Vaiśvānara | The Self of the Waking State

Vaishvanara

Vaiśvānara (IAST)
Translation: "The Self of the Waking State"
From Mandukya Upanishad (Verses 3, 9)

A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy
Sanskrit: वैश्वानर
Transliteration: Vaiśvānara
Translation: "universal being"
Definition:

1. The self of the waking state. It is the self that leads all creatures in diverse ways to the enjoyment of different objects.
2. The locus of meditation on Vaiśvānara is the right eye.
3. According to Advaita Vedānta, it stands for the cosmic self in waking, while Viśva stands for the waking individual self.

Mundaka and Mandukya Upanishads (Swami Sharvananda)
Sanskrit: वैश्वानर
Transliteration: Vaiśvānara
Translation: "lit. Where all beings live and who is in all beings"

Definition: "The gross macrocosmic aspect of the universal soul is called Virāt and the microcosmic is known as Vaiśvānara. The Śruti mentions here only of the Viśva or the Vaiśvānara and not of the Virāt, thereby Śruti tacitly alludes that the same Ātman in the gross who is viewed from the individual standpoint as the Individual soul is also the Universal Soul."

The Upanishads: Volume II (Swami Nikhilananda)

Selected from Gauḍapāda's Kārikā, Chapter I: Āgama Prakaraṇa:
"Viśva is all-pervading, the experiencer of external objects. Viśva is the cognizer through the right eye. Viśva experiences the gross. The gross object satisfies Viśva. Viśva is conditioned by cause and effect. Viśva is associated with dreaming. When it is desired to describe the identity of Viśva and the letter A, the chief ground given is the fact that each is the first in its respective sphere. Another reason for this identity is the all-pervasiveness of each. Through meditation on A, the seeker attains Viśva."

Mandukya Upanishad (James Swartz)

"The waker’s consciousness is turned outward, the Self shining through the senses, mind, intellect, illumining their respective objects. When idealistic metaphysics claims there is no world apart from the perceiver, it is simply saying that the Self doesn’t see a world unless it shines through the body, mind or intellect, not that the physical world doesn’t exist. Though existing independently of the waker’s perceptions, it doesn’t exist apart from Consciousness, the Self.

The waker, Viśva, is a consumer of experience. The Sanskrit literature describing the waker calls it “the one with thirteen mouths.” The “thirteen mouths” refer to the ten senses, mind, intellect, and ego. These instruments are mouths in that, powered by the momentum of past experiences, they aggressively seek experience in the present. The physical body consumes matter, the five elements in various permutations combinations; the mind constantly chews emotion; the intellect eats ideas; and the ego gobbles any experience it believes will make it feel whole, adequate, and happy."

References:

1. Grimes, John (1996). A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms Defined in English. Albany: State University of New York Press
2. 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
3. Nikhilananda, Swami (1952). The Upanishads: Volume II - Śvetāśvatara, Praśna, and Māndukya with Gauḍapāda's Kārikā. New York, New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers
4. 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/. p. 7.