Anuccheda 20

The Jīva Is Not Inert

Rejecting that the self is essentially inert [na jaḍaḥ, quality no. 3], Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa says:

Wakefulness, dreaming, and deep sleep are [the three] conditional states (vṛttis) of the mental faculty (buddhi), arising out of the guṇas of material nature. The jīva, however, has been ascertained to be distinct from these states, due to its being their witness.
(sb 11.13.27)¹

On the other hand, that the self-nature of being transcendent, called turīyatva [lit., “being of the fourth state,” beyond the three conditional states mentioned above], is found in Paramātmā also, is a fact that is widely acknowledged, as found in the [next verse, where it is said,] “Therefore, becoming established in Me, ‘the fourth state,’ the jīva should abandon this identification [with the mental states]”
(sb 11.13.28).²

But the transcendence [turīyatva] found in Paramātmā is altogether of a different category from that belonging to the jīva [which is also of “the fourth state,” i.e., transcendence, since it is distinct from the three conditional states], as indicated in the
following statement:
Virāṭ, Hiraṇyagarbha, and Kāraṇa are the three limiting adjuncts (upādhis) of God in His capacity as the Supreme Immanent (Īśvara). But He who is free from these is called Turīya, the fourth dimension, or in other words, the Supreme Transcendence.
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā 11.15.16)³

Alternatively, Paramātmā’s turīyatva is distinct because Vāsudeva occupies the position of transcendence [turya-kakṣa, i.e., of utter non-involvementwith upādhis] among the members of the catur-vyūha [whereas Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha are said to be figuratively connected to the causal, subtle, and
gross upādhis, respectively].

Commentary by Srila Satyanarayana das Babaji

The three conditional states —wakefulness, dreaming, and deep sleep— are states of buddhi (intellect) or antaḥ-karaṇa (the interior psychic apparatus), caused by the guṇas of sattva, rajas, and tamas, respectively. But the jīva is distinct from these three states as their witness. An observer is distinct from the observed, and the observer must be a conscious being. According to Kṛṣṇa, the jīva is the witness of the three states of buddhi, therefore, the jīva is a conscious being. While one is awake or dreaming, the mind undergoes modifications according to the external or internal experience. This modification of mind is called a vṛtti.
In deep sleep, the subtle and gross senses are inactive, and thus there is no vṛtti formed in the buddhi. In that state there is no awareness of oneself as happy or miserable, male or female, or any sensations from the outside world. This lack of any specific vṛtti is also called suṣupti-vṛtti, or the mental state in which there is nonoccurrence of other mental phenomena. In that state there is only the self-awareness of “I,” which is also inexpressible because of the absolute unawareness of anything else. “I”-consciousness (or in other words, subject-consciousness) has relevance only in relation to objects, or “non-I.” Upon awakening the remembrance comes, “I slept well.” This remembrance is possible only if the person who remembers has experienced a refreshing sleep, the suṣupti-vṛtti.

This means that even in deep sleep the witness of sleep is present. From this Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī concludes that the jīva is distinct from the three states of buddhi and is thus called turīya, or “the fourth.”
Bhagavān Vāsudeva is also called Turīya, not only because He too is transcendental to material nature, but also because He occupies the fourth position (turya-kakṣa), of non-involvement with upādhis, among the members of Svayaṁ Bhagavān’s quadruple
expansions(catur-vyūha). He is thus beyond the three puruṣāvatāras, namely, Kāraṇodakaśāyī, Garbhodakaśāyī, and Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. As such, He is the source of these three puruṣāvatāras.
The verse referred to from the Bhāvārtha-dīpikā is also cited twice in Bhagavat Sandarbha. As it relates to the present discussion, we include here an excerpt from the commentary to Bhagavat Sandarbha, Anuccheda 4:

“This Bhagavān is called Turīya (lit., “the fourth”), because He is
free from any limiting adjuncts, or upādhis, which are of three
types, as given in a verse quoted in Bhāvārtha-dīpikā 11.15.16:
“Virāṭ, Hiṛaṇyagarbha, and Kāraṇa are the three limiting adjuncts
(upādhis) of God in His capacity as the Supreme Immanent, but He
who is free from these is called Turīya, the fourth dimension, or in
other words, the Supreme Transcendence.”

Virāṭ is the gross upādhi, Hiraṇyagarbha the subtle upādhi, and Kāraṇa is māyā (the causal upādhi). These three restrictions apply only to the Puruṣa manifestations, who are known as Kṣīrodakaśāyī, Garbhodakaśāyī, and Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇus, respectively.
But Bhagavān, replete with six opulences, is beyond these three upādhis.
In the following section, Śrī Jīva Prabhu will explain the next characteristic of the jīva as given in the verses of Jāmātṛ Muni, “it is not mutable”(na vikārī).