Abstract

There is a myth about philosophy that it contains only a dead stuff of knowledge and has no relation with contemporary life and society. It has always been misunderstood that all the philosophical speculations are nothing but daydreaming of certain scholars and also that they have laid down more emphasis on life beyond death than present life. However, it is very far from truth, in as much as, Indian philosophy contains substantial components of eternal truth, and it has universal applications, which are capable of conducting the man to the gateway of the good through the shady avenue of beautiful self. The modern technological advancement has disconnected us from spiritual advancement and it has resulted the loss of mental peace. The rapid technological advancement and scientific investigations have blessed us with comforts and luxuries but at the same time there has been a starvation of the spirit and sickening of the soul resulting in unbalanced growth of human personality. Here comes the importance of philosophical teachings. There has been awakening in regard to the spirit, and necessity for all round development of the man’s spiritual personality. It is precisely at this point that Indian philosophy comes to the rescue of the modern creature by projecting before him through employment of which he can expand the boundaries of the ego, as also by opening before him the lock gates of the perennial stream of spirituality. Here in this essay, I would try to unlock the magic of the theory of Consciousness which has been discussed by the great sage GAUDAPADA in his Mandukya Karika. My main focus will be to elucidate the whole complex process of attaining ultimate consciousness in order to delve into the ultimate reality. At the end of the essay, we will see how theory of consciousness owns the answers to all the riddles of a self-enquirer. We will also discuss the non-dualistic philosophy of Advaita Vedanta with the karika.