from lalita sahasranaamam

MSR r0m6887 at TAM2000.TAMU.EDU
Tue Jul 2 21:58:55 CDT 1996


I typed this in form "The Thousand names of Divine Mother"  with
Commentary by T.V. Narayana Menon, Ammachi Publications.
I have used ITRANS for sanskrit. I have not changed the original
except for formatting and typos ;-)
--
Ravi

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                        426.    tvam

She who is referred to, by "Thou."

        One jiivaa is distinguished from another by means of
difference in conditioning. The ant's body is very different
from that of the anteater. But the soul is one and the
same. Here the conditioning is the body. In the present
mantra tvam (Thou) refers to the unconditioned aatman. That
aatman is devii.

        This and the previous mantra ( 425. tat / in
naamaavali form AUM tasmai namaH) reveal the identity of
individual soul (jiivaatman) with the supreme brahman
(paramatman) given by the mahaavaakya "tat tvam asi,"
meaning "That Thou art."

        There are four such mahaavaakyaas in vedanta:

        praGYaanam brahma:      Consciousness is Brahman
        tat tvam asi:           That Thou art
        ayam aatma brahma:      This Self is Brahman
        aham brahmaasmi         I am brahman

        Each of these declarations comes from a different
upanishhad each connected to one of the four vedaas. Thus
each vedaa  has given rise to a mahaavaakya.

        "praGyaanam brahma" is contained in the aitreya
upanishhad  of R^ig vedaa. "tat tvam asi" is from the
chaandogya upanishhad of saamavedaa. "ayam aatmaa brahma" is
from the maanDukya upanishhad of atharva vedaa and "aham
brahmaasmi" occurs in bR^ihadaaraNyaka upanishhad of yajur
vedaa.

        Of the four,
"pragyaanam brahma" is known as the vaakya of definition,
"tat tvam asi" is known as the vaakya of instruction,
"ayam aatma brahma" is known as the vaakya of contemplation,
and finally,
"aham brahmaasmi" is known as the vaakya of experience.
Hearing, contemplation and conviction through experience --
those aspects define the greatness of vedaantic philosophy.

        Once a devotee asked Mother ( shrii maata
amritaanandamayii), "amma, if the soul of all of us is the
same, then when one person realizes the Truth, shouldn't
every one get the realization at the same time?" Mother
said,"Son, when you turn the main power switch, electricity
reaches all the rooms - the living room, kitchen, the
bedrooms. But if you want light in your room, you have to
turn the switch in that room. Mind is the switch. Only if
the person switches on his mind, will light inside him be
revealed." The names tat and tvam indicate  that
light. devii is that light.

        tat ( That ) may be regarded as nirguNa brahman
(attributeless brahman) and tvam as saguna brahman ( brahman
with attributes).

        In naamaavali this mantra becomes AUM tubhyam namaH.
tubhyam is the dative form of the pronoun tvam.
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                     AUM tubhyam namaH
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