Why is Mandukya Upanishad considerd to be the most important among all Upanishads?

Question

Upanishads are the most significant scriptures in the philosophy of Sanatana Dharma. They constitute the essence of Vedas and also known as Vedanta. We know that there are many Upanishads but 108 are recognized in Muktika Upanishad. Among them, 11 Upanishads are considered the Mukhya (principal) Upanishads on which Adi Shankaracharya has written Bhashya (commentary).

Now, among Mukhya Upanishads, I found that Mandukya Upanishad is considered to be most important. According to Muktika Upanishad:

इयं कैवल्यमुक्तिस्तु केनोपायेन सिद्ध्यति ।
माण्डूक्यमेकमेवालं मुमुक्षूणां विमुक्तये ॥ २६॥

I-i-26-29. But by what means is the Kaivalya kind of Moksha got? The Mandukya is enough.

Gaudapadacharya, the grandguru of Adi Shankaracharya has written a work on this Mandukya Upanishad, called Gaudapada Karika or Mandukya Karika which is the most important and ancient philosophical work in Advaita Vedanta, establishing the doctrine of Ajatavada.

As Muktika upanishad says Mandukya is enough for kaivalya, I want to know what makes Mandukya Upanishad so important or why it is considered most important among Upanishads? Acharya's work explaining this would be useful.

Answer 1

Mandukya Upanishad follows a prakriya (method) establishing the non-dual self through the analysis of the three states of experience i.e. waking dream and deep sleep. Not only does it cover the entire spectrum of experiences, it also establishes that all these three states of experience is ultimately imagined on the Non dual Self. Since getting established in the knowledge of the substratum of all experiences is itself moksha, Mandukya is considered so potent for this purpose. Moreover, unlike other Upanishads it does not discuss karma and upasana related siddhantas, which are only indirect means of moksha. It directly starts with Omkara which is the pointer towards Nirguna Brahman and thus Gaudapadacharya discusses Ajatvada using this text.

Mandukya Upanishad