---
type: Concept
bundle: upanishadic-core
bundle_version: "0.6.0"
id: manana
title: "Manana"
iast: "Manana"
devanagari: "मनन"
description: "The second stage of Brahma-jijñāsā — sustained reflective inquiry that systematically removes doubts (saṃśaya) arising after Śravaṇa — the dialectical clearing of intellectual obstacles to the Upaniṣadic teaching; not meditation, not memorization, not contemplation in the popular sense"
darshana:
  - Advaita Vedānta
  - Vedānta
school_scope: "Advaita Vedānta's second of three means of Brahma-jñāna; the verification and doubt-clearing phase between hearing and deep internalization"
text_source: "Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 2.4.5"
tags: [manana, shravana, nididhyasana, doubt, vichara, advaita, brahma-jijnasa]
not:
  - term: "meditation or dhyāna"
    why: "Meditation (dhyāna in the Yoga sense) is a sustained flow of attention toward a chosen object (YS 3.2). Manana has no object of attention — it is the systematic examination of doubts (saṃśaya) that arise when the Upaniṣadic teaching is tested against one's prior understanding. Its method is reasoning and inquiry, not attention-sustaining."
    instead: "Think of Manana as disciplined philosophical examination — asking 'What if the teaching is wrong in this particular way?' and working through the reasoning until no coherent objection remains"
  - term: "memorization or repetition"
    why: "Memorizing the text is part of Svadhyāya (textual study). Manana is active inquiry into the meaning and implications of what was heard in Śravaṇa. The goal is not retention but resolution: every doubt that could prevent the Mahāvākya from delivering its recognition must be examined and removed."
  - term: "contemplation (passive dwelling on a teaching)"
    why: "Contemplation in the popular sense is a receptive, open dwelling. Manana is active and interrogative — it proceeds by generating the strongest possible objections to the Vedāntic position and systematically answering them. It is closer in method to philosophical dialogue than to meditative rest."
  - term: "a stage that can be skipped"
    why: "Without Manana, doubts remain latent. Even if the Mahāvākya is received in Śravaṇa, residual saṃskāras (contrary-to-knowledge habits of mind) will generate counter-arguments during Nididhyāsana. Manana clears the field; Nididhyāsana deepens the recognition in cleared ground."
related:
  - /concepts/shravana.md
  - /concepts/nididhyasana.md
  - /concepts/mahavakya.md
timestamp: "2026-07-01"
okf_version: "0.2"
license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
---

# Manana — मनन

**Not:** meditation, memorization, passive contemplation, optional stage

## Etymology

Manana (मनन) from *man* — to think, to reflect, to consider. Related to Manas (mind) and Mantra (instrument of thought). Manana is the full deployment of the reasoning faculty in service of liberating knowledge — not speculation, but directed, purposeful philosophical inquiry.

## The Problem Manana Solves

After Śravaṇa, the student has received the Mahāvākya as Śabda-pramāṇa. The teacher has said: "You are Brahman; there is no bondage." But the student's accumulated experience tells them otherwise — they feel finite, limited, bound. This creates saṃśaya (doubt): "I heard the teaching. But if it is true, why does my experience contradict it?"

This is not a failure of faith. It is the natural operation of a mind that has stored decades of contrary evidence. Manana is the designed response: examine every form of the doubt until none survives intact.

## What Manana Examines

The classical doubts addressed by Manana include:

- **The multiplicity objection**: "If Brahman is one and non-dual, how do I explain the apparent existence of many Jīvas?"
- **The agency objection**: "If I am Brahman, who commits karma and who experiences its results?"
- **The liberation objection**: "If I am already Brahman, what is there to be liberated from?"
- **The suffering objection**: "If Ātman is bliss (Ānanda), why do I experience suffering?"

Each objection has a corresponding Vedāntic response grounded in the two-truth framework, the Vivartavāda (appearance-only theory of the world), and the distinction between the Pāramārthika (ultimate) and Vyavahārika (conventional) levels of reality. Manana works through these systematically, often with the Guru's guidance, until the student can arrive at them independently.

## Manana Is Not About Proving Brahman

A critical distinction: Manana does not attempt to establish that Brahman exists through logical inference. Brahman's existence is disclosed through Śabda-pramāṇa (Śravaṇa). Manana's task is narrower: remove the objections that would prevent the already-delivered knowledge from being accepted. The Mahāvākya has done its work; Manana clears away the noise.

## Relation to Nididhyāsana

When Manana is complete — when no coherent intellectual objection to the Upaniṣadic teaching remains — the student is ready for Nididhyāsana. The distinction is important: Manana removes intellectual doubt (saṃśaya); Nididhyāsana removes contrary-to-knowledge habit (viparīta-bhāvanā). Even after all doubts are resolved, the mind continues to generate habitual counter-cognitions ("I am limited, I am finite") from stored saṃskāras. Nididhyāsana addresses this second layer.

## Audience Metaphor

A lawyer receives a credible witness statement (Śravaṇa) and prepares for cross-examination. Before the trial, they run every possible challenge to the witness's account — alternative explanations, inconsistencies, contrary evidence — and work out their responses. Not because they doubt the witness, but because an untested account is fragile. When no challenge remains unanswered, the case is ready to go before the court with confidence. That preparation is Manana.

## Citations

1. Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 2.4.5 — Yājñavalkya's formulation of the triad; see [references/brhadaranyaka-upanishad.md]
2. Vivekacūḍāmaṇi vv. 364–367 (Śaṅkarācārya) — the triad and the role of doubt-removal; see [references/vivekachudamani.md]
3. Aparokṣānubhūti vv. 1–8 (attributed to Śaṅkarācārya) — the role of Manana in the path to direct recognition; see [references/aparokshanubhuti.md]
