The Witness (Sākṣin)
The silent awareness that lights up every experience yet acts in none and is touched by none.
The sākṣin is the 'witness' — the self regarded purely as the silent awareness in which all experience appears. It sees the mind's thoughts, the senses' reports, even the states of waking, dream, and deep sleep, yet it does none of these things and is altered by none of them, like a lamp that lights a room without being involved in what goes on there. Recognizing oneself as this untouched witness, rather than as the busy mind it illumines, is central to the Vedāntic and yogic analysis of the self.
How it traveled
- Bṛhadāraṇyaka UpaniṣadMithilā (kingdom of Videha) · -700explains
- UpadeśasāhasrīKālaḍi (Kaladi) · 710explains
- VivekacūḍāmaṇiŚṛṅgeri (Sringeri) · 1400explains
Key passages(15)
Vivekacūḍāmaṇi · Śaṅkara (traditionally ascribed; authorship doubted)
Vivekacūḍāmaṇi · Śaṅkara (traditionally ascribed; authorship doubted)
Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)
Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)
Vijñāna-bhairava · Anonymous (Bhairava Āgama / Tantra)
Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)