Talk 77 – Sept 6 :

Karika 16 –
Anadimayaya supto yada jivah prabudhyate.
Ajamanidramasvapnamadvaitam budhyate tada.

Acharya is explaining the attainment of turiyam in the form of owning up turiyam as oneself
and he uses various words for turiyam.

How does this jiva recognize turiyam ?

Turiyam is recognised as ajam, asvapnam, anidram,advaitam.

Ajam – birthless. It stands for all types of modifications – asti, jayate, vardhate,
viparinamate, vipakshiyate, vinashyati. Turiyam the consciousness is ajam means it is free
from all modifications. One needs to contemplate upon this particular fact and assimilate it
well. In life we have misery, fear because we are identifying with some change. We are
afraid of change or some happening. But when I know that any happening is in the realm of
this body or senses or the mind, it is not going to affect me the consciousness and I, the
witness, will continue to be the witness. Then there is freedom.

Like the lamp illuminating the stage is not affected by any happenings on the stage. Similarly
I see this fact very clearly that I, the consciousness is the witness of changes taking place in
the body, in the mind, in the sense organs. Earlier the eyes were able to see well now they
are not able to see well. Similarly the ears also can now only hear loud sounds and they miss
the small ones. Also the mind is not able to remember as it used to remember. In Vedanta
most of the people have this complex that they cannot remember. That is the way the mind
is. Also you usually come to Vedanta later in life. So it is understandable. Really in Vedanta,
you have to remember only one sentence well – I am sakshi and I the sakshi am limitless
Brahman. All the rest is extra.

Vedanta is supposed to remove complexes. Instead if it creates complex then it is not

working well. Like if some medicines are not taken properly, then there will be side-effects.
Similarly Vedanta medicine not seen in the proper perspective can create some complexes.
One of the complexes generally seen is - not remembering. But really one need not have any
complex. I am the witness of the forgetfulness of my mind. Generally my forgetfulness
creates problems for others. So on my part I admit the fact that my mind is forgetful and not
try to cover it up. Also I try my best to form a system which will remind me. But sometimes
system can also fail. So in spite of a system there is forgetfulness , then it is the other’s
prarabdha. So remaining objective about this forgetfulness of the mind helps you to get
over this complex .

Sastra tells you that you are ajah. You are the sakshi of all the changes taking place at any
level. So ajah means - I am changeless, the witness of all changes. No change can take place
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without a changeless background being there behind. In the body changes are there and
appreciated because there is a changeless background. The ultimate changeless background
is consciousness which is myself. This is the implication of the word ajah and it can also
mean- being free from sthula sarira as we saw in the last class.
Similarly anidram – can be seen as being free from karana sarira.
And asvapnam – can be seen as being free from sukshma sarira.
So these three words are showing that I, the consciousness am sariratraya vyatiriktah.

Not only that, I am free from the three avasthas. Sthula sarira is usually associated with
jagrat avastha. Svapna is associated with svapna avastha and nidra with susupthi avastha.
So I, the consciousness am avasthatraya vilakshanah. Therefore if something is happening
in jagrat avastha, I know that it is happening in one drama. Three dramas are taking place
everyday and in one drama something is happening.
Like some actor has to work in three shifts. In the morning shooting he has to cry well, in the
afternoon he has to laugh and in the evening he has to look meditatative.
Similarly in jagrat avastha something is happening. In svapna say you lost lot of money but
it does not really affect you when you get up because you know it was a dream. That I am
different from jagrat, svapna, sushupti is indicated by these three words.

Another interpretation of anidram and asvapnam is that I, Turiyam is anidram means free
from agrahanam or self-ignorace. In the first interpretation, nidra was taken in the normal
sense of sleep. Here it is used in the technical sense. I, Turiyam is free from even self-
ignorance.
that I, turiyam
Question can be there: “When the whole pursuit is to remove ignorance, how can we say is
free from ignorance.?”
What we mean is – “Self-ignorance is not the intrinsic nature of consciousness”. That is why
if I ask you- “ Do you know Chinese”. You may say- “ I don’t know Chinese.” So you are
aware of your ignorance of Chinese language. Therefore ignorance is something which is
witnessed by you. And You the witness are different from the ignorance witnessed. So even
ignorance cannot touch consciousness. I am anidram. That is a relief because ignorance is
also something which is witnessed by me. Like darkness is something which is witnessed by
me. I am illumining this darkness. Similarly I am aware of ignorance.even the self ignorance
and therefore different from that and therefore I am anidram

Asvapnam means I am free from anyathagrahanam or miscomprehension taking place in

buddhi. I, the consciousness am free from this duality of drsta and drsya. Therefore I am
asvapnam. Miscomprehension is understood in the sense of taking myself to be
karta/bhokta and taking this world to be different from me. That anyathagrahanam is also
not there in my nature. So I am free from both ignorance and ignorance- born- error.
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There meaning of ajam remains the same.

The next word is Advaitam – avidyamanam dvaitam yasmin – That which is free from
dvaitam. Grammatical derivative of dvaitam - Dvidha itam dvitam. Dvitasya bhavah
dvaitam. The status of being dvita is dvaita. Like chetanasya bhavah chaitanyam.
Like if there is a big army and it was divided into two groups. Then we say – sainyam adhuna
dvitam – the army has now become two-fold. Before 1947, we had one akhanda Bharata.
Then Bharata desa became divided into India and Pakistan. So Bharata deshah dvitah. The
status of being divided into two-fold is called dvaitam of Bharata. Division is called dvaitam.
Some philosophers believe in dvaita as the ultimate philosophy. According to them one
reality is divided into two – chetana or chit (conscious) and jada or achit (insentient).
Chetana is again divided into two – jiva and isvarah. This division is absolute.

But according to Vedanta, this jiva - Isvarah division, chetana - achetana division, chit- achit
division does not really exist in the absolute reality. That is why this reality is called
advaitam. In this advaitam turiyam , this type of division is not possible. Like we say that this
clip is jada. But this is from one standpoint. But in the absolute reality this division is not
there because in this clip also there is consciousness Like there is consciousness in this body.
Only thing is that in the clip there is no reflected consciousness. Whereas in the body there
is reflected consciousness. But consciousness is not absent.

Like light is there in the mirror, light is also there in the wall. Only thing on the mirror the
light is reflected in a special way. That is why we can see our face. But on the wall we cannot
see our face though light is there on the wall also.
Similarly in the clip also there is consciousness but it is not as evident as it is in the body.
Like very small insects and trees also have consciousness. But not very evident. Infact
scientists are not sure whether to call some virus living or non-living being. So they call them
growth.
Vedanta does not have this problem. It says everything has got consciousness. There is no
absence of consciousness . So jadachetana-vibhaga is not absolute. In turiyam this type of
dvaitam - that some part of turiyam is jada and some part is chetana – is not there. As far as
turiyam is concerned, it is everywhere. There is no such division.
In this turiyam jiva-isvara division is also not there because this division is based on upadhi.
In reality there is no division. Isvara is turiyam, jiva also is turiyam. As far as turiyatvam is
concerned there is no division. From the standpoint of upadhi there is division, but from the
standpoint of reality there is no division. Therefore this turiyam is advaitam. Means real
division is not there in turiyam and therefore turiyam is called advaitam. This is how
advaitam is to be understood.
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Like in water we see many forms, waves, wavelets, etc. But in H20 there is no division.
Wavy water and non-wavywater both are H2O. Similarly in consciousness there is no such
division. There is no jiva turiyam and isvara turiyam. There is no jada turiyam and chetana
turiyam. This division is not there. That is why it is called advaitam. That is what this person
recognizes.
The word tada is explained beautifully by Tikkakara . Tada– When a special type of disciple
is awakened by a special type of teacher. The first speciality of the disciple is that he/she
wants to be awakened. So first I should be sure that I really want to be awakened by the
teacher . Like in the morning the mother tries to wake the sleeping child several times but
the child does not want to be woken up. Also some people enjoy the ups and down in life.
Otherwise they feel it is boring, bland or don’t know what else to do. Such people don’t
want to be woken up. Vedanta will not appeal to them. Vedanta says – you are shantah. Do
I feel it is nice to be shantah all the time. Vedanta says - I am asangah. Asangah means I am
not a karta or bhokta. Do you like that or do you like to show that you are always doing
something or being somebody. When there is so much value for being a special karta , then
Vedanta will not touch your heart because Vedanta is giving upadesha that you are not a
karta. Heart of heart there will not be acceptance of Vedanta. So first of all, I have to see
that whatever karta I become, I still remain limited. Whatever you do you always feel that it
could be done better. Similarly bhokta also. As we grow our bhoga becomes subtler and
subtler. But the love for bhoga continues. We all love to be praised. Even spiritually we
want to be appreciated that we have grown or changed or be called a jnani. Perhaps I have
more value for being called a jnani than being a jnani. So the value for bhoktrtvam is very
strong and that has to go. So vishista shishya is one who has become free from the craving
to be special bhokta or special karta and wants to appreciate the fact revealed by Vedanta
that I am akarta. This is one way of looking at it.

Ask yourself when you feel fulfilled in these two situations. One you are praised by several
people for doing a good job. Does that make you fulfilled ? Or in your meditation you
appreciate - I am akarta and that appreciation is very intimate.
What comes to your mind more as a fulfilling experience. That shows whether one is a
vishista shisya or not.. Such a vishista shishya awakened by a vishista guru, then –tada - this
recognitions takes place that I am ajam, asvapnam, anidram.
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