Vignaana Nouka - Sloka 5

Sloka#5

nishEDhE krutE nEteeti vaakyai
samaadhi sthitaanaam yadaabhaati poornam
avasthaa tryaateeta mEkam tureeyam
param brahma nityam tadE vaahamasmi

nEti nEti itia vaakyai=the upanishad rules out aatma with reasoning
along this is not aatma, this is not aatma
nishEdhakritE=banished
samaadhi sthitaanaam=of people in deep meditation
yat=that reasoning
poornam=omnipresent or present everywhere
aabhaati=shines gloriously
avasthaa trayaateetam=transcending wakefulness, dream sleep and deep sleep
Ekam=a unified
tureeyam=the ultimate state in meditation
tat=that
param=that which is most exalted
brahma Eva=brahman
aham asmi=is I

Literal Translation

Using upanishad suggested reasoning to rule out aatma in the world; that which is most exalted and is felt everywhere by meditators in samaadhi; that which is a witness to wakefulness, dream sleep and deep sleep;that which is unified and most exalted; such brahman is nothing but I

Prologue

There is dukha or sadness in bondage. It is because we are accustomed to attaching ourselves to things that are not aatma. If we start ruling out things that don't have the characteristics of aatma -- no birth or death, present everywhere, ever in bliss, etc.--we are left with nothing but ourselves.

We are not the Body, Senses, or Life

Aatma wears the body just as we wear a pair of spectacles. We are not called spectacles just because we are wearing them. So is in the case of body. One can refer to things as "mine" but not as "I".

There is no body before birth and it won't exist after death. Actually it is forever changing with passing years.

The body is called jada or a mass that is inert all by itself. Because of aatma it is made lively. Once aatma leaves the body, the body reverts to its inert state. That's why we don't say "I am the body". We would rather say "This is my body."

Similarly we are not the senses or the centers in the brain that serve as the intelligence behind them.

We are not the praana or life. It is also inert like the senses without aatma to power it.

We are not the Mind

Mind gives us the awareness of the world. For that it uses the senses to draw in information and creating a world within it. In dream sleep mind has no sensory information. Yet it creates a dream world. However, in deep sleep even the mind shuts off. There is no bondage in deep sleep. So we can infer that bondage is because of mind only

Thus, Mind has a beginning and an ending. It keeps changing and is fleeting. It appears like a picture. It is available as an object for introspection. Whereas one is a seer but not the seen.

In deep sleep there are no thoughts as mind is shut off. There is no "I" or "mine". There is, however, ignorance. Therefore the seen --ignorance--, is not I, the seer.

By reasoning thus, we arrive at the enlightenment that aatma is self effulgent, self supporting and the cause of life in us.

The wakeful, dream sleep, deep sleep states

Aatma is the witness to the activities in the three states of our existence: wakefulness, dream sleep and deep sleep.

As mentioned before, in wakeful state mind analyzes the information coming from senses and makes inferences. For that it will use pramaanas or proof based on anumaana or doubt (there is smoke on the hill, so there has to be fire), upamaana or simile (clouds are like cotton balls), etc.

There is no other seer in the universe than aatma. Aatma is the seer in the wakefulness and dream sleep. After deep sleep, when the mind is shut off, how do we exclaim upon waking that "I had a very good sleep!"? This is because aatma is the witness even in the deep sleep.

Thus, aatma supports the three states of existence and is self supportive, and self effulgent. It transcends triputi or the 3 states (for example: seen-seer-seeing). Hence it is called tureeyam or the 4th state. It also transcends time and space. It is always there without birth or death.