Turīya

Turīya, “the fourth”

Grammar: adjective and neuter noun: “the fourth”.

Meaning: the fourth state, beyond the three states of waking (jāgrat), dream (svapna) and deep sleep (sushupti): Brahman itself, the ātmā as it truly is.

In the scriptures: the Agni Purāṇa speaks of turīya in these places.

  • In the nirvāṇa-dīkshā: Parameśvara teaches the purification of the Śānti-kalā in the nirvāṇa-dīkshā. The Śānti-kalā holds two tattvas, Īśvara and Sadāśiva; its sole cause is Īśvara, and its state is the turīya state. Having contemplated that all its worlds and tattvas are within the Śānti-kalā, the ācārya completes its purification as before (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 87).
  • In the yati-dharma: Pushkara teaches the dharma of the yati (the renunciate), which shows the way to jñāna and moksha. This ātmā is the Paramātmā: truth, knowledge, endless, bliss; this is Brahman. “You are that Brahman; I am that Brahman.” The Parabrahman is of the form of light; it is the ātmā, Vāsudeva, of the form of Oṃkāra, free of body, senses, mind, intellect, prāṇa and ahaṅkāra. Because it is free of waking, dream and deep sleep, it is turīya. The yati meditates: “I am Brahman: turīya, eternal, pure, of the form of knowledge, free, truth, bliss, without a second, the supreme light, imperishable, all-pervading, and Hari. I am the undivided Purusha who is in Āditya.” One who gives up all karmas, is equal in pleasure and pain, patient and pure in feeling, breaks through the brahmāṇḍa and becomes Brahman (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 161).
  • In Brahma-vijñāna: Agnideva gives a contemplation in which each line ends “I am the Brahman that is the form of light”. That Brahman is free of the letter A, of the dream state and Taijasa, of deep sleep and Prājña and the letter M; free of waking, dream, deep sleep and the rest; it is turīya, the fourth, eternally pure, awake and free, truth, bliss, without a second. The contemplation closes: “I am the Parabrahman, which is the form of samādhi and the state of moksha” (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 378).

Related terms: Jāgrat · Svapna · Sushupti · Taijasa · Prājña · Brahman · Oṃkāra

Sources

  • Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 87, 161, 378