Antah-Prajñah
Antaḥ-Prajñaḥ (IAST)Translation: "consciousness is inward"
From Mandukya Upanishad (Verse 4)
A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy
Sanskrit: अन्तःप्रज्ञः
Transliteration: Antaḥ-Prajñaḥ
Translation: "inwardly cognitive"
Definition:
- The dream state wherein consciousness still functions but is not externally manifested. This dream consciousness is technically called Taijasa. Here, the dreamer experiences subtle objects which are projections of the mind.
Mundaka and Mandukya Upanishads (Swami Sharvananda)
Sanskrit: अन्तःप्रज्ञः
Transliteration: Antaḥ-Prajñaḥ
Translation: Whose consciousness is inward
Commentary: "i.e., whose consciousness cognises only the stored up mental impressions of the objective world produced during the awakened state. As the consciousness is completely immured within the mind only, it is called Antaḥ-Prajñaḥ in contradistinction to that in the awakened state, although psychologically it would be wrong to call the states of consciousness, internal or external."
The Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad (Swami Krishnananda)
Sanskrit: अन्तःप्रज्ञः
Transliteration: Antaḥ-Prajñaḥ
Commentary: Dream is not merely a metaphysical problem; it is also a psychological occurrence. It is a reversion of the mind into its own abode, from the world of sensory operations. That is why it is called Antaḥ-Prajñaḥ, and Pravivikta-Bhuk. It is Antaḥ-Prajñaḥ, or internally conscious, because the mind can project a world in dream, independent of the operation of the waking senses. The eyes may be closed, but yet you will ‘see’ in dream. You may plug your ears and go to bed, and yet you will ‘hear’ in dream. Though the tongue does not actually work, you can ‘taste’ in dream. You can have all the sensory functions in dream, though the waking senses are not active then. The mind projects itself as the senses of dream and becomes capable of contacting dream objects which, also, are a partial manifestation of the same mind. The mind divides itself into the subject and the object, the seer as well as the seen. You are the beholder of the dream, and you are also, simultaneously, the world which you behold. The world of dream, together with the beholder in dream, vanishes, when there is waking, in which the dream subject and the dream objects coalesce, come together to form a more integrated consciousness.
References:
- Grimes, John (1996). A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms Defined in English. Albany: State University of New York Press
- Sharvananda, Swami (1920). Mundaka and Mandukya Upanishads: With Sanskrit Text; Paraphrase with Word-For-Word Literal Translation, English, Rendering and Comments. Mylapore, Madras: Sri Ramakrishna Math
- Krishnananda, Swami (1996). The Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad. Retrieved from https://www.swami-krishnananda.org/mand_0.html. p. 64.
