In the supplied Māṇḍūkya material, prājña ("the cognizant/knowing one") names the self in the deep-sleep state (suṣuptasthāna), counted as the third quarter (tṛtīyaḥ pādaḥ) of the fourfold ātman. The mūla (5) characterizes it as the condition in which one desires nothing and sees no dream, "become one" (ekībhūta), a "dense mass of cognition" (prajñānaghana), made of bliss (ānandamaya), an enjoyer of bliss (ānandabhuk), with cognition as its gateway (cetomukha). In the oṃkāra correlation (11) prājña is equated with the third mātrā 'ma' (makāra), glossed via the roots mi-/apī- (measuring/merging). Gauḍapāda's kārikās systematize prājña as one of three correlated terms — viśva (waking), taijasa (dream), prājña (deep sleep) — distinguished respectively as "outward-cognizing," "inward-cognizing," and "dense-cognizing" (ghanaprajña), the single self regarded threefold; it is located in the heart-space, enjoys/satisfies through bliss, is bound by causation (kāraṇabaddha), and is possessed of "seed-sleep" (bījanidrā) that does not obtain in turya. The supplied glosses note that the name prājña is explained either by knowership of all objects or by cognition (prajñapti) being its distinctive mark; the attestations themselves emphasize the prajñāna/ghanaprajña characterization without spelling out a competing etymology.
Senses
The reading surface. A later ingestion attaches a locus to a settled sense, or proposes a new one (dashed) for human triage — it never rewrites settled prose.
1 · The self in the deep-sleep state (suṣuptasthāna), the third quarter (tṛtīyaḥ pādaḥ): becom…settledadded v1
The self in the deep-sleep state (suṣuptasthāna), the third quarter (tṛtīyaḥ pādaḥ): become one, a dense mass of cognition, made of bliss, enjoyer of bliss, with cognition as gateway.
upaniṣadic
mandukya.upanisad:5mandukya.sankarabhasya:5
2 · The deep-sleep self identified with the third mātrā 'ma' (makāra) of oṃkāra, explained via…settledadded v1
The deep-sleep self identified with the third mātrā 'ma' (makāra) of oṃkāra, explained via roots mi-/apī- ('measures'/'merges'): from it all this is measured out and into it merges.
3 · In Gauḍapāda's threefold scheme, the 'dense-cognizing' (ghanaprajña) member alongside viśv…settledadded v1
In Gauḍapāda's threefold scheme, the 'dense-cognizing' (ghanaprajña) member alongside viśva (outward-cognizing) and taijasa (inward-cognizing) — one self regarded as threefold.
6 · The self as bound by causation (kāraṇabaddha) and possessed of 'seed-sleep' (bījanidrā); i…settledadded v1
The self as bound by causation (kāraṇabaddha) and possessed of 'seed-sleep' (bījanidrā); it cognizes nothing — neither self, nor others, nor truth, nor untruth — yet, unlike turya, retains the latent seed of ignorance/sleep. Distinguished from turya, which shares only the non-apprehension of duality.
7 · prājña as one of the three forms (viśva-taijasa-prājña) whose suffering / the suffering ch…proposedadded v2
prājña as one of the three forms (viśva-taijasa-prājña) whose suffering / the suffering characterized by them is removed by the fourth (turīya/īśāna); prājña named as the member transcended in liberation.
Śaṅkara (bhāṣya)
Why a new sense: Here prājña figures as a locus of suffering (prājñataijasaviśvalakṣaṇānāṃ sarvaduḥkhānāṃ nivṛtti) overcome by turīya — a soteriological role not captured by the existing descriptive/structural senses.
mandukya.agamasastrabhasya:1.10
8 · prājña as one member of the triad (viśva-taijasa-prājña) whose differentiation is an illus…proposedadded v2
prājña as one member of the triad (viśva-taijasa-prājña) whose differentiation is an illusory origination (māyā) of names-and-forms from brahman, with no real birth.
Śaṅkara (bhāṣya)
Why a new sense: These passages treat the viśva-taijasa-prājña distinctions as māyā-produced (avidyākṛtanāmarūpa) appearances with no ultimate origination — an ajāti/non-origination framing of prājña distinct from the threefold-self scheme of s3.
Gauḍapāda: prājña is one of three aspects of a single self (viśva/taijasa/prājña), characterized as 'dense-cognizing' (ghanaprajña); the same self is remembered as threefold. mandukya.karika:1.1
Gauḍapāda: prājña is located in the heart-space, the third of the self's three placements in the body (alongside viśva at the right eye and taijasa within the mind). mandukya.karika:1.2
Gauḍapāda: prājña enjoys/is satisfied by bliss (ānanda), in contrast to viśva's gross and taijasa's refined enjoyment. mandukya.karika:1.3mandukya.karika:1.4
Gauḍapāda: viśva and taijasa are bound by both effect and cause, but prājña is bound by cause alone; neither obtains in turya. mandukya.karika:1.11
Gauḍapāda: prājña cognizes nothing — neither self nor others, neither truth nor untruth — whereas turya is the ever all-seeing. mandukya.karika:1.12
Gauḍapāda: prājña and turya share non-apprehension of duality, but prājña is joined with seed-sleep (bījanidrā), which is absent in turya. mandukya.karika:1.13mandukya.karika:1.14
Gauḍapāda: prājña corresponds to the makāra (the sound 'ma') of oṃkāra; into prājña/makāra the others merge, and at the measureless (amātra) there is no further course. mandukya.karika:1.21mandukya.karika:1.23
Attestation concordance — tier 2, every locus
Append-only. Grows by locus as texts arrive; stays one collapsed table so the senses remain the reading surface.
All 26 attestations ▾
Locus
Witness
Tradition
Stratum
Snippet
mandukya.upanisad:5
Māṇḍūkya (mūla)
upaniṣadic
mula
yatra supto na kañcana kāmaṃ kāmayate na kañcana svapnaṃ paśyati tat suṣuptam | suṣuptasthāna ekībhūtaḥ prajñānaghana evāndamayo hy ānandabhukcetomukh
mandukya.karika:1.1
Gauḍapāda (kārikā)
advaita-vedānta
karika
bahiḥprajño vibhuḥ viśvo hy antaḥprajñas tu taijasaḥ / ghanaprajñaḥ tathā prājña eka eva tridhā smṛtaḥ
mandukya.karika:1.2
Gauḍapāda (kārikā)
advaita-vedānta
karika
dakṣiṇākṣimukhe viśvo manasy antas tu taijasaḥ / ākāśe ca hṛdi prājñas tridhā dehe vyavasthitaḥ
v1Māṇḍūkya mūla + Gauḍapāda kārikā — +12 loci 6 sense(s) drafted from 12 loci.
v2Śaṅkara bhāṣya — +14 loci · 10 routed to existing · 2 new sense(s) proposed s1: 1.5(bhasya:5) gives the etymology and deep-sleep-state identification matching the upaniṣadic gloss. The 'enjoyer of bliss' contrast in 1.5 matches s5. The oṃkāra-makāra/mi-layā passages (bhasya:11, 1.21, 1.23) match s2's makāra=measures/merges gloss. bhasya:10 names prājña as the term flanking taijasa in the threefold viśva-taijasa-prājña arrangement (s3). The kāraṇabaddha/bījanidrā/tattvāgrahaṇa passages (1.11–1.14) all match s6's seed-bound, cognizes-nothing, distinguished-from-turya description. Two new threads warranted proposals: the soteriological cessation-of-suffering-by-turīya role (1.10), and the māyā/non-origination framing of the triadic distinctions (1.6, 1.7, 1.2); 1.2's vaiśvānara/indha material is part of the same agama commentary on the illusory differentiation of the cognizers and is grouped with the illusory-origination proposal as the closest fit. (+1 bhāṣya loci beyond cap not routed)
Caveats
The corpus here is a single tradition (Māṇḍūkya mūla plus Gauḍapāda's kārikā); no Śaṅkara commentary loci were supplied, so no positions are attributed to Śaṅkara despite his being named as a possible witness.
The etymological glosses in the index leads (prājña from knowership of past/future/all objects, or from prajñapti) are not explicitly stated in any supplied locus; the attestations support only the prajñāna-ghana / ghanaprajña characterization and the mi-/apī- gloss tied to makāra (11).
The distinction between prājña and turya (esp. kārikās 1.12–1.14) is drawn to clarify turya by contrast; prājña's defining limitation in this material is its retention of bījanidrā and bondage by cause (kāraṇabaddha).