Taijasa
Taijasa (IAST)Translation: "The Self of the Dream State"
From Mandukya Upanishad (Verse 4, 10)
A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy
Sanskrit: तैजस
Transliteration: Taijasa
Translation: "the dream self; the vital self; the fiery"
Definition:
- It is the self having a conceit in an individual subtle body in dream experience. It is so called because it is of the nature of light and, thus, can function in the absence of external objects. It knows subtle internal objects and enjoys them through the mind.
Mundaka and Mandukya Upanishads (Swami Sharvananda)
Sanskrit: तैजस
Transliteration: Taijasa
Translation: "lit. One of shining element"
Commentary: The macrocosmic aspect of Ātman in the subtle or mental state is called Hiraṇyagarbha. Like Virāt, Hiraṇyagarbha is here alluded to in unification with the microcosmic Taijas.
Mandukya Upanishad (James Swartz)
"The dreamer, consciousness turned inward, enjoys a world similar in some respects to the waking state world and radically different in others. In the dream state, The Self illumines only subtle objects, a replay of the Vāsanā [Saṃskāra] gathered in the waking state expressing in pictorial form. In the waking state, the Vāsanā [Saṃskāra] express as the waker’s thoughts and feelings. Like the waker, the dreamer believes he or she and his or her world is real. The dreamer is equipped with the same instruments for experience as the waker: dream senses to consume dream objects, a dream mind to emote and feel, a dream intellect to think dream thoughts, and a dream ego to go about the business of experiencing the dream life. The dreamer is referred to in the Upaniṣad as Taijasa, the “shining one,” a term indicating its nature as Consciousness. All dreams appear in light, even though the waking senses are inactive, because the Self, Consciousness, is shining through the dreamer, just as it shines through the waker."
The Upanishads: Volume II (Swami Nikhilananda)
Selected from Chapter I: Āgama Prakaraṇa: "Taijasa is the cognizer of internal objects. Taijasa is the cognizer through the mind within. Taijasa experiences the subtle. The subtle object satisfies Taijasa. Taijasa is conditioned by cause and effect. Taijasa, is associated with sleep. The clear ground for realizing Taijasa as of the same nature as the letter U is the common feature of superiority. Another plain reason for such identity is their being in the middle. Through meditation on U, the seeker attains Taijasa."
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
- Swartz, James (1996). Mandukya Upanishad: An ancient Sanskrit text on the nature of Reality. Retrieved from https://www.holybooks.com/mandukya-upanishad-an-ancient-sanskrit-text-on-the-nature-of-reality/.
- Nikhilananda, Swami (1952). The Upanishads: Volume II - Śvetāśvatara, Praśna, and Māndukya with Gauḍapāda's Kārikā. New York, New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers
