PRASHNA UPANISHAD - 44 : Rishi Pippala.

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#6 Questions, 67 Mantras: “Questions from Disciples Answered.”

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GAARGYA’S QUESTION

Query No 4:

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Monday, 08 Jan 2024. 07:00.

Mantram - 4.5 Q.4C – Taijasa: The Experiencer of Dream.

Post-44.

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Mantram - 4.5 Q.4C – Taijasa: The Experiencer of Dream.

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4.5.1 i) The Content of Dream:

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1 

Atra eshah devah svapne  =  In the dream state, this deity (Taijasa as the Mind)

mahimaanam anubhavati;  =   experiences “greatness”. (meaning “unlimitedness”)

2 

Yad drishtam drishtam anupashyati;   =  Whatever was seen, it sees again;

3 

shrutam shrutam eva artham anushrinoti;   =  whatever was heard, it hears again;

4 

desha dig antaraih cha   =  in different places and directions,

ratianubhootam  =  whatever was perceived, 

5 

punah punah pratianubhavati. = it experiences them again and again.

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4.5.2 ii) The Unfettered Nature of Dream :

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6 

drishtam cha adrishtam cha,  =  Seen and not seen,

shrutam cha ashrutam cha,  =  heard and not heard,

7 

anu-bhootam cha ananu-bhootam cha,  =  perceived and not perceived,

sat cha asat cha –  =   real and unreal –

8 

sarvam pashyati,  =  It (the Mind, now called Taijasa) perceives them all.

sarvah pashyati.  =  Indeed, being all, it perceives them all.

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The third question raised by the student is now being answered – Who is the Deva that sees the dream? 

The answer is now given :

1 

Eshah Devah: 

Earlier, in 4.2.2 line 5, we came across Pare Deve, i.e. the Mind 

referred to as a deity named Viswa in the waking state. The same Mind in the dream state is

named Taijasa. The conditions have changed a bit. In dream, the mind is cut off from all the 

senses. If the senses are not available, then where does the dream get its “content” from?

2-4 

This is answered very poetically in these three lines. It is as if a small ‘hole’ 

remains open in the mind to peep into the impressions created during the waking state.

From those impressions and a little bit of wild imagination – called here as the “greatness” 

of the mind – is staged the dream in the mind. The answer is therefore the Mind, enjoying 

all the impressions once again, even though it could be in a jumbled up order.

About this garbled version of seeing the impressions in a dream, Guruji gave a 

delightful example. A person who is a regular visitor to many public speeches, has seen 

monkeys, and passes buffalos in a farm daily, had a dream once of a monkey delivering a 

thundering lecture to an audience of buffalos!

It is the totally unrestrained imagination of mind that gives the dream Experiencer

the name of Taijasa, meaning “bright or dazzling”.

6-8 

The description of the unfettered mind in dream is continued here. The mind can 

perform great feats in dream. There are no body-Upadhis to restrain it. The laws of Physics 

do not apply in dream – one can fly in one’s dream! A whole storehouse of past impressions 

is available to it to choose from. The “content” to compose dreams can also be previous 

dreams! That makes the new dream completely unrestrained and therefore unpredictable. 

The mind can choose to be whatever it desires to be.

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Next

Mantram - 4.6 Q.4D – Prajna: The Experiencer of Deep Sleep.

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