Understanding Turiya: The Fourth State of Consciousness

I or Ego  or Knower ——————–> experiencing the “World” or “Prapanch”
Prapanch came from Sanskrit term ” prapancha prakrishtrain panch ” . The idea is out of the five elements (panch) this world is constructed ,so we use this term ‘prapanch’ for the world

  1. ‘I’ is the ‘Waker’ (who is awake ) ——> experiencing the  “Waking World” or “Jagrit Prapanch” in Sanskrit
  2. ‘I’ is the Dreamer ( who is dreaming ) —> experiencing the “Dream World”
  3. ‘I” is the Sleeper ( who is in deep sleep) —> experiencing sleep blankness or no dream & thought just a sound sleep.
  4. Turiya

Mandukya Upanishad mentions that there is a Fourth state which is called ” Turiya”. 
From the above story Ashtavakra Muni was trying to explain King Janaka there is a “Fourth State” i.e. “Turiya” which is witnessing 

  • King Janak as a ‘Waker’ experiencing the court room, courtiers , luxury, wealth etc.
  • King Janak as the ‘Dreamer’ Experiencing the battle field, sadness , hunger, misery
  • There is also a third state where there is no dreams and complete sound sleep , we usually experience nothing but Turiya is witness to sleep blankness .