Vyasti – Samasti in Hinduism is the philosophical equation of the individual and the cosmic being. It is a concept that facilitates an understanding of the entire range of creation in one grasp. This equation shows that one reality manifests itself in different ways, both as the objective Universe and as the individual awareness of it.
The classical statement of this equation is evolved as a formula in Mandukya Upanishad, the shortest Upanishad, with only twelve verses, and yet acclaimed as the most comprehensive. This it does by an analysis of the primordial and mystic sound-symbol ‘om’. The constituents of this sound symbol are distinguished as a, u, and m. The individual cosmic equation is summed up in this symbol, so that the contemplation of om is to think of creation as a whole,individually and collectively.
‘A’ stands for the individual in the waking state (jagrata) as well as for the manifested world as a whole (virat). ‘U’ stands for the individual in the dream state (svapna) and for the principle of consciousness behind the world, holding the world together (hiranyagarbha). ‘M’ stands for the individual in deep sleep and for the creator and cause of the world (Ishwara). The silence following the utterance ‘om’ represents both the Atman-Turiya (the transcendence of the above three states) and the Brahman, the Supreme Reality.
In all three states of experience (waking, dreaming and sleeping), the constant and continuing consciousness is the common factor, though its contents in the states differ. What differs is, as a rule, accidental, and what is invariable is the real substratum. Thus, it is shown in Mandukya Upanishad that the substrate consciousness is the core reality of the Individual Self (atman).
By the same token, the objective Universe has its variables but has an invariable basis. What continues in and through the changes is the fundamental reality.
Finally, even this division of what is real into individual consciousness (atman0 and objective reality (Brahman) is seen as less real than the fundamental unity, in realization of which life finds its consummate freedom (moksha), which is the summum bonum.