Mandukya Karika, verse 1.1

Text

बहिष्प्रज्ञो विभुर्विश्वो ह्यन्तःप्रज्ञस्तु तैजसः ।
घनप्रज्ञस्तथा प्राज्ञ एक एव त्रिधा स्मृतः ॥ १ ॥

bahiṣprajño vibhurviśvo hyantaḥprajñastu taijasaḥ |
ghanaprajñastathā prājña eka eva tridhā smṛtaḥ || 1 ||

1. Viśva (the first quarter) is he who is all-pervading and who experiences the external (gross) objects. Taijasa (the second quarter) is he who cognizes the internal (the subtle) objects. Prājña is he who is a mass of consciousness. It is one alone who is thus known in the three states.

Shankara Bhashya (commentary)

The implication of the passage is this:—That Ātman is (as witness) distinct from the three states (witnessed) and that he is pure1 and unrelated,2 is established by his moving in three states, in3 succession, and also on account of the knowledge, “I am. that,” resulting from the experience which unites4 through memory. The Śruti also corroborates it by the illustration5 of the ‘great fish’, etc.