[Advaita-l] Ishwara Turiya?

[Ramesh Krishnamurthy]

On 8 March 2012 22:45,  <rajaramvenk at gmail.com> wrote:
<< So, your position is that there are only four states, no fifth as
stated in Sri Subramanian's mail. Also Ishwara is not turiya as stated
by Sri Devanathan. Did I understand you right?>>

While Vidyasankar may respond separately, I might add here that even
turIya is not, strictly speaking, a "state". Rather it is a reference
to the shuddha chaitanya (=Atman) that is the invariable across all
states. The avasthAtraya analysis considers the 3 commonly experienced
states (waking, dreaming, deep sleep) and explains the turIya as the
invariable across these. The term 'chaturtha' used in the mANDUkya
means "the fourth" but the number 4 is figurative and does not connote
a distinct state.

In other words, turIya is not a distinct state to be experienced.
Rather, it is understood as the invariable across all experiences, or
"Experience" itself. turIya represents my svarUpa as which
nirupAdhika, whereas the regular 3 states are aupAdhika.

Needless to say, if the term turIya is understood properly, the idea
of a "fifth state" becomes meaningless.

On Ishvara (savisheSha brahman) not being turIya, I am in full
agreement with Sri Subrahmanian.