Upanishads · Varāha 1.6
॥
Devanāgarī
देहत्रयं स्थूलसूक्ष्मकारणानि विदुर्बुधाः । अवस्थात्रितयं चैव जाग्रत्स्वप्नसुषुप्तयः
Transliteration (IAST)
dehatrayaṃ sthūlasūkṣmakāraṇāni vidurbudhāḥ | avasthātritayaṃ caiva jāgratsvapnasuṣuptayaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
देह-त्रयंdeha-trayaṃthree bodies
स्थूल-सूक्ष्म-कारणानि विदुःsthūla-sūkṣma-kāraṇāni viduḥgross, subtle, causal — they know
अवस्था-त्रितयं च एवavasthā-tritayaṃ ca evaand likewise the three states
जाग्रत्-स्वप्न-सुषुप्तयःjāgrat-svapna-suṣuptayaḥwaking, dream, deep sleep
Translation
"Three bodies — gross, subtle, and causal — the wise know; and three states: waking, dream, and deep sleep."
Version
c572a8a11bda · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The three bodies and three states are added, discussed when reading the Jabala-darshana (6.1). It is worth pausing on the causal body, for it has no counterpart in Vaishnava tradition and is hence unfamiliar. Karana-sharira, "the causal body," is what remains at death, when the gross has been burned and the subtle has dispersed. It is a seed: a folded store of tendencies, from which the next life unfolds.
In practice it is identified with the state of deep sleep: there is neither body nor dream there, and the person exists — and in the morning remembers that he slept sweetly. This observation is, in the Upanishads, the chief argument that a person is neither the body nor the mind: in deep sleep neither exists, yet the sleeper remains and bears witness. Let us add what the Vaishnava side adds to this, and what deserves knowing.
It accepts the three bodies and three states; but says that in deep sleep a person is not free, only inactive: the seed remains whole, and by morning everything returns. Hence it does not hold peace to be the goal, as discussed when reading the Jabala-darshana (10.12): a contentless state is a halt, not an attainment. Let us add that even the Mandukya, having examined the three states, does not stop at deep sleep, but names turiya, "the fourth"; and that it saw fit to add a fourth is itself an admission that the third is not enough.