Who is the hearer? Who says, I am Brahman?
Teaching of TTA becomes useful (Up Sa18.111) if it is meant for a hearer. In 18.76/77, there is a question: who is the hearer of the teaching? Two possible answers, namely, the Self and the ego are examined. It is argued that Self cannot be the hearer because It is free from action. The ego which is miserable, and a sufferer cannot be the hearer because it cannot say, ‘I am free’. Does it mean that the scripture is not a pramAna and teaching has no value? To dismiss such a possibility, 18.78 suggests a solution by introducing chidAbhAsa.
Tag Archives: tat tvam asi
Tat Tvam Asi (Part 5)
Sravan is sufficient
In Sravan, the student listens to the teacher about the teaching, namely, TTA. On understanding the full import of TTA, the student has Self-knowledge, i.e., I am Brahman and there is liberation. Self-knowledge and liberation are simultaneous. There is no time-gap. In chapter 18 titled ‘Tat Tvam Asi’ of Upedesha Sahasri (Up Sah), ShankarAchArya introduces a Purva Paksha (PP) in 18.09 who holds that mere Sravan is not sufficient for liberation. It should be followed by repetition of ‘I am Brahman’. PP argues as below.
Tat Tvam Asi (Part 4)
Meaning of words, Direct meaning of a sentence, Bhag Tyag Lakshna, Suggestive meaning of a sentence
In chapter 3 of Naiskarmya Siddhi, SuresvarAchArya explains the method to interpret and operationalize Tat Tvam Asi. Like any sentence, TTA is made of words and to ascertain the meaning of a sentence, meaning of words is to be ascertained followed by their inter-se relationships. In Vakya Vritti (VV) 1.9 and 1.10, the teacher affirms the student’s concern that if he does not know the meanings of the words, how can he comprehend the mahAvAkya.
Tat Tvam Asi (Part 3)
Vedantic teaching, i.e., TTA is completed in section 8 of chapter 6 of Ch Up. It is sravan (listening) to the teacher. Since Svetaketu has doubts, sections 9 to 16 are manan (removal of doubts) so that the student has conviction about the teaching. Svetaketu has doubts because he is unable to figure out why human beings do not claim identity with the Deity though they merge in It every day in deep sleep. In deep sleep, the jiva loses his individuality as he merges with the Deity. That means that the mind, the instrument of knowing is resolved and is dormant. Knower-hood is suspended temporarily. This is why, on waking up, a jiva does not claim identity with the Deity. The teacher explains with illustrations.
Tat Tvam Asi (Part 2)
Existence inheres every worldly object. Before creation, all the worldly objects are in seed (unmanifest) form in Existence and the creation unfolds gradually. Existence manifests everywhere whereas consciousness is manifested in subtle body only, e.g., mind, intellect. A jiva is a mind-body system and is sentient and has emotions of happiness and sadness. Consciousness (Chit) does not undergo any change as it is present in the mind like a reflection (ChidAbhAsa. It is individual self or individual soul ( jivAtmA).
Tat Tvam Asi (Part1)
In the commentary on Ch Up 6.1.3, ShankarAchArya says that even if a person has studied all the Vedas and knows all other things which are to be known, he indeed remains unfulfilled if he does not know the Self. As the word ‘unfulfilled’ is not explained, let me do. Unfulfilled means unfulfilled desires. Though a particular human desire is finite, there are countless desires and in this sense they are infinite. A person will have to take infinite births to fulfil them, and he will be in bondage forever. Conversely, with Self-knowledge, a person is complete and has no desires or alternatively all desires are subsumed in his ‘completeness’. He is free in the present life and is also free from rebirth.
AbhAsa vAda
This is effectively Part 6 1/2 of 10 in the pratibandha series. It follows on from the heading of “The ‘mixture of Atman and mind’”. Apologies for the misleading and changing part numbers. This is the result of writing ‘as I go’ rather than completing the entire topic first.
xi) AbhAsa vAda
This theory was mentioned briefly above in 2b, when bhAmatI and vivaraNa were discussed in the context of sources for mistaken views of Advaita. AbhAsa translates as ‘fallacious appearance’ and it is effectively the term that is used to describe this ‘mixture’ of Consciousness and intellect. Shankara addresses this in his upadesha sAhasrI, principally in chapter 18 ‘tat tvam asi’. The following analysis is with the help of Ref. 211.
As the chapter heading indicates, the topic is the mahAvAkya and how the knowledge of its truth is all that we need in order to gain enlightenment. We are already free and always have been, so once we realize this, there is nothing more that needs to be done. The idea that, after gaining ‘merely intellectual knowledge’ from shravaNa, we have somehow to gain ‘direct experience’ of Brahman before we are liberated, is called prasa~NkhyAna vAda. This is discussed and rejected in detail below, under the topic of ‘meditation’ but in this chapter Shankara introduces an objector who has these notions and the subsequent arguments are relevant to this topic of pratibandha-s. Continue reading
The Relevance of Kant’s Transcendental Idealism to Advaita Vedanta, Part II
In Part I of this three-part series, I introduced Kant’s work and summarized his views on a priori and a posteriori knowledge. In this second part, we’ll review analytic versus synthetic judgments, clarify the meaning of transcendental idealism as it applies to Kant’s work in general, and also analyze tat tvam asi in terms of Kant’s philosophy.
Analytic and Synthetic Judgments
Kant’s investigation of the faculties of reason led him to explore the nature of judgments. He made clear the crucial difference between analytic and synthetic judgments. Kant’s jargon can become admittedly arcane, but analytic and synthetic are not hard to understand. Continue reading
Tat Tvam Asi
Having decided to have śraddha, an openmind on the possibility of the declaration by the vēdās that ānanda is our very svarūpa, our very seeking, and having understood and on that basis decided that mokṣa is the parama puruṣārtha of this life, and further having seen that scriptures are the only pramāṇa, means of knowledge, to mokṣa, let us commence our learning of the mahāvākya, the all important equation, one of which is “tat tvam asi”.
For any mathematical statement to be called an equation, we need to have 2 sides which appear to be unequal. For example 5+5 = 5+5 is not an equation whereas 6+4 = 7+3 is an equation. The mahāvākya “tat tvam asi” is an equation which can be mathematically expressed as tat = tvam. Here tat indicates īśvara, God, and tvam indicates jīva, the individual. In other words the śruti says īśvara = jīva, or God = Individual. Continue reading