Since the word (Shabda) Atma is used (Atmasabdat’, the ‘thinking (Ikshateh)’ or projection mentioned in the previous aphorism Ikshaternasabdam (Brahma Sutra 5) has to be a function of the Atma. Fire or water is the product, the effect of the will. The words ‘projection’ and ‘manifestation’ cannot be interpreted in a secondary or figurative sense (gaunah). The Atma alone is indicated as the Primal Entity in the revealed texts (sruti) or Veda. The urge or resolution is a happening in the Atma itself, not in any other entity. The entire cognizable cosmos is just Being (sat) or Is. Whatever form it has assumed in the process of time and in the perimeter of space, all of it is, in reality, only Being, that is to say, Atma! This is the lesson of the Veda.
The four steps of the Atmic awareness (the waking stage, the dream-stage, the deep sleep stage and the Turiya) are very much akin to the four steps in the recital of Om. The A.U.M. and the ultimate Mantra are on a par with the waking, dreaming, sleeping and merging steps. The Atma is evident in mind; in deep sleep it reposes in the heart; in the fourth stage it is all of oneself.
To sum-up, it can be laid down that in all stages of daily life, and in all circumstances and conditions, and in all activities and experiences, the Atma exists in all beings. All is Atma. Atma is All - the Cosmos is manifested as One by the One. This is what the Sutra reveals. Without the awareness of this unity, there cannot be joy and peace. Without joy and peace, Truth is an empty concept. Therefore, one should know the Cosmos as full,Purna. It is not a void or vacuum, it is Atma Itself. (Sutra Vahini, pp. 44, 48)