VEDANTAM FOR BEGINNERS - 39. SWAMI SIVANANDA.

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Thursday, October 20, 2022. 08:00. 

TAT TVAM ASI =  That Thou Art :

The Maha-Vakyas :

Post-39.

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Introduction :


THAT THOU ART!’—Thus the Sruti emphatically and boldly voices forth the highest and

most sublime truth that is the essence of all scriptures, nay, that is the goal of all scriptural teachings

and assertions.


It is the greatest declaration ever made on the face of the earth. It is the profoundest teaching

ever given since the dawn of creation. It is the only way of expressing and indicating the Truth that

is beyond the reach of the mind and the senses. It is the one unique teaching that comforts the

distressed humanity and infuses inner spiritual strength and courage into them to pooh-pooh the

miseries and pains of mundane existence and soar high into the realm of non-dual, all-blissful

eternal Existence.


It be simple in the words that it employs, it requires the well-polished sharp intellect of the

advanced aspirant to understand the subtlest Truth that it wishes to convey. If it be unostentatious in

its expression, it is at once majestic and imperative in its utterance. If it be brief and blunt, aphoristic

in its exposition of the highest Truth, it readily gets instilled deep in our hearts and minds, and from

within us, it mysteriously raises our consciousness to that non-dual eternal plane of existence.

Such is the greatness of this Mahavakya, Tat-Tvam-Asi, which the Upanishadic Rishi,

Uddalaka, employed to impart Brahma-Vidya to his son and disciple, Svetaketu.

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The Means To Realisation :




Man is essentially Divine. He is not different from that eternal, non-dual substratum,

Existence-Knowledge- Bliss Absolute. He is neither born into this Samsara, nor is he ever in a state

of bondage. He is ever free, Nityamukta


His present miseries and sufferings, his pains and limited pleasures, births and deaths, are

all due to his erroneous identification with the five sheaths and the three bodies. And, in turn, this

erroneous identification is the result of not-knowing of the truth, or the forgetfulness pertaining to

it. This ignorance, Causal Ignorance, is at the root of all actions and reactions. Only the annihilation

of this ignorance can lead us to our original state of non-dual blissful immortal existence.

This ignorance is not born of anything so that it can be destroyed through some action or

other. It is simply a negative aspect. Just as absence of lights brings in darkness, absence of the sun

brings in the night, so too, absence of Real Knowledge has brought in this Causal Ignorance.

No amount of fighting with darkness or night will destroy them. But, when the lamp or the

sun is there, they disappear into nothingness, without leaving a trace. Similarly, where there is True

Knowledge, there exists not even a trace of this Causal ignorance. That True Knowledge is the

Knowledge pertaining to our real, eternal, immortal Self which is not touched either by the causal

ignorance or the effects of causal ignorance, just like the sun is not touched by the darkness of the

night.


So, knowledge alone is the means for the Realisation of the Self; Self-Knowledge alone can

liberate man from the meshes of Samsara.

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The Maha-Vakyas :


The scriptures, the Vedas and the Upanishads, exist to impart this Knowledge to all

humanity so as to free them from this evanescent and ephemeral existence. Scriptural declarations

can be grouped under three heads, viz.,—Vidhi-Vakya or injunctions; Nishedha-Vakya or

prohibitions; and Siddharthabodha-Vakya or the Maha-Vakya that proclaim the highest Truth, the

identity of the Jivatman with the Paramatman, of the individual soul with the Supreme Soul.

The first two exist to purify the deluded Jiva and make him fit to understand and assimilate

the third; for, only in a purified mind intuition will dawn, and with that alone can one attain the

Highest Knowledge.


There are four Maha-Vakyas, each of the four Vedas containing one of them. The four Maha-Vakyas are:



1.Prajnanam Brahma:—‘Consciousness is Brahman.’ This is called the

Svarupabodha-Vakya or the sentence that explains the nature of Brahman or the Self. This is

contained in the Aitareya-Upanishad of the Rigveda.


2.Aham Brahma Asmi:—‘I Am Brahman.’ This is the Anusandhana-Vakya, the idea on

which the aspirant tries to fix his mind. This is contained in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad of the

Yajurveda.


3.Tat Tram Asi:—‘That Thou Art.’ This is the Upanishadic Vakya contained in the

Chhandogya Upanishad of the Sama Veda. The teacher instructs through this sentence.


4.Ayam Atma Brahma:—‘This Self is Brahman.’ This is the Anubhavabodha Vakya or the

sentence that gives expression to the inner intuitive experience of the aspirant. This is contained in

the Mandukya Upanishad of the Atharva Veda.


Of these four Maha-Vakyas, Tat Tvam Asi is of great importance. It is the Upadesa-Vakya


or Upanishad- Vakya. The Guru initiates the disciple into Brahma- Jnana only through this Vakya.


This is also called Sravana-Vakya. This Maha-Vakya gives rise to the other three Vakyas.


The Guru instructs the disciple through ‘Tat Tvam Asi,’—Thou art That. The disciple hears

it (Sravana), considers it deeply and reflects over the idea contained in it (Manana), meditates on

that idea (Nididhyasana) and enters into Samadhi which leads to the Aparoksha Anubhuti, signified

in the assertion Aham Brahma Asmi. To this experience, he gives expression through the

Maha-Vakya Ayam Atma Brahma, and also asserts the nature or Svarupa of Brahman or the Self

that he intuitively experiences through the Maha-Vakya Prajnanam Brahma.


The three words contained in this Vakya have got to be carefully analysed and understood.

Through Sravana and Manana of the meaning of this Sentence, indirect knowledge or

Paroksha-Jnana is had, and that is enough to destroy all sins. This Knowledge helps the aspirant to

disown all actions and reactions, to renounce all attributes that he has taken upon himself in

ignorance. He can lead a care-free, unperturbed and detached life in this world.


Nididhyasana and Samadhi give him the direct Knowledge or Aparoksha Jnana that frees

him from causal ignorance which is the cause of the successive recurrence of births and deaths.



Therefore, it is essential to study this Maha-Vakya in all its details, word by word taken separetely and all together, and understand its meaning.


*****

Next-

The A Priori Method

To be continued 


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