Mahavakyas Of IndianTraditions

 

 

 

T he Vedic tradition which is more ritualistic in nature in the beginning culminates into the superfine discovery, declaration and exploration of consciousness and ultimate reality with the emergence of the Upanishads. The four Mahavakyas or the great declarations are the outcome of the transformative spiritual growth and investigation of the Indian sages, pursued inwardly through self inquiry and self awareness. The first Mahavakya - Prajnanam Brahma is found in the Aitareya Upanishad. The great sentence declares the Supreme Reality as pure consciousness. It is called Lakshana Vakya or the nature of the Supreme Reality. Ayam Atma Brahma is the second Mahavakya recorded in the Mandukya Upanishad. According to this great declaration, the individual soul is the Supreme Reality. It is called Anusandhan Vakya or a discovery.

 

The Chandogya Upanishad contains the third Mahavakya- Tat Tvam Asi. It is called the Upadesha Vakya where the teacher is telling the disciple that you are that or the Supreme Reality. The fourth Mahavakya is found in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Aham Brahmasmi meaning I am the Supreme Reality. It is called the Anubhava Vakya or the self realisation of the sage. These great sentences have very profound philosophical, empirical and scientific meaning. These declarations are made by the sages, based upon their inner journey. After realising through self inquiry that the Supreme Reality is consciousness, the Upanishadic sage declares that his individual consciousness is also the same. The realised sage teaches his discipline that he is also the same consciousness. The fourth great statement is getting corroborated by another sage that he is the Supreme Reality. Much water has flown since the Upanishads came into existence.

 

Both oriental as well as occidental scholars,philosophers and scientists have been curious about the great declarations made in the Upanishads about the Supreme Reality, its nature and connections with the cosmos. Classical science was sceptical about the conscious nature of the Supreme Reality. Classical scientists like Newton had propounded that the universe is mechanical. But the more investigation into the nature of the fundamentals of the Reality especially in the fields of quantum physics and by Albert Einstein, Max Planck, Heisenberg, Schrödinger, etc have changed the paradigm and now it is accepted that the universe is not like a machine, but the interplay of intelligent vibrating energy. The theory of the classical science that consciousness is the product of the brain is also shaken. Erwin Schrödinger, a Nobel laureate propounded that consciousness can’t be accounted for in physical term. According to him, the cosmos is fundamentally a life, not a piece but a whole. In his celebrated book My View of the World, Schrödinger remarks “This, as we know, is what the Brahmins express in that sacred mystic formula, Tat Tvam Asi, this is you or again in such words as I am in the east and in the west , I am below and above, I am this whole world.” By the word the Brahmins Schrödinger has referred to the sages of the Upanishads and he has called those great declarations as the sacred mystic formula. (The writer is Former DG Police & CG, Homeguards, Maharashtra)