A mahAvAkya explained

[Anand Hudli]

 janmabhiH koTiparyantaiH nirvR^ittaiH puNyakarmabhiH |
 shuddhAtmanAM satAmeva jiGYAsA Atmani jAyate         ||

 Only after one has accomplished meritorious deeds for upto a crore
 births (very many births), and has thereby purified the mind, does
 one get the desire to know Atman.

 chhAndogyopaniShadyetanmahAvAkyamitIryate |
 ShaShThe prapAThake tattvamasIti prAyasho .asti yat.h ||

 The (text) "tattvamasi" ("Thou Art That"), that occurs several times
 in the sixth prapAThaka of the ChhAndogya upaniShad, is called a
 mahAvAkya.

 tatratyAnAM padAnAM yaddvitIyaM tvaMpadaM sthitaM |
 tasyArthaH pratyagAtmaiSha yo .ahamityanubhUyate ||

 sahajaM tu paraM brahma kevalAnandalaxaNaM |
 tatpadasya bhavedartho yaH parAtmeti gIyate ||

 asItyekatvamanayorakhaNDatvaM muhurmuhuH |
 tAtparyeNa shrutirvakti sarvaGYA satyavAdinI ||


 (The expression "tattvamasi" consists of three terms, "tat", "tvam",
  and "asi.") Of those terms, the second one which is the "tvam"
 ("Thou") term, means this inner Self that is experienced as "ahaM"
 ("I"). The meaning of the "tat" ("That") term is the universally
 existing Supreme Brahman whose sole nature is that of Bliss, and
 which is called ParamAtmA or Supreme Soul. The term "asi" ("Art")
 indicates that these two (the pratyagAtmA or Inner Self and the
 Parabrahman) are one and the same. This unity of the two is
 summarized again and again by the Shruti which is omniscient and
 speaks only the Truth.

    (From the prakaraNagrantha called mahAvAkyadarpaNa)


 Note: The Shruti is called sarvajnA because the SmR^itis and other
 sources only serve the purpose of explaining what is said by the
 Shruti. That is, the SmR^itis, etc., do not convey any additional
 knowledge than what is there in the Shruti. The Shruti is called
 satyavAdinI because it is apauruSheya (without an author), and
 therefore, its statements can never be negated.


Anand






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