[1] Om — this entire world is this syllable. To explain further: the past, present, and future — all that is simply Om. And whatever is beyond the three times is also simply Om.
[2] Truly, everything that is, is Brahman. Brahman is this Self.
Brahman is the Self consisting of four quarters.
[3] The first quarter of the Self is Vaishvanara. It is the one common to all. It is stationed in the waking state and perceives outwardly. It has seven limbs and nineteen mouths and enjoys the manifestly material.
[4] The second quarter is Taijasa, the brilliant one. It is stationed in dream sleep and perceives inwardly. It possesses seven limbs and nineteen mouths and enjoys subtle (i.e., invisible) things. [5] The third quarter is Prajna, the cognitive one. It is stationed in deep sleep, i.e., when a sleeping person has no desires and sees no dreams whatsoever. Prajna is one and thus is truly a single mass of cognition. It consists of bliss and enjoying bliss. It has consciousness as its mouth. [6] This is the lord of all, the knower of all, the inner controller, and the womb of all things. It is truly the beginning and end of all beings.
[7] (The fourth quarter is Turiya.) People say that the fourth quarter neither perceives outwardly nor inwardly nor both. It is not a mass of cognition — it is neither cognitive nor noncognitive. It is unseen, not open to interaction, ungraspable, without a defining mark, inconceivable, indescribable, the cessation of material proliferation, tranquil, auspicious, and without a second (advaita). The essence of its certainty is the one Self. That is the Self. That is what is to be known.
[8] Om (“aum”) is this very self, as shown by its phonemes, “a-um.” The constituent phonemes are the four quarters of the Self, and the four quarters are the constituents, “a,” “u,” “m,” (and the fourth that has no phoneme).
[9] The first phoneme “a” is Vaishvanara (the first quarter of the Self), stationed in the waking state. It is from “apti(‘obtaining’)” or “adimattva (‘being the first’).” One who knows thus indeed truly obtains all desires and becomes the first.
[10] The second phoneme “u” is Taijasa (the second quarter), stationed in dream sleep. It is from “utkarsha (‘exaltation’)” or “ubhayatva(‘in the middle’).” He who knows thus indeed exalts the continuity of knowledge and becomes the same. In the family of one who knows thus, no one not knowing Brahman is born.
[11] The third phoneme “m” is Prajna (the third quarter), stationed in deep sleep. It is from “miti(‘constructing’)” or “minati(‘destructing’).” He who knows thus constructs all that is in the world and becomes its destruction.
[12] The fourth is without a phoneme. It is not open to interaction. It is the cessation of material proliferation. It is auspicious and without a second. Thus, Om truly is the Self. He who knows thus enters the Self by himself.