Taijasa - The Dreamer Self
- Daniel McKenzie
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
Taijasa is the individual self (jīva) in the dream state (svapna-avasthā). In this condition, consciousness is turned inward, no longer engaging with the external world through the physical senses, but instead illumining a subtle world projected by the mind itself. This dream world is formed of impressions (vāsanās) carried from waking experience. It is real for the dreamer while it lasts, yet entirely internal and private.
Vedanta calls this second quarter of the self taijasa — literally “the effulgent one” — because it shines with the borrowed light of consciousness reflected through the subtle body. While the viśva (waker) interacts with the gross body and external world, taijasa dwells in the subtle body, experiencing subtle objects. The Upanishads describe it as having “nineteen mouths” — the five senses of perception, five organs of action, five prāṇas, and the fourfold inner instrument (antaḥkaraṇa) — which function in a dreamlike mode .
At the macrocosmic level, the counterpart of taijasa is Hiraṇyagarbha, the totality of all subtle bodies, or the cosmic dream. Just as the dreamer’s world is sustained by the individual mind, the cosmic mind sustains the order of subtle creation. Thus, what is inward and private at the individual level corresponds to the vast and ordered subtle cosmos.
The teaching purpose of taijasa is to reveal that neither waking nor dream defines the Self. Both states depend on consciousness, but consciousness itself is free from both. By reflecting on the unreality of the dream world — so convincing while it lasts, yet vanishing upon waking — the seeker gains insight into the mithyā nature of waking experience as well. This prepares the mind to grasp turīya, the pure consciousness beyond all states.
Root & Meaning
Tejas = light, brilliance.
Taijasa = “the effulgent one”; the individual self in the dream state.
Scriptural References
Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad (mantra 4): “The second quarter is taijasa, whose field is dream, whose consciousness is inward, who has seven limbs, nineteen mouths, and who experiences subtle objects.”
Māṇḍūkya Kārikā (3.36–37): explains that the dream state is projected by the mind and illumined by consciousness.
Bhagavad Gītā (15.8): the subtle body carries the jīva from body to body, as wind carries scents — relevant to the continuity of the dreamer-self.
Traditional View
Taijasa is the dreamer, identifying with the subtle body.
Experiences subtle objects in a self-projected world of vāsanās.
Has nineteen instruments (sense organs, action organs, prāṇas, antaḥkaraṇa).
Inward-turned consciousness, effulgent with borrowed light.
Vedantic Analysis
Microcosm: Taijasa = individual dreamer.
Macrocosm: Hiraṇyagarbha = total dream, cosmic subtle body.
Teaching tool: shows the dependency of experience on consciousness and the mithyā nature of both waking and dream.
The Self is not limited to the dream state — both dreamer and dream are illumined by turīya.
Common Misunderstandings
That dream is mere illusion: Though not real in the waking sense, dream is a valid experience for the dreamer and reveals the power of the mind.
That taijasa is closer to Brahman than viśva: Both are equal projections; neither is the Self.
That consciousness itself dreams: Consciousness never changes; only the subtle body projects and experiences.
Vedantic Resolution
Taijasa represents the jīva in the dream state, illumining a mind-generated universe. It is a pointer to the fact that just as the dream vanishes upon waking, so too waking experience is relative and dependent. The Self, turīya, is the witness of both, ever free and unchanging.
