उपनिषद् के पाँच महावाक्य के बारे में जानना चाहता हूँ

[Dr. Dinesh Machhi]

नमस्कार,

मैं उपनिषद् के पाँच महावाक्य के बारे में जानना चाहता हूँ । पं.गोपीनाथ कविराज ब्रह्मसूत्र शांकरभाष्य की रत्नप्रभा टीका में महाम्नाय तालीका में प्रत्येक मठ के एक-एक महावाक्य बताते है - प्रज्ञानं ब्रह्म, अहं ब्रह्मास्मि, तत्वमसि और अयं आत्मा ब्रह्म । प्रश्र्न यह है की महावाक्य चार है या पाँच ? पाँच है तो पाँचवा महावाक्य कौनसा है ? दूसरा प्रश्र्न यह है की उपनिषद् के इन वाक्यो को महावाक्य किसने कहा है । महावाक्यो का विशेष अभ्यास करने के लिये कोई ग्रन्थ मिल सकता है ? कृपया जानकारी दीजिये ।

प्रोफे.डो.दिनेश आर.माछी

संस्कृत विभागाध्यक्ष,

सरकारी विनयन कोलेज धानपुर,जि.दाहोद,

गुजरात.

[Hnbhat B.R.]

Check:

http://hinduism.enacademic.com/479/mahavakyas

--
निराशीर्निर्ममो भूत्वा युध्यस्व विगतज्वरः।। (भ.गी.)
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[Shankarji Jha]

Dear, I have a list of Shodasha (Sixteen) Mahavaakyas presented by a reputed scholar of Varanasi; four each from all the four Vedas, Ric, Yajus, Saman and Atharvan. I do not know on which basis they are so called,---it is presumed that they provide with great meaning, or require  a great explanation. Regards, 

Shankarji Jha,
Professor of Sanskrit,
Deptt of Sanskrit,
Panjab University,
Chandigarh-160014, INDIA

---

Date: Sat, 8 Mar 2014 12:17:01 +0530
Subject: {भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्} उपनिषद् के पाँच महावाक्य के बारे में जानना चाहता हूँ
From: mach...@gmail.com
To: bvpar...@googlegroups.com

[V Subrahmanian]

2014-03-08 12:17 GMT+05:30 Dr. Dinesh Machhi <mach...@gmail.com>:

Sir,

As per my knowledge the term 'mahAvAkya' is unique to Advaita Vedanta.  In this school it is held that 'that upanishadic sentence which teaches the identity of the jivAtman and the paramAtman is called a mahAvAkya'.  Even though one such from each of the four Veda-s is commonly identified, this school holds that there are countless mahAvAkya-s across the innumerable upaniShads.  For example, the TaittiriyopaniShad sentence 'sa yashchAyam puruShe yashchAsAvAditye sa ekaH' is held to be of this category.  

In the sUtasamhitA - brahmagItA (of the skandapurANam) (5.82 - 84) we have this:

एक्त्वं यत्स्वतस्सिद्धं स हि वाक्यार्थ आस्तिकाः ।

....

अतो न प्रमितिं वाक्यं कुरुतेऽज्ञानबाधकम् ॥

[Here it is said the 'vAkya' does not create the identity, for it is always there.  What the vAkya accomplishes is, the removal of ignorance that covers that self-existing identity. ]

I have seen a shAnkarabhAShya passage for the Aitareya UpaniShad where the word 'mahAvAkya' is used, though I am not recalling the exact passage.  

Works like the 'sankShepashArIraka' and Madhusudana Saraswati's use this term.

There is a small book called 'mahAvAkyaratnAvaLiH' by s sannyasin Sri Ramachandra Yati, which has hundreds of such vAkya-s sourced from the 108 Upanishads.  

Works like the 'VivekachUDAmaNiH' give the general method of understanding the mahAvAkya-s. 

regards

subrahmanian.v

[V Subrahmanian]

Since this question was asked, 

महावाक्यो का विशेष अभ्यास करने के लिये कोई ग्रन्थ मिल सकता है ? कृपया जानकारी दीजिये |

 I am providing a commonly available source:

The adhyAtmarAmAyaNa , uttarakANDa, 5th sarga is named 'rAmagItA'.  Here a detailed account of the method of understanding the mahAvAkya is given especially from verse 24 onward starting from:

   श्रद्धान्वितस्तत्त्वमसीति वाक्यतो ... These verses have the Hindi translation too in the gitApress edition of the text. 

regards

subrahmanian.v

[Phani Kumar]

Namaste. Vaakyavritti,said to be a prakarana grantha composed by Adi Sankara is a good source.Swami Chinmayananda's english translation of Vaakyavritti is available in all Chinmaya Mission branches. If no such branch is near you, please send me your address. I shall be happy to mail you a copy.

Please see the attachments as well. The Arsha Bodha Center has an explanation of the Laghu Vakya Vritti in audio.

Swami Paramarthanandaji Maharaj of Madras has given an excellent exposition of this text. It is available from Sastra Prakasika Trust,Madras.They can be contacted at the following address.

Sastraprakasika Trust, 
Chandra Vilas Apartments, 
A-3, No.19, 8th street, Dr. Radhakrishna Salai, 
Mylapore, Chennai 600 004 
Phone: 91 44 2847 0311 or 91 44 2847 5009

Email: sastrap...@gmail.com

Thanks.

 

Dr. Phani Kumar

32,Prasasan Nagar,

Road-72,

Jubilee Hills,

Hyderabad 500033

Andhra Pradesh.

कालोह्ययं निरवधिः विपुलाच पृथ्वी ।

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

Pardon my response in English. I don't have a convenient keyboard mapping to Devanagari script allowed on my work computer, so typing in Hindi or saMskRta is a bit too time consuming for me.

 

Mahavakyas - four or five or more? The answer depends on the source that you consult. The answer from the vast textual evidence is really that there are many Sruti sentences that can be described as mahavakyas.

 

However, the original question and the reference to an edition of the Sankara Bhashya connect the Mahavakyas to the Mathas , i.e. the institutions of the Advaita Vedanta tradition. The answer to this lies not in multiple texts with different enumerations and different lines of transmission, but in the pan-Indian traditions of the Dasanami Sannyasi Sampradaya. To get the correct picture of this, one has to take into account other sources of information as well, not just some of the well-known texts.

 

The crux of the enumeration of four Mahavakya lies in the rules governing formal entry into Sannyasa Ashrama within the Dasanami Sampradaya. Within this tradition, at the time of Upadesa by a Guru when a Sishya is initiated into Sannyasa, there is only one unequivocal answer. Namely, that there are four such sentences. See the manuals on Yatidharma in the Advaita tradition by Visvesvara Sarasvati (reputedly, a guru of the famous Madhusudana Sarasvati) and by Vasudevasrama. Agehananda Bharati's book, The Tantric Tradition, cites some text called mantramahodadhi (publication unknown, I'm citing from memory), which enumerates the same four sentences quoted by Gopinath Kaviraj and says, "iti paramahamsAnAM catvAri-maTha-dIkShA." 

 

The authoritative source quoted for this rule in Dasanami tradition is the Sukarahasyopanishat, which says, "atha mahAvAkyAni catvAri, oM prajnAnaM brahma, oM ahaM brahmAsmi, oM tattvamasi, om ayamAtmA brahma, iti." These are counted as one each from each Veda, conveying the core aikya of brahman and AtmA (prajnAnaM brahma - aitareya - Rgveda, ahaM brahmAsmi - bRhadAraNyaka - yajurveda, tattvamasi - chAndogya - sAmaveda and ayamAtmA brahma - mANDUkya - atharvaveda). Within the Dasanami Sampradaya, there is also an old tradition of drawing a connection for these four sentences with the four Mathas at Sringeri, Dwaraka, Puri and Badrinath as the principal seats of this Sampradaya. The origins of this tradition are probably due to the fact that the number four occurs as a repeating theme in the history of the Advaita Vedanta tradition - four vedas, four adhyAyas with four pAdas each in the brahmasUtra text, four principal directions and four key disciples of Sankaracarya.

 

That said, just as there are always candidates for the fifth veda status, there are various claims about a fifth mahAvAkya, especially in texts written/edited within the last couple of centuries. As far as the core traditions of the Dasanami Sampradaya are concerned, such variant claims about a fifth mahAvAkya are merely digressions from a solid tradition that was no doubt consolidated many, many centuries ago. See various published studies of the tradition in the English language, by Jadunath Sarkar, G S Ghurye, Swami Sadananda Giri, Wade Dazey and Yoshitsugu Sawai. Publication details of these books may be found in the bibliography links available at http://www.advaita-vedanta.org/avhp and in the references at the end of each page under the links on the history of the Advaita tradition.

 

Best regards,

Vidyasankar

 

ps. The SAnkara prakaraNa grantha called pancIkaraNa, which is to be taught to the newly initiated Sannyasin (according to both Visvesvara Sarasvati and Vasudevasrama), cites "prajnAnam AnandaM brahma" in all the editions that I have seen. This seems to be a combination of prajnAnaM brahma from aitareya and vijnAnam AnandaM brahma from the bRhadAraNyaka text. 

[Hnbhat B.R.]

centuries ago. See various published studies of the tradition in the English language, by Jadunath Sarkar, G S Ghurye, Swami Sadananda Giri, Wade Dazey and Yoshitsugu Sawai. Publication details of these books may be found in the bibliography links available at http://www.advaita-vedanta.org/avhp and in the references at the end of each page under the links on the history of the Advaita tradition.

 

​Thanks for the detailes account of the system of 4 or 5 Mahavakya-s. Now the remaining question is very general, which texts are to be studied for understanding these Mahavakya-s.​

 

महावाक्यो का विशेष अभ्यास करने के लिये कोई ग्रन्थ मिल सकता है ? कृपया जानकारी दीजिये ।

There are vast literature around these, and please guide him as to learn any specific text to study these Mahavakya-s. And he has taken note of these, from Gopinath Kaviraja's list relating 4 to 4 muth-s which you have already refered to in your reply. Now the remaining question is that is there any single book for detailed study of these Mahavakya-s. Hope the bibliography may help him. For one thing, he may refer to the commentaries on the relevant Upanishad-s than any isolated study in independently. He wants deeper study.

Hope someone may help in suggesting such a book.

​​

[Jsr Prasad]

Before a right book is referred to in this context, I'd like to bring to your kind notice the following: 'Mahāvākyavicāra,' a tiny book (47 pages) based on the talks by Swami Dayananda Saraswati of Rishikesh. It is a general discussion on the nature of 'mahāvākya using some anecdotes. I felt, 'Tat Tvam Asi' is interpreted as per śāstra but not all remaining mahāvākyas. It can be either had from Rishikesh or from here -

Sastraprakasika Trust,
Chandra Vilas Apartments,
A-3, No.19, 8th street, Dr. Radhakrishna Salai,
Mylapore, Chennai 600 004

Phone: 044-2847 0311/2847 5009
Email: sastrap...@gmail.com

Regards

On Mon, Mar 10, 2014 at 10:04 AM, Hnbhat B.R. <hnbh...@gmail.com> wrote:

centuries ago. See various published studies of the tradition in the English language, by Jadunath Sarkar, G S Ghurye, Swami Sadananda Giri, Wade Dazey and Yoshitsugu Sawai. Publication details of these books may be found in the bibliography links available at http://www.advaita-vedanta.org/avhp and in the references at the end of each page under the links on the history of the Advaita tradition.

 

​Thanks for the detailes account of the system of 4 or 5 Mahavakya-s. Now the remaining question is very general, which texts are to be studied for understanding these Mahavakya-s.​

 

--
Dr. Jsra Prasad,
Asst. Professor, Dept. of Sanskrit Studies
University of Hyderabad, Prof. C.R. Rao Road,
Hyderabad - 500 046 Tel: 040-2313 3803

[V Subrahmanian]

On Sat, Mar 8, 2014 at 5:29 PM, V Subrahmanian <v.subra...@gmail.com> wrote:

I have seen a shAnkarabhAShya passage for the Aitareya UpaniShad where the word 'mahAvAkya' is used, though I am not recalling the exact passage.  

Here is the passage I referred to above:

स कदाचित्परमकारुणिकेनाचार्येणात्मज्ञानप्रबोधकृच्छब्दकार्यां वेदान्तमहावाक्यभेर्यां तत्कर्णमूले ताद्यमानायां......(Aitareya Up. bhAshya 1.3 14)

This reading of the highlighted word is found in some editions.  In some editions the word is rendered as: वेदान्तमहाभेर्यां ...

[When, however, on some rare occasion, the Master, in His infinite mercy, beats in the recesses of his ears, the drum that is the vedAntamahAvAkya which produces the sound that awakens him to the Knowledge of the Self....]

subrahmanian.v

 

[V Subrahmanian]

On Mon, Mar 10, 2014 at 11:08 PM, V Subrahmanian <v.subra...@gmail.com> wrote:

स कदाचित्परमकारुणिकेनाचार्येणात्मज्ञानप्रबोधकृच्छब्दकार्यां वेदान्तमहावाक्यभेर्यां तत्कर्णमूले ताद्यमानायां......(Aitareya Up. bhAshya 1.3 14)

Pl. read the  highlighted word above as; ताड्यमानायां

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

Rather than any one book, there is a vast amount of literature on it. Starting from Sankara bhagavatpAda's upaseSasAhasrI (3rd prose chapter and 18th verse chapter) to books being written today.

 

Re: the observation that tattvamasi but not other sentences are being interpreted as per śāstra, I'm not sure if this is a comment about the specific book described below or a generally about how the mahAvAkya-s are interpreted in advaita works.

 

If the latter, it is a combination of two things - the context in which the mahAvAkya appears in its source text and the interpretative approach necessitated thereby. For example, tattvamasi is interpreted and analyzed by anvaya-vyatireka reasoning, bhAga tyAga lakshaNa or jahad-ajahal-lakshaNa, where the guNa-s normally associated with tvam and the guNa-s normally associated with tat are both set aside in order to draw out the equation in the ground of both tvam and tat, which is nirguNa. This is because the sentence itself occurs as part of an instruction from uddAlaka to his son in the chAndogya. With ayamAtmA brahma, it is the jAgrat-svapna-sushupti-turIya context of the mANDUkya. Here, one arrives at the turIya after setting aside the three avasthA-s as not being ultimately real changes to the AtmA that seems to go through them on a daily basis, but always stands as the partless fourth (amAtraS caturthaH). This is adhyAropa of the avasthA-s on Atman, followed by the apavAda that reveals AtmA as brahma. Or elsewhere, in the Ananda-mImAMsA, it is again adhyAropa-apavAda, where every successive understanding of the Atman as annamaya, prANamaya etc. is transcended (upa-saM-kramaNa) to arrive at brahman = Atman = Ananda. Here, the approach is based on the fact that every sentient being knows itself, in some way or the other, i.e. mixed up with the not-self. The śāstra points to the final, correct means of knowing one's self (AtmA) as brahman.

Namaskaras,

Vidyasankar

[Malti Auckle]

Sir Namaste. I would like to have a copy of this Vritti.
Please send on this address or just as attachment on y mail address.
Sir how would the term "Vaartik" be translated in English any link where I can get detailed explanation on Samasa in English.
Thank you in the hope of hearing from you.
Regards
Malti

Mrs. Malti AUCKLE

Head Department of Sanskrit

Senior Lecturer in Sanskrit, Indian Philosophy and Indology

School of Indological Studies

Mahatma Gandhi Institute

Moka

Mauritius.

---

From: Phani Kumar <phani...@gmail.com>
To: "bvpar...@googlegroups.com" <bvpar...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, March 9, 2014 4:48 PM
Subject: Re: {भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्} उपनिषद् के पाँच महावाक्य के बारे में जानना चाहता हूँ

[V Subrahmanian]

One, among many sources,  for studying the topic is: the fifth chapter of the PanchadashI of Swami Vidyaranya, titled 'mahAvAkya-viveka-prakaraNam'.  The chapter has just eight verses, two each to explain each of the 'four' mahAvAkyas.  The gloss of Sri Ramakrishna could be consulted for enhanced understanding.  

Also, in the vedAntaparibhAShA of Sri DharmarAja Adhvarin, the chapter titled 'lakShaNAvichAraH' (4th paricchedaH) and the 7th paricchedaH which deals with jagadutpattikramaH, pralayakramaH, jIveshvarasvarUpavichAraH, tvampadArthanirUpaNam, tat-tvam-padayoraikyanirUpaNam, etc.  has considerable material on this topic. 

regards

subrahmanian.v  

[Phani Kumar]

Namaste,madam,

Any ZIP/PIN code? Phone number too, please.

Thanks.

Dr. Phani Kumar

32,Prasasan Nagar,

Road-72,

Jubilee Hills,

Hyderabad 500033

Andhra Pradesh.

कालोह्ययं निरवधिः विपुला च पृथ्वी ।

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

Traditionally, a commentary is called a vArttika, if it not only interprets what is said in a text (uktaM), but crticially examines that which is not said well (dur-uktaM) and also fills in where the text is silent (an-uktaM).

 

A vArttika is therefore best understood as a critical commentary on a source text. Typically, commentaries tend to be in prose, while the source text is in either prose or verse. The two vArttikas by sureSvara on Sankara's taittirIya and bRhadAraNyaka bhAshya-s are unique in that they are in verse, where the source text is in prose.

 

Best regards,

Vidyasankar

[Hnbhat B.R.]

Dear Multi,

Please curtail the unwanted portion of the message/s you are replying which is automatically appeneded, unless you cut it away or quote it and reply to the same portion of the message you are replying. This will help the readers from going through out the appended message in a train.

Now, वृत्ति, वार्तिक and भाष्य  all could be translated as generally the commentaries on सूत्र in technical litterature, or any text in general.But they are called so as in sequence in technical literature, as the relationship of them to the सूत्र literature in Grammar, in order of importance and closeness of them to the text. And their technical definition  

अल्पाक्षरमसंदिग्धं सारवद्विश्वतो मुखम्।

अस्तोभमनवद्यं च सूत्रं सूत्रविदो विदुः॥

"उक्तानुक्तदुरूक्तानां चिंता यत्र प्रसज्यते। 

तं ग्रंथं वार्तिकं प्रहुर्वार्तिकज्ञा मनीषिण:।।"

"सूत्रार्थो वर्ण्यते यत्र वाक्यैः सूत्रानु-सारिभिः|

स्वपदानि च वर्ण्‍यन्ते भाष्यं भाष्यविदो विदुः ।।

The derivation वार्त्तिक from वृत्ति generally means that it is to be found in वृत्ति which is also a critical commentary on the सूत्र or any technical text. वृत्तौ साधु वार्त्तिकम्, (वृत्तिर्ग्रन्थसूत्रविवृतिः । तत्र साधुः । वृत्ति “कथादिभ्यष्ठक् ।” ४ । ४ । १०२। इति ठक् ।) उक्तानुक्तदुरुक्तार्थव्यक्तीकारक-

ग्रन्थः । यथा, --

“उक्तानुक्तदुरुक्तार्थचिन्ताकारि तु वार्त्तिकम् ॥”

इति हेमचन्द्रः ॥

 

As per the above definition, it critically reviews the text it comments and usually included in the  वृत्ति type of commentaries. Here the case is different and it is a gloss on the भाष्य on the text of ब्रह्मसूत्र and other उपनिषत्  literature. And could be called as sub-sub-commentary on the text or critical notes. Sureshvara's Varttika-s are more than notes or emendments, but they are independently elaborating the ideas in the Bhashya, unlike the व वार्त्तिक-s on in grammar.

​

[Dr. Dinesh Machhi]

Dear Scholars,

Hnbhat B.R. , Shankarji Jha  & V. Subrahmaninan , Many Thanks for providing the link & details of the Upanishads Mahavakya

--

[Subrahmanyam Korada]

नमो विद्वद्भ्यः

I have published महावाक्यविचारः (Ph D Thesis) and it is available online . Otherwise contact me on personal email , I will send a copy .

The book deals with  महावाक्यम् in पूर्वमीमांसा , वेदान्तः , न्यायवैशेषिके , व्याकरणम् (पारिभाषिकम् &  लौकिकम् ) and अलङ्कारशास्त्रम् ।

The  महावाक्यम् in वेदान्त is following the अर्थगौरवम् (आनुषङ्गिकी संज्ञा ) , न तु शब्दगौरवम् --

रामायणम् एकं महावाक्यम् (=महाकाव्यम्)  -- अनेकावान्तरवाक्यसमुदायरूपम्  - शब्दगौरवं पुरस्कृत्य महावाक्यसंज्ञा ।

Anandavardhana says  रामवद्वर्तितव्यम् , न तु रावणादिवत् -- this is a महावाक्यम् (अर्थगौरवं पुरस्कृत्य)  -- on a par with तत्त्वमसि ।

For महाभारतम् one can have a महावाक्यम् -- धर्मराजादिवद्वर्तितव्यम् , न तु दुर्योधनादिवत् ।

The तात्पर्यम्  of  छान्दोग्योपनिषत् is denoted by this महावक्यम् - for analysis of this sentence see वेदान्तपरिभाषा etc.

तात्पर्यनिर्णायकानि लिङ्गानि षट्  बृहत्संहितायाम् --

उपक्रमोपसंहारौ .... लिङ्गं तात्पर्यनिर्णये ॥

तत्र  लिङ्गत्रयं शब्दनिष्ठम् , लिङ्गत्रयम् अर्थनिष्ठम् ।

I have shown six Lingas for तत्त्वमसि । वाक्यैकवाक्यतासाधकानि इमानि लिङ्गानि । तथैव महावाक्यार्थः अधिगम्यते ।

धन्यो’स्मि

--
Prof.Korada Subrahmanyam
Professor of Sanskrit,
CALTS,
University of Hyderabad 500046
Ph:09866110741(R),91-40-23010741,040-23133660(O)

[Dr. Dinesh Machhi]

Respected,

Dr.Phani kumar & Subrahmanyam korada,

Hearty Thanks for this importent information of Mahavakyam.