Turiyatheeya Avadhootha Upanishad

The text is attached to the Shukla Yajurveda, and is one of the 20 Sannyasa (renunciation) Upanishads. The Upanishad is notable for its description of the nature and life of a self-realized monk called Turiyatita-Avadhuta, literally a totally liberated man, also called a Avadhuta or Jivanmukta. Such a person, asserts the text, is rare. The self-realized individual does not perform any rituals or rites, nor chant mantras, discriminate against or for others, and is beyond the Turiya state of consciousness. In the Paramahamsa state, he is devoted to non-dualism, is always soul-driven, is Brahman and syllable Om. The exact distinction between Paramahamsa, Avadhuta and Turiyatita-Avadhuta states is obscure, but these concepts represent an attempt in the Hindu traditions to comprehend, refine and describe the inner and outer state of self-realization and the highest monastic life.