Consciousness - 1
The three states
Every jeeva (human, animal and bird) experiences three natural states of consciousness, called ‘avastha-traya’. According to the scriptures, each state has a dedicated form of God facilitating the jeeva’s transition between these three stages of consciousness: wakefulness, deep dreamless sleep, dream-state (echchara, nidre, kanassu).
| State of consciousness | Bhagavad rupa | Avastha |
|---|---|---|
| Wakefulness | Vishwa | Jaagrutha |
| Dream-state | Taijas | Swapna |
| Deep sleep | Praagnya | Sushupthi |
When the jeeva transits from one state to the other, the other two forms merge into the third, relevant form, for instance, if one drifts from dream-state to deep sleep, Taijas, with Vishwa (who has already merged with Taijas), merges with Praagnya.
The Lord does not need various forms (rupa) to perform tasks... he assumes them as part of his leele. To the highly evolved, he grants visions of these when they meditate. It is through such visions that we know the forms of Vishwa and Taijas. Sri Hari as Vishwa and Taijas is white in colour with seven limbs and the face of an elephant and nine human faces on either side. He is also called Vaishwaanara*.
*Vaishwanara has various interpretations:
-as being present in every nara (person) in the vishwa (world)
-Vaishwa, related to the world, nara meaning that which is not destroyed even when the world is
-granting the experience of the Vishwa to every one (nara)
-Vaishwa-anara, anara being one who is devoid of defects/ ever happy
In the wakeful state, Vishwa is present in front of the right eye* and the aagnya chakra.
*not the physical eye
Wakefulness
| Vishwa | Jeeva |
| Has seven limbs...four arms, two legs and a trunk (4+2+1 = 7) | Has seven dhaatus. It is only through sthoola shareera that a jeeva experiences these three states. And sthoola shareera is made of seven dhaatus...tvak, charma, maamsa, rakta, medas, majja, asthi, with tvak being the epidermis (outermost) and asthi being the bones (innermost) |
| Has 19 faces...one elephant in the centre and nine human faces on either side (9x2=18; 18 +1 = 19) | Acts through 19 factors... pancha bhoota that makes up the body, 5 karmendriyas, 5 gnyaanedriyas, manassu, buddhi, ahankaara, chitta (intellect, memory, ego, cosmic intelligence - roughly) |
The eyes play different roles in these three states of consciousness (open, closed and REM). During wakefulness, our eyes (horagannu or the physical eyes) are open. Vishwa lovingly provides wakefulness; ‘sees’ and allows us to see the material world (Vishwa).
As the focus of wakeful state is always outward bound, neither does the jeeva realise the presence of Vishwa nor does Vishwa reveal his presence and the role he plays in our awareness of the external world. This is ironical, as the so-called jagrutha avasthe causes the jeeva to be steeped in spiritual ignorance preventing him from looking within.