Upanishads · Varāha 1.11
॥
Devanāgarī
एतेऽरिषड्वा विश्वश्च तैजसः प्राज्ञ एव च । जीवत्रयं सत्त्वरजस्तमांसि च गुणत्रयम्
Transliteration (IAST)
ete'riṣaḍvā viśvaśca taijasaḥ prājña eva ca | jīvatrayaṃ sattvarajastamāṃsi ca guṇatrayam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
एते अरि-षट्-वर्गाःete ari-ṣaṭ-vargāḥthese are the sixfold enemy
विश्वः च तैजसःviśvaḥ ca taijasaḥand Vishva, Taijasa
प्राज्ञः एव चprājñaḥ eva caand Prajna, likewise
जीव-त्रयं सत्त्व-रजः-तमांसिjīva-trayaṃ sattva-rajaḥ-tamāṃsithe triad of the living; sattva, rajas, tamas
च गुण-त्रयम्ca guṇa-trayamand the three qualities
Translation
"These are the sixfold enemy. Vishva, Taijasa, and Prajna are the triad of the living; sattva, rajas, and tamas are the three qualities."
Version
013b9f0a009c · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Three names of the living being are named, by its three states: Vishva in waking, Taijasa in dream, Prajna in deep sleep. These names are taken from the Mandukya (3–5) and deserve examination, for they contain a subtlety. Vishva, "universal": the waking one is turned outward and tastes the gross.
Taijasa, "luminous": the dreamer is turned inward and tastes the subtle, that is, his own impressions. Prajna, "understanding": the dreamless sleeper; he is so named because in him everything has folded into pure capacity to know, not yet knowing anything. Worth noting is that the names are different, while the person is one.
Here lies the argument the Vaishnava side draws from this passage. Were it not the same one in the three states, there would be no one, in the morning, to say "I slept." But he says it; and says it of all three states as his own.
So there is one who passes through all three and is none of them. On this the Mandukya builds its "fourth," turiya; discussed when reading the Panchabrahma (13). Let us add what it does not draw from this, and what the Vaishnava side does draw. From the fact that the one passing through the three states is one, it does not follow that he is one for all: from the fact that I am one across my three states, it does not follow that I am you.