Tat tvam asi – That thou art
Of the four prominent maha-vaakya in Upanishads (maha-vaakya are considered the quintessence of the Vedas), one is tat tvam asi (translated roughly as ‘that thou art’) in the Chhandogya Upanishad.
To grasp the deeper meaning of tat tvam asi, we should begin with the context of this statement via a story in which it has been quoted –
“Shvetaketu (श्वेतकेतु) was the grandson of Aruna, and the son of Uddalaka.
It seems that as a boy Shvetaketu did not focus his mind on the study of Vedas. His family had had a long tradition of studying the Vedas and Shastras to get
acquainted with the knowledge and wisdom of the scriptures. So his father sent him to a Gurukula.
A Gurukula was typically an aashrama situated in the forest (away from distractions of society), the purpose of which was to teach the Vedas and life skills to children from a young age. Normally the students entered it at various ages, starting from 7 years onwards, spent 12 to 14 years studying and memorising Vedas with guidance from the Guru.
This system of study was similar to the modern boarding-school arrangement, except that the ancient one provided home-cooked meals with love and affection, the entire study, including boarding and lodging, was free. Though at the time of ‘graduation’ the student made a Guru Dakshina (a pledge or a donation to their Guru to do or give whatever was asked for by the Guru, if anything specifically, otherwise usually donations of cows, land, etc., based on the capacity of the student and/or his family was made). The dakshina was made as a mark of student’s respect to his Guru for imparting an invaluable learning and his assistance in developing student’s personal skills so that he can conduct his adult life and his responsibilities successfully.
This is how the knowledge of the Vedas and life skills were developed and passed / shared in the society, as well as transmitted from one generation to the next .)
Shvetaketu entered the Gurukula at the age of twelve and studied there at the feet of his Guru for twelve years – studying the Vedas, scriptures, science, grammar, etc. virtually all that was considered as required to be learnt to become a ‘Learned’.
After which he returned home, very proud of his knowledge and scholarship, with the thought that he had finished his studies and knew all that there was to know.
On seeing this attitude of his son, his father called him and thoughtfully asked a question:
“O my son! Have you studied that one thing, knowing which EVERYTHING else becomes known?”
Svetaketu initially couldn’t grasp the question clearly, then he was shocked realizing that he still had not learnt the most essential thing, and then became eager to know that by knowing which everything else becomes known. So, with humility, he requested his father: “Father! May I request you to please teach me that most essential thing by which everything else becomes known?”
On hearing this reply from his son, the father, Uddalaka, slowly explained to him, using simple examples: “Son! Have you not seen the clay in front of the potter’s house? It becomes a pot in the hands of the potter. If the clay is known, then all things made of clay are known. If you know gold, things made of gold, like the ornaments are known. If you know iron, all things made of iron are known. In the same way, if you know ‘Brahman‘ then all the things (the entire universe, that cannot exist without Him), are also known.”
The father concluded then with the statement, tat tvam asi.”
‘Tat’ here represents Brahman, ‘tvam’ identifies the divine soul (Atman) that resides ‘within’ each jiva (being), ‘asi’ is an affirmation equating Brahman and Atman.
In subtle and simple ways, Uddalaka tells his child, and us, that by knowing the self we will be able to recognize the entire Universe and God, that we and the Universe cannot exist without the presence of Brahman, and that we are all part of Brahman.
Reference & more information –
1) http://www.advaita.org.uk/discourses/definitions/tattvamasi.htm
