The Mandukya Upanishad, belonging to the Atharvaveda, is celebrated in the Muktika canon as the quintessential essence of all one hundred and eight Upanishads. In twelve concise prose mantras, it presents the supreme metaphysical framework of non-dual consciousness by systematically mapping the sacred syllable AUM (Om) to the three empirical states of human awareness—the waking state (Vaishvanara/Jagrat), the dreaming state (Taijasa/Svapna), and the deep sleep state (Prajna/Sushupti)—and revealing the transcendental Fourth State (Turiya). Later immortalized by Gaudapada in his foundational Mandukya Karika and extensively expounded by Adi Shankaracharya, this profound scripture stands as the ultimate cornerstone of Advaita Vedanta philosophy, guiding seekers to direct self-realization of the unconditioned Brahman.