Consciousness can be a state of existence and not merely a faculty of human being. The question arises if it can be a state of existence will it be subsisting in itself without any substance to form its base? If such a thing is possible how will it mean to itself independent of any neuronic bytes of computation or microtubules to talk the current language. If it is not material-dependent then any question of quantum characterization will not be arising. But the question will remain where will it be localised. Non-localisation to be understood as at present requires some material frame of reference even to talk about it. If it is only higher mathematics, then also some should be doing the maths and some should be there to whom it 'means' or 'is calculable'.
But in the poem of Thirumangaiyalwar, this particular question of whether consciousness is a state of existence or just a faculty of existent thing is raised in a peculiar manner. But the point raised is in the technical rigour even though the context is devotional-poetical. Either we can enjoy the poetry and devotion or we can delve into the technical metaphysical point put forth through theology or we can do both.
Now to the poem.:
'I was suffering sorrow.
shriveled by sorrow
mentally paining
born into this big havoc of sorrow
enjoying in the company of young ladies
always mindful of joining with them
I was running running and at last
by the saving providence
I came to know the great state of awareness
and then panged and panged for
at last I came to realise the Name
Narayana.'
( my trans of 'VaadinEn vaadi varundinEn' of Periya Thirumozhi)
'I came to know the great state of awareness' - uNarvenum perumpadam terindu'. In this can iuNarvu be called 'a state'.? The commentator has elaborated this point in an excellent fashion and along with the foot-notes called 'arumpadam' the point is clearly brought to full focus. What does the commentator say? What further the 'arumpadam' footnotes elaborate? This is what we are going to consider here.
The commentator, Sri Periyavacchanpillai, comments on this clause viz., 'uNarvenum perumpadam terindu', 'came to know the great state of awareness '- by just giving one quotation and one comment. The quotation is from JitantE stotram - 'vijnanam yaditam prAptam'; the comment is 'kitakkaip pAyilE veLLam kotthArp polE'. The arumpadam-author weaves out the full explanation with the help of these two notes.
The quotation means 'which awareness that should occur and be experienced'. It comes in jitantE stotram. The fuller line where this quoted part comes is the line 'vijnAnam yadidam prAptam, yadidam stAnam arjitam'. The commentator's immediate purpose is to show a pramanam, a reference-authority, to illustrate that 'uNaarvu' can be called 'a state'. For that his attention is on vijnAnam and stAnam. vijnAnam which is uNarvu in the poem, is called 'stAnam' in the quote. There his purpose is over and he has shown the reference for calling awareness to be a state of existence.
But in the quote vijnAnam is also described as prAptam. What is meant by prAptam? PrAptam is that which is attained without effort occurring of its own accord. Some example must be given so that we can understand what is meant by 'attained without effort occurring of its own accord'. That example is given by the commentator as 'kidakkaip pAyilE veLLam kotthArp polE'. It means 'like floods that come out from the place where beddings are laid in the ground and the water soaks the mattress.' The commentator has not openly written that to explain what is prAptam he is supplying the note 'kidakkaip pAyilE veLLam kotthArp polE'. He has just given the two notes one by one. It is only the arumpadam which helps us to unveal the connection between the two notes.
Now to explain what is meant by the second note which means 'just like floods rising from where the bedding mattress is laid'. Here no one has gone in search of the river or sea to bathe in. But water has of its own accord come out of the ground, where a person is lying in his bed and soaked his mattress. This case of the person attaining the water is due to no efforts of that person and it has occurred of its own accord. Say, imagine the person has gone to bathe himself in Ganga and thereby incur great punyam. But the person is unable to move out due to illness or some other reason. But the river Ganga suddenly in a flood gushes across the whole locality and rises up from the ground where the person is lying. In that case the person cannot claim to have taken efforts to reach the river and bathe. The river itself has come to him of its own accord and bestowed on him the punyam also in spite of his inability to move. All this go to explain the word 'prAptam'.
In the arumpadam 'pRaptam' is explained as 'ayatna labdam'. 'attained without any effort'. Why the arumpada-author chooses to explain prAptam, the word that comes in the quote (jitantE stotram) as 'ayatna labdam' as 'attained without any effort'? Because the commentator has given in his commentary 'kidakkaippAyile veLLam kottharp polE' - 'just like floods rising from where the bedding mattress is laid'
Now there is a silent dialogue going between the commentary and the arumpadam. The commentator wants to explain why 'awareness' uNarvu can be called a state of existence. How can it be called a 'padam'? For that he quotes 'jitantE stotram. 'vijnanam yaditam prAptam yaditam stAnam Arjitam'. In the referential quote that is pramana, vijnanam is termed as stAnam, as state of exitence. So there is a pramanam already which makes this expression 'uNarvenum perumpadam' as something in line with the pramanams that are available. But the commentator while making use of the word stAnam, he also wants to explain the description given in the jitantE stotram as yad idam prAptam. So to explain the adjective 'prAptam' he has given just a clue-note like 'flood in the bed soaking'. So we are able to understand the mind of the commentator fully only with the help of the arumpadam-author. He only connects the clues by being more expressive and giving the meaning of prAptam as 'ayatna labdam', which thereby explains the second note given by the commentator regarding the flood.
Just to illustrate how the manipravala commentaries are doing minute exegesis while bringing out the aesthetics of the poem, I have in some detail explained this. Our original question is - consciousness is it a faculty or a state of existence? And the approaches of science and vedantic theology may differ but the concern is nothing less serious in either.
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