Verse 1.18विकल्पो विनिवर्तेत कल्पितो यदि केनचित् ।
उपदेशादयं वादो ज्ञाते द्वैतं न विद्यते ॥ १८ ॥
vikalpo vinivarteta kalpito yadi kenacit |
upadeśādayaṃ vādo jñāte dvaitaṃ na vidyate || 18 ||
Gaudapadacharya says – all this differences would disappear guru-shishya (Student-Teacher), Knower and known ” I am the illiterate who has now realised turiya” , these differences would disappear
उपदेशादयं वादो ज्ञाते द्वैतं न विद्यते (upadeśādayaṃ vādo jñāte dvaitaṃ na vidyate) – all these distinctions have been set-forth by the Upanishads for purposes of instructions. The reason is because we feel it this way , but once we realise turiya , the feeling of Oneness arises ….satchitdanand roop arises ! sat chit and anand !!
“न मे मृत्युशंका न मे जातिभेदः पिता नैव मे नैव माता न जन्म। न बन्धुर्न मित्रं गुरुर्नैव शिष्यः चिदानंदरूपः शिवोऽहं शिवोऽहम् ॥५॥“
At last Ashtavakra Muni said to King Janaka! I will give you advait Gyan but you give me guru daskhina first , because after the gyan there wont be any guru or shishya … as oneness arises!!
Verse 1.17
प्रपञ्चो यदि विद्येत निवर्तेत न संशयः ।
मायामात्रमिदं द्वैतमद्वैतं परमार्थतः ॥ १७ ॥
prapañco yadi vidyeta nivarteta na saṃśayaḥ |
māyāmātramidaṃ dvaitamadvaitaṃ paramārthataḥ || 17 ||
Will the world go away after i realise “Turiya” , will I be light ? here Gaudapadacharya says – if the world was there then there is question of staying or going arises , but there is no such world at all !!
Will the snake run away after I realise it is a rope ….the correct answer is, there is no snake to run away from …it was a rope only !
प्रपञ्चो यदि विद्येत (prapañco yadi vidyeta) निवर्तेत न संशयः (nivarteta na saṃśayaḥ) – If the world existed !! No doubt it would have gone have away! (But the world does not exists just like snake does not exist)
मायामात्रमिदं ( māyāmātramidaṃ) – It is an error , just like snake is an error !
dvaitamadvaitaṃ paramārthataḥ (द्वैतमद्वैतं परमार्थतः ) – It (Turiya) is an undivided reality i.e. Non-dual reality. There is no world separate from you which has to be driven away!
I ( the viswa “waking state”) am asleep in Ignorance due to Maya since Beginningless!!
When did the Ignorance started??? Gaudapadacharya says ! it is from beginningless ….
Infact , all the ignorance is Beginningless !! How??
If I ask you - "Do You know German?", suppose you don't know German then you will say , "No , I don't Know German". So, You are ignorant about German!
Now again , If I ask you "Since when you are ignorant about German" ??
You say " since my birth I do not know German ! oh so, before your birth you knew German...? NO!! Hence You are ignorant about German from (अनादि) Beginningless..!!
But , Ignorance has an end … When does it end ??When we take up a book and start learning German!.
Similarly, Ignorance is actually Beginningless (अनादि ), but It can end . When knowledge comes it Ends !
अनादिमायया सुप्तो (anādimāyayā supto) – You cannot say since when you are in Ignorance!
यदा जीवः प्रबुध्यते (jīvaḥ prabudhyate) – when the jīvaḥ (जीवः ) awakens (प्रबुध्यते ) {Buddha came from here }
अजमनिद्रमस्वप्नमद्वैतं बुध्यते तदा ( ajamanidramasvapnamadvaitaṃ budhyate tadā ) – Then I realise
I am अजम (Ajam) i.e Unborn
I am anidram (अनिद्रम ) i.e Sleepless (without sleep) —-> referring that I am not prājñaḥ
I am asvapnam ( अस्वप्नम ) i.e. without dream —-> referring that I am not the Taijasa
I am advaitaṃ (अद्वैत) i.e. there is no second reality apart from me , I am the Viswa in waking state , I am the taijasa in the dream state and I am the prājñaḥ in the deep sleep state. Where “Viswa” , “Taijasa” and “prājñaḥ” are all appearances but the reality in all is “Turiya”
Another big questions comes in Mind is after realisation ,will this world disappear ??? will there be body after realisation?? will the body live after realisation ??
Verse 1.13
द्वैतस्याग्रहणं तुल्यमुभयोः प्राज्ञतुर्ययोः ।
बीजनिद्रायुतः प्राज्ञः सा च तुर्ये न विद्यते ॥ १३ ॥
dvaitasyāgrahaṇaṃ tulyamubhayoḥ prājñaturyayoḥ |
bījanidrāyutaḥ prājñaḥ sā ca turye na vidyate || 13 ||
It means , “Dvaitam” a separate reality or Error is not seen by the ” prājñaḥ ” the deep sleeper and “Turiya” the pure consciousness. But, the ” prājñaḥ ” or the one who is in deep sleep is associated to Nidra (i.e Ignorance / blankness), where as, “Turiya” doesnot have ignorance (or deep sleep blankness) .
” prājñaḥ ” donot see dvaita (seperate reality) niether turiya see any seperate reality apart from it . But , ” prājñaḥ ” is covered in darnkness or blankness of deep sleep whereas , Turiya illumines everything!
Verse 1.12
नाऽऽत्मानं न परंश्चैव न सत्यं नापि चानृतम् ।
प्राज्ञः किंचन संवेत्ति तुर्यं तत्सर्वदृक्सदा ॥ १२ ॥
nā''tmānaṃ na paraṃścaiva na satyaṃ nāpi cānṛtam |
prājñaḥ kiṃcana saṃvetti turyaṃ tatsarvadṛksadā || 12 ||
The ‘prājñaḥ’ one who is in deep sleep does not know itself as an Atman..! It doesnot know the world (prapanch) also .. It doesnot know the truth that I am “Turiya”. It doesnot know the false world appearing infront of it (ānṛtam) चानृतम्.
किंचन संवेत्ति / prājñaḥ kiṃcana saṃvetti – The ‘prājñaḥ’ doesnot know anything i.e the state of deep sleeper !!.
and ,
How is Turiya different from It???the answer is – तुर्यं तत्सर्वदृक्सदा /turyaṃ tatsarvadṛksadā
i.e. It (Turiya) always illumines everything ! It is self illumined about itself and about the world . It is like the movie hall where the lights have come on with nothing on the screen …( blank screen) but the lights are on !
“nivṛtteḥ sarvaduḥkhānām / निवृत्तेः सर्वदुःखानामी” – ‘You’ the Turiya are beyond all the dukkha’s (sadness). Right now we feel that ” I am in Pain” but one who has realized Turiya will say -” I am the witness of the pain in the body or mind”.
e.g. Same sunlight falls on the ditch , it falls on the ganga river and it falls on the Himalayas . But it is not polluted by the ditch or purified by the Ganga river, it illumines . Same way ‘Turiya’ the pure consciousness which we are illumines the sufferings of the waking world , nightmare or good dreams of dream world and nothingness of deep sleep.
īśānaḥ prabhuravyayaḥ / इशानः प्रभुरव्ययः – ‘You’ the ‘Turiya’ is God and it is Unchanging . Turiya is witness to all states
अद्वैतः सर्वभावानां देवस्तुर्यो विभुः स्मृतः– ‘You’ the Consciousness , you are the non dual (Advaita) with all the existing things . There is no second independent reality apart from Turiya (pure 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
‘I’ is the ‘Waker’ (who is awake ) ——> experiencing the “Waking World” or “Jagrit Prapanch” in Sanskrit
‘I’ is the Dreamer ( who is dreaming ) —> experiencing the “Dream World”
‘I” is the Sleeper ( who is in deep sleep) —> experiencing sleep blankness or no dream & thought just a sound sleep.
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 .
न अन्तःप्रज्ञम्। न वहिःप्रज्ञम्। न उभयतःप्रज्ञम्। न प्रज्ञानधनम्। न प्रज्ञम्। न अप्रज्ञम्। अदृष्टम् अव्यवहार्यम् अग्राह्यम् अलक्षणम् अचिन्त्यम् अव्यपदेश्यम् एकात्मप्रत्यसारं प्रपञ्चोपशमम् शान्तं शिवम् अद्वैतं चतुर्थं मन्यन्ते विवेकिनः । सः आत्मा सः विज्ञेयः ॥
Anvaya Transliteration
na antaḥprajñam | na vahiḥprajñam | na ubhayataḥprajñam| na prajñānadhanam| na prajñam| na aprajñam| adṛṣṭam avyavahāryam agrāhyam alakṣaṇam acintyam avyapadeśyam ekātmapratyasāraṁ prapañcopaśamam śāntaṁ śivam advaitaṁ caturthaṁ manyante ( vivekinaḥ )| saḥ ātmā saḥ vijñeyaḥ ||
Expanation of the Mantra
न अन्तःप्रज्ञम् / na antaḥprajñam – ‘YOU’ the ‘Turiya’ are not the dreamer
न वहिःप्रज्ञम् / na vahiḥprajñam – ‘YOU” the ‘Turiya’ are not the waker .
This means You are not the person named as Mr. SO & SO but “YOU” are the consciousness or Turiya illumining this temporary appearance of physcial body and mind in the waking state .
न उभयतःप्रज्ञम् / na ubhayataḥprajñam – ‘YOU’ the ‘TURIYA’ are not something in between waker or dreamer i.e state which is inbetween waking and dream .
न प्रज्ञानधनम् / na prajñānadhanam – ‘YOU’ the ‘TURIYA’ are not the Sleeper i.e. the person who is in a Deep Sleep or Sushupti state .
न प्रज्ञम्। न अप्रज्ञम् / na prajñam| na aprajñam – ‘YOU’ the ‘TURIYA” you are niether any kind of omniscient God ( Bhagwan or Ishwar) and niether you are Sentient ( जड़ वस्तु ) .
अदृष्टम् / adṛṣṭam – ‘YOU” the ‘TURIYA” is not an object of our five sense organs. It is not the subject of normal vision. You cannot see , smell , taste or hear the ‘TURIYA’
अव्यवहार्यम् / avyavahāryam – ‘YOU” the ‘TURIYA’ is not with in transaction. ( Transaction means usable)i.e. pure Consciousness is not an object which can be talked about , seen , felt and used . It is not transactable it is अव्यवहार्यम् . But, remember it is the ground source of all Vyavahar . Without this ‘Turiya’ none of this (touch, smell, see ,taste) can occur. In the light of Turiya everything is illumined.
अग्राह्यम् / agrāhyam – ‘YOU’ the ‘TURIYA” cannot be grasped . It is not the subject of the panch karma indriyas i.e You cannot hold ‘Turiya’ into your hands and you also cannot walk to a turiya just like you walk to pilgrimage . It is not possible to walk to Turiya.
अलक्षणम् / alakṣaṇam – ‘YOU’ the ‘TURIYA’ cannot be inferred.
For e.g if we say ‘the road is wet’ , then what do you infer that there was rain earlier thats why the road is wet . Similarly , There is fire on the hill because I could see smoke coming out of the hill . here there is a relation between smoke and fire .So, if i see smoke i can “infer” that there was fire earlier due to which there is smoke . But , it is not possible to infer TURIYA. Here ‘alakṣaṇam’ means there is no sign by which you can infer to TURIYA.
अचिन्त्यम् / acintyam – ‘YOU’ the ‘TURIYA’ cannot think about it . But, remember the opposite also holds – whatever you think about ,is illumined by the ‘TURIYA’.
अव्यपदेश्यम् / avyapadeśyam – It literally means you cannot name “TURIYA”. It cannot be named.
Shankarayacharya tried to explain this that why “TURIYA” cannot be named –
Where can we use language???there are 5 areas where language can be used but none of the 5 applies to the “TURIYA”. as mentioned below
We could use language if there is some species (जाति) .i.e if some object belongs to a class you could use language like e.g ‘COW’ as we know the characterstics of the cow we could match it with the set and say it belongs to that set . But there is NO class for “TURIYA” . it cannot be part of a class (जाति).
We could use language if there is some Quality (गुण): If you say ” Give me a Red flower ” you are distinguishing the other flowers from ‘Red Flower ‘ by the quality of its colour red. But You cannot say that ” TURIYA” is red or any other colour. “TURIYA” is beyond all quality it is supposed to be called as Nirgunam (निर्गुण).
We could use language if there is some Action (क्रिया) : For e.eg if you are saying ” Call the cook ” how did you use language , by the function of that person. But “TURIYA” has no activity , it is niShkriyaM (निष्क्रियं)
We could use language if there is some Relationship (संबंध) : e.g if you say call the teacher , that means there is a student teacher relation, here we are talking where we can address one as a student and another as teacher . But , with ‘TURIYA” there is no second apart from it , it is the only unchanging reality .
We could use language if there is Convention ( रूढि ) : e.g if you say ” this persons name is prakash”, to call somebody you have to point out to that person i.e. apart from all other objects this person is now on called as prakash . But you cannot point out “TURIYA” that way .
Hence ” LANGUAGE” cannot operate for “TURIYA”
एकात्मप्रत्यसारं / ekātmapratyasāraṁ – ‘Ek’ means one , ‘Atma’ means atma, ‘Prataya’ means congnition , ‘Saram’ means essence . The feeling of “Atmapratya” or I .
i.e. ” If you follow the essence of ‘I” ness (Conscious I in all states ) you shall reach “TURIYA”.
प्रपञ्चोपशमम् / prapañcopaśamam – “TURIYA” is completely untouched by the Jagrit Prapanch ( Waking state ), Swapna Prapanch ( dream state) and Sushupti ( deepsleep ) even though all these three states are illumined by the TURIYA.
शान्तं / śāntaṁ – TURIYA is absolutely Peaceful and ever undisturbed . There is no world to disturb the TURIYA. That is the reality of TURIYA.
शिवम् / śivam – Shivam here means TURIYA is anand swaroopam . It is full of Joy.
अद्वैतं / advaitaṁ – “Advaitam ” means non dual , because there is nothing apart from TURIYA , Just as GOLD is advaitam with respect to Bangle , necklace and Ring .
चतुर्थं मन्यन्ते विवेकिनः / caturthaṁ manyante ( vivekinaḥ ) : Foolish people think there is a 4th reality apart from remaining 3 but actually “TURIYA” is the only reality in whose light the entire game of the waking world ( Jagrit state ) , Dream world ( Swapna state ) and Deep Sleep ( Sushupti ) is illumined .
सः आत्मा सः विज्ञेयः / saḥ ātmā saḥ vijñeyaḥ :
“saḥ ātmā” means that, the answer to the question “who am i” is TURIYA .
“saḥ vijñeyaḥ” means it need to be realised . Just by listening about TURIYA wont work we need to realise it as well.
