The Mahavakyas are "The Great Sayings" of the Upanishads, as characterized by the Advaita school of Vedanta. Most commonly, Mahavakyas are considered four in number,
Prajnanam Brahma - "Insight is Brahman," or "Brahman is insight"
Though there are many Mahavakyas, four of them, one from each of the four Vedas, are often mentioned as "the Mahavakyas". According to the Vedanta-tradition, the subject matter and the essence of all Upanishads are the same, and all the Upanishadic Mahavakyas express this one universal message in the form of terse and concise statements. In later Sanskrit usage, the term mahāvākya came to mean "discourse", and specifically, discourse on a philosophically lofty topic. According to the Advaita Vedanta tradition the four Upanishadic statements indicate the ultimateunity of the individual with Supreme. The Mahavakyas are:
prajñānam brahma - "Prajñāna is Brahman", or "Brahman is Prajñāna"
ayam ātmā brahma - "This Self is Brahman"
tat tvam asi - "Thou art that," "that essence you are"
aham brahmāsmi - "I am Brahman", or "I am Divine"
People who are initiated into sannyasa in Advaita Vedanta are being taught the four mahavakyas as four mantras, "to attain this highest of states in which the individual self dissolves inseparably in Brahman". Other Mahavakyas are:
ekam evadvitiyam brahma - Brahman is one, without a second
so 'ham - I am that
sarvam khalvidam brahma - All of this is brahman
etad vai tat - This, verily, is That
Prajñānam Brahma
Aitareya Upanishad 3.3 of the Rig Veda: Several translations, and word-orders of these translations, are possible: Prajñānam:
jñā can be translated as "consciousness", "knowledge", or "understanding."
Pra is an intensifier which could be translated as "higher", "greater", "supreme" or "premium", or "being born or springing up", referring to a spontaneous type of knowing.
Prajñānam as a whole means:
प्रज्ञान, "prajñāna",
* Adjective: prudent, easily known, wise
* Noun: discrimination, knowledge, wisdom, intelligence. Also: distinctive mark, monument, token of recognition, any mark or sign or characteristic, memorial
"Consciousness"
"Intelligence"
"Wisdom"
Related terms are jñāna, prajñā and prajñam, "pure consciousness". Although the common translation of jñānam is "consciousness", the term has a broader meaning of "knowing"; "becoming acquainted with", "knowledge about anything", "awareness", "higher knowledge". Brahman:
"The Absolute"
"Infinite"
"The Highest truth"
Meaning: Most interpretations state: "Prajñānam is Brahman ". Some translations give a reverse order, stating "Brahman is Prajñānam", specifically "Brahman is Prajñānam ": "The Ultimate Reality is wisdom ". Sahu explains: And according to David Loy,
Ayam Atma Brahma
Mandukya Upanisha 1-2 of the Atharva Veda: In Sanskrit:
sarvam hyetad - everything here, the Whole, all this
While translations tend to separate the sentence in separate parts, Olivelle's translation uses various words in adjunct sets of meaning:
सर्वं ह्येतद् ब्रह्मा sarvam hyetad brahma - "this brahman is the Whole"
ब्रह्मायमात्मा brahma ayam atma - "brahman is ātman"
ब्रह्म सोऽयमात्मा brahman sah ayam atman - "brahman is this self"
The Mandukya Upanishad repeatedly states that Om is ātman, and also states that turiya is ātman. The Mandukya Upanishad forms the basis of Gaudapadas Advaita Vedanta, in his Mandukya Karika.
Tat Tvam Asi
Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7,, in the dialogue between Uddalaka and his son Śvetaketu. It appears at the end of a section, and is repeated at the end of the subsequent sections as a refrain:
Etymology and translation
Tat Tvam Asi is translated variously as "Thou art that," "That thou art," "That art thou," "You are that," "That you are," or "You're it":
Tat - 'it', 'that', from which an absolutive derivation is formed with the suffix -tva: tattva, 'thatness', 'principle', 'reality' or 'truth'; compare tathātā, "suchness", a similar absolutive derivation from tathā - 'thus', 'so', 'such', only with the suffix -tā, not -tva. Tat refers to Sat, "the Existent," Existence, Being, which is the base of everything. Deutsch: "Although the text does not use the term brahman, the Vedanta tradition is that the Existent referred to is no other than Brahman."
tvam - you, thou
asi - are, 'art'
Tat, the true essence or root or origin of everything that exists is sat, "the Existent," and this essence is what the individual at the core is.
Interpretation
Major Vedantic schools offer different interpretations of the phrase:
Advaita - absolute equality of 'tat', the Ultimate Reality, Brahman, and 'tvam', the Self, Atman.
Shuddhadvaita - oneness in "essence" between 'tat' and individual self; but 'tat' is the whole and self is a part.
Vishishtadvaita - identity of individual self as a part of the whole which is 'tat', Brahman.
Dvaitadvaita - equal non-difference and difference between the individual self as a part of the whole which is 'tat'.
Dvaita of Madhvacharya - “Sa atmaa-tat tvam asi” in Sanskrit is actually “Sa atma-atat tvam asi” or “Atma, thou art, thou art not God”. In refutation of Mayavada, text 6, 'tat tvam asi" is translated as "you are a servant of the Supreme "
Acintya Bheda Abheda - inconceivable oneness and difference between individual self as a part of the whole which is 'tat'.
Akshar Purushottam Upasana - oneness of the individual self, Atman, with Aksharbrahman, while worshipping Purushottam as a supreme and separate entity.
Aham Brahma Asmi
Ahaṁ Brahmāsmi, "I am Brahman" is in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.10 of the Shukla Yajurveda:
Ahaṁ Brahmāsmi then means "I am the Absolute" or "My identity is cosmic," but can also be translated as "you are part of god just like any other element."
Explanations
In his comment on this passageSankara explains that here Brahman is not the conditioned Brahman ; that a transitory entity cannot be eternal; that knowledge about Brahman, the infinite all-pervading entity, has been enjoined; that knowledge of non-duality alone dispels ignorance; and that the meditation based on resemblance is only an idea. He also tells us that the expression Aham Brahmaasmi is the explanation of the mantra He explains that non-duality and plurality are contradictory only when applied to the Self, which is eternal and without parts, but not to the effects, which have parts. The aham in this memorable expression is not closed in itself as a pure mental abstraction but it is radical openness. Between Brahman and aham-brahma lies the entire temporal universe experienced by the ignorant as a separate entity. Vidyāranya in his Panchadasi explains:
