Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 12.11.22
Āśraya· The supreme shelterPure Knowledge Marks Transcendental Consciousness
“One can conceive of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in terms of awakened consciousness, sleep and deep sleep — which function respectively through external objects, the mind and material intelligence — and also in terms of the fourth, transcendental level of consciousness, which is characterized by pure knowledge.”
What the purport teaches
- One can conceive of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in terms of awakened consciousness, which functions through external objects.
- Sleep and deep sleep function through the mind and material intelligence, respectively. These also provide ways of conceiving of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
- The fourth level of consciousness is transcendental and characterized by pure knowledge.
Try this today
Write down the four levels described here, noting what each functions through or is characterized by.
Ask yourself
What distinguishes the fourth level of consciousness from the other three?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
From Canto 10, chapter 14 onward, the translation and purports were completed by Śrīla Prabhupāda's disciples after his departure, and published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.