[Advaita-l] [advaitin] Yet another Mahavakya in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

[Venkatraghavan S]

Namaste,
On Fri, Oct 22, 2021 at 4:34 PM Vinodh <vinodh.iitm at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> Then I wonder why Sri Mani Dravid Shastri calls the Brihadaranyaka
> Upanishad quote above a mahavakya.
>
Because the mantra is स वा एष महानज आत्मा योऽयं विज्ञानमयः is essentially
so'yam - ie conveying the identity of sah with ayam. sah (He), mahAn (the
Great), ajah (Unborn one), which refers to Brahman, is the same as ayam
vijnAnamayah, this conscious jIva.


> I was guessing that perhaps a mahavakya is description by meditating on
> which a person can realize the Truth. Perhaps by meditating on the
> vijnanamaya jiva, i.e., the consciousness as ajaa (unborn and therefore
> eternal) one realizes the Truth and this is why the Brihadaranyaka
> Upanishad quote is a mahavakya?
>

No meditation is necessary, knowing the truth that jIva is Brahman is
sufficient.  A mahAvAkya does not convey a meditation, it simply reveals
that the jIva is Brahman.

Regards
Venkatraghavan