[Advaita-l] Aham Brahmaasmi

[Michael Shepherd]

Anant

Since you ask :) Aham brahmasmi means literally (in that unsatisfactory
'Sanglish' or 'Engskrit' language of translation !) 'I-awareness('am-ness')
am Brahman myself'. Aham is a pronoun and verb joined as 'I am'. The
'pronominal suffix 'asmi' can carry either of two meanings : ' as in 'The
king cut himself while shaving'; or in 'The king himself joined the battle'.
The first meaning is 'reflexive' -- an action done to oneself; the second,
also labelled 'reflexive' (and less discussed in Vedic and Sanskrit grammar)
is used more as an 'intensive' like 'Indeed true'.

Why, you reasonably ask, add the 'asmi' ? Perhaps 'Aham Brahman' might be
taken out of context to suggest that Brahman is asserting His existence ! So
this is a reminder that I myself, you yourself, he himself, she herself, is
indeed that Brahman -- not two other guys *!* (It's extended in the vakya
'ayam atmaBrahma, sarva nu bhu')

The four 'mahavakya' are indeed four aspects, four views from different
positions, of the essential concept of Advaita Vedanta. The fact that they
are displayed on the four compass sides of the inner courtyard of a math
indicates that they are considered worthy to be contemplated individually
and together !

You could say that of the four mahavakya, one is addressed to the first
person; another to the second person; another is 'impersonal'; and the
fourth doesn't address the person at all, but is simply a statement about
consciousness itself being universal as Brahman..

Michael

-----Original Message-----
From: advaita-l-bounces at lists.advaita-vedanta.org
[mailto:advaita-l-bounces at lists.advaita-vedanta.org]On Behalf Of
Somayaji, Ananth
Sent: 10 December 2009 11:19
To: A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta
Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Aham Brahmaasmi



I see another issue with this : Assuming that aham is an adjective
qualification to Brahman, it brings about the existence of another Brahman
albeit Ham-Brahman. It would bring about duality inside Mahavakya. Thoughts
? The other things to consider is that in none of the other Mahavakyas we
have any adjective to the Brahman : Tatvamasi, Pragyanam Brahma etc. Can
some one correct me if I am wrong ?

-Ananth

-----Original Message-----
From: advaita-l-bounces at lists.advaita-vedanta.org
[mailto:advaita-l-bounces at lists.advaita-vedanta.org] On Behalf Of Raghav
Kumar
Sent: Thursday, December 10, 2009 02:42 PM
To: A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta
Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Aham Brahmaasmi

well sir,
first take the sentence
brahma asmi
that is  a mahavakya complete and accurate in itself. the verb 'asmi'
 implies  the first person singular anyway even without 'aham'

now therefore aham can be taken as an adjective qualifying brahma since both
the words aham and brahma are  neuter singular nouns.

therefore  it aham-brahma asmi isgrammaticaly ok. athough the interpretation
itself is something novel. i have never come across it.

On 12/10/09, sthanunathan Ramakrishnan <r_sthanu at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Dear Shakthi,
>
>            I have one problem with your interpretation. I do not know if
> "ham" means rejectable. But assuming it is, the statement should be
> "Aham Brahma Asthi" (to get the meaning you intend, that is the "Non
> Rejectable is the greatest") and not "Aham Brahma Asmi", because "Asmi" is
> in the first person and "Asthi" would be in the third person.
>
>   Folks, Please correct me if Iam wrong. Iam just taking my baby steps in
> learning sanskrit.
>
> regards
> Sthanu
>
> > But I have also heard an interpretation like this:
> >
> > "Aham Brahmasmi"
> > ham - means reject-able ? ? ? ? ?? [in Sanskrit.]
> > Aham - means Non-reject-able?? [in Sanskrit.]
> > Brahma - Greatest??????????????????? [in Sanskrit.]
> >
> > So, it comes to a conclusion that,
> > The one which is Non-reject-able? is the Greatest.
>
>
>
> > ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Message: 1
> > Date: Wed, 9 Dec 2009 10:34:04 +0530 (IST)
> > From: Shakthi Prashanth <shakthi.prashanth at ymail.com>
> > Subject: [Advaita-l] Fw: RE: Query [continued]
> > To: advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org
> > Message-ID: <843026.39194.qm at web95104.mail.in2.yahoo.com>
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
> >
> > Hi All,
> >
> > Thank you so much for such a great response from all of
> > you.
> >
> > But I have also heard an interpretation like this:
> >
> > "Aham Brahmasmi"
> > ham - means reject-able ? ? ? ? ?? [in Sanskrit.]
> > Aham - means Non-reject-able?? [in Sanskrit.]
> > Brahma - Greatest??????????????????? [in Sanskrit.]
> >
> > So, it comes to a conclusion that,
> > The one which is Non-reject-able? is the Greatest.
> >
>
>
>
>
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