"That Thou Art" (Tat Tvam Asi)
The most famous sentence in the Upaniṣads: 'That — the ground of all things — thou art.'
Literally 'that thou art,' this is the most famous of the Upaniṣadic 'great sayings.' A father, Uddālaka, repeats it nine times to his son to teach that the subtle essence underlying all things is also the very self of the listener. Advaita Vedānta makes it the textual cornerstone of its non-dualism; other Vedāntins accept the saying but read its 'identity' in a qualified way.
How it traveled
- Chāndogya UpaniṣadKuru-Pañcāla region · c. 700 BCEexplains
- VivekacūḍāmaṇiŚṛṅgeri (Sringeri) · c. 1400 CEexplains
Key passages(8)
Each passage is tagged by what it does with the idea: explains it, applies it in practice, redefines it with a new meaning, or challenges it. Relevance shows how directly the passage is about this idea.
'Now that which is that subtile essence, in it all that exists has its self. It is the True. It is the Self, and thou, O Svetaketu, art it.' 'Please, Sir, inform me still more,' said the son. 'Be it s
Tap to expand
Vivekacūḍāmaṇi · Śaṅkara (traditionally ascribed; authorship doubted)
Vivekacūḍāmaṇi · Śaṅkara (traditionally ascribed; authorship doubted)
Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)
Verily in the beginning this was Brahman, that Brahman knew (its) Self only, saying, 'I am Brahman.' From it all this sprang. Thus, whatever Deva was awakened (so as to know Brahman), he indeed became
Tap to expand