Therefore the waking stage is named Vishva (global). The soul of man then assumes an omnipresent form, reminiscent of Vishnu, of the Director of sensual activities, the Hrishikesha. During the phase of dreams, man turns into himself. The senses of perception and action lie dormant. The individual is busy with his memory and he plans and projects the mind has played with. People sleeping adjacent to one another dream differently according to each one s urges and mental mysteries. The dream has validity for the dreamer; it absorbs light from the deeper levels of consciousness; it reveals the latent through inner luminosity. So, the stage is named taijasa, partaking the nature of Tejas (shining).
During the phase of Sushupti (deep sleep), the senses, the faculty of reason and the mind are all out of action, and are subsumed in the Self. The person is unaware during sleep of himself or others but he is able to recall every detail as soon as he wakes. He is, during sleep, merged in consciousness, pure and simple. So the phase is named Prajna.
The fourth stage is turiya, where the person is aware of the Divinity that is his nature. He attains merger with the Absolute or Samadhi. (SSS Vol.19, p. 109)
Every human being experiences four states of consciousness in daily life; Jagrata (the waking state), Swapna (dream state), Sushupti (deep sleep) and Turiya (the highest state of consciousness). The waking state is the state in which one sees and experiences the phenomenal world through the five life-breaths, the senses, the mind, the intellect and the ego. There are also the five sheaths for the body. All these together account for the experience of the phenomenal world in the waking state. Without the Atma, the waking state or experience of the phenomenal world cannot exist. Hence the Atma in this state is known as Vishva. It is also called Vaishvanara or Virata Purusha. Krishna is stated to have revealed to Arjuna His Vishvarupa (cosmic form).
This really means that Krishna showed to Arjuna that the Divine is present everywhere in all things at all times. The entire cosmos is a projection of the Divine. The Atma that appears in the waking state as the phenomenal cosmos in its gross form appears in the dream state in its Sukshma (subtle) form. The objects and forms that are experienced in the dream state have a reality only in that state. They have no existence in other states. All the joys and sorrows experienced in the dream state are unique self-created experiences of the Atma.
If ten persons are sleeping in one room, their dream experiences are unique to each person and have nothing in common. This means that each person creates his own dream state and experiences his dreams.
There is a light that shines in a dream state. This is known as Tejas. The Atma as the experiencer in this state is known as Taijasa (the effulgent). Apart from dreams, the presence of Taijasa can be demonstrated by a simple example. When we close our eyes, we say it is dark and we cannot see anything. Who is it that is able to experience this darkness? There is some entity that experiences darkness when the eyes are closed and describes it as dark and black. That entity is described as Taijasa because it is present as an inner light during the dream state.
Prajna is the state of permanent bliss
In the third state of Sushupti, the experience of the waking and the dream states are absent. It is the state of deep sleep. All the senses are merged in the mind and nothing can be seen or imagined. In this state Prajna (integrated awareness) alone exists. It is because of Prajna that one is aware of this state. All the sense organs are totally inactive. Only the breathing process remains. It is because of Prajna that one is aware of continuity of Being in deep sleep state and and experiences a feeling of bliss.
With all the senses stilled, the Self alone is conscious in the form of Prajna manifested in respiration. Hence the Vedas have declared: "Prajnanam Brahma" (Prajna—Constant Integrated Awareness--is Brahman). Prajna is the state of unchanging and permanent bliss described by the Upanishads. Prajna is the permanent entity that exists equally in the waking state as the body, in the senses as the Antahkarana (the Inner Motivator) and in the deep sleep state as Atma. It is for this reason that it is characterised as Constant Integrated Awareness. It is not different from Brahman or Atma. A doubt may arise that neither Brahman nor Atma is visible. But by understanding the Pranava, the identity of the Brahman and Atma can be experienced.
How do we cognise the Pranava and hear it? it is not perceivable. It is like something to be absorbed. All that is seen in the visible universe all that is heard in the realm of sound, all the multifarious experiences of the heart--all of them are subsumed by the Pranava. Even in the state of deep sleep, the process of breathing in and breathing out goes on ceaselessly. That which sustains the breathing process is Omkara, which thus proclaims its identity with the Brahman and the Atma.
The fourth state is Turiya. This is a state of complete ineffable Bliss in which the Universal Consciousness alone is experienced. It is beyond description. (SSS Vol.20, pp. 95-96)
The one all-pervasive Brahman permeates the entire universe of animate and inanimate objects. This all-inclusive Brahman has assumed the audible form of the primordial word AUM. There are four inseparable elements in this Supreme Parabrahman. They are Vishva, Taijasa, Prajna, and Turiya.
Jagrat avastha, the wakeful state is the state of normal consciousness and is concerned with the gross world of matter. It brings empirical knowledge of the phenomenal world acquired through sensations and perceptions. It has several means of knowing. These consist of the karmendriyas (the five organs of action), the jnanendriyas (the five organs of perception), the five pranas (vital energies), manas (mind), buddhi (intellect), citta (consciousness), and ahamkara (ego). In the jagrat avastha these nineteen aspects of sensational or empirical knowledge are integrated. It is essentially this knowledge which hankers after the pleasures of the material world.
Swapna avastha, the dream state of consciousness has the subconscious faculty of recognising and getting an inkling of the holy experience of divinity and sanctity. It is concerned with the subtler aspects of human knowledge and experience. It carries with it subtler impressions of the experiences of the jagrat avastha.
Prajna and turiya avastha assume different characteristics. Prajna avastha is a transcendental state of consciousness in which the dichotomy between grossness and subtlety disappears in super-consciousness. It is pure prajna or consciousness of Divinity. In Prajna avastha, the differentiating and diversifying faculties of the mind become inoperative. That is why it is said that prajnana is Brahman. To help man reach this summit of Divinity, Krishna has expounded in the Bhagavad Gita the sadhana of dhyana, the path of meditation. In Prajna avastha, all mundane desires and dream-wishes are sublimated into the bliss of spiritual experience. The lambent light of prajnana shines steadily in this state of higher consciousness.
The turiya avastha is the highest state of consciousness in which the essential nature of the Atma is experienced. Shantam (tranquillity), shivam (goodness) and dvaitam (nonduality) are experienced by the sadhaka. The turiya avastha is a pure, tranquil and steady state of super-consciousness in which all discriminating and differentiating gunas (attributes) are transcended and dissolved in the eternal and absolute reality of Brahman. Omkar is the fusion of the three primal sounds,
A, U, and M. These three letters represent respectively the jagrata, the swapna, and the sushupti states of consciousness. They also symbolise Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshvara. This trinity represents the three personified realities corresponding to the aforementioned three states of consciousness. In a garland of beads, a string passes through them and holds them together. In a similar manner, Brahman passes through all jivas and makes them interdependent and interrelated. (SSB 1979, pp. 137-139)