corpus, dedicated to taraka yoga — the meditation that "carries across" the ocean of birth and death. It opens by defining the qualified aspirant as one endowed with the six purifications, then unfolds the practice in two phases: purva-taraka, the preliminary stage of fixing the inner gaze on subtle lights perceived in the brahmarandhra, the heart, and the space between the eyebrows; and uttara-taraka, the higher stage in which the mind dissolves into pure non-dual awareness beyond all form. The text gives detailed instructions on the three lakshyas (antar, bahir, madhyama — internal, external, and intermediate targets of contemplation) and on the five akashas (guna-rahita, paramakasha, mahakasha, tattvakasha, suryakasha). A unique contribution is its precise definition of the true guru as one who reveals the non-dual reality: gu signifies darkness, ru its dispeller, hence guru is that which destroys the darkness of ignorance. This etymology, widely quoted across Hindu traditions, originates here. The Upanishad culminates in shambhavi mudra and unmani avastha — the eyes open yet inwardly absorbed, the mind transcended. Taraka is identified with the imperishable syllable Om and with the inmost Self.

Famous verse