Introduction: The Spectrum of Awareness
Consciousness is not a single, uniform state. You experience different levels of awareness every day. You wake. You dream. You sleep deeply. These are not just physiological states. They are different modes of consciousness, each with its own objects, its own rules, and its own limitations. Beyond these three, Vedanta describes a fourth state — not a state at all, but the ground of all states.
This article explains the levels of consciousness in Vedanta, from the gross to the subtle to the absolute.
Part 1: The Three Ordinary States (Avastha Traya)
The Mandukya Upanishad (Verses 3-7) describes three states of consciousness that every human being experiences daily.
State 1: Jagrat (Waking Consciousness)
| Aspect | Description |
|---|---|
| Sanskrit | Jagrat |
| OM part | A (ah) |
| Name | Vaishvanara (“the one who dwells in all humans”) |
| Objects | External world (tables, trees, bodies, sounds) |
| Senses | Active (seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, smelling) |
| Identification | Identifies with the physical body |
| Time | Linear (past, present, future) |
| Space | Three-dimensional |
| Reality level | Vyavaharika (empirical) |
Experience: You are reading these words. You see the screen, hear ambient sounds, feel the chair beneath you. You say, “I am reading.” This is Jagrat.
Limitation: In Jagrat, you identify with the body and mind. You believe the external world is ultimately real. This identification is the root of much suffering.
State 2: Svapna (Dreaming Consciousness)
| Aspect | Description |
|---|---|
| Sanskrit | Svapna |
| OM part | U (oo) |
| Name | Taijasa (“the luminous one”) |
| Objects | Internal world (dream images, sounds, emotions) |
| Senses | Inactive (physical senses shut down) |
| Identification | Identifies with the dream body |
| Time | Present only (no past or future in the dream) |
| Space | Dream space (can be illogical) |
| Reality level | Pratibhasika (apparent — real while dreaming, unreal upon waking) |
Experience: You dream you are flying over a city. You feel the wind, see the buildings, feel joy or fear. While dreaming, you do not know it is a dream. This is Svapna.
Limitation: In Svapna, you are completely fooled. You do not know you are dreaming. You suffer dream sufferings, rejoice in dream joys.
State 3: Sushupti (Deep Sleep Consciousness)
| Aspect | Description |
|---|---|
| Sanskrit | Sushupti |
| OM part | M (mmm) |
| Name | Prajna (“consciousness” or “wisdom”) |
| Objects | None |
| Senses | Completely inactive |
| Identification | No identification (the ego is temporarily dissolved) |
| Time | None |
| Space | None |
| Reality level | Karana (causal — the seed of waking and dreaming) |
Experience: You fall asleep and wake up eight hours later. You do not remember anything. But you say, “I slept well. I was so happy.” That happiness came from nowhere. There were no objects to give you pleasure. This is Sushupti.
Limitation: Sushupti is blissful, but it is a state of ignorance. You are not aware of your true nature. The seed of ignorance (Avidya) remains. When you wake up, the ego returns.
Part 2: The Fourth State – Turiya
Turiya is not a state like waking, dreaming, or deep sleep. It is the reality that underlies, pervades, and transcends all three states. It is pure, non-dual, self-luminous consciousness.
| Aspect | Description |
|---|---|
| Sanskrit | Turiya (literally “the fourth”) |
| OM part | Silence after M |
| Name | Atman (the Self), Brahman (the Absolute) |
| Objects | None (witness of all objects) |
| Awareness | Self-luminous (aware of itself, not of objects) |
| Identification | No identification (witness of the ego) |
| Time | Beyond time (witnesses past, present, future) |
| Space | Beyond space (all-pervading) |
| Reality level | Paramarthika (absolute) |
The Mandukya Upanishad (Verse 7) describes Turiya:
“They consider Turiya to be that which is not conscious of the internal world, nor conscious of the external world, nor conscious of both, nor a mass of consciousness, nor consciousness, nor unconsciousness. It is unseen, beyond transaction, ungraspable, without distinguishing marks, unthinkable, indescribable. The essence of the knowledge of the one Self, the cessation of all phenomena, peaceful, blissful, non-dual. This is the Atman. This is to be realized.”
How to experience Turiya: You cannot “experience” Turiya as an object, because it is the subject. But you can be it. Right now, are you aware? Do not answer with words. Feel the simple, direct fact of being aware. That awareness is not the waking state, not the dreaming state, not the deep sleep state. It is present in all three. That awareness is Turiya.
Part 3: The Analogy of the Screen and the Movie
The most helpful analogy for the four states is the screen and the movie.
| Element | Analogy | State |
|---|---|---|
| The screen | Pure consciousness | Turiya |
| The movie | The content of experience | Jagrat, Svapna, Sushupti |
The screen is always present. It never changes. It is never affected by anything projected onto it. The movie comes and goes. The movie may be a drama (Jagrat), a fantasy (Svapna), or a blank screen (Sushupti). But the screen remains.
You are not the movie. You are the screen. You are not the waking state, the dreaming state, or the deep sleep state. You are the Turiya that witnesses all three.
Part 4: The Analogy of the Rope and the Snake
Another analogy: the rope and the snake.
| Element | Symbol | State |
|---|---|---|
| Rope | Brahman | Turiya |
| Snake | The world (Mithya) | Jagrat (mistaken perception) |
| Dim light | Avidya (ignorance) | The condition for mistaking states |
| Lamp | Jnana (Self-knowledge) | The removal of ignorance |
In dim light, you mistake a rope for a snake. The snake is experienced as real. You fear it. Then someone brings a lamp. The light reveals: it was only a rope. The snake vanishes.
Similarly, in the dim light of ignorance, you mistake Brahman for the world. The world appears real. You suffer. Then the lamp of Self-knowledge shines. You realize: “I am Brahman. The world is an appearance in me.” The world as a separate, independent reality vanishes.
Part 5: The Four States and the Three Bodies
The four states correspond to the three bodies (Sharira Traya).
| State | Body | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Jagrat (Waking) | Sthula Sharira (Gross body) | Physical body made of food |
| Svapna (Dreaming) | Sukshma Sharira (Subtle body) | Mind, intellect, ego, senses, prana |
| Sushupti (Deep Sleep) | Karana Sharira (Causal body) | Seed of ignorance; storehouse of karma |
| Turiya | None (beyond all bodies) | Pure consciousness |
The Self (Atman) is beyond all three bodies. It is the witness of waking, dreaming, and deep sleep.
Part 6: The Four States and the Five Sheaths (Pancha Kosha)
The four states also correspond to the five sheaths.
| State | Active Koshas |
|---|---|
| Jagrat (Waking) | Annamaya (food), Pranamaya (vital), Manomaya (mind), Vijnanamaya (intellect) |
| Svapna (Dreaming) | Manomaya (mind), Vijnanamaya (intellect) |
| Sushupti (Deep Sleep) | Anandamaya (bliss sheath) |
| Turiya | None (beyond all sheaths) |
Part 7: The Four States and OM (AUM)
The Mandukya Upanishad correlates the four states with the four parts of OM.
| OM Part | State | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| A (ah) | Waking | Vaishvanara | Aware of external objects |
| U (oo) | Dreaming | Taijasa | Aware of internal objects |
| M (mmm) | Deep Sleep | Prajna | No objects; blissful ignorance |
| Silence after M | Fourth | Turiya | Pure, non-dual consciousness |
When you chant OM, you are not just making a sound. You are invoking the entire spectrum of consciousness.
Part 8: Turiya in the Bhagavad Gita
The Bhagavad Gita does not use the word “Turiya,” but it describes the same state.
Chapter 2, Verse 20:
“The Self (Atman) is never born nor does it ever die. It is not slain when the body is slain.”
This is the nature of Turiya — eternal, birthless, deathless.
Chapter 13, Verse 31:
“When one sees the same Self dwelling in all beings, and all beings in the Self, then one is a true knower. Such a person never grieves.”
This is the vision of Turiya — non-dual, peaceful, blissful.
Chapter 5, Verse 8-9:
“I do nothing at all,” thinks the steady knower of truth, even while seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, walking, sleeping, breathing… The realized one knows that the senses are operating on their sense objects, while the Self remains as the non-doing witness.
This is the practical life of one who abides as Turiya. They act, but they know they are not the doer. They are the witness.
Summary Table: Levels of Consciousness
| State | Sanskrit | OM Part | Name | Objects | Identification | Reality Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waking | Jagrat | A | Vaishvanara | External | With body | Vyavaharika |
| Dreaming | Svapna | U | Taijasa | Internal | With dream body | Pratibhasika |
| Deep Sleep | Sushupti | M | Prajna | None | None | Karana |
| Fourth | Turiya | Silence | Atman | None (witness of all) | None | Paramarthika |
Conclusion: You Are the Fourth
You have spent your entire life identifying with the movie — the drama of waking, the fantasy of dreaming, the blankness of deep sleep. You have believed you are the character on the screen, suffering the character’s suffering, celebrating the character’s triumphs.
The Mandukya Upanishad invites you to turn around. Look at the screen. You are not the character. You are the screen. You are not the movie. You are the cinema itself. You are not the waking state, the dreaming state, or the deep sleep state. You are the fourth — Turiya — the eternal, unchanging, blissful, non-dual witness of all three.
As the Mandukya Upanishad (Verse 12) declares:
“OM is this whole universe. This is the Atman. This is Brahman. One who knows this enters the Self, attains the Self, becomes the Self.”
Know the four states. Know OM. Know the Self. Be free.
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti.
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