Mahavakya
Mahāvākya (IAST)Translation: "Great Saying"
A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy
Sanskrit: महावाक्य
Transliteration: Mahāvākya
Translation: "Great Saying"
Definition:
- They are the Great Sayings of the Upaniṣads. Traditionally, they are four in number: Prajñānam Brahma, which occurs in the Aitareya Upaniṣad of the Ṛg Veda; Ayam Ātmā Brahma, which occurs in the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad of the Atharva Veda; Tat Tvam Asi, which occurs in the Chāndogya Upaniṣad of the Sāma Veda; and Aham Brahmāsmi, which occurs in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad of the Yajur Veda.
- Advaita Vedānta says that the Mahāvākyas posit the essential identity between the individual and the Absolute. Some Advaitins say that this knowledge by itself can cause direct understanding while others hold that it is only by meditating on the meaning of the Mahāvākya (and not the mere hearing) that cognition occurs.
- Viśiṣṭadvaita Vedānta also says that the Mahāvākya's import is to affirm the identity of the individual with Brahman. However, unlike Advaita Vedānta, the unity means that individual souls are eternal with God and not external to God. The souls and the world are real and distinct, but they are included as parts within the one Absolute. Distinction is not denied but, at the same time, the organic unity of the whole is affirmed.
Sanskrit: अयमात्मा ब्रह्म
Transliteration: Ayam Ātmā Brahma
Translation: "This Self is The Absolute"
From Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad, Verse 2
Sanskrit: प्रज्ञानम् ब्रह्म
Transliteration: Prajñānam Brahma
Translation: "Consciousness is The Absolute"
From Aitareya Upaniṣad, Part 3, Chapter 1, Verse 3
Sanskrit: तत्त्वमसि
Transliteration: Tat Tvam Asi
Translation: "Thou Art That"
From Chāndogya Upaniṣad, Chapters 8-16
Sanskrit: अहम् ब्रह्मास्मि
Transliteration: Aham Brahmāsmi
Translation: "I Am The Absolute"
From Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, Part 1, Chapter 4, Verse 10
Reference:
- Grimes, John (1996). A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms Defined in English. Albany: State University of New York Press
