Devanagari
विज्ञानमेतत्त्रियवस्थमङ्ग
गुणत्रयं कारणकार्यकर्तृ ।
समन्वयेन व्यतिरेकतश्च
येनैव तुर्येण तदेव सत्यम् ॥ २० ॥
Verse text
vijṣānam etat triy-avastham aṅga
guṇa-trayaṁ kāraṇa-kārya-kartṛ
samanvayena vyatirekataś ca
yenaiva turyeṇa tad eva satyam
Synonyms
vijṣānam
—
(the mind, whose symptom is) full knowledge
;
etat
—
this
;
tri
—
avastham — existing in three conditions (wakeful consciousness, sleep and deep sleep)
;
aṅga
—
My dear Uddhava
;
guṇa
—
trayam — manifesting through the three modes of nature
;
kāraṇa
—
as the subtle cause ( adhyātma )
;
kārya
—
the gross product ( adhibhūta )
;
kartṛ
—
and the producer ( adhidaiva )
;
samanvayena
—
in each of them, one after another
;
vyatirekataḥ
—
as separate
;
ca
—
and
;
yena
—
by which
;
eva
—
indeed
;
turyeṇa
—
fourth factor
;
tat
—
that
;
eva
—
alone
;
satyam
—
is the Absolute Truth .
Translation
The material mind manifests in three phases of consciousness — wakefulness, sleep and deep sleep — which are products of the three modes of nature. The mind further appears in three different roles — the perceiver, the perceived and the regulator of perception. Thus the mind is manifested variously throughout these threefold designations. But it is the fourth factor, existing separately from all this, that alone constitutes the Absolute Truth.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O Uddhava! Intelligence has three states: waking, dreaming and deep sleep, which arises from the conditions of cause, effect and doer. Everything arises by knowledge which pervades the other states. That fourth state is realized by samādhi.
Having explained that the effect is none other than the cause, the Lord now states that what is revealed is none other than the revealer. Vijṣānam means intelligence. Intelligence has three states: waking, dreaming and deep sleep. According to grammarians like Vyāḍi and Gālava, the form triy-avastham is permissible. The causes of these states are the three items called cause (adhyātmam), effect (adhibhūtam) and doer (adhidaivam). The effect of these three is the universe with the three states of consciousness. The fourth state, pervasive knowledge, by which all things arise in succession (samanvayena), is real. Tam eva bhāntam anu bhāti sarvaṁ tasya bhāsā sarvam idaṁ vibhāti: after the Lord shines, all things shine and by his illumination all things shine. (Katha Upaniṣad 2.2.5) Cakṣuṣaś cakṣur uta śrotrasya śrotraṁ manaso ye mano viduḥ: the Lord is the eye of the eye, the ear of the ear and the mind of the mind. (Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2.7) “We cannot realize the fourth state except by special knowledge.” This state is realized by samādhi (vyatirekataḥ).
Purport
As stated in
Kaṭha Upaniṣad
(2.2.15),
tam eva bhāntam anubhāti sarvaṁ/ tasya bhāsā sarvam idaṁ vibhāti:
“Everything radiates its illumination in pursuance of His original illumination; His light illuminates everything in this universe.” As thus described, the entire range of perception, cognition and sensitivity is an insignificant expansion of the perception, cognition and sensitivity of the Personality of Godhead.