Bhṛgu realizes the vijñāna-maya (Taittiriya Upanisad 3.5)
The real being is not the body, the vital air or the mind, but the soul, and this is Bhṛgu’s next realization. The symptom of the soul is consciousness, and the soul is the true maintainer of the body
Section 5: Bhṛgu realizes the vijñāna-maya
The real being is not the body, the vital air or the mind, but the soul, and this is Bhṛgu’s next realization. The symptom of the soul is consciousness, and the soul is the true maintainer of the body. The consciousness of the soul is expressed in the material platform by the mind, intelligence and false-ego, and carried from one body to the other by prāṇa. The soul is also a manifestation of the Supreme Brahman, being part of the marginal potency of the Lord.
Text 3.5.1
vijñānam brahmeti vyajānāt
vijñānāddhyeva khalvimāni bhūtāni jāyante
vijñānena jātāni jīvanti
vijñānam prayantyabhisamviśantīti tadvijñāya
punareva varuṇam pitaramupasasāra adhīhi bhagavo brahmeti
tam hovāca
tapasā brahma vijijñāsasva, tapo brahmeti
sa tapo’tapyata, sa tapastaptvā
Further increasing his understanding, Bhṛgu realized that the soul is Brahman, because all beings arise from the soul, are maintained by the soul, and enter into the soul at death. After realizing this, he again approached his father: "Please teach me more about Brahman." The father answered: "Search for Brahman in austerity. This austerity is Brahman." Bhṛgu again practiced austerities and further increased his spiritual realization.
Commentary: In his purport to Bg 2.20, Prabhupada mentions: "The soul is full of knowledge, or full always with consciousness. Therefore, consciousness is the symptom of the soul. Even if one does not find the soul within the heart, where he is situated, one can still understand the presence of the soul simply by the presence of consciousness. Sometimes we do not find the sun in the sky owing to clouds, or for some other reason, but the light of the sun is always there, and we are convinced that it is therefore daytime. As soon as there is a little light in the sky early in the morning, we can understand that the sun is in the sky."
As one’s understanding increases further, he can realize that the real being is the soul and that the soul is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. The symptom of the soul is consciousness (vijñāna) and this was realized by Bhṛgu.
In text 3.2.1 it’s described how Bhṛgu realized the anna-maya. Text 3.3.1 describes how he realized the prāṇa-maya, and text 3.4.1 his realization of the mano-maya. Text 3.5.1 describes his realization of the vijñāna-maya, the soul. The next verse will describe his final realization of the ananda-maya.