5. The Psychological aspects in the Māṇḍūkyopaniṣad

This short Upaniṣad forms the part of the Atharvaveda. It consists only twelve verses or passages. This Upaniṣad analyzes the states of consciousness in psychological treatments. It comprises of four different states of consciousness or Atman, waking state, sleep with dream, deep sleep without dream and the fourth indescribable stage, where all distinctions disappear and where there is only one universal consciousness. These are named as Viśva, Taijasa, Prajñā and Turīya. The first three are successive steps for attaining the last. Visva is also Vaiśvānara in waking state, in which one experiences the external objects through the sense organs. In the waking state, the mind and the senses are the active parts. It is the knower of the external objects. When we are awake, our consciousness spreads itself over the outer world. During the waking stage the feelings of the mind of a man are free from any external objects, or the outside world disappears from our consciousness, which spreads over the mind. But during the dream, impressions of feelings are reflected and it is an enjoyer of subtle objects. In deep sleep, man does not desire anything and there are no impressions of dualism between the objects and the Atman. In this stage our feelings and desires disappear from the mind and we have mere consciousness. This is also individual consciousness. When the stage of awakening is destroyed, there is the state of dream, and when the state of dream is destroyed there is the state of deep sleep without dream. Beyond these is the fourth state, the Turīya.^[1]

It is the same consciousness, Brahman, manifesting itself. At this stage the mind and senses are inactive. This is considered to be ‘prajñānaghana’. At this stage the individual Atman and the paramātman are united together. There are no impressions of the external world, only the prana is working. In the ‘Turīya’ stage, Atman is invisible; it is the all pervading consciousness, the Supreme Soul.