Tat, Tvam Tadathmyam

Vakyavritti – 7

Verse 37

‘Tat-Tvam’-padaarthau nirneetau vaakyaarthah chintyate adhuna I

Tadathmyam atra vaakyaarthah tayoreva padaarthayoh.II

The meaning of the words ‘That’ and ‘Thou’ have been ascertained.. The meaning of the sentence ‘Thou are That’ which establishes (indirectly) the identity of the above two words shall be discussed now.

Of the four questions asked by the disciple in verse 7 the guru has concluded answering the first two concerning padarthas with the previous verse.   From this verse guru is answering the third and fourth question concerning the identity of the two padas ‘Tat’ and ‘Tvam’ and the vakhyartha of Mahavakhya ‘Tat Tvam Asi’ through enquiry of Mahavakhya that declares their identity. First he made enquiry into Tvam pada, the vachyartha or primary or literal meaning of which is Jeevathma, Athma with the three sareeras, sthula, sukshma and karana sareeras and arrived at the lakshyartha or secondary or contextual meaning which is Athma alone, also called Sakshi and is of Satchidananda swarupa.  Then through enquiry into Tat pada whose vachyartha is Iswara, Saguna Brahman, he arrived at the lakshyartha as Brahman, Nirguna Brahman, which is of Sat, Chit, Aananda swarupa.  The identity of these two, Tat and Tvam, that have the same lakshyartha is taken up for discussion from this verse which is also an introductory verse for the discussion on vakhyartha of the Mahavakhya  ‘Tat Tvm asi’ ( That is you).

Verse 38

Samsargoh vaa vishishto vaa  vaakyaarthoh natra sammatah I

Akhandaikarasatvena vaakyaarthoh vidushaam matah II

It is not acceptable that the meaning of the sentence is arrived at through sequence of words or through expansion by qualifications.  An Infinite Being, consisting of bliss only is the true meaning (of the sentence) according to the wise.

The following two methods of getting the meaning of the sentence, vakhyartha, is eliminated as not giving the true meaning of the sentence. They are:

i) Samsarga: “sequence of words”. The Mahavakya does not indicate a meaning

obtained just by stringing words together with their literal meanings. Samsarga is the most ordinary form of sentence construction, e.g. “Rama went to forest with Sita”.  One simply accepts these words at face value, without the need to look deeper.

ii) Visishtah: “expansion by qualifications”. An example is “The lotus is blue”, where the lotus is having the qualification of blueness and not vice-versa.

We cannot use these two methods in arriving at the correct implied meaning of the Mahavakhya, “Tat Tvam asi” where everything points to the Brahman as the correct implied meaning to be taken for both words.  We had seen earlier the lakshyartha for both Tat and Tvam is the Satchidanandaswarupa Brahman, giving the meaning of sentence, without divisions and without attributes, to the spiritually qualified listener as “Aham Brahmasmi (I am Brahman)”.  This is the interpretation of the spiritually wise as well.

Verse 39

pratyak bodhoh yah aabhaati sah advayaananda lakshanah I

advayaananda roopahscha pratyak bodhahaikalakshanah II

The witness consciousness (“This”) that shines within is the Absolute Bliss (“That”) indicated outside.  Conversely, the Absolute Bliss in manifested form is the witness consciousness indicated within.

Kaivalya Upanishad states in verse 16 “tattvameva, tvameva tat (That is you only, You are that only)".  This verse illustrates that statement.   Pratyag-Bodha in the first line means the witness consciousness (Sakshi Chaitanyam) within each individual Jiva, namely “This”.  Advayananda in the same line is the universal Bliss Consciousness pervading the universe, namely “That”.  So the first line of this verse effectively tells us that the witness Consciousness or Sakshi Chaitanyam in Jiva is in fact the Absolute non-dual Brahman i.e., ‘This’ is ‘That’. The second line effectively tells it other way round i.e. vice-versa, namely ‘That’ is ‘This’ by saying that the universal Bliss Consciousness i.e. Brahman expresses Itself in Jiva as the indwelling Consciousness.  Through this interchangeability, TatTvam and TvamTat, total oneness i.e. tadathmyam is also established. 

Verse 40

Ittham anyonya tadathmya pratipattih yadaa bhavet I

Abrahmatvam ‘tvam’-arthasya vyaavarteta tadaiva hi II

Verse 41

‘Tat’-arthasya cha paarokshyam yadheva kim tatah Shrunu I

Poornaananda eka-roopena pratyak bodhoavatishthate II

As explained above, when the mutual identity between the two words is comprehended, then the misconception that the word ‘Thou’ means something other than Brahman and the meaning of the word ‘That’ is known indirectly shall come to an immediate end then and there. (Disciple) That being so, what next? (Guru) Listen: The all-pervading Bliss, without a second, is itself the witness consciousness, i.e. That is This!

On comprehension of the meaning of Mahavakya, the ego sense or the false identity dissolves or merges into the ‘One Blissful Eternal Brahman’.  For this dissolution to happen the bheda jnanam, the idea of ‘I am not Brahman’ should be destroyed. Bheda Jnanam is the knowledge that arises due to seeing distinction of Self from Brahman.  This bheda jnanam brings about all the sorrow and problems of samsara and the sense of alienation from one’s true Self which is Brahman.  With Realisation the distinction is destroyed and the Truth which is ‘I am Brahman’ becomes one’s second nature.  Disciple now has a problem.   This, the witness Consciousness can be grasped without difficulty as it connects us to the objects of the world as the illuminator of the objects of the world and of the thoughts in the mind.   But Brahman is objectless Consciousness, as It is without objects and the disciple feels the meaning cannot be grasped directly and it can be comprehended only after one absorbs doubt-free Ikya Jnanam.  Seeing this difficulty in the student, the teacher assures him that ‘That’ is ‘This’. One cannot have a direct experience of the Consciousness as identical to the inner witness unless one has purified oneself wholly and has the subtle intelligence to grasp the deeper meaning of Mahavakhya.   So for the student who wants the direct experience of the Consciousness guru gives the reassurance that ‘That is This’, meaning the direct experience of inner witness is claiming that Blissful Consciousness as his own Real Self.  It is an internal attitudinal transformation, a transformation that will happen automatically on absorption of the doubt-free knowledge of tadathmyam of ‘That’ and ‘This’.

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