The start of Teaching

Vakyavritti – 2

Verse 07

Sishya uvaacha:

Koh jeevah kah parahschaathma taadaatmyam vaa katham tayoh;I

“Tat Tvam asi” aadi vaakyam vaa katham tat pratipaadayet.II

The disciple asks:who is the individualized self?; who is the universal Self?;

how can they be identical?; how do statements like ‘That thou are’ explain this identity?

The disciple’s mind is flooded with questions about all four things mentioned by the

Guru – namely, the Jiva, Iswara, their identity, and the 

Mahavakya “Tat Tvam Asi”. So he puts these questions direct to Guru without beating about the bush. As a devotee, the disciple may have offered pujas to Lord in which one has a feeling that “Iswara is all and I am small”.  Further Veda purva bhagha, Karma kanda also talks of Jiva Iswara Bhedha only.  So the student wants clarification on these points.

Verse 08

Guru uvaacha:

Atra broomah samaadhaanam koh anyahjivah tvamevahi I

Yastvam pricchhasi maam koh aham brahma eva asi na samshayah II

The Guru replies:- I shall answer you to your satisfaction. Who else is the Jiva other than yourself who puts to me this question ‘Who am I?’  You alone are Brahman, without a doubt.

The Guru is sizing up the disciple by affirming once again that the Jiva is none other than Brahman alone and that the disciple is the Jiva that is Brahman. By emphasising this point Guru seems to say “There is no doubt about this.  If you stay with me and listen to me carefully with attention I can give you the doubt-free knowledge that will make you see the fact”

Verse 09 

Sishya uvaacha:

Padaartham eva jaanaami naadyapi bhagavan sphutam I

‘Aham brahma’ iti vaakyaartham pratipadye katham vada II

The disciple again asks: O revered teacher, I do not grasp even the word meanings of the sentence.  How then can I understand the meaning of the sentence “I am Brahman?” Please explain them to me.

Now the disciple, perhaps shaken up by the sudden claim made that he is Brahman,

pleads with the teacher respectfully addressing him as “bhagavan”, “How can I convince myself as Brahman, when I do not understand even the word meanings of the Mahavakhyam, let alone that sentence?”    Because understanding the communication is understanding sentences which requires understanding of words and their changing contextual meanings.  Understanding of the word by the communicator and understanding of the word by the listener both must tally to make a meaningful communication.  Through his statement the disciple is unknowingly laying the foundation for the direction of teaching to follow.

Verse 10

Guru uvaacha:

Satyam aaha bhavaan atra vijnaanam na iva vidyate I

Hetuh padaartha bodho hi vaakyaartha avagatah iha II

The Guru replies: You have said the truth of the matter, and surely nobody can contradict it. The knowledge of the word meanings is the cause of understanding the full meaning of the sentence.

Guru is very happy with the question as can be seen from the fact that he is addressing the student now with respect as “bhavaan”.  He agrees with the student that word knowledge, knowledge of the words is the means, the method, by which we get knowledge of the sentence and knowledge of the meaning of the word is the means to know the meaning of the sentence.  Teaching of “Tat Tvam Asi” will reach the student only when the student understands all these three words 100% clearly i.e. each one of the words “Tat, Tvam and Asi” must be 100% clear to the student without a gap in understanding.

Verse 11

Guru uvaacha:

Antahkarana tad vritti saakshi chaitanya vigrahah I

Aananda-roopah satyah san kim naatmaanam prapadyate?II

The Guru continues: Why do you not recognize yourself who are the witness of the internal organ and its modifications and an embodiment of Existence-Consciousness-Bliss

Verse 12

Satya-aananda-swaroopam dhee saakshinam Bodha-vigraham

Chintaya aatma tayaa nityam tyaktvaa deha-aadigaam dhiyam.

Give up the misconception identifying the Self with the body etc.  Know yourself always to be Existence-Knowledge-Bliss, the Witness of the mind/thoughts.

Guru starts explaining each word of the Mahavakyam starting with the word Tvam.  Tvam here means Jivathma, denoting none other than the student sitting in front of the Guru. Tvam normally denotes the individual with body-mind complex before one and this common meaning is called vachyartha.  But what is taken for discussion is the contextual meaning lakshyartha.  Tvam pada lakshyartha is the Chaitanyam, Consciousness, that gives the sentiency to the otherwise insentient body-mind complex.  The five features of Consciousness are:

1)    Consciousness is not a part, product or property of the body

2)    Consciousness is an independent entity which pervades and enlivens the body

3)    Consciousness is not limited by the boundaries of the body

4)    Consciousness continues to exist/survive the body

5)    The surviving Consciousness is not accessible due to the absence of body medium

It is this Chaitanyam that Guru refers to as Tvam, which he emphasizes in the verse no. 12.  He wants the Sishya to think about it or rather meditate on it all the time so that natural identification with body-mind complex will be replaced with identification with Chaitanyam, represented by the Existence-Knowledge-Bliss. 

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