Traya Avastha, the Three States are explained in the Mandukya Upanishad (1.3 - 1.5).
According to the Mandukya Upanishad, a human being always exists in one of the three states which are called Jagrat Avastha (waking state), Swapna Avastha (dream state) and Sushupti Avastha (deep sleep state meaning dreamless sleep).
Ever since we were born, every single moment, we are in one of these Traya Avastas (three states) and every human being effortlessly slips from one state into another.
In Jagrat Avastha, the waking state, the human being with the Thinking Ability, the Consciousness interacts with the Vishwa which means the World. Hence in this state the Consciousness is called Vishwa or Vaishvanara.
In Swapna Avastha, the dream state, the human being with the Thinking Ability, the Consciousness is in an imaginary dream world. The dreams are like movies and are always well lit. Light is called Tejas and hence in this state the Consciousness is called Taijasa.
In Sushupti Avastha, the deep sleep state, the human being with the Thinking Ability is not doing any thinking because the mind is taking rest. Hence in this state a person exists as pure thinking ability without any thoughts, pure Consciousness. In this state the Consciousness is called Pragna. Prajna means Consciousness.
The Atman, the Life Energy provides us life and sentience (Consciousness). The Atman, the Life Energy when it powers the eyes they get the seeing ability. When it powers the ears they get the hearing ability. In the same way when the Atman powers the mind, the mind gets its thinking ability, the Consciousness and obtains the capability of becoming Conscious or becoming Aware of any thing of interest.
When the Atman powers the mind it shines as Consciousness in the mind. The challenge is to exist as that pure Consciousness without any thoughts or to be in one single thought that "I am the Thinking Ability", "I am Awareness", "I am Consciousness". When one firmly grasps this it is called Self-Realization.
It is quite obvious that the Atman, Life Energy is the common thread present in all the Traya Avastha, the three states. Whenever the Atman, the Life Energy stops doing its job then the body and the mind are declared dead and discarded. We should realise this, should not identify "I" with the body and the mind.
We also should not identify "I" with our physical actions or mental actions which are our thoughts. For example, using my skill I physically act and make a wooden table. It is very clear to us that "I" am not the table nor "I" am the physical actions I undertook to make the table.
In the same way our thoughts are nothing but our mental actions and hence we should not identify "I" with our thoughts. Unfortunately this is exactly what we do. All the thoughts we have about ourselves is called Personality and we strongly identify "I" with it. From where did these thoughts come from? From our Thinking Ability without which there is no existence for the thoughts. All we need to do is identify "I" with this powerful Thinking Ability, the Consciousness.
When we are in a single thought that "I am Thinking Ability", "I am Consciousness", "I am Atman" and finally grasp this Truth, the Mandukya Upanishad calls it as "Chathurtha" meaning "The Fourth". This is not a separate Fourth State but is present in all the Traya Avastha, the three states. Guru Gaudapada calls this state as "Turiya".
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