ANEXOS

Let There Be Peace Peace Peace. (1.3.28.)

The Maha Vakya, ‘ Tat Tvam Asi’ or ‘That Thou Art’ comes from the Chandogya Upanishad of the Sama Veda. These words occur in an interesting discussion of far-reaching significance between the Sage Uddalaka Aruni and his son Svetaketu. With several examples the Sage explains to his son how all that exists and is perceived, ultimately comes from one essence, one Truth, that cannot be so perceived. He bids his son to bring him a fruit from the nearby banyan tree, break it open and see behold. It is not ‘nothing’, says the Sage, it is something for which we use the word ‘That’, simply because we have no word that can ever describe it.

It is not ‘nothing’ that leads to the seed and the tree, continues the Sage, but something that leads to all that exists, including you and me. The words “Tat Tvam Asi” or “That Thou Art”, with which the Sage concludes several examples, are words described as the

mah¡ v¡kya mah¡ v¡kya mah¡ v¡kya mah¡ v¡kya

mha vaÀy mha vaÀy) mha vaÀy mha vaÀy

Great Saying, that echoes down the ages, representing its highest wisdom offered by India. The Chandogya Upanishad verse (6.8.7) reads thus in Sanskrit :

s y exaE{¢NmWtdaÏØy¢md| svI| tÏsÏyV s AaÏma tävm¢s áEtkEtaE i¢t B¥y ev ma Bgva¢ÓvåOapy¢Ïv¢t tTa ^saEØyE¢t haEvac ..

sa ya ¦º§

sa ya ¦º§ sa ya ¦º§

sa ya ¦º§’²imaitad¡tmyamida sarva tatsatya sa ¡tm¡ tattvamasi ²imaitad¡tmyamida sarva tatsatya sa ¡tm¡ tattvamasi ²imaitad¡tmyamida sarva tatsatya sa ¡tm¡ tattvamasi ²imaitad¡tmyamida sarva tatsatya sa ¡tm¡ tattvamasi

¹¹¹¹vatak vatak vatak vatakak¦t§na iti bh£ya m¡ bhagav¡nvij±¡payatviti tath¡ ak¦t§na iti bh£ya m¡ bhagav¡nvij±¡payatviti tath¡ ak¦t§na iti bh£ya m¡ bhagav¡nvij±¡payatviti tath¡ ak¦t§na iti bh£ya m¡ bhagav¡nvij±¡payatviti tath¡ s§my¦ti s§my¦ti s§my¦ti s§my¦ti h§v¡ca

h§v¡ca h§v¡ca

h§v¡ca

Sage Uddalaka mentions this nine times, while instructing his disciple Svetaketu in the nature of Reality. That which is one alone without a second, without name and form, and which existed before creation, as well as after creation, as pure Existence alone, is what is referred to as Tat or That, in this sentence. The term Tvam stands for that which is in the innermost recesses of the student or the aspirant, but which is transcendent to the intellect, mind, senses, etc., and is the real ‘I’ of the student addressed in the teaching. The union of Tat and Tvam is by the term Asi or are. That Reality is remote is a misconception, which is removed by the instruction that it is within one’s own self. The erroneous notion that the Self is limited is dispelled by the instruction that it is the same as Reality.

The Maha Vakya, ‘Ayam Atma Brahma’ or ‘This Self is Brahman’, comes from the Mandukya Upanishad of the Atharva Veda, It gets its name from a Rishi named Mandukha. It is a very short Upanishad, comprised of just 12 stanzas. Yet, within this short compass, it analyses the whole spectrum of consciousness, in terms of the the three states of mind that everyone experiences, viz. the states of wakefuless, of dream and of deep sleep. It then points to the Atman or the Brahman as the ultimate source which manifests as the individual and his consciousness or the Universe and its laws. The identity of the Atman and the Brahman is proclaimed in this Maha Vakya. The terse brevity of this Upanishad, epitomising this central core of the Upanishadic teaching, led to its being chosen for a detailed

commentary, not only by Sankara but even earlier, by his preceptor's preceptor, Gaudapada. Indeed, a study of Gaudapada's Mandukya Karika is considered an important aid to a full understanding of the Mandukya Upanishad.

‘Ayam’ means ‘this’, and here ‘thisness’ refers to the self-luminous and non-mediate nature of the Self, which is immanent in everything, from the Ahamkara or ego down to every point in the physical body. This Self is Brahman, which is the substance out of which all things are really made.

That which is everywhere, is also within us, and what is within us is everywhere. This is called ‘Brahman’, because it fills all space, expands into all existence, and is vast beyond all measure of perception or knowledge. On account of self-luminosity, non-relativity and universality, Atman and Brahman are the same. This identification of the Self with Absolute is not any act of bringing together two differing natures, but is an affirmation that absoluteness or universality includes everything, and there is nothing outside it.

The Maha Vakya may thus be seen to be the highest Mantra, the oldest and most unique affirmation of Man of his identity with the Divine that confers on his existence its true meaning and purpose.

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ANNEXURE

THE CONVERGENCE OF SCIENCE & VEDANTA

SPEECHES AND WRITINGS OF SWAMI VIVEKANANDA

AND SOME SIGNIFICANT STATEMENTS FROM MEN OF SCIENCE AND OTHERS OF EMINENCE

Speeches of Swami Vivekananda : London – 1896 :

Materialism prevails in Europe today. You may pray for the salvation of the modern sceptics, but they do not yield, they want reason. The salvation of Europe depends on a rationalistic religion, and Advaita – the non-duality, the oneness, the idea of the Impersonal God – is the only religion that can have any hold on any intellectual people. It comes whenever religion seems to disappear and irreligion seems to prevail, and that is why it has taken ground in Europe and America.