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The Philosophy of the Upanishads c11.s3.t5: 5. The Turîya

The Philosophy of the Upanishads c11.s3.t5

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5. The Turîya

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Waking, dream-sleep and deep sleep are the only three states of the âtman which are found in the older Upanishads. According to their view, perfect union with Brahman, and therefore the highest attainable state, is reached in deep sleep. “This is his highest aim, this is his highest good fortune, this is his highest world, this is his highest bliss.”¹ These words, which are used of deep sleep, exclude the thought of a yet higher state.

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¹ Bṛih. 4. 3. 32.

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It was first later on, with the rise of the Yoga system, that in the yoga a state of the soul gained recognition, which was exalted above deep sleep, inasmuch as that union with Brahman and the supreme bliss associated therewith, which manifests itself in deep sleep apart from continued individual consciousness retaining its memory even after waking, is realised in the yoga together with complete maintenance of the waking individual consciousness. This distinction between the yoga and deep sleep is very clearly described by Gauḍapâda :²—

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² Mâṇḍûkya-K. 3. 33 f.

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As eternal changeless knowledge,
Not distinct from that which is known,
Brahman is ever known,—
By the eternal is the eternal known.

This process consists in this,
The irresistible suppression
Of all movements of the spirit,—
It is otherwise in deep sleep.

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The spirit gives light in deep sleep,
But when suppressed it gives no light,
It becomes Brahman, the fearless,
The sole and entire light of knowledge.

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This suppression of consciousness of objects and union with the eternal knowing subject which is brought about by the yoga and is coincident with absolute wakefulness, is designated as the "fourth" state of the âtman by the side of waking dreaming and deep sleep; as *caturtha*,¹ or, adopting the ancient Vedic and therefore more formal word for *caturtha*, as *turîya*;² and in the latter case both "the *turîya*" (sc. *âtmâ*, masc.) and also "the *turîyam*" (sc. *sthânam*, neut.) were employed. Since this state forms in fact a part of the yoga system, we shall learn more of it in detail in our discussion of the latter in a later connection, and here we propose merely to cite the passages in which the doctrine of the *turîya* makes its first appearance. This conception is undoubtedly anticipated by the ancient doctrine of the four feet of Brahman in his character of Gâyatrî;³ but the oldest passages in which the *turîya* is announced as a fourth distinct state of the âtman are Mânḍ. 7 and Maitr. 6. 19, 7. 11. Of these the passages from the Maitr. Up. (appendix) would seem to be the later, since they assume the *turîya* state as already known, which is not the case in Mânḍ. 7. In the latter also the technical term *turîya* is still missing, and in its place *caturtha* is once employed. This passage, of which later writers make much use, runs as follows:—

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¹ Mânḍ. 7.

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² Also *turya*.

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³ Chând. 3. 12, 3. 18, 4. 5-8, Bṛih. 5. 14, where the very expression *turîya* is already found.

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"Knowing neither within nor without nor yet on the two sides, nor again consisting throughout of knowledge, neither known nor unknown,—invisible, intangible, incomprehensible, indescribable, unthinkable, inexpressible, founded solely on the certainty of its own self, effacing the entire expanse of the universe, tranquil, blissful, timeless, —that is the fourth (*caturtha*) quarter, that is the âtman, that we must know.”

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The best exposition is given by the pertinent strophes of Gauḍapâda :¹—

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¹ 12–16.

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Neither of truth nor untruth,
Neither of itself nor another
Is *Prâjña* (deep sleep) ever conscious,
The fourth (*turya*) views everything eternally

In the refusal to recognise plurality
The *Prâjña* and the fourth are equal ;
Yet *Prâjña* lies in slumber like a germ,
The fourth knows no slumber.

Dreams and sleep belong to the two first,
A dreamless sleep is the possession of the *Prâjña*,
Neither dreams nor sleep does he who knows it
Ascribe to the fourth.

The dreamer’s knowledge is false,
The sleeper knows nothing at all,
Both go astray, where all this vanishes
There the fourth state is reached.

In the world’s illusion that has no beginning
The soul sleeps ; when it awakes
Then there awakes in it the eternal,
Timeless and free from dreams and sleep.

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Assuming this doctrine of the *turîya* in its description of the yoga, the passage Maitr. 6. 19 urges the “keeping under of the individual soul called *prâṇa* in that which is called *turyam*”; and in 7. 11 assigns the four states of the âtman to the four feet of *purusha* (one of which is composed of all living beings, while three are immortal in heaven),² in such a way that waking, dreaming and deep sleep form the one foot, the *turîya* the three others :—

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² Rigv. X. 90. 3.

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He who is in the eye, he who is in the dream,
He who is in deep sleep, and he who is supreme,—
These are his four varieties,
Yet the greatest is the fourth.

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A quarter of Brahman is in three,
Three-quarters are in the last ;
In order to taste truth and delusion
The great self became twofold.

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From later passages on the *turîya*¹ we propose to mention only the amplifications of Nṛisiṁhottaratâp. Up. 2. and 8, where the conception is further refined, and four degrees of *turîya* also are distinguished, viz.—*ota, anujñâtri, anujñâ* and *avikalpa* (pervading the universe, enlightening the mind, spirituality, indifference), of which the three first are still constantly affected by “deep sleep, dreaming and sheer illusion,” and only *avikalpa*, the entire obliteration of all distinction, purified from every taint of the world is, as *turîya-turîya*, “the fourth of the fourth” pure, absolute thought.

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¹ cp. Brahma Up. 2, Sarvopanishats. 8, Haṁsa Up. 8.

Cites (8)