A Mahâvâkya from the Sâmaveda

Chândogya Upanisad 6.8.7, etc.

sa ya eso 'nimâ aitadâtmyam idam sarvam, tat satyam, sa âtmâ. tat tvam asi, Svetaketo.

Olivelle (p. 152): "The finest essence here---that constitutes the self of this whole world; that is the truth; that is the self (âtman). And that's how you are, Svetaketu."

Hume (p. 246): "That which is the finest essence---this whole world has that as its soul. That is reality (satya). That is Âtman (Soul). That art thou, Svetaketu."

Radhakrishnan (p. 458): "That which is the subtle essence (the root of all) this whole world has for its self. That is the true. That is the self. That art thou, Svetaketu."

This mahâvâkya has inspired webpages of its own, such as Octavian Sarbatoare's "Tattvamasi" page.

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Class notes for Religion W4620 (Nonduality in Indian and Tibetan Thought), Fall 2002.
Last updated: Fri Aug 30 20:40:02 EDT 2002 by Gary Tubb, email gat4@columbia.edu