April 15, 2014: Ukara is the second syllable of Om, which can be compared with the second Pada or foot of the Atman. The Ukara is regarded as Utkarsha or elevated in the sense that it is beyond Akara, proceeds after Akara. In the series of the letters of the alphabet, 'U' comes after, as an effect, as it were, of the pronunciation of Akara; and while Akara may be regarded as the commencement of language, Ukara is the middle of all vowel-formations. When you utter 'U', you find that the middle of the throat begins to function. It is elevated, symbolically, says the Upanishad, in the sense that it is above Akara in the process of word-formation. So also is Taijasa or dream-consciousness that comes afterwards as an effect of the waking experience; proceeding from the waking experience, existing midway between waking and sleep. Ubhayatvadva; It is Ubhaya, or both, in the sense that it has two sides, namely, waking and sleep, from the point of view of the Padas of the Atman, and it is between Akara and Makara, from the point of view of the Matras, or syllables, of Omkara. Thus we can compare, in meditation, Ukara with Taijasa, the dreaming consciousness. These comparisons are made by the Upanishad to help one in meditation, so that one can bring Omkara in juxtaposition with the states of the Atman. All these comparisons are symbolic, and we should not take them literally. All meditations are symbolic; all Vidyas of the Upanishads are symbolic, as the comparison of Brahman to the rope and the world to the snake seen in the rope, in the analogy of the snake-in-the-rope, is symbolic. When you say, Brahman is like the rope, it does not mean that Brahman is long like the rope. The analogy is limited to the symbology intended; and likewise we have to take this comparison as a symbology to help meditation on the unity of all names and forms, comprehended in the unity of Omkara with the Atman in all its phases. Thus, Ukara being elevated above Akara, existing midway between Akara and Makara, is comparable with the dreaming state, which is elevated above the waking state as an effect of it, and exists between the waking and the deep sleep states.Utkarshati ha vai jnana-santatim: And one who meditates in this manner, rises in his status of knowledge. As 'U' is raised over 'A', and dream is raised over waking, the knowledge of the meditator rises above all the ordinary informative understanding of the schools of thought. He becomes a real knower, a Jnanin, by a meditation on the unity of Ukara with the Taijasa. Samanasca bhavati: Just as there is an equilibrating effect of Taijasa in relation to the waking and sleep states, in the sense that it is conscious like waking, and yet not externally conscious in the same sense, just as there is an equalising effect of Ukara between Akara and Makara, one who meditates thus becomes an equalising factor in society and in all creation. One becomes a harmonising element everywhere. There is no conflict in one's mind, then, and one does not create conflict in society when established in this meditation. One has peace within oneself, and creates peace outside, too, on account of the radiance of peace emanating from oneself. The meditator becomes a spontaneous peace-maker. His existence itself is a peace-making. 

                                                                                                                ---Excerpts from Mandukya Upanishad