10. Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad 1

Title Thumbnail & Hero Image: Great Brahmana-Hindu Sage was developed on July 31, 2024.
10. Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad 1

First revision: May 26, 2026

Last change: Sep.4, 2026

Searched, gathered, rearranged, translated, and compiled by Apirak Kanchanakongkha.

Page 1

The four states of human awareness, as described in the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad, an early Brahman-Hindu philosophical text, consist of:

1. Viśva (विश्व - वैश्वानर - Vaiśvānara): The state of awakening; the self turns outward and perceives the coarse physical world through the senses.
2. Taijasa (तैजसा): The state of dreaming; the self turns inward and perceives subtle mental objects, dreams, and visions.
3. Prajña (प्राज्ञ): The state of deep sleep; the self rests without desire or dreaming, existing as an undifferentiated mass of awareness and potential.
4. Turīya (तुरीय): A transcendent state, a pure consciousness that lies behind, bears witness to, and transcends the first three states. It is a state that represents the ultimate truth and the true self (Ātman).

Ānanda or delight is the highest fruition, where the knower, the known and the knowledge become one. Here the philosophical quest terminates, the suggestion being that there is nothing higher than ānanda. This ānanda is active enjoyment or unimpeded exercise of capacity. It is not sinking into nothingness, but the perfection of being. (Page 165, Indian Philosophy Volume I, by S. Radhakrishnan, Oxford University Press A.D.1999, ISBN 019 5663819 0).
“The discerning sees by their superior knowledge the Ātman which shines with all bliss and immortality.” (ii. 8.).

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