Turya (तुर्या, IAST: Turyā) is a Sanskrit-origin Hindu girl-name meaning “She who is the transcendent fourth state of consciousness”. Turyā (the fourth) transcends waking, dreaming, and deep sleep, and naming Lalitā thus proclaims her as the infinite, witnessing awareness that underlies and pervades all three states.

Meaning, etymology & significance

The Sanskrit turīya or turyā literally means 'the fourth,' pointing to the state beyond the three ordinary states of consciousness described so vividly in the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad. This fourth state is pure, attributeless awareness — not a state one enters and exits but the ever-present substratum of all experience, identified with the Absolute. As Turyā, Lalitā is not merely a god among phenomena but the silent, luminous ground of being itself.

Though philosophically exalted, Turyā has a simple sound that lends itself to use as a given name, and it is occasionally chosen by families with a Vedāntic orientation. Pronounced TOOR-yaa, with the retroflex 'r' lightly sounded.

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Scriptural source

Turya appears in the Lalitha Sahasranama, among the sacred names of Lalitha.

Astrology — nakshatra, rashi & numerology

By the standard Vedic correspondence between a name’s first syllable and the lunar mansion, Turya aligns with the Purva phalguni nakshatra, under the Simha rashi (Moon sign). Its Chaldean name-number is 5.