Prājña
Prājña · pra-jña, “the knower, the ātmā in deep sleep”
Buddhi has other meanings too: see all meanings of Buddhi.
Grammar: masculine noun, from prajñā (knowing, wisdom): “the knower”.
Meaning: the ātmā as it identifies with the buddhi in sushupti (deep sleep), when the senses are dissolved; it is the letter M of the praṇava (Oṃ).
In the scriptures: Agnideva teaches Prājña in the Brahma-vijñāna, the knowledge of Brahman.
- The ātmā that identifies with the waking state is Viśva, and Virāṭ, the waking state and Viśva are the form of the letter A; the ātmā that identifies with the dream state is Taijasa, of the form of the letter U. The state in which the instruments, the senses, are dissolved and only the buddhi remains is sushupti. The ātmā that identifies with this buddhi and sushupti is Prājña. These three are called the letter M and the praṇava, and this Prājña is also the letters A, U and M (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 377).
- In the contemplation of the Brahman that follows, each line ending “I am the Brahman of the form of light”, the seeker meditates on that Brahman as free of the letter A and different from Viśva, as without the dream state and different from Taijasa, and as free of the place of sushupti, of the state of Prājña and of the letter M; it is turīya (the fourth), eternally pure, awake and free (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 378).
Related terms: Sushupti · Viśva · Taijasa · Turīya · Praṇava · Oṃkāra
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 377–378