He who, dwelling in the waking state, whom the waking state does not know, whose body is the waking state, who controls the waking state from within —He is your Ātman, the Inner Ruler, the Immortal.

Now we move from elements and guṇas to states of consciousness. Jāgrat (waking) is the state where we perceive the outer world through the senses. Though it may seem that “we are awake,” the waking state does not know the one who inhabits and presides over it. In our yoga practice, this invites a different vigilance: not just being awake to the world, but being aware that we are aware. The antaryāmin in waking is the witness of all our daily activity.