What is the meaning of "tat tvam asi"?

Question

Does "tat tvam asi" refer to brahman who is sung about in the Vedas?

Answer 1

Tat Tvam Asi means That (Brahman) art thou, its same as other Advaita mahāvākyas like om tat sat (Pranava is that reality), aham brahmasmi (I sm Brahman), Shivoham (I am Shiva), idandra/indra (I have realised that (Brahman), soham (you are that), etc etc..

The phrase "Tat Tvam Asi" has its roots in Chandogya Upanishad where Aruni teaches his son Svetketu about Brahman. Here, Aruni teaches him by giving some simple examples and logic.

स य एषोऽणिमैतदात्म्यमिदꣳ सर्वं तत्सत्यꣳ स आत्मा तत्त्वमसि श्वेतकेतो इति भूय एव मा भगवान्विज्ञापयत्विति तथा सोम्येति होवाच॥६.८.७॥ यथा सोम्यैकेन मृत्पिण्डेन सर्वं मृन्मयं विज्ञातꣳ स्याद्वाचारम्भणं विकारो नामधेयं मृत्तिकेत्येव सत्यम्॥६.१.४॥ सदेव सोम्येदमग्र आसीदेकमेवाद्वितीयम् । तद्धैक आहुरसदेवेदमग्र आसीदेकमेवाद्वितीयं तस्मादसतः सज्जायत॥६.२.१॥ यथा सोम्य मधु मधुकृतो निस्तिष्ठन्ति नानात्ययानां वृक्षाणाꣳरसान्समवहारमेकताꣳरसं गमयन्ति॥६.९.१॥ ते यथा तत्र न विवेकं लभन्तेऽमुष्याहं वृक्षस्य रसोऽस्म्यमुष्याहं वृक्षस्य रसोऽस्मीत्येवमेव खलु सोम्येमाः सर्वाः प्रजाः सति सम्पद्य न विदुः सति सम्पद्यामह इति॥६.९.२॥

Translation.:

'That Being which is this subtle essence (cause), even That all this world has for its self. That is the true. That is the Atman. That thou art, O Svetaketu.' 'Revered sir, please explain it further to me' (said Svetketu). 'So be it, dear boy', said (the father). (He explained) 'Just as through a single clod of clay all that is made of clay would become known, for all modifications is but name based upon words and the clay alone is real; (Just like that only) 'In the beginning, dear boy, there was a Being alone, one only, without a second. Some say that, in the beginning, this was Non-being alone, one only, without a second. From that Non-being arose Being. 'As, dear boy, the bees make honey by collecting juices from different trees and reduce them into one essence. And there, as these juices have no such discrimination as "I am the juice of this tree, I am the juice of that tree"; even so, dear boy, all these creatures having merged into the Being, do not know, "We have merged into this Being." (VI-viii-7:VI-i-4:VI-ii-1:VI-ix-1:VI-ix-2.)..

Now, All these 5 verses can be summarised into one single verse only.

Atharva Shiras Upanishad 5.2 and Svetasvatara Upaniṣhad 3.2 says thus.:

एको हि रुद्रो न द्वितीयाय तस्थुर्य इमांल्लोकानीशत ईशनीभिः। प्रत्यङ्जनांस्तिष्ठति सञ्चुकोचान्तकाले संसृज्य विश्वा भुवनानि गोपाः॥

“Rudra is truly the only one; for the knowers of Brahman do not admit the existence of any second being, He Ishana, alone rules all the worlds by His powers (as Indra). He dwells as the inner Self (Atman) of every living beings. After having created all the worlds (as Brahmā), He, their Protector (as Vishnu), takes them back into Himself at the end of time (as Kāla, by giving them Kaivalyam Moksham)."

I hope this clarifies all your queries. Prd..

Answer 2

This has other meaning

तत् त्वम् असि वेदान्त महावाक्य उपपादितम्। निर्वक्ति मंत्र तत्व अर्थम् इति राम नमोस्तुते।।

Skan Puran nirvan khand ram gita

Salutations to bhagwan shri Ramchandra whom vedant (siddhant of vedas) prove by mhavakya like "tat tvam asi"

रकारस्त ज्ञेय स्त्व आकार उच्यते। मकारोऽसि पदं ज्ञेयं तत् त्वम् असि सुलोचने।।

वेद सार महावाक्यं यत् तत् त्वम् असि कथ्यते। रामनाम्नाश्च तत् त्वम् असि रमुक्रीडा प्रवर्तते।।

Maha ramayan

R signifies tat A signifies tvam M signifies asi

By the word "ram" jist of veda maha vakya "tat tvam asi" is proved

Hence "tat tvam asi" also refers to bhagwan shri Ramchandra.

Answer 3

A Vaakhyaa is an expression ,that can be interpreted in two ways. One way is Vakhyaartha (denotative), ie. the literal meaning of what it denotes. Other way is Lakshyaartha(connotative), the implied meaning of what the expression connotes. Here Lakshyartha requires commentary, lest it is impossible to decipher what it implies. Lakshyartha falls into one of the 3 categories .jahallakshaNaa, ajahal- lakshaNaa and jahadajahallakshaNaa(Aka. bhaaga tyaga lakshana).

JagallakshaNaa

An example is Gangaayaam ghoshaH, the literal meaning of which is a hamlet on the river Ganga. Since there cannot be a hamlet on the river itself, it is the bank of the river that is meant. Here the literal meaning of the word Ganga has to be given up completely and the implied meaning bank has to be adopted.

Sri SN Saastri

Ajahal-LakshaNaa

An example is The red is running which is intended to convey that the red horse is running. Here the literal meaning of the word red is retained and the implied word horse is added to get the correct sense of the sentence.
Sri SN Saastri

JahadajahallakshaNaa

Here a part of the literal meaning is retained and the other part discarded. The sentence This is that Devadatta is interpreted by using this lakshaNaa. Devadatta who is seen at the present time in this place is the same as the person who was seen earlier in another place. Here the literal meaning is not taken. This sentence purports to convey the identity of the person seen in different places at different times is same,.. retaining the reference to Devadatta. This is also known as bhaagatyaaga-lakshaNaa. The meaning of the sentence tat tvam asi is obtained by using this method. Just as identity of Devadutt is retained by rejecting the contradictory qualities, so also in the sentence Thou art That the contradictory qualities (namely, the limiting adjuncts) are rejected. Thus it follows that the jiiva and Brahman are in essence one when the limiting adjuncts, maayaa and the five sheaths, are rejected. The above view, that jahadajahallakshaNaa is to be applied for getting the meaning of this Mahaavaakya, is the traditional and the most widely accepted view.
Sri SN Saastri

Commentary of PujyaSri Chandrasekhara Bhaarati Swami translated by Sri SN Saastri - verses 243 to 251 of Vivekachudamani

The word tat stands for Brahman as qualified by the functions of creation, sustenance and dissolution (Ishvara). The word tvam stands for the aatmaa as qualified by the mental states of waking, dream and deep sleep (i.e.jiiva). These two are of mutually opposed qualities, like the glow-worm and the sun, like the well and the ocean and like the atom and the earth (verse 244). There can be no identity between these two, which are the literal meanings (vaachyaartha) of the words tat and tvam. The identity is only between their implied meanings (lakshyaartha). The opposition between the literal meanings is due to the upadhis(superimposition). since the literal meaning of tat is Brahman with the upadhi or limiting adjunct of maayaa and the literal meaning of tvam is aatmaa with the limiting adjunct of the five sheaths. When these limiting adjuncts, which are not real, are effectively removed,The two terms tat and tvam (That and Thou) are to be understood properly by their implied meanings in order to grasp the import of the absolute identity between them. This is to be done neither by total rejection of their literal meaning nor by total non-rejection, but by a combination of both.

Answer 4

Answer based solely on scriptural evidences.

तदन्ते चैव संन्यस्य संश्रयेद् गुरुमात्मवान् । श्रोत्रियं ब्रह्मनिष्ठं च भक्त्या निर्व्याजया पुनः ॥ वेदान्तश्रवणं कुर्यान्नित्यमेवमतन्द्रितः । तत्त्वमस्यादिवाक्यस्य नित्यमर्थं विचारयेत् ॥ तत्त्वमस्यादिवाक्यं तु जीवब्रह्मैक्यबोधकम् । ऐक्ये ज्ञाते निर्भयस्तु मद्रूपो हि प्रजायते ॥

Thereafter, a wise man should become a sannyasin and take shelter of a Brahmnistha and celibate guru and again, being careful, listen to the Vedanta daily with sincere devotion. At the same time, he should constantly think about the meaning of the sentence 'Tattvamasi' etc.; Because Tattvamasi etc sentences are indicative of the unity of Jiva and Brahman. On realizing oneness, a man becomes fearless and becomes my form.

~Devi bhagvata purana 7.34.17-19

श्रद्धान्वितस्तत्त्वमसीति वाक्यतो गुरोः प्रसादादपि शुद्धमानसः।विज्ञाय सुखी चैकात्म्यमथात्मजीवयोः भवेन्मेरुरिवाप्रकम्पनः ॥ आदौ पदार्थावगतिर्हि कारणं वाक्यार्थविज्ञानविधौ विधानतः ।तत्त्वम्पदार्थौ परमात्मजीवका वसीति चैकात्म्यमथानयोर्भवेत् ॥

~ Then, having a pure mind and reverently by the Guru's grace, knowing the unity of the Supreme Soul and the soul through this great phrase 'Tattvamasi', become calm and happy like Sumeru. It is a rule that in knowing the meaning of each sentence, first of all, the knowledge of the meaning of its words is the reason. (In this 'Tattvamasi' Mahavakya) the words 'Tat' and 'Tvam' respectively denote the Supreme Soul and the soul and 'Asi' unites them both.

~ Adhyatma Ramayana, sri Rama Geeta

अव्यक्तलेशाज्ञानाच्छादितपारमार्थिकजीवस्य तत्त्वमस्यादिवाक्यानि ब्रह्मणैकतां जगुः नेतरयोर्व्यावहारिकप्रातिभासिकयोः ।

Texts like Tattvamasi declare the identity with Brahman of the Paramarthika Jiva concealed by ignorance and part of the avyakta; not of the other two, the vyavaharika and the pratibhasika Jivas

~ Paingala Upanishad 2.9

तत्त्वमस्यादिवाक्येभ्यो ज्ञानं मोक्षस्य साधनम् ज्ञाने त्वनाहते सिद्धे सर्वं ब्रह्ममयं भवेत् ६८ एवं प्रबोधितस्तेन वेदमालिर्मुनीश्वर मुमोद पश्यन्नात्मानमात्मन्येवाच्युतं प्रभुम् ६९ उपाधिरहितं ब्रह्म स्वप्रकाशं निरञ्जनम् अहमेवेति निश्चित्य परां शान्तिमवाप्तवान् ७०

Knowledge arising from sentences like Tattvamasi is the means of salvation. When this is in place, everything is perceived as Brahman. Thus enlightened, the sadhaka, Vedamali was delighted to realize his atman , Lord Achyuta within himself. Having determined that I am the upadhi-rahita (attributeless) Brahman, self-luminous and solitary, Vedamali attained great peace.

~ Narada Purana I.35.68-70

To end it off with a Quote from the Garuda Purana

शुद्धभावस्तदा जाग्रत्स्वप्नादीनामसंभवः । जीवत्ववर्जितः प्राप्तात्मचैतन्यानुरूपतः ॥ नित्यं शुद्धं बुद्धमुक्तं सत्यं ब्रह्माद्वितीयकम् । तत्त्वंपदान्तौ शिष्टौ च तत्कारो ब्रह्मवाचकः ॥

In Pure consciousness, There's no awareness of the states of Jagrata, Swapna etc. and no sense of separateness. The Jiva loses it's jivatva and merges into the eternally pure, intelligent, awakened and non-dual brahman. Then 'Tat' and 'tvam' are dropped and what only remains is the pure brahman.(denoted by asi)

` ~ Garuda purana, Achara Khanda, Chapter 239