Jagrat
Jāgrat (IAST)Translation: "The Waking State"
From Mandukya Upanishad (Verses 3, 9)
A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy
Sanskrit: जाग्रत्
Transliteration: Jāgrat
Translation: "the waking state"
The Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad (Swami Krishnananda)
Sanskrit: जाग्रत्
Transliteration: Jāgrat
Commentary: "The waking consciousness is the first foot of the Ātman, as it were, the first aspect or phase of experience that we are studying and investigating. The waking consciousness is Jāgarita-Sthāna, that consciousness which has its abode in the wakeful condition of the individual. And what is its special feature? Bahiṣ-Prajñaḥ: It is conscious only of what is outside, not conscious of what is inside. We cannot even see what is in our own stomachs. How can we see what is in our minds? We are extroverts, aware of only what is external to our bodies, concerned with things which are external to the bodies, and busy with those objects which are other than our own bodies. We deal with things, but all these dealings are with ‘other’ things, not with ourselves. This, is the peculiar structure of the waking consciousness which is engaged in action, and is busy with other things, but not with itself. We are worried over others, not ourselves. We are engaged in the study, observation, experimentation and dealing of other objects and persons; not ourselves. This is the peculiarity of the waking consciousness, conscious only of what is external. Saptānga Ekonavimśatimukhah: Seven-limbed and nineteen-mouthed is this consciousness. It looks as if it is a Rāvana multiplied, with so many heads, as it were. Seven limbs this consciousness has, and nineteen mouths it has, and it eats the gross – Sthūla-Bhug. It swallows, consumes what is gross. And what is its name? Vaiśvānara is its name. This is the first foot of the Ātman. This is the outermost appearance of the Ātman."
"What do the nineteen mouths of the Jīva consume? Physical objects. What do we see? Physical objects. What do we hear? Physical things.What do we taste? Physical objects. And what do we grasp with our hands? Physical objects. Where do we walk with our feet? On the physical earth.What do we think in our minds? Physical objects. All the functions of ours through these nineteen mouths are connected with the physical world. Even the ideas that we may entertain in our minds are connected with physical objects. We cannot think only subtle things, because even the subtle things that we may try to think are only impressions of the perception of physical objects. We cannot think anything super-physical. We are therefore on earth, in a physical world, in a physical universe. Our consciousness is tethered to the physical body, and the counterpart, cosmically, of this physical consciousness, is Vaiśvānara. This is Jāgarita-Sthāna, the waking abode of consciousness, waking in the sense that it is wakeful to the physical world, it is aware of the physical world, and it knows nothing other than the physical world."
References:
- Grimes, John (1996). A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms Defined in English. Albany: State University of New York Press
- Krishnananda, Swami (1996). The Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad. Retrieved from https://www.swami-krishnananda.org/mand_0.html. p. 43, 50.
