René Guénon
Chapter 16

THE WAKING STATE OR THE CONDITION OF VAISHVĀNARA

THE first condition is Vaishvānara, the seat[1] of which is in the waking state [jāgaritasthāna], which has knowledge of external [sensible] objects, and which has seven members and nineteen mouths and the world of gross manifestation for its province.[2]

Vaishvānara, as the etymological derivation of the word indicates,[3] is what we have called 'Universal Man', regarded however more especially in the complete development of his states of manifestation and under the particular aspect of that development. Here the extent of this term appears to be limited to one of these states only, the most external of all, that of gross manifestation, which constitutes the corporeal world; but this particular state can be taken as the symbol for the whole of universal manifestation, of which it is an element, since for the human being it is necessarily the basis and point of departure for all realization; as in all symbolism, therefore, it will suffice to effect the transposition appropriate to the degree to which the conception is called upon to apply. It is in this sense that the state in question can be related to 'Universal Man' and described as constituting his body, conceived by analogy with the body of individual man, an analogy which is that of the ‘macrocosm' (_ādhidevaka_) and the 'microcosm' (_adhyātmika_), as we have already explained. Under this aspect Vaishvānara is also identified with Virāj, that is to say with the Cosmic Intelligence insofar as it governs and unifies in its integrality the whole of the corporeal world. Finally, from another point of view, which however corroborates the preceding one, Vaishvānara also means 'that which is common to all men'; in that case it is the human species, understood as specific nature, or more exactly what may be called 'the genius of the species'.[4] Furthermore, it should be observed that the corporeal state is in fact common to all human individuals, whatever may be the other modalities in which they are capable of developing themselves in order to realize, as individuals and without going beyond the human level,[5] the full range of their respective possibilities.

After what has just been said it will be easy for us to explain the significance of the seven members mentioned in the _Māhḍūkya Upanishad_ and which form the seven principal parts of the ‘macro-cosmic' body of _Vaishvānara_. Taking them in order: (i) the assemblage of the higher luminous spheres, that is to say of the higher states of being (considered however in this instance solely in their relationship with the particular state in question), is compared with the part of the head containing the brain, for the brain in fact corresponds organically with the 'mental' function, which is but a reflection of the intelligible Light or of the supra-individual principles; (ii) the sun and the moon, or more exactly the principles represented in the sensible world by these two luminaries, [6] are the two eyes; (iii) the igneous principle is the mouth; [7] (iv) the directions of space (_dish_) are the ears; [8] (v) the atmosphere, that is to say the cosmic environment whence the ‘vital breath' (_prāna_) proceeds, corresponds to the lungs; (vi) the intermediate region (_Antariksha_), extending between the Earth (_Bhū_ or _Bhūmi_) and the luminous spheres or the heavens (_Svar_ or _Svarga_) and considered as the region where forms (still potential in relation to the gross state) are elaborated, corresponds to the stomach; [9] (vii) and finally the earth, that is to say, symbolically, the final term in actuation of the entire corporeal manifestation, corresponds to the feet, which are taken here as the emblem of the whole lower portion of the body. The relationship of these various members to one another and their functions in the cosmic whole to which they belong is analogous (but not identical, be it understood) with the relationship between the corresponding parts of the human organism. It will be noticed that no mention is made here of the heart because its direct relationship with universal Intelligence places it outside the sphere of the individual functions properly so called, and because this 'seat of _Brahma_' is really and truly the central point both in the cosmic and in the human orders, whereas everything pertaining to manifestation, and above all to formal manifestation, is external and 'peripheric', if one may so express it, belonging exclusively to the circumference of the 'wheel of things'.

In the condition we are describing, _Ātmā_, as _Vaishvānara_, becomes conscious of the world of sensible manifestation (considered also as the sphere of that aspect of the 'non-supreme' _Brahma_ which is called _Virāj_). It does so by means of nineteen organs, which are described as so many mouths, because they are the ‘entrance-ways' of knowledge for everything belonging to this particular domain; moreover, the intellectual assimilation which operates in knowledge is often compared symbolically with the vital assimilation effected by nutrition. These nineteen organs (also including in that term the corresponding faculties, in accordance with our previous explanation of the general significance of the word _indriya_) are: the five organs of sensation, the five organs of action, the five vital breaths (_vāyus_), the 'mental' faculty or the inward sense (_manas_), the intellect (_Buddhi_, considered here exclusively in its relation to the individual state), thought (_chitta_), conceived as the faculty which gives form to ideas and which associates them one with another, and, finally, individual consciousness (_ahaņkāra_): these are the faculties which we have already studied in detail. Each organ and each faculty of every individual belonging to the domain in question, that is to say to the corporeal world, proceeds respectively from its corresponding organ or faculty in _Vaishvānara_; of this organ and faculty it is in a certain sense one of the constituent elements, in the same way that the individual to which it belongs is an element of the cosmic whole, in which, for its part and in the place allotted to it (from the fact that it is that individual being and not another), it contributes of necessity toward making up the total harmony.[10]

The waking state, in which the activity of the organs and faculties in question is exercised, is described as the first of the conditions of _Ātmā_, although the gross or corporeal modality to which it corresponds occupies the lowest degree in the order of development (_prapancha_) of manifestation, starting from its primordial and unmanifested principle; it marks indeed the limit of that development, at least in relation to the state of existence in which human individuality is situated. The reason for this apparent anomaly has already been explained: it is in this corporeal modality that we find the basis and point of departure, firstly of individual realization (that is to say of the full realization of the individuality in its integral extension), and afterwards of all further realization which lies beyond the individual possibilities and implies the taking possession by the being of its higher states. Consequently if, instead of placing oneself at the point of view of the development of manifestation, one places oneself, as we are doing at present, at the point of view of this realization with its various degrees, the order of which necessarily proceeds in the contrary direction, from the manifested to the unmanifested, then in that case the waking state must clearly be looked upon as in fact preceding the states of dreaming and deep sleep, which correspond respectively to the extra-corporeal modalities of the individuality and to the supra-individual states of the being.

Footnotes

[1]It is obvious that this and all similar expressions, such as abode, residence, etc., must always be understood in this context symbolically and not literally, that is to say they must be taken as indicating not a place but rather a modality of existence. The use of a spatial symbolism is moreover extremely widespread, a fact which can be accounted for by the actual nature of the conditions governing corporeal individuality, and which dictate the terms in which any translation of the truths that concern other states of the being must necessarily be expressed, insofar as such expression is possible. The term _sthāna_ has as its exact equivalent the word 'state' (_status_), for the root _sthā_ reappears in the Latin _stare_ and its derivatives, with the same meanings as in Sanskrit.
[2]Māṇdūkya Upanishadi.3.
[3]On this derivation, see Shankarāchārya's commentary on the _Brahma-Sūtras_ I. 2.28: it is _Ātmā_ who is both ‘all' (_vishva_) when He appears as the personality, and ‘man' (_nara_) when he appears as the individuality (that is to say as _jīvātmā_). _Vaishvānara_ is therefore a title which is properly befitting to _Ātmā_; on the other hand it is also a name of _Agni_, as we shall see further on (cf. _Shatapata Brāhmana_).
[4]In this connection _nara_ or _nri_ is man considered as an individual belonging to the human species, whereas _mānava_ is more exactly man in his capacity as a thinking being, that is to say as a being endowed with the mental faculty, which is moreover the essential attribute inherent to his species and the one by which the nature of this species is characterized. On the other hand, the name _Nara_ is nonetheless capable of being transposed analogically so as to be identified with _Purusha_; and thus it comes about that _Vishnu_ is sometimes referred to as _Narottama_ or 'Supreme Man', a name which must not be taken as implying the least trace of anthropomorphism, any more than the conception of ‘Universal Man' under all its aspects; and this is true precisely in virtue of this transposition. We cannot here undertake an investigation of the manifold and complex meanings implied in the word _nara_; as for the nature of the species, a whole special study would be needed to deal adequately with the developments to which it may give rise.
[5]It would be illuminating to establish points of concordance with the conception of ‘adamic’ nature in the Jewish and Islamic traditions, a conception which likewise is applicable at different levels and in hierarchically superposed meanings; but this would lead us too far afield and at the moment we must limit ourselves to this bare reference.
[6]Here one might recall the symbolical meanings which the sun and moon bear in the Western Hermetic tradition and in the cosmological theories that the alchemists based on it; in neither case must the designation of these heavenly bodies be taken literally. It should also be observed that the present symbolism differs from that previously alluded to, according to which the sun and the moon correspond respectively to the heart and the brain; here again, long explanations would be necessary in order to show how these different points of view are reconciled and harmonized in the whole framework of analogical correspondences.
[7]We have already mentioned that _Vaishvānara_ is occasionally a name of _Agni_, who is then chiefly considered in the guise of animating warmth, therefore in the form in which he is dwelling in living things; we shall have occasion to refer to this again at a later stage. Furthermore, _mukhya-prāna_ is both the breath of the mouth (_mūkha_) and the principal vital act (it is in the latter sense that the five _vayus_ are its modalities); and warmth is intimately associated with life itself.
[8]One may notice the remarkable relationship between this symbolism and the physiological function of the semi-circular canals.
[9]In one sense, the word _Antariksha_ also includes the atmosphere, which is then considered as the medium of diffusion of light; it is also worth noting that the agent of that diffusion is not Air (_Vāyu_) but Ether (_Ākāsha_). When the terms are transposed in order to make them applicable to the entirety of the states of universal manifestation, _Antariksha_ is identified with _Bhuvas_, the middle term of the _Tribhuvana_, which is ordinarily described as the atmosphere, the word being taken however in a much more extended and less determinate sense than in the preceding case. The names of the three worlds, _Bhū_, _Bhuvas_, and _Swar_ are the three _vyāhritis_, words which are usually uttered after the monosyllable _Om_ in the Hindu rites of _Sandhyā-upāsanā_ (a meditation repeated in the morning, at midday and in the evening). It is noticeable that the first two of the three names derive from the same root, because they refer to modalities of the same state of existence, namely that of human individuality, while the third represents, in this division, the whole of the higher states.
[10]This harmony is also an aspect of _Dharma_: it is the equilibrium in which all disequilibriums are compensated, the order which is made up of the sum of all partial and apparent disorders.
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