Shri Lalitha Sahasranamam: Namam 262: Shri Turya (OM turyAyai namaH)

 In Namams 249 to 274, the Divine Mother’s  Five functions and Her Five Isvara forms are described. 

The Divine Mother is in the state of Turiya. 

Turiya is the fourth state, after soul’s waking, dreaming and deep sleeping conditions. The Divine Mother has assumed this fourth state “Turiya” also. She is not going from one state to another. There is an pervading state. 

Turya is the Divine Mother who is eternal compared to all universal being. She is the basis of all three plus one states of the soul. Turiya provides the energies to the soul in all earlier three states. “I do not know; I slept comfortably” is the experience of the soul in deep sleep but Turiya is needed to experience that and further to explain that earlier state experiences. 

In a cinema theatre, without a proper screen, the picture cannot be shown well for others to see. Turiya is similar to the screen needed for the soul to be active in other three states. 

Turiya being beyond three basic states of the soul, is needed to realize and attain the Supreme Being. Soul realizes that “I”. Even if the soul gets back lower of three states, Turiya helps it to realize the “I”. The Divine Mother is in that Turiya State. The Divine mother is beyond Brahma, Visnu and Rudra and their respective consorts. 

Motionless the Divine Mother transcends soul’s waking, dreaming and deep sleep states. 

Turiya is a condition where Suddhavidya is experienced and Supreme Bliss is being reached by yogins. It leads to the ultimate realization of the Atman. In Tuyria state the soul is not affected by the experiences of the lower states. Soul exists as a witness in Turiya state. 

Shivasutra includes one more state “Turiyatta”, which is beyond Turiya. The final merging with the Supreme Being occurs only in the fifth state Turiyatta. 

The soul acts through casual body in deep sleep or prajna. It acts through “Mahakarna” or great casual body in Turiya state. The Divine Mother is not separate from the individual soul or aggregate of all souls in that state. 

Varadaraja, the great teacher of Tantra, says that “The Supreme state of Turiya is a wonder. Yogins consider only this state as real. The thinking on Turiya astonishes the modern psychology theories writers. The modern intellectuals debate only three considerations, namely consciousness, sub consciousness and unconsciousness. The Indian Rishis many thousand years ago had come up with the Turiya experiences through their yogic actions. 

Adi Sankara in Soundarya Lahari verse Ninty-seven says: “O Devi, You, who is the Supreme Brahman, is praised by the knower of the Vedas as Sarsasvati, the consort of Brahma; as Laksmi, the consort of Visnu; and as Parvati, the consort of Shiva. But You are Turiya, a state beyond their reach. As Mahamaya, where Your powers can only be understood with great effort, You rotate the universe around constantly”. 

One interpretation is that Turya is a sakti and the Divine Mother is inseparable from it. 

Tripurasiddhanta says that the Divine Mother blessed through Her action a Siddha known as Turiyanandanatha. Thus She is known and became famous as Turya. 

 

The Divine Mother as Goddess Gayathri Devi is ready to bless.

C N Nachiappun          

Singapore, 13 October 2020.

 

References:

1.       The Thousand Names of the Divine Mother published in English by Mata Amritanandamayi Center, San Ramon, California, USA, with Commentary by T. V Narayana Menon

2.       Shri Lalitha Sahasranama Stostram published in Tamil by N. Ramaswami Iyer charities’ societies, Trichirapalli, India, with Commentary by C. V. Radhakrishna Sastry.

3.       The Lalitha Sahasranamam published in Tamil by Shri Ramakrishna Thapovanam, Thiruipparaithurai, Trichy District, Tamilnadu, India with commentary by Shrimath Swami Sithbavandar.