Chaitanya (Sanskrit:चैतन्य) refers variously to 'awareness', 'consciousness', 'Conscious Self', 'intelligence' or 'Pure Consciousness'.[1] It can also mean energy or enthusiasm.[2] The meaning of name Chaitanya also stands for "State of Conscious Energy".[3]
It is derived from cetanā (Sanskrit:चेतना), which refers toliving things or consciousness itself.[4]
In the Rig Veda (R.V.IV.XL.5),Nrishad is the dweller amongst humans;Nrishad is explained asChaitanya or 'Consciousness' orPrana or 'vitality' because both dwell in humans.[5]
In his commentary on theIsha Upanishad,[6][page needed]Sri Aurobindo explains that theAtman, the Self manifests through a seven-fold movement ofPrakrti. These seven folds of consciousness, along with their dominant principles are:[7]
The first five of these are arranged according to the specification of thepanchakosha from the second chapter of theTaittiriya Upanishad. The final three elements make upsat-cit-ananda, withcit being referred to aschaitanya.
The essential nature ofBrahman as revealed in deep sleep and Yoga is Chaitanya (pure consciousness).[9]
The Vedantists also speak about the Consciousness orMayaopahita-chaitanya that is associated with the indescribableMaya which is responsible for the functions of creation, preservation and dissolution of entire Existence, and about the Consciousness orAvidyaopahita-chaitanya that is associated withAvidya which causes the wrong identification of theAtman with the body etc.; after negating both Maya and Avidya, that is, after all distinctions are obliterated, what remains is Pure Consciousness or Chaitanya.[10]
The form of an object that the mind assumes, after coming into contact with that object or enveloping it, is calledVritti. The process of enveloping is calledVritti-Vyapti.Vyapti is pervasion and the pervasion by the mind of a certain location called the object isVritti-Vyapti. The awareness that the object is there illuminates the object due to the presence in this moving process called the mind and is calledphala-vyapti. It is only because of the consciousness attending on the mind that the object is perceived.Vedanta says that the object cannot be wholly material and there is no qualitative difference between the object and consciousness which consciousness by coming into contact with the object knows that the object is there which fact implies that consciousness is inherent in the object. This is theVishaya- chaitanya or the 'object-consciousness' which does not mean consciousness of the object but the object which is a phase of consciousness which prevails everywhere.[11]
Toadvaitins, it refers to a pureconsciousness that knows itself and also knows others.[12]
