The waking and dreaming states and their connection with the Lord
The Supreme Lord appears in four aspects, presiding over the four states of consciousness. The Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad offers an interesting discussion on the nature of consciousness.
The Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad offers an interesting discussion about the waking and dreaming states and how they are connected with the Lord.
The Supreme Lord appears in four aspects, presiding over the four states of consciousness. The first of them is Vaiśvānara, who presides over the waking state, when we become busy enjoying the physical universe using our senses. These senses are presided over by the Lord and offered to the soul as an opportunity to come to the platform of devotional service, but we often miss this purpose and become fixed in sense gratification. The physical world in itself is a manifestation of the Lord, made from His energy. In one sense, it is a form of the Lord, and in another, it is not. The Lord is thus simultaneously the controller, the physical world, the senses, and the enabler of the state of consciousness that makes us aware of both.
There are two manifestations of the material world: one gross and another subtle, in the form of ideas and concepts. After many hours of external consciousness, the Lord, as Taijasa, pulls the consciousnesses of the soul within, to the realm of dreams, where we experience the subtle impressions stored in the mind. The whole material manifestation is sometimes compared to a dream. A dream is illusory, based on the forgetfulness of our real identity, but it is not false. Similarly, we are now forgetful of our real nature and become absorbed in the different temporary roles we play here. Just as we wake up from our dream state, back to the external reality, we should wake up from the dream of material existence back into our real selves.
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The first state, the waking state (viśva), is connected with the universal form of the Lord, the gross manifestation of the material world, enjoyed by the soul when the consciousness is directed outward. In this state, the soul becomes the enjoyer of the objects of the senses that are part of this world. The Lord of this state is called Vaiśvānara, the universal person.
Everything that exists in the universe is part of the universal form of the Lord, referred to in the verse as Vaiśvānara, or the universal person. He is the form of the Lord who presides over the waking state of consciousness, where one can enjoy the different objects of the senses available in the physical plane.
In the Bhagavad-gītā, Arjuna asked the Lord to see this form, and was confronted with the terrifying vision of a form with unlimited trunks, limbs, and heads, some of them celestial, and others demoniac. He could see both the soldiers on the side of the Kauravas, as well as his own soldiers being devoured by the fierce mouths of this cosmic form.
When Arjuna asked Krsna to see His Universal form, Krsna answered: "You cannot see Me with your present eyes. Therefore, I give you divine eyes. Behold My mystic opulence!" The transcendental eyes given by Krsna allowed Arjuna to see, from the seat in his chariot, everything that exists in the universe as well as the past, present, and future. The many different forms Arjuna saw were the forms of the different demigods, demons, and other powerful beings. All these beings are empowered by Krsna to execute their activities, therefore, they are part of the Lord's Universal body. Arjuna's vision of the universal form devouring the soldiers in both armies where a vision of how the force of Kala, or universal time, would crush them in the near future. Time is an inexorable force that wears out and eventually destroys everything. Everyone and everything in this material world is eventually devoured by time.
What about the dreaming state, or taijasa?
Just like Lord Vaiśvānara, Taijasa is described as saptānga and ekonavimśati-mukhaḥ, indicating He has seven limbs and 19 mouths. This indicates that in the dream state, we experience a subtle version of the world through subtle versions of the 19 faculties (the different senses, organs of action, vital airs, and internal senses). Taijasa is not only a state of consciousness, but also a form of the Lord. Taijasa means "radiant" or "made of light" because He illuminates the impressions of external objects in the mind, and allows the jīva to experience them as dreams.
A dream is illusory, but it is not false. It is real in the sense that someone is experiencing it, but at the same time, it is illusory in nature, since in the dream, we forget our real identity and become absorbed in imaginary situations. A dream is thus not false, but it is illusory and based on the forgetfulness of our real identity. Similarly, this whole material manifestation is not false. We are here experiencing it, as are all the people around us. Things are happening. It is compared to a dream because we become forgetful of our real nature and become absorbed in the different temporary roles we play here. Because they are not connected with our eternal nature, all roles we play in this material world are temporary, whether in the waking or dream state. We play for some time, but eventually, we are forced to leave, and this is called death. After that, if we are still not ready to accept our real nature, a new temporary role is accepted, which we call birth.
Just as Lord Vaiśvānara is Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣnu, Lord Taijasa is Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣnu, who manifests the subtle universal form. Together with Lord Mahā-Vishnu, they are the three puruṣas who direct the affairs of the material world. They are three of the quadruple expansions mentioned in the Māṇḍūkya Upanisad. Krsna Himself is the Fourth, completely away from the material manifestation, fully joyful in His eternal pastimes.
How is it possible that two versions of the universe exist, one physical and another subtle? This is connected with the two versions of the universal form described previously, manifested during the primary and secondary creation of the universe.
The subtle version of the universal form is manifested by Lord Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣnu, who manifests the subtle virāṭ-rūpa inside the universe. This subtle virāṭ-rūpa is then permeated by Paramātmā and given a gross form by Lord Brahma, who covers it with the gross manifestations that form the physical universe.
Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣnu or Paramātmā presides over the virāṭ-rūpa, the physical manifestation of the universe, and manifests also as Viśva to allow the souls to enjoy this gross reality. When the soul is carried by Lord Taijasa to the dream state, one enjoys the subtle manifestations of this form in dreams. In this way, the universe exists simultaneously in a subtle and gross form, presided by Taijasa and Viśva.
This process of primary and secondary creation is similar to the process of constructing a house or building. Constructions exist first in a subtle form (a project) and later are manifested in a gross form when finally built, just as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣnu and Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣnu create the universe in two stages.
Apart from the general creation of the universe, this division manifests in the different creations by the conditioned souls. When an engineer desires to design a plane, for example, the Lord reveals to him, from inside his heart, the knowledge necessary to build it. The engineer may thus take the credit for it, but the plane was conceived by the Lord long before. In reality, everything that exists inside the universe is the manifestation of ideas previously conceived by the Lord. As different living beings desire these things, the Lord gives the knowledge from the heart, so they can satisfy their desires.
Similarly, the ideas and desires stored in our minds are the basis for the gross forms and experiences that we will experience in our future lives, enjoyed through new material bodies we assume one after the other.
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