Miscellaneous - Religion   

Knowledge of the Self

CHENNAI : The credit of consolidating the system of Advaita by writing extensive commentaries and independent works goes to Adi Sankara though there have been many preceptors before him and after him. His commentaries on the Prasthanatraya— the Brahmasutras, Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita— form the bedrock of Advaita. His commentaries on the principal Upanishads are extensive and in them there are Mahavakyas (important pronouncements) that convey the spiritual truth. Among them the Mahavakya "Tat tvam asi' (That you are) occurs in the Sadvidya section of the Chandogya Upanishad, which is a major Upanishad belonging to the Sama Veda.

In his discourse, Sri N.Veezhinathan said this pithy aphorism was a statement made by Sage Uddalaka Aruni to his son Svetaketu to convey that the individual Self (Atman) and the Absolute Being (Brahman) were essentially the same. "Tat' refers to Brahman and "Tvam" to the individual. Svetaketu had undergone extensive study under a competent teacher for 12 years and returned home as a great scholar but the father found him proud, and hence questioned him whether he had not received that instruction "whereby what is not heard becomes heard... what is not known becomes known." Svetaketu was surprised how such a knowledge could be taught and then his father instructed him about the nature of the Self, knowing which everything becomes known.

Uddalaka first explained the blissful nature of the Self by analysing the state of sleep, which all individuals experience every day. The mind withdraws into the heart and only consciousness remains in sleep, which is essentially Self-awareness. But as ignorance (Avidya)— the cause of bondage— and Karma — responsible for birth— remain, the mind returns to the world of sensory engagement on waking up. The father then illustrated with the example of honey. The bees collect the nectar from flowers of several trees to make honey but once gathered there is no distinction in the nectar of different flowers; so also, all beings (the Self) essentially abide in Brahman.

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