- Tat Tvam Asi (That Thou Art)- Nairji's post - Tattva ..... et all

[Guest guest]

First of all , it is nice to see my long time friend and supporter

Sri NaIrji shining brightly in the advaitin firmmament once again.

Remember the days when he gave us such mind blowing posts

on 'Poornamidam' ? Thanks Nairji , once more for your active

participation in this holy satsangha.

 

Something that nairji made me take notice

 

( The Sanskrit word tattva, which means the truth or principle of

something, is regarded as made up of tad (that) and tvam (you)

(Ref: Monier Williams) and, thus, has a direct relation

to " Tattvamasi' mahAvakya.)

 

As you all know , NaIrji is a 'devi bhakta' - and he will

defibnitely relate to what i have to say regarding this !

 

the 424th name of Sri Lalita Mahatripura Sundari is 'Tattvasana'

 

literally translated this means SHE has 'Tattvas' in her seat. She

who abides in Tattwa.

 

Tattvam, is the 'Truth' in everything. ( tat+twam- That is you) Devi

resides in everything as the inner Truth. The Sankhayas are called

the 'knowers of the twenty five tattvas' . Devi is the inner power

in all these tattvas .

 

Tattva also means a 'cosmic' element. She abides in all the elements

from Earth to Siva! ( these are the thirty six tattvas , the last

one being siva who is not distinct from devi )

 

Asana means 'one who discards' . In this sense .Devi is one who

discards all the twenty four tattvas of Sankhya or the thirty five

cosmic elements . There is only one Truth left and that is 'Devi'

HERSELF! RECALL THE STATEMENT " NETI , NETI " (NOT THIS NOT THIS) USED

IN DESCRIBING THE SUPREME TRUTH!

 

Gayathri , the Mother of the vedas , has three levels of

manifestations, vyahrtih at the gross levcel , sandhya at the subtle

level, and tattvasana at the causal level. All these are creation of

Devi! She abides in all . They are steps leading to Her !

 

TO BE CONTINUED IN MY NEXT POST ....

 

(how i wish Subbuji were here today to elaborate on this lovely

mahavakya 'Tat Twam asi ' .... i miss your contributions, subbuji!

 

( this commentary is taken from T.V. NARAYANA MENON AND TRANSLATED

INTO ENGLISH BY M.N.NAMBOODIRI - THE THOUSAND NAMES OF SRI LALITA)

 

o Devi!, thou art the consort of Supreme Brahman ! Those who know

the essence of the vedas Call thee the Goddess of Specch , the

consort of Lord Brahma . Thou art also known as Lakshmi , the queen

of Lord Vishnu and as Parvati, the companion of Lord Siva . But thou

art really Turiya , and ONE who possesses infinite glories beyond

our comprehension and the Mahamaya who deludes the entire universe .

 

Soundarya lahari , verse 97!

 

Salutations to Sri Lalita Parameshweri!

 

---

[Guest guest]

Namaste Adi-ji.

 

Your post 35881.

 

Thank you very much.. I am humbled by your generous good words.

 

You are right about tattwAsanA. TattwamayI follows close behind. I

would have expected to say something on it.

 

The various sahasranAmAs are certainly verdurous pastures we must graze

into in search of deeper meanings for our definitions. You have given

us the right lead and direction.

 

Thanks, pranams and regards.

 

Madathil Nair

[Guest guest]

Nair-ji , you totally deserve all the compliments. It is good to

have your prersence in this holy satsangha .

 

If you read my post , right at the end i have said 'to be

continued' - i am now going to describe the nama- TAt twam ayi (

425 , 426 , 427) and 907 ( tattwamayi)) and 908 (

Tattvamarthaswarupini) , if i may !

 

Tat

 

SHE ( SRI LALITHAMBIKA) who is meant by 'That' the supreme Truth (

Reality) - ( READ NAMAVALI 363 - TAT PADA LAKSHAYARTHA ) tHUS , tAT

INDICATES THE ABSOLUTE 'BRAHMAN' WHICH HAS NO FORM ! Devi is thus

described as formless and unmanifested . According to sri vidya

guru , Bhaskaraya while the literal meaning of 'tat' is the

conditioned brahman , it indirectly ( lakshya) the unconditioned n

Brahman. THE UNCONDITIONED BRAHMAN ( NISHKALA) is beyond the powers

of will, knowledge and action. ( ICCHA , KRIYA AND JNANA )

 

Tat is a pronoun - a woprd which is employed to refer to something

that is already indicated . All known things are included in

*tat* 'because behind everything is Devi , the Supreme

consciousness! When you invoke Devi in the namavali form of

Sahasaranama inwhich Devi is addressed name by name , this

mantra 'tat' becomes OM TASMAI NAMAHA ( TASMAI IS THE DATIVE FORM OF

THE PRONOUN TAT).

 

NAMAVALI 426 READS " TWAM " MEANING " THOU " - HERE , " THOU " REFERS TO

THE UNCONDITIONED ATMAN. That atman is 'Devi'

 

TAT (THAT) IS THE NIRGUNA BRAHMAN AND TWAM IS THE SAGUNA BRAHMAN !

In the namavali form, the mantra becomes OM TUBHYAM NAMAHA ( Tubhyam

is the dative form of the pronoun Twam)

 

NAMAVALI 427 READS " AYI " - Ayi means O Mother ! the dear one! YES ,

THE DIVINE MOTHER IS ADDRESSED WITH THE UTMOST OF LOVE AND

VENERATION IN THE HEART !

 

May i add that the grweat mahavakya 'tat twam asi ' cannot be

understood merely by reading the scriptures - it can only be

understood by direct experience inspired by a bhava of surrender to

Devi ( sharanagati or atma samarpanam) and her Grace ( anugraha) !

i want to thank Rishji for that wonderful link on Swami

Dayanandaji's article on 'Grace' in this context - Guru's grace and

goddesses's grace ( Guru kripa and Devi KATAKSHAM).

 

907 IS TATTVA MAYI

 

She who is *Reality* itself.

 

Tattwa is of three kinds - Atmatattva, Vidyatattwa and Sivatattwa.

Devi is the essence of all these .

 

Tattwa can be understood as Brahman who is Sat chit Ananda (

eexistence Consciousness Bliss ) Atmatattva is Sat , vidyataatwa is

cit and sivatattwa is ananda ! Tattvamayi is She who is

Satchitananda!

 

and finally

 

namavali 908 Tat twam atrtha swarupini - she who is the meaning

of 'tat and 'twam'

 

Tat stands for Brahman

 

and twam stands for jivatma.

 

so the mavakya from chandogya upanishad reads - " Tat Twam Asi "

 

DEVI IS IN THE FORM OF SELF-KNOWLEDGE ! ATMA VIDYA IS SRI VIDYA IS

MAHA VIDYA!

 

Lalita Lalita Sri Lalita

Lalita Lalita Om Mata

Lalita lalita Jayalalita

Lalita lalita Jaganmata

 

Vedavilasini Sri Lalita

Vishwamohini Siva Lalita

Mata Bhavani Sri Lalita

Mukti Pradayini Sivalalita

 

SRI Gurubyo Namaha !

 

OM Sri mtre namaha!

 

ps thank you Sri Ramji for taking the lead in attempting to define

this great mahavakya -Tat Twam Asi you are the inspiration for this

post !

 

Guys , Mother's day is approaching - join me in saluting the Mother

of all Mothers - Sri Lalithambika , the divine creatrix!

 

( BASED ON SRI LALITA SAHASARANAMA - T.V. Narayana menon - English

translation by Dr. M.N. Namboodri)