Tat Tvam Asi[edit source]
Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7,[21] 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[edit source]
Tat Tvam Asi (Devanagari: तत्त्वमसि, Vedic: tát tvam ási) 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,[23] 'thatness', 'principle', 'reality' or 'truth';[24] 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,"[3][4] Existence, Being,[25] which is the base of everything.[25] Deutsch: "Although the text does not use the term brahman, the Vedanta tradition is that the Existent (sat) referred to is no other than Brahman."[26]
- tvam - you, thou[27][25]
- asi - are, 'art'[25]
Tat, the true essence or root or origin of everything that exists is sat, "the Existent,"[3][4] and this essence is what the individual at the core is.[28][29]
Interpretation[edit source]
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 - tvam denotes the Jiva-antaryami Brahman while Tat refers to Jagat-Karana 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 (Self), thou art, thou art not God”. In refutation of Mayavada (Mayavada sata dushani), text 6, 'tat tvam asi" is translated as "you are a servant of the Supreme (Vishnu)"
- 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 (God) as a supreme and separate entity.[30][31]
